The Q: I've got a very, very heavy bust and I'm not sure what to do about my foundation garments for my wedding. I am not wearing a strapless gown specifically for this reason, but I just feel like they seem out of control. Any tips?
The A: First, let me say that as a member of the BTC, I completely understand. If you feel like you aren't "in control" up there, the chances are very, very high that you aren't wearing the right size. If you are large on top and shop at Victoria's Secret, the chances are you might not be wearing the right size bra (my size, for example, doesn't exist at Vicky's, so they will try and suit me up in a "sister size", but it's not the same).
For an occasion like your wedding, you might want to splurge a bit on this item and the first step is to get out of a department store and seek out a specialty shop. Treat the girls right on your wedding day. You need to be properly measured and mildly traumatized when confirming that you are in the right bra size (hint: they SHOULD touch you, see you half dressed and command you to put shirts on or take them off.) You might be a DDD or an F (it happened to someone I know... she was running around in a D and she was really an F.) If a store doesn't carry those sizes, they won't tell you that that's your correct size, so check out a specialty shop.
Here in New York, for big busted bustiers and bras there is always BraSmyths, but there is also a smaller little shop called Ripplu that even offers custom made bras. In Brooklyn, Mayra and I are obsessed with Arlene who runs E Lingerie on 5th Avenue and St. John's place. The woman is a breast genius! And she is so complimentary when things fit well! It's a great pick me uppper on a bad day AND she carries AAA to FFF. Amazing!
For those of you not in New York, I found this article about lingerie specialty shops that lists a number of great places out of NY as well. Can you tell I'm passionate about Lingerie???