Bras That Breathe
I just returned from a trip to the Galapagos Islands with my girls last week. Boy, do I now understand all you women writing to HerRoom asking for bras that breathe. I had on a bra that didn’t, and I’m telling you, I couldn’t wait to get it off. It was uncomfortable, hot and literally sticking to me. I have noticed some confusion, though, about all of this breathing bra business from reading our customers’ email inquiries. Most jump right in and want to know what all-cotton bras we have; assuming cotton is breathable and the answer to their problem. The truth about cotton is that there is no bra out there that is 100% cotton. And for good reason. Think about your cotton jeans. They stretch. An all-cotton bra would do the same thing. Therefore, spandex is usually included in the content so that a cotton bra can hold its shape. So yes, a bra with cotton content will help in a hot climate. But, a cotton bra will not dry quickly. You will most likely find yourself in a soggy cotton bra with perspiration bleeding onto your top. The better solution is to find a bra that breathes and has wicking fabric. Wicking fabric draws the moisture from your skin to the surface of the bra for evaporation. You may not know this, but you might even have a bra in your collection that does this. So, how do you know if your bra is breathable? I posed this question to several of my vendors and received back a very simple and quite funny response. A bra has breathing qualities if you can hold the cups against your mouth and blow through the fabric. Those bras that allow your breath through the cups are considered breathable. So, on this vacation, I did the “breathable” test on the 3 bras I was traveling with. Sure enough, the one bra where I couldn’t blow air through its fabric was the one I arrived in and couldn’t get off fast enough. After I quickly changed to one that I could breathe through, I saw a tremendous difference in improved comfort. Lesson learned here: on a hot day, breath through the bra you are thinking of wearing to make sure it breathes. And if you don’t have one in your bra collection, consider getting one that does. Find breathable bras and moisture-wicking bras at HerRoom in these departments: Bras Follow HerRoom on Twitter for daily tips.
