I’m not a kid anymore. And sometimes it is never more obvious than when I see little gaffes that I can just imagine my mother sighing over. And then I need to slap myself and remember that pretty much anything that someone decides to wear should be fine with me if it’s fine with them.
I most recently heard my mother sigh (in my head) when I saw the woman in the photo at the top of the page.
and then this:
Coincidentally, I needed some new underwear. And also coincidentally, I own some racer back shirts. So, I was looking for a racer back bra. Unless you want a thick and heavy sports bra, you are out of luck around here. The only thing they had at Fabricas de Francia, our biggest department store, was a regular bra with a little hook thing that might work for ladies who always have assistance available when getting dressed.
I asked my daughter in law if they had them in Mexico City and she hadn’t seen them there. So, possibly the reason all these women wear visible straps is because they haven’t seen the perfect thing in the stores? Here’s what I mean:
By the way, I know the top photo needs a different undergarment entirely. I haven’t done any research on what to wear with a top with a hole in the back. Ladies?
Tasha
June 20, 2008Hi,
I’ve been stalking your blog since you were selling your house and still working! I have it bookmarked because it’s an inspiration to me. I’m going through an adoption process and once I get my baby, I’m going to start a life in Mexico. So my countdown will begin shortly.
Cynthia Jones
June 20, 2008Hi!
We do have those bras in Mexico, I’m from Acapulco and I get them there, the problem with it is that they are VERY expensive and not all the girls have the money to buy them … The last time I got one in Acapulco I paid something like $37.00 CAD … It was soooo expensive!!!
Saludos!
jennifer
June 20, 2008The bra situation here in Mazatlan is hysterical. They seem to be more outer wear than underwear. And I am so getting a laugh picturing you at Walmart surreptitiously taking that photo!
As to what type of bra to wear with the first garment – none. If your breasts no longer stand up and salute the sun on their own, then you should probably choose something else to wear 🙂
CancunCanuck
June 20, 2008Aww, one of my favourite topics here! I find bra shopping a depressing event at best. At worst, I end up a puddle of tears in Sears. I just cannot find a bra that fits here, trying to find anything over a B or C cup is like digging for treasure in a sandbox. The number of bras and straps I see everyday is astounding. I agree with a previous poster, they are very expensive here! The last bra that I found that fit was 650 pesos but it was the ONLY one that fit so I had to splurge.
Oh, and here’s a backless wonder! http://www.maidenform.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=71471
Anonymous
June 20, 2008Here in Merida on Cablemas we see ads for little pastie-type band-aids that are advertised as exactly what is needed in cases such as you pictured….I always wonder what happens when the band-aid adhesive gives up and lets you down (quite literally!) LOL
LeAnn
Theresa in Mèrida
June 20, 2008They make some fantastic convertible bras for the open back blouses, but I doubt that they are available here. But really if need one it isn’t going to help much in that situation!If you absolutely cannot find a racer back bra, and you have one with detachable straps, you can crisscross the straps in the back (after letting them out all the way).
I was a lingerie department manager for several years, and I can tell you from experience most women have on the wrong bra size and or style.
regards,
Theresa
Amy G
June 20, 2008I’m only 25 but I sigh inside whenever I see girls my age dressing like this (and it happens just as much among Mexicans in Mexico as it does with Mexicans/Mexican-Americans in the US).
Once, I attended a wedding where the bride wore a strapless dress and felt that because her bra straps were clear, it wouldn’t matter that they were totally visible sitting in the standard bra position.
If you’re going to wear a stunning backless number, then you better have a body that can handle going braless or using those sticky movie-star implements.
As far as bra-shopping, I gave up in Mexico. Perhaps one of the few benefits of living in Monterrey is the ability to shop across the border and pay a decent price for a well-fitting bra. I wish I could offer advice on that front…
Libërty
June 20, 2008Hi! I found your blog..very interesting!!!
curious as to how you found my blog! I would love to know!!
thanks for the post and I look forward to reading more of you!
Nancy
June 20, 2008Hey ladies!
I was thinking after I posted this that everyone would chime in with the secret to where these bras are and I would feel silly to have not known.
But now I know it’s not just Mazatlan or me…that bras are a pain in the neck everywhere in Mexico.
Good luck Tasha with your countdown and adoption, and Liberty, I’m not sure how I found your blog but it might have been through a google alert.
N.
1st Mate
June 20, 2008Nancy – Have you considered taking one of your reasonably comfortable bras and cutting the straps off at the back, extend a piece of fabric from the back band as in the photo, and reattaching the straps to it? If there’s a closure in the back I guess you’d have to make a strip for each side. I know it wouldn’t look like the real thing, but who’s going to see it?
I haven’t owned a comfortable bra in decades; even when they feel OK in the dressing room, all that elastic starts shrinking within a few hours and I want to tear it off. It amazes me that we can put a man on the moon but we can’t make a comfortable bra.
As far as bra straps showing, I think a lot of us have just given up.
Steve Cotton
June 20, 2008I realize this may just be a guy thing, but what is the big deal about underwear showing? I take the garbage out in my underwear — that is, me in the underwear, not the garbage. I mentioned that to a woman at work and I thought she had suffered a stroke. I really don’t get it.
Billie
June 21, 2008You see a lot of the Mexicans here who wear see through plastic bra straps. Hey, it is still a bra strap and my mother must have known your mother.
heatherinparadise.com
June 24, 2008They make these little contraptions now that can convert a regular bra into a t-back bra, but of course I’m sure you can’t find them here.
My rock ‘n’ roll background does entitle me to wear black bras with white tank tops, however, straps showing and all.
Sans
June 24, 2008I went to Fabricas one day, bought 3 Calvin Klein bras in my size at about 700 pesos each, not one came close to fitting! Two were tiny, one was huge. Go figure. Now,I just buy out Victoria’s Secret whenever I go north.