Product Review: Itty Bitty Bra

At long last: my review of the Itty Bitty Bra. It's a Yay.
Overall Score: A

***First and foremost, I must tell you upfront (pardon the pun) that if you truly aren't itty bitty upstairs, these bras are in no way going to work for you.****

If you are a full B in most bras, you are out. In fact, an A in other bras may be able to get away with a B from Itty Bitty. (I shudder to think what the AA bra cup looks like; My First Training Bra, anyone?) [Un?]Luckily, that is me: truly itty bitty. This may be TMI, but in the interest of accurately explaining the product, I will admit that in most bra brands I am an A or B cup, depending on the style and fit, so I was looking forward to checking the Itty Bitty out.

FIT
Score: A-
It fit well. (Why yes, I did take that picture myself in the bathroom mirror reflection, thank you for noticing.) The cups are definitely smaller and cut for smaller-chested users. There was no sagging or bagging in the cups, and the cut of the cups was comfortable. I would be ok with them adding another style with slightly more cup coverage though--without increasing or changing the cup shape--but this style fit me pretty well. Both the shoulder and ribcage straps are thin, and did not cause any weird bumps or ripples. Single clasp on the back, with 4 different hook adjustments--a bonus over the usual 3 found on most bras. This allowed for perfect adjusting to my body. Also, there was plenty of room to adjust the shoulder straps length, which I liked. (I hate when you have to cinch it all the way up or down and it still doesn't fit correctly and the straps are too short or falling off your shoulders.) I wore the bra all day on two separate days, and was comfortable both days.

MATERIALS/CONSTRUCTION
Score: A
It seems well-made and the stitching looks solid. The real test will be after a few washings, though, so I'll update if I notice any extraordinary wear-and-tear. The double-mesh fabric was comfortable and breathable. (Marcy likes to let her, ahem, "girl downstairs" breathe, apparently I like to let mine upstairs do the same? Well yes, I believe I do...) The elastic bits were not scratchy, but kind of a soft micro-fibery feel, which was nice. Even the little decorative bits (rhinestone and some loopy/lacy trim) did not rub, chafe or scratch. The cups were slightly padded--enough to hide the cold-weather radars if you know what I mean, but not so padded that they felt like extra-terrestrials had set up camp on my chest. BIG bonus points there.

SERVICE
Score: A+
The folks over at IttyBittyBra.com were friendly and fast, getting me two bras in just a couple days' time. Course the test of service is always if there are problems with the order or product, but hey when they are fast, friendly, and right the first time, I give that a good score.

I would compare this bra to a couple of Calvin Klein ones I've had in the past, in terms of fabric and style and construction, except that it fits my itty bitties better. If you are by most American standards flat-chested and tired of buying bras that look like they were made for a 12-year old, or fed up with bras with tons of ridiculous padding and inserts (don't even get me started on the rubber filets), you will probably like this bra. I definitely recommend it, but you really do need to be pretty flat-chested to wear it.

Itty Bitty Bonus

Thank you Kathryn Wexler for introducing me to this...ittybittybra.com

If only they weren't $50. That's $25 per itty bitty booby. I'm not sure my itty bitties are worth that much apiece...but as a sufferer of the maladies outlined in Ms. Wexler's post, I am inclined to give these a try. If so, I will do a fitting review for those of you who are, ahem, also itty bitty (which, BTW, doesn't that almost make being flat sound cute, instead of demeaning?) though I won't promise any pics...unless the folks at itty bitty want to send me a free one. That might be worthy of a pic (yes, I am easily bought out...and anyway, no one wants to look at itty bitty boobies so I'll be safe).

Some other "fun" itty bitty things:
Alan Jackson's "Itty Bitty" song (or maybe it's Little Bitty...I don't care enough to find out)
Itty Bitty Ti++y Committee movie (huh? really?)
The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee (yeah, really. And no, it's not as you are probably hoping for, guys)
A lot of itty bitty crap that someone obviously has the time and inclination to sit around and dream up/make (and no, I did not find my boobies on here, whew!)

And with that I say, "You're welcome Glaven."

I Love Free

I love free. Whatever it is, if it is free, I love it. I call the hubbs Bargain Boy, because he genetically inherited the trait to love anything--and I DO MEAN ANYTHING--that is a bargain (Big Donny that's your legacy, thanks a lot) but I suppose I am woman (and cheap) enough to admit that I just love free.

To witness: just last weekend, we were heading out of town from our Nebraska "holiday" and I saw a handmade sign on the curb that said FREE. Sitting beside it was a lot of worthless crap, but also sitting beside it was 4 rough but rather splendid dining chairs. Oddly, two were painted black and two were white but both sets had lovely matching Country Mauve fabric-covered cushions. ANYWAY, I quick got on the phone and called it in to my mother-in-law who was working on decorating a table for this little shindig and I thought the two white chairs might be just what she needed for her all white setup (with cushion recovering of course). Plus, they were FREE. I hope she went and grabbed them.

But I digress...the real reason for this post about freeness is not just to disguise the fact that I skipped running yesterday simply due to snow-induced laziness, but because I want some free stuff from onlineshoes.com, and the easiest way to get it is to win one of the awesome totally lame, don't go there and enter cause you won't win anyway, forget I mentioned it in the first place giveaways these two bloggy chicks are hosting. So in the interest of scoring additional entries, and because her blog is a good read, I am mentioning Chic Runner and her coolio giveaway. Also because I aim to be fair and her blog is also a good and laughter-inducing read, I will mention by name Marcy at I Signed Up for This. But whatever you do, DON'T enter her very cool super lame onlineshoes.com giveaway and minimize my chances. Buena suerte and bon chance, entrants!


Below is the lovely pink getup I would order, should I happen to win BOTH giveaways. You know, to keep the

grizzlies, mountain lions--is that the same thing as a bobcat? I have perennial confusion regarding this--and coyotes

running scared from me out on the Colorado trails.

I don't need an excuse, cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes...

I got my new running shoes in the mail the other day. Now, they are new in terms of "they are fresh from the store and have never been worn before" but actually they are the same old shoes that I've been wearing for the past few months: Asics 2130's. Man, I love these shoes! I was a dedicated Nike Pegasus gal for years until i put these on my feet last year. And then ran in them. And then ran some more...and more, and more, and more. No blisters. No hotspots. No aches or pains! They held up on my outdoor-in-the-dirt-and-muck-trail runs! Fabulous!

This time I bought two pairs--hey, they were on clearance since the fab new 2140's are out and these are all So Last Season. But I don't care; I actually like the color of these better and I definitely like the $60 clearance price tag. And I figure if I am putting in the miles, having two pairs to split the distance is a good thing.