Genie Bra, Ahh Bra or other seamless microfiber bras
The thread on Spanx got me thinking about the genie bra. Anyone tried these, or any of the other microfiber one-piece seamless bras. They look amazingly comfortable, but on the tv ad, the support even for the DD's seems a little too good to be true.
It's also hard to believe that "stepping into them" would make sense (as my hips are so big, they'd surely stretch the bra out of shape), although over-the-head probalby wouldn't be so bad.
I have a terrible time finding a comfortable bra that is also even moderately supportive. I'm considering buying one of these bras, but they all seem to be sold in sets. I would hate to buy 6 bras (even if they come to less than $15 each) and find they're of no use.
Any one try them, what was your experience? Any stores or online shops sell them (by the bra, rather than a set).
I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for but the price is nice and you can just get the one. Hope you get some more feedback from someone who has been there/done that.
Hi Im rosey from alaska.i just purchased the genie bra and im a 4x and i love them. they are comfortable,not to tight(ihate anything tight) and put my girls where they should be. you can also get these in e-bay.i ordered mine on line. just typed in genie bra. im always looking for a comfortable,afordable bra that makes me look nice. they have an inner padded sheild that doesnt let you reveal too much.(nice with t-shirts.)d i put them on over my head,no hooks. i reccomend these. good luck. rosey
But I had some similar when I was nursing DD. At the time I was a 47D and I'm a 42 D now.
And it was good for being around at home and holding nursing pads on, but being easy to flip up to nurse her. Or as a sleep bra. Very easy on swollen, milk engorged breasts!
I did NOT wear it out -- I put on a proper bra then -- a wireless one, but a regular back hook, adjusting strap type.
I don't know what would make these different than the ones I had... but YMMV. It's a different line.
I can't remember just how severe your CFIDS and its friends are, but do you spend a lot of time lying down in bed by any chance? Because I do, and these days I find conventional bras to be blisteringly uncomfortable. I eventually discovered maternity sleep bras, the sort with no underwiring, stretchy cups that encompass several sizes (handy for weight loss too), and stretchy bands that expand when you diaphragm does as you lie down. I have the Bravado Body Silk, lower-cut but pricier and doesn't really go past an E cup, and the Fertile Mind superbra, which only comes in a small and a large and has always fit me even when I was heavier and had premenstrual breast swelling. I have signatures disabled so I can't see your weight, but I suspect the size range might be to small for you, as they're specialist maternity bras rather than specialist larger size bras. Anyway, the support isn't as good as with underwired bras but it's still pretty damned good, and feels like an absolute miracle when the alternatives were no bra at all or horrible discomfort. Something like that may be worth looking into, even if it's just a bra for bad days when you still want to look decent. My self-esteem shot up once I could start wearing bras again.
Thanks for posting, I would need the 4X too, so it's good to hear from someone who's tried the bra in my size.
Esofia -
My bra size is 48 D/DD (depending on the cut), and my weight is fluctuating around 300 lbs, so yeah fit is often a problem.
I do spend a lot of time bed- or house-bound, and I almost never wear a bra in bed (unless I happen to be having a flare day when hubby has his gaming group or poker night at our house). If I'm in a flare when my husband has his friends over, I wear a t-shirt and knit capris with one of my more comfortable bras (none of which are truly comfortable enough for actually sleeping). Finding clothes that can do double-duty as day-clothing and pajamas is difficult, but I've found a few (except for the comfortable and supportive bra to wear under them).
I do have some sleep and leisure bras I bought from the Roaman's catalog, but I haven't yet found a bra that's comfortable enough for bed and still has enough support to be presentable out or in mixed company.
Comfort-wise, the genie bra looks promising because there are no plastic or metal parts or seams, and it can be pulled on like a t-shirt. Sounds perfect for flare days. The support on the tv models looked great even up to 38 DD - but it's very hard to compare a 38DD to a 48DD.
I finally (for the first time in several years) have been able to wear an underwire bra again. I still can only wear it on exceptionally good days. The bra material is a soft t-shirt knit, the cups are molded foam, and the underwire is very heavily padded. However, because of the hooks in the back, I need hubby's help getting into it, and it's really only wearable a few days a month.
I have an ok daily bra (a soft-cup, no underwire, t-shirt knit bra).
But I still need a decent bad-day bra that has enough support that I don't feel like Jaba the Hut when someone visits, but comfortable enough to wear on my worst days, and ideally comfortable enough to sleep in..
Do you find that the band around the ribs gets painfully tight when you lie down, or is that just me? I've been told it's because your diaphragm expands when you lie down. Underwires are h*llish too, but even softcup bras are painful unless they have a stretchy band, I find. I was a 32DD when I was slim and went up to a 34F. Since I'm still on the stretchy bras, I'm not quite sure where I am now, but I'm guessing a 32F, maybe a 32E. I almost always wear a bra now, because my breasts are big enough to be rather uncomfortable without any support at all. Apart from very bad days where I hardly get out of bed at all, I'm usually in and out of bed all day, and I don't want to have to take a bra off and put it on again in order to be decent to answer the door/feel comfortable/actually be able to pop out of the flat. And I know exactly what you mean about finding clothes that are as comfortable as pyjamas but look respectable. I tend to live in cotton tops, cardigans, loose linen blend trousers in the summer (mainly because they actually fit), and corduroy trousers in the winter.
It looks like you're one band size too big for the Bravado. If you're planning to lose enough weight to drop a band size, that one is worth checking out, and perhaps extenders might be an option if you can't find anything else in the meantime. Seriously, I can sleep in it with no trouble whatsoever, it's that comfortable, and it's quite low-cut so I can wear pretty much everything except a strappy top with it. It gets rave reviews too.
Have you looked into crop top bras, so that you don't have to mess with doing the thing up at the back? I think the Fertile Mind one doesn't have enough size variation, but certainly I can recommend the style. I was worried that they'd be too awkward to wriggle into on bad days but I've been fine.
I've just checked the CFIDS/ME forum where we talked about this last year, and people also recommended the Victoria's Secret IPEX Non-Wired (size no good for you, though, or for me either come to that) and Decent Exposures. The latter are pricey but people speak very highly of them and they look like an excellent option, especially since you can even pick what fabric they're made in.
Do you find that the band around the ribs gets painfully tight when you lie down, or is that just me? I've been told it's because your diaphragm expands when you lie down. Underwires are h*llish too, but even softcup bras are painful unless they have a stretchy band, I find. I was a 32DD when I was slim and went up to a 34F. Since I'm still on the stretchy bras, I'm not quite sure where I am now, but I'm guessing a 32F, maybe a 32E. I almost always wear a bra now, because my breasts are big enough to be rather uncomfortable without any support at all. Apart from very bad days where I hardly get out of bed at all, I'm usually in and out of bed all day, and I don't want to have to take a bra off and put it on again in order to be decent to answer the door/feel comfortable/actually be able to pop out of the flat. And I know exactly what you mean about finding clothes that are as comfortable as pyjamas but look respectable. I tend to live in cotton tops, cardigans, loose linen blend trousers in the summer (mainly because they actually fit), and corduroy trousers in the winter.
It's definitely not just you. I often (though in the summer it's not usually every day) also am in and out of bed all day. The t-shirt soft-cup bras from Lane-Bryant do have a very stretchy band, so it's a pretty-good all-day bra for average pain days. I can lie down or sit in bed and read comfortably, and can often even sleep in them. But if I'm experiencing a not-quite as good as average day, the band is too distracting to sleep in (even when the band itself isn't actually painful. Sometimes distracting is harder to deal with than painful - if that makes any sense).
I also need very stretchy bands. Even the t-shirt molded cup underwire has a very stretchy band. Of course I wouldn't even consider lying down in an underwire. When I bought the underwire a couple weeks ago (to look presentable at a family funeral) I thought I'd probably wear it only a few times a year, but it was more comfortable than I expected. I've worn it three times this month (the funeral, out to dinner with friends, and yesterday just because I wanted to look good at my TOPS club meeting and I felt good enough to not be too bugged by the slightly more restrictive bra). Each time I wore the bra, it was only for 4-6 hours. As comfortable as it was FOR an underwire, it was still not something I'd want to wear much more than 6 hours.
For an average day, I'm satisfied with the t-shirt material soft-cup bras from Lane Bryant. However I still need a comfortable and supportive bra for more severe flare days.
When the t-shirt soft cup bras get worn and stretched out, they're much more comfortable, but almost useless for support (but still better than nothing) so if I'm going to be spending a lot of time in bed, but still might have to deal with people other than my husband, I will wear those. I'm still very aware of the straps and the band though, which makes it hard to sleep in them (even when it's not actually uncomfortable, I'm still so aware of it, that it provides a distraction that keeps me awake).
I do find going without a bra comfortable, but I HATE how it looks (as if my boobs disappeared and blended into my stomach).
I've looked at all the bras you recommended and was able to find comparable styles in my sizes on various sites, so in addition to the genie bra, it looks like I have more options than I thought, it's just a matter of trying some of them.
I just hate that bras are so expensive, especially compared to the rest of my wardrobe (well, except for shoes, since I can only wear a few brands and they tend to be expensive - but I wear bras out a lot faster than I do shoes).
The one thing that attracted me to the genie bra was the amount of give in the fabric. It looks like it would be very comfortable because of the all-over stretch, and it also looks like it would be more forgiving of my size changes.
I'm just guessing that like all other bras I've tried, comfort means sacrificing support, and support means sacrificing comfort. Though I don't think the genie bra could have less support than the stretched out t-shirt bras.
It'll be a couple months before I can spend money on clothing or underclothing (our budget's pretty tight, and the underwire bra was a splurge), but at least I have some options to explore.
Of course you don't get quite the same shape that you get with underwired bras, but I was astonished at how good the support is with my sleep bras, and I'm an F cup. I don't think my bust ends up any lower than with underwired bras, or at least not much, but the shape is a little less focused, if that makes sense. I still feel presentable and indeed sexy in these bras. And they're more comfortable than floppity unbra'ed bosoms, which is why I will happily nap in them (I have a siesta about every other day on average). These photos of the Superbra show it being worn by someone with fairly big breasts, as opposed to all those slim young things modelling the two you're looking at, so that'll give you a better idea of what to expect.
I found that the Fertile Mind Superbra was more forgiving in terms of size changes, probably because it only runs to two sizes whereas the Bravado Body Silk has four, so each size encompasses a wider range with the Superbra. But it could as easily be the way the bra's made, which is entirely different. Both bras are blissfully comfortable, but when I'm a 34F the Bravado bra is a bit too small over the cups. It's fitting beautifully now that I've lost some weight, and may well continue to fit all the way down to my goal weight (which will have been a 35lb loss).
I've only just got around to looking at the Genie bra, and it looks pretty similar to the Fertile Mind Superbra, which I get on with very well. One thing I'd contact the company and ask about is cup sizes, since sometimes stretchiness will only get you so far. I've been happily wearing a Small Superbra even when I was a 32F, though, so I'm guessing that this sort of bra is very stretchy. Mind you, the Superbra is designed for pregnant women so it probably has more generous cup sizes in mind. The model wearing the Genie bra is quite small-chested, too. At least they come with a good solid guarantee, so if all else fails you're just paying the shipping costs, which is par for the course if you're anything like me.
Now let's have a look at the Ahh Bra. Similar concept, I see, though currently twice the price. This looks a bit closer to the Superbra in design, though it's a little higher-cut even than that. Is that an issue, do you tend to wear low-cut tops? The way it's constructed in the middle looks the same as the Superbra, though, whereas the Genie had a slightly different construction, in the area which made me wonder how good the Genie is for larger cup sizes.
I'd suggest contacting both companies to ask how their bras are for larger cup sizes. Both look like they'll be excellent, though. On second thoughts, I think they're both constructed the same, but the Genie bra is lower-cut and possibly just looks different because it's on a smaller-breasted model. It's also hugely cheaper. I'd check that the Genie stretches to your cup size, and if so, go for it.
You get killer cleavage with all of these, by the way, because there's nothing to separate the breasts. The Superbra is cheaper than the Ahh bra, incidentally, and you can buy it singly, though I'm not sure the size range is enough for you.
ETA: Very useful discussion of both bras here. People complain that the Ahh bra tends to be thin and unsupportive, and I think there was a comment about the back being too tight, but on the other hand lots of other people loved these bras. I think you just have to try them. As you said, you can't get 100% comfort together with 100% support.
ETA2: After reading a few pages of reviews, to be honest I'd probably get the largest size Bravado and a bra extender and use that instead. At least it's a really well-made bra.
Since I'm satisfied with my every day bras, I think I probably will try the genie bra first. I've used bra extenders before and I've always found them to be fine when I'm standing or sitting upright, but less comfortable when I'm curled up on the couch and very irritating when I'm lying down.
During a flare, I'm like the Princess in the Princess and the Pea. Even a wrinkle in the bedsheets can be an irritant, so I'd like to try a bra with no plastic or metal bits at all, if possible. In the end, I may decide that it's not possible, but it's worth a shot.
The television infomercial for the genie bra featured models with a lot more variety in cup-size and shape than the web page. At least three of the models looked to be between size 20 and 24. The support looked good, but I know that models use all sorts of strange tricks to shape their breasts (such as duct tape) under clothing. If the support truly came from only the bra, I think I'd be happy with it.
They would have almost had to have used CGA to fake support though, because I think duct tape would have shown through the bra, at least in the bra-only scenes.
Considering that the bra I use in bed now, has hooks AND virtually no support, anything has to be an improvement.
Only the genie bra comes in my size though, but it's cheaper (so I probably would have tried it first, anyway). The low-cut aspect would be great if it turns out that it has enough support for out-of-the-house wear, but I don't normally wear low-cut tops around the house.
If the Genie bra turns out to be like the Fertile Mind Superbra, it'll be great. And in photos it looks more or less the same. The thing that concerned me was all the bad reviews, between the ones saying it was badly made and sized, and the ones saying you have to spend an absolute fortune on shipping so that if you want to return the bras due to poor quality or bad fit, you have still lost a lot of money. Bl00dy frustrating dilemma, that.
Were the Decent Exposures bras appealing at all? They don't have the super-stretchy bands, but they do have an excellent reputation, and maybe you could go for a back size larger to give you room to breathe when you lie down? I can't see it causing problems in the same way as it would with a usual bra, since these are crop top style. Being able to choose your own fabric might help with the skin sensitivity too, and apparently they will do adjustments for free for the first 60 days and for a small fee thereafter, which is handy with the weight loss thing.
I do have a bra that's almost identical to the Decent Exposures front closing style, and it is one of the few I can wear in bed with no discomfort issues. So far, it's come the closest to what I want, but I'm still wishing for a little more support. Maybe I'm wanting something that doesn't exist, good support and comfort. It does seem that you have to sacrifice one for the other.
There's a youtube video by a plus size gal (I believe she ordered the 3X, and I would be ordering one size larger) reviewing the genie bra, and wearing it (looked surprisingly good).
One thing she said is that the bra needs to be snug to be supportive. She was torn between ordering the 3X and the 4X and she saw that on the website, there's a recommendation to order the smaller size if you're between sizes - which she did, though she noticed that the instructions weren't very noticeable and could easily be overlooked. She wondered whether the women who found the bras unsupportive had not followed that advice.
I've also seen a similar tank shaper on the OneStopPlus.com website - though they don't call it a bra. It's considerably more expensive per bra, but it would be cheaper to try, and I know the company has a generous return policy (and I can usually find a good online coupone code).
I'm still mulling it over. Summer is my best health season, and I've not had much of an issue with the bras I have. Right now, even my newest Cacique soft cup bras have been comfortable enough to sleep in. They also have enough support that I'm comfortable going out in them. For dressy occasions I wear the Cacique padded underwires (though I need hubby's help to get into it). I've never had an underwire so comfortable (it still has only about a 5 hour window of comfort, but that really hasn't been an issue).
If the year progresses as it has for the past few, I should be happy with what I've got until around November. Once cold, damp weather sets in, I'll be having more flares and general discomfort and will become annoyed with the bras I have.
That gives me some time to lose more weight and get into a smaller size, where there'll be more choices.
Genie Bra, Ahh Bra or other seamless microfiber bras
and she loved how it fit. 
rosey
