Myth-busting 5 underwear 'rules'

0:15This is Stylish, the podcast for all things fashion, brand, business and beauty. My name is Madison Sullivan Thorpe and I am joined as always by my co-host Joanna Fleming and Annika Joshi-Smith. Hello. Happy Wednesday. I feel like I'm kind of stepping on your toes delivering this news, but I feel like we have to let everyone know that there's going to be more stylish. Yes, step away, girlfriend. Go for it. So I thought before we jump into today's episode, I wanted to let you know that every second Friday, so once a fortnight, we are bringing you a new episode with Mads and Head of Business Development, Rhiannon Joyce, who loves to fill in for this podcast.

0:55Yeah, no stranger to the community. She's our fourth chair. I feel like she should be here. So on a Wednesday, you'll continue to hear us as normal. So your beauty, fashion, lifestyle cleaning chat that you all love. But over there, you'll get more conversation around brand and marketing. So Mads and Rhiannon are both obviously our in-house experts on all things brand marketing in business and they get a lot of questions about their careers and all those kinds of things. So that's what they're going to be covering on those episodes. And I've already kind of had a little preview of it and I feel like it's going to be fantastic and I think you're going to love it.

1:29I can't wait for this. Like honestly, when you're in a room with Rhi and Mads, it's just like infectious and you want to sponge it all up. And I feel like the listeners are just going to absolutely learn so much from this new extension. That's really kind, guys. We are really excited. For those of you who don't know, I actually met Rhi before I started Stylish. And yeah, if you have the displeasure of being stuck with us at a wine bar, it is like Yaptown. But we are so excited. And I think so much of what we actually talk about at said wine bars is what our episodes will centre around. But our first episode, individually, Rhi and I get a lot of questions about our own careers and career journeys.

2:09And a lot of those questions, both online and offline, people have come up to us at Wine Bars asking us, you know, for career advice and whatnot. So we thought it would actually be super helpful before we kind of get into covering everything from brand stories, fashion and industry trends or interesting career stories that we'd kind of start off by laying out our own careers and, you know, the relevant roles and lessons along the way. So hopefully there's some tidbits. I get a lot of people asking if I can go for a coffee with them and I'd love to say yes to all of them, but there are only so many hours in my day.

2:40Well, this will be the answer. Yeah. Grab a coffee and pop us in your ears. But hopefully everyone enjoys it and a little bit more stylish out in the world. Yeah. Well, feel free to let us know as well over on our socials at Stylish Pod if there's specific things you really want to hear from Mads and Ree or from the three of us that you're hearing in your ears right now. Always feel free to drop us a line. We're always happy to hear from you and happy to have your suggestions. So really helps us to form the episodes. 100%. We love a little listener input. We do. Look at us just growing. I love that.

3:13I feel proud right now. I feel bad that there's going to be every second week someone's going to have to listen to me on a Wednesday and a Friday should they so choose. Oh, sure. You've got fans, girl. I'm one of them. You're like, I am the one in on this. Well, today we are doing a special myth-based episode, a little bit like our rules episodes. I would say similar structure. We've done a couple of these before and we know that you guys really enjoy them. So we thought, why not do one about something that we all wear every single day, or at least I think a majority of us wearing every single day, underwear.

3:45With the help of an array of experts, we are going to prove whether five common underwear myths are fact or fiction. We'll dive into those myths in a second. But before we do that, do we have a swap? We sure do. And I thought, why not deliver something? She's not even waiting for me to say who wants to go first. Guys, this is my number one time to shine, okay? You know what? No, no, that's all right. It's your place. You go. Hi, guys. We'll fight out. We'll fight out for two and three. So, okay, question for you both. Do you wear period underwear? Yes. Love them. I have. I don't. I'm trying. Okay, great.

4:22I'm here to help. I honestly, I hate, like I love the idea of sleeping with a tampon and it's just, I don't know. I was always told not to. Are you not meant to do that? I don't think you meant to do that. Okay, well, maybe that's why I hate it because I have. No, I think you can just so long as you get up and change it with you. Right. Okay. Yeah. Anyway, so I just hate it. And so I have tried almost every, I want to say period-related brand, when it comes to underwear, on the market. And I think I found by far my favorite. And it's a Kiwi brand called Awa, A-W-W-A. And I honestly think these girls are doing such a great job in period care.

5:01The size range to start with is so inclusive. So they start at 3X small and go all the way up to 6XL, which is actually a bigger range than Skims. And they're all made from natural organic and recycled fabric. So obviously we want like the best, most breathable wear down there. And I don't know why I need to get my crotch. I like how your voice changed that and your eyes diverted down to your pusswana. I know, my pusswana, my little cooch. But anyway, we want to make sure the cooch is always like, you know, protected. did. And these period-proof undies, I want to say, maybe I'm the spokesperson for the brand, but they also support with postpartum and incontinence.

5:36So these are so many issues that obviously as women, we're probably likely going to go through at some point in our lives, you know, when you have a little giggle and a little wee. So everyone get behind our, I swear, like I live in their boxer brief and they are so comfy. Yeah, I wear modi-bodi, but I also liked that you You mentioned the three extra small as well. For like younger girls that get their periods too that aren't quite in women's sizing, they can access them as well. Can I tell you guys a funny little story quickly? Yeah. So when I first got my period, while there's a full TMI, I remember I was 13 and I was at school and mum was at work, so dad had to come pick me up.

6:12And I will never forget, we got home and he didn't know what to do with me. And I was in school uniform and he just put me in the shower. And I stood there in my uniform until my mum came home. And if period undies were on the market, then God, they would have saved my life because him trying to explain to me what a tampon was, I would never forget. I mean, he probably didn't even know. Mum didn't word him up. No, poor guy. He just wasn't ready for it. Oh, bless. Neither were you by the tampon. Well, Mads, we need to get you on the period undies train because I'm all about a period undie. I only wear them to bed because I'm a tampon wearer during the day.

6:51but I love period undies. It's all I wear now. Okay. Well, you know, the night is still young. Jo, what's your swap? My swap in line with today's topic being around underwear, I thought I would swap in my favourite bra. Oh, God. I think this is probably the best bra I've ever owned. It's the Fine Lines Attitude Wireless Plunge Bra. Yeah. So it doesn't have any underwire and it is just so comfortable. I honestly, I think I'm wearing it now. Hang on. Yeah, I'm wearing it now. I absolutely love it. It just supports me so much. It fits me beautifully. Yeah. And I think that's the key part is knowing your bra size, which we're going to talk about a little bit today.

7:32Yeah. But I love this bra. I absolutely love the brand Fine Lines. They do some great bras. I've heard great things. Yeah. Really, really great. I'm with you on Fine Lines. I know Nadia Bartel works with them a lot. Yeah, she does. Like all the beautiful Henny tanks. And you know how sometimes in a tank you just want to have like the perfect kind of like coverage, I would say. I feel like she always opts for a fine lines bra and I've got in behind one as well and they really do sit so well. They give the girls a nice lift as well. Their strapless bra is fantastic as well, which we'll talk about later.

8:01Okay, I'll need to try that. There's so many notes you need to make. I don't have a pen. I'll have to listen back. Don't worry, I always listen back. Okay, well, again, in the spirit of today's episode. So underwear-wise, I am a religious G-string wearer. Oh, hello, cheeky girl. Oh, well, cheeky cheeky. Cheeky cheeks. I don't know why I said it. You're cracking on to me. It's really starting to feel like it. It's a thing now. So, Kate's giggling in the corner. We're all got the giggles today. Usually, I am a Skims or Calvin Klein G loyalist. Every time I say the word G or G-string, I just think of Kath and Kim as well.

8:39It's just not a good thing. But recently, I bought the invisible G-string brief from Cotton On Body, which was like$13. Okay. Which is much cheaper. than Skims and Calvin Klein. And they are great. They wash well. They wear well. They're a bloody bargain. Anyway, I've got nothing else to add. I love that. Just great. Do they come in a range of colours? Yes. I love that too. Better believe that I only wear black or nude. I love the cotton on body Brasiliano brief, which is not a G-string, but it's also not like a full brief. Like you don't have full bum coverage. Oh. But they're still very seamless.

9:15Like you can't see them under. Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah, good. So if you hate a G-string like me, that's it. I'm so into that. I'm going to give those a try. Yeah. I love a seamless. I'll send you the link. You don't want to give mine a try? I mean, I just think a G's really uncomfortable. Yes. Yeah. That, oh, really? Oh, you're not one of those people that's going to be like, oh, it's so comfortable. I have a piece of fabric up my ass all day. Surely you're not going to be one of those people. I was like, where the hell's your going without one? My mother has been firm in this lifetime about very few things.

9:43Free will was always exercised, but I honestly think when I was about 16 or 17, she was like, we cannot keep wearing that kind of underwear with jeans. VPL is not it. Really? VPL is visible panty line for those playing along. I'm also seamless. Don't get me wrong. I've got to admit, I hate a visible panty line. She got me straight into a jeep. At 16. Respect to mum. Go off, mum. Maybe I was 17. I don't know. I feel like her parenting's coming. She was really strict. She was really strict. So that was a weird move from her? It was. Clearly the VPL was bad enough. Good on her. Okay, enough about my mother's parenting techniques.

10:25And now we are on to true or false five underwear myths. I feel like we need a sound that is like myth busters or something. We should find it. Yeah, we should do that. You didn't want me to see it and we just used that clip, would it? We can, yeah. Or we could find it. Okay, so even though it's something that we wear every day, no matter the weather or outfit, well, maybe it depends on the outfit, there's almost always at least one undergarment on our bodies. And there's a lot we don't know or we think we know about our underwear. So we give a lot of consideration to how we clothe ourselves. And we spend a lot of time on this podcast talking about fashion.

11:04But we often leave what's underneath it all as an afterthought. So we thought we would cover underwear today and all of the myths associated. Everything from what's the healthiest fabric to wear down there, could the type of bra you wear cause health issues down the track? There are a lot of myths and facts out there. So today, with the help of experts from Women's Health Melbourne and Intimate Ecology, we'll be figuring out whether five common underwear myths are fact or fiction. So let's jump in. I'm quite excited. I am usually really wrong in a lot of these, unless it was the fragrance episode.

11:39I was pretty good there. Yeah. The cleaning one, I was like, eh. Cleaning one is very, Sean. But I was very keen to do this episode. Yeah. I really was pushing for the underwear discussion because I am a big believer that the underwear is very important in building an outfit. Like we were just talking about visible panty line. Like those kind of things can really make or break an outfit, I feel. I agree. And can make you feel more comfortable and confident in your outfits too. Yeah, agree. So that takes us to myth one. Not wearing a bra causes breasts to sag prematurely. If you have breasts, you've undoubtedly heard this one before, that not wearing a bra causes them to sag prematurely.

12:16So I want to ask each of you from your experience, true or false? I think true. You reckon? Okay. Well, I don't know. I just figure gravity. Yeah, okay. It's like holding them there versus letting them go. Yeah. I don't know about you, but there's something to go for me. And I feel like this is so stereotypical, but it's like, you know, in movies when it's like they always talk about maybe sometimes the older woman, they're like, when I was younger and my tits were up here and then now they're down here. Yeah. So I feel like I'm with meds on this one. It has to be true. Yeah. I feel like it's more around aging rather than wearing the bra.

12:49But I do understand your viewpoint that like having... I've brought physics in. Having almost like a compression garment on would stop that skin from having pressure on it, dragging it down, which if you have a bigger bust, obviously you're going to experience more of that sagging because there's more weight in there. Yeah. And obviously these mama jugs need to be kept, you know. You're talking about yourself. That was obviously a joke. Yeah. For anyone who's never seen me, they are not a mama jug, let me tell you. Okay, so Dr. Ralia Liu, who's an obstetrician and gynecologist and the director of Women's Health Melbourne, says she's not aware of any scientific research proving that not wearing a bra causes them to sag prematurely.

13:33She says we all have different breast sizes, collagen types, and hormonal exposures, for example, due to pregnancy and breastfeeding experiences and genetics that influence our propensity to suffer from this problem. A Guardian article titled Does Wearing a Bra Make Breasts More or Less Perky suggested that if wearing a bra does make a difference in how one's breasts sag, it's probably a small one. The article continues, the two biggest factors in determining how much breast droop are the weight of the breasts and the skin quality, which I feel like I just said, said Dr. Scott Bradley Glasberg, the former president of the Plastic Surgery Foundation, the research arm of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

14:09So I was onto something there. Are you guys regular bra wearers? Do you often go without? Why? Why not? Okay, well I think as a member of the itty bitty titty committee, I just can go with or without. And I think as well, like I honestly do actually really loathe underwire bras. I find them so uncomfortable. So unless for outfitting purposes is the only time that I'll actually be wearing an underwire to get the girls up and give them a little bit more like zhuzh, you know? But otherwise, my go-to, and this is like probably every single day, is a fabric bra and I wear skims. It's the Fitz Everybody Triangle Bralette and it is my ride or die.

14:52Like even like on a long haul flight, I've got that on because you can sleep with it. It doesn't have any class. Are they just soft cups? So soft. It's like so soft. It's like wearing a training bra from like being a teenager. Yeah. This sounds like one I have from Entomo. Oh my God. I've got that one too. You do? Yeah. Is it similar? Yep. Okay. Really similar. Both great. No closure at the back. So it's like not like, you know, sometimes when you sit back and digging into your back, the clots. You don't get that. So these are my ride or die. I wear them all the time. Also, shout out to Dr. Rayleigh, although she's actually my fertility specialist, and I love this woman.

15:24I've interviewed Rayleigh so many times. She's such a great person. Yeah, so I need to actually report back and tell her. You're in good hands. I'm in great hands. You're looking after my fertility and my tits. And my cooch.

15:38Mads, do you wear a bra daily? Absolutely. I just could not imagine leaving the house without a bra. Was this another rule that was set by your mum when she gave you a jean string? A lacy bra. Honestly, yeah. Now that I've really reconciled with that, yeah. My grandmother as well. I am a seven out of seven days a week regular wire bra wearer. Interesting. I'm so interested. So I was on the pill when I was younger and I was an 8D. Okay, you ready for this? Which I was a 10D. Oh, girl. I had like knockers. Guys, wait. I was also an 8D when I was on the pill. Look at her. What is happening? So you obviously can't see us because this is a podcast, so it is an audio product.

16:27I am no longer an 8D. Nor am I. Neither am I. I don't even know what I am, actually. But I've had a lot of, I guess, breast fluctuation in my life from being on the pill, I did six rounds of IVF. So I had a lot of like, boobs got really big, boobs got really small, even with like weight changes. And as I've like grown up, they've changed a lot. So I don't know what it is. I just always feel most comfortable in a wire bra. And I also feel like the shape has changed a little bit that I don't think for me, I love the look of them in say, like loose fitting tank without a bra on. So I almost always have, well, I do, I always have a wire bra unless I'm like around home.

17:11Then I will wear a wireless little t-shirt, like the triangle bras from Intimo and Skims. I've probably got four or five of those and wear those like around the house or when I'm flying on a flight that's longer than like four hours. Yeah. I love a little bralette or a crop. Yeah. So I have a couple from Cotton on Body and I also have some from Target as well. Just like soft fabric, just go over your head, like they've got no clasp or anything at the back. And I wear them day to day if I'm not actually putting a proper outfit on, which is 99 % of the time when I'm just at home and I'm in active wear.

17:43Yeah. So that's my usual. But then if I'm wearing a proper outfit, I will always put a bra on. With underwire? Well, this one that I have from Fine Lines. Yeah, you wouldn't. I have an underwire. But I do have a lot of underwire bras and I would typically gravitate towards that. But since I got this one, it's like I get sad when it's in the wash. Yeah. Yeah. See, I usually wear a T-shirt underwire bra, so I usually have an Intimo one or the Calvin Klein T-shirt bra that they do is a great one as well. But I think when we started this podcast, I was like, I would never wear anything sheer and I would never wear a miniskirt.

18:14Now look at me. I know. Girl is crazy. But if I want like a beautiful bra that I'm okay wearing with like a tank or a sheer shirt, there's a great store called Primary Intimates that do really beautiful curated edits of different brands and they have gorgeous sort of like lace or detailed bras that I like. They'll be like a soft cut with a wire which I don't mind doing. Okay. Yeah. Okay, maybe I'll start there because I've actually got a few new like opaque and sheared items that I don't know if my skims triangle will really cut it. You know, I need to make that look a bit more femme. Yeah. I have a couple of nice lacy ones from Kat the Label as well.

18:50Oh, yes. I've never shopped them but I've always heard great things. Yeah, I've got a nice brown lacy one that I can wear on. Of course it's brown. Of course it is. Next, we are going to discuss our second myth, but that will be right after a word from today's sponsor.

19:10Okay, myth number two, drumroll please. You're probably wearing the wrong bra size. This is going to be true for sure. Do you think you're wearing the correct bra size as you currently stand right now? I know that I am because I've been fitted recently, yeah. I know, I'm absolutely not. Like, this isn't from when I had 10 days, but it's definitely not like my accurate size now. I get like a bit of overhang over here and just, yeah. Yeah. So according to Dr. Lu, because our bodies change a lot with time and life stages, so I think pre-puberty, after puberty, all the things we spoke about, on the pill, off the pill, during pregnancy or fertility treatments, while breastfeeding, weight changes and hormonal changes of perimenopause and menopause.

19:53Just a nice reminder to every female listener of all the things that we go through. We go through so much. It does make sense that our bra size changes over the time of our lives. So she believes it should be reassessed from time to time. And she also says that brand and country-based size differences can complicate matters further. So great news. It's just a shit fight. So it's likely a lot of us are in fact wearing the wrong bra size. Jordi Morrison, a former lingerie buyer and employee at Women's Health Melbourne, estimates that 80 % of people wear the wrong bra size. And it's almost always in a size that's too small.

20:34She says, it's important to get fitted regularly and keep in mind that your core should support your breasts, not your shoulders. When in doubt, size down the back and size up the cup. No one is a 12B. Right. Interesting. Which is so funny because I feel like I have a lot of girlfriends who would describe themselves as a 12B. I feel like I may be wearing it. No, I think I'm a C. Look out, you. I still dropped a cup size from being on the pill. Have you been professionally fitted for a bra? And if so, how did you both find the experience? And would you recommend doing it? I would highly recommend getting fitted, especially if you've come off the pill, you've had babies, you've, you know, your weight's fluctuated, any of those factors or even if you've just aged over time and you feel like your boobs have just changed a little bit.

21:21Yeah. It's so valuable. And honestly, my bras are so much more comfortable because I'm actually in the right size. I don't have like gaping through the front or anything like that. I know that the band around the back is really well fitted as well. It just feels so much nicer to be wearing the right size bra. My boobs did shrink quite a lot post pill. And so I was wearing the wrong size or a size too large when I went in and got fitted. I got fitted at Intimo. Yes. And they just size me up. Basically, they take one look at you and they're like, yep, you're going to be that size. Yeah. You've got quite the eye for it.

21:53Yeah. You see enough of them, I guess. You get pretty good at it. But so comfortable. They also have like great bra options. Okay. I need to go and do this because I think the last time I was fitted was probably like 10 years ago, if not longer. I know. And I think now, because I wear fabric bras so often, I do think sometimes it can be easy to pick your size because it's like, you know, like I'm going for a small and there's not a whole lot to work with here and I'm not trying to go for a lift or anything of the sort. I'm just literally going for comfort. So I feel like, yeah. And it's a bit different if you're not trying to fit your boob in a cup.

22:27Yeah. And it kind of just sits like I'll go between the triangles or the bralettes and it's kind of like, you know, it's just serving the purpose of real comfort for me. I think if you're wearing something that's in a size system, like a small, medium, large. It's very different versus a cup. Yeah, definitely. Not as specific. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Mads? I was fitted. I went to Intimo as well, Jo, so we should have gone together. I was so off. I was wearing a back size bigger than what I should have been and a cup size bigger. So once I like put it on, I was like, oh, it's so weird. My t-shirts aren't like gaping around the front anymore.

23:01Like, you know, everything just sort of sat a bit better. Weirdly, they looked bigger in the right size bra than they did in the wrong one. Interesting. Go figure. Okay, so I definitely need to do the stoner. Yeah, absolutely. I do have a very funny story about the first time that I went and got fitted and my mum took me to a department store. Yeah. And it was the ugliest bra you have ever seen. And I cried through the entire department store from checkout all the way back to the car park because I was just like, I've never felt so uncool and so unglamorous in my whole life. that's a lie there's definitely been other times since then but oh my god that is a core memory that I would really like to maybe work on with my psych but I just remember mum being like it's okay I'll take you somewhere else now we know the size it can be a very uncomfortable experience for a lot of people as well and a very like revealing experience so like go to somewhere where you feel like you can trust like I fully believe in a more bespoke service for that kind of thing because it is your body and everything.

24:05I have also had a fitting at SheScience. I think they have a store in, I believe it's in Hawthorne. Okay. And they specialize in a really wide variety of bra sizes. So if you have a much bigger bust and you worry that, you know, going somewhere they might not be able to cater to you, highly recommend them. Yeah, great. And they also have a really wide range of like workout bras as well. Great. So I think that's particularly helpful for a bigger bust, trying to find a workout bra that's going to provide them with enough support that they can do the exercise they want to do without their boobs getting in the way.