This is an odd question, but, erm, what does one wear on top under a strappy/sleeveless skating dress if one is curvy?

Under a regular sleeveless dress, I would wear a strapless bra. But I don't see that working well under a skating dress - things might pop out! At practice, I rely on my sports bra. But that would show with a sleeveless dress.

Do some of them come with shelf bras attached? I wonder if that would work. I always found the ones that came with strappy t-shirts to be useless b/c they had no support whatsoever.

I love the sleeveless dresses for competitions, but I've never bought one for this reason.

Morgail, take a look in the sticky called "Reference Links etc" --there's a post in there with gazillions of apparel websites. Most likely a dancewear website would have the undergarments you need (lots of nude bras and the like), but some skating apparel websites have them. I went to a dancewear store so I could try things on and see what would work with the dresses I have. Some women will just sew the front of a bra into a dress. As a fellow Woman with a Real Figure, you have my sympathy!! So many of these dresses are made for people with no figure. No way can I do camisole-type/spaghetti strappy stuff--just not enough support!

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Very rarely do skating dresses come with shelf bras and if they do they are not enough support for ladies of a certain cleavage...

I buy bra cups at the fabric store and sew them in. Once I bought these bra cups that you just stick on your boobs with adhesive. They stick all right. There was weeping and whaling when I tried to get those babies off. OWWW.

I've also had good luck with strapless bras, nothing has fallen out yet.

j

If you can't sew a bra into the front (my preferred solution as I'm generously endowed), would using clear bra straps work?

that's what we do, as we have several girls and women at my rink that are well-endowed. Clear bra straps work wonderfully, just make sure they are the right size (they do come in different widths).

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

See also this thread, about undergarments for a backless dress. Although you aren't specifically looking for a backless undergarment, some of the places recommended to check may also have undergarments that would work under your dress.

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I have the opposite problem in that I'm not well-endowed and have to wear a padded bra in order to have the illusion that I have "something on top."

Like jskater49, I've had little to no problems with strapless bras. The one time I did have a minor problem with a strapless bra was that the back of the dress was a bit too low back to cover up the strapless bra. For those occasions, double sided fabric tape like this one usually will do the trick. (For my recent competition though, I didn't need the tape. The dress covered up the strapless bra nicely.)

Note: I wore VS's "Very Sexy" convertible bra. I have the option of wearing a regular satin strap or a clear one. (It's removable.) But even without the straps, it works very well in holding everything in place.

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Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I noticed at a recent competition that almost all of us in the women's changing-rooms were changing into the sort of bras that can be worn strapless, but we all had clear plastic straps! They don't show once you're out there.

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Mrs Redboots
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Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Put a flesh coloured body under it, and then whatever you want under that.

Like Jazzpants, I have the opposite problem (you know it's bad when your seamstress starts pushing for you to wear padding to improve the look of the dress), but I have a Gilda Marx bra that I've bought for ballet that has clear straps and a clear back strap that works great. It's a favorite in my dance school for well-endowed and flatchested alike for its coverage without showing.

Discount Dance Supply (www.discdance.com) has an entire section of nude leotards, bras, and other options for coverage and support.

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When asked what his "secret" to success was, Wayne Gretsky said: "Skate to where the puck is going and not to where it has been."
Is the figure skating version of this: Skate as if you're doing an axel and not just learning how to hop?

I have noticed most of my friends who are full figured use the bra's with a clear strap. If you have the funds I would recommend having your dress made with an extra layer of nude fabric in those area where a bra strap might go. A good dress maker can also build the bra into the dress but I think that only works in those who are a B or C in size.

I never wear a bra but all my dresses have a shelf bra built in which works for my very petite bust line.

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I am a D cup, and my dressmaker designed my dance dresses so that I could wear a full-figure bra underneath. She found a good combination of mesh and liner that matched my skintone from a distance and didn't allow for the bra showing through. (Note that for compulsory dances, I don't need as much support (anti-bounce) as someone competing freestyle, though.)

She's also sewn bras into dresses for other adult clients.

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Thanks for all the suggestions! I may end up getting a sleeveless one after all I don't have anything picked out yet, but there are so many gorgeous sleeveless ones out there.

Jockey sells a great strapless bra. It is padded and has silicone all around the cups, so they really stick. I wore it in competition last year and it didn't budge. You could also add clear straps for more support too.

my favorite bra for skating dresses (although i do not need very much support ) is the victorias secret 100-way bra. i'm not sure it will solve that particular problem, but it does very well under almost all skating dresses

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