Women Over 60 Are Replacing Their Bras With This Tank. Here’s Why Your Bra Rides Up Your Back by Lunch.
Marlene Kowalski, 68, spent years tugging her bra band down in church. Then a five-second test showed her where the sag really came from. Here’s the test, and the tank she wears now instead of a bra.
I’m 68 and I live in Toledo, Ohio. A good number of the women I know from church have switched to a snug tank with the bra built in, and I have too.
Think about your bra today. It sat right at breakfast. By ten the band had crept up your back. By lunch it was near your shoulder blades, the straps had slipped, and your chest sat lower than it did when you got dressed. So you hiked the straps and yanked the band down through your blouse. An hour later you did it again.
Most of us call that sagging and blame getting older. Some of it is. But a lot of what you see in the mirror by afternoon is a bra that has slid. There’s a test that shows it in about five seconds, and I’ll show you.
The arms up test
Try it with the bra you have on right now. Lift both arms over your head, like you’re reaching for a high shelf, and bring them down slow. Then feel the back of your band.
On most women over 60 I’ve asked to try it, the band came up with her arms and stayed up. It sat high on her back. In front, her chest had dropped, and on the bigger gals it slid right out the bottom of the cups.
I found it by accident. My friend Irene from choir wears a 40DD, and every fall she tells me she’s “dropped another inch.” Last spring she reached up for the cake plate on my top shelf, and I watched her band jump halfway up her back. I tugged it down for her, and her chest came right back up with it. We both just stood there in my kitchen.
Then I tried it on myself
I’m a 38DDD. That Sunday I was standing in the church parking lot after choir with my hand up the back of my sweater, pulling my band down. I’d been doing it all through the service.
That night I did the arms up test in my bathroom mirror. The band went up and stayed up. I stood there in my slip and felt pretty dumb, to be honest with you. I’d been doing the same thing as Irene for years and never noticed.
The three fixes I tried
I tried all of these, one after the other, for about ten years.
A smaller band. The saleslady told me to go down a band size so it grips. It does slide less. It also leaves a red line around your ribs by noon, and more than once I took mine off in the car.
Shorter straps. I cranked mine up to lift the front. Short straps pull the back of the band even higher, and then the straps are carrying everything and digging into your shoulders.
A tank top with a shelf bra inside. I thought that might be it. Then I turned one inside out, and there’s a strip of elastic under the chest. It rolled up on me the same as a band does.
Why a bra slides up your back
A bra has one anchor, the band around your ribs. The straps go over your shoulders, and the weight of your chest hangs off the front.
It works like a seesaw. The weight in front pulls the front of the band down, and when the front goes down, the back comes up. Every time you reach for something or bend over the dishwasher, it walks up a little more. The heavier your chest, the harder the front pulls. That’s why Irene and I, both big up top, had it the worst.
So a tighter band or shorter straps just fight the seesaw. As long as the band is the anchor, it’s still there.
What my sister had on
My sister Dolores is 71 and bigger up top than me. That Easter she came to dinner in a thin knit top and never once reached behind her back all afternoon. I asked her what bra she had on. She pulled her collar over so I could see a wide flat strap and said, “It’s not a bra. It’s a tank.”
It’s called Susie’s Built-in Bra Comfort Tank. I ordered one that night. I figured it would ride up like everything else.
When it came, I turned it inside out, same as I did with the shelf bra tank. There’s no band under the cups. The molded cups are built into the front, and the body is snug, 80% nylon and 20% spandex, from your chest down past your hips. The hem is long enough to tuck into your pants. Once it’s tucked, the tank is held down from below, at your hips, so there’s no seesaw.
If you’re big up top
My friends who are big up top always ask me this first. I’m a 38DDD, and the tank stays in place for me when I tuck it in. The snug body and the long hem hold it from below instead of a band around my ribs. It won’t give you the lifted shape of an underwire push up bra. What you get is molded cups, coverage and a steady position all day. Barbara, whose review is below, wears a 40DD and says the same thing. The straps are wide and flat, and there are no hooks and no wire. If the size is wrong, the 90 day guarantee sends you a new size free, and you keep the first one.
I did the test again
I put it on, tucked it into my slacks and stood at the same bathroom mirror. Arms up, arms down, slow. It didn’t move. I did it a few more times because I didn’t trust it.
That Sunday I wore it to church. We stood for all four verses and I held the hymn book up the whole time. It wasn’t until I got to the car that I realized my hand hadn’t gone up the back of my sweater once.
Two reviews I’d point you to
I read a lot of the reviews before I told anybody at church about it. These two sounded most like me and Irene.
Barbara, 69, size 2XL (wears a 40DD):
“My old bra was halfway up my back by the time I got to the grocery store. This one stays put if I tuck it in my slacks. It doesn’t lift me like my underwire did. It just stays where it is, which is what I wanted.”
Carol, 71, size L:
“Tucked in it stays down all day. Untucked it creeps up when I bend over, so I tuck it. Took me a couple days to stop reaching back for a band that isn’t there.”
That’s my story. Here’s what you need to know to get one.
The tank is Susie’s Built-in Bra Comfort Tank. It has molded cups built into the front, wide flat straps, a snug nylon and spandex body and a long hem that tucks in. It has no band, no hooks and no wire, and it pulls on over your head. Sizes run S to 6XL. Colors are nude, black, coffee, olive green and burgundy.
My recommendation: get the 3 pack. Three tanks are $69.90, which works out to $23.30 a tank. That gives you one to wear, one in the wash and one spare, and you’ll want the spare by the end of the first week.
If you want a drawer full: five tanks are $104.85, or $20.97 a tank.
If you only want one: a single tank is $34.95.
Shipping is free in the US.
You get 90 days to try the fit. If the size isn’t right, they send you a new size free. You keep the first one, and there’s nothing to send back.
Picking your size: go by your shirt size. You don’t need a band number or a cup letter, which still tickles me after fifty years of guessing at band numbers. If you’re between sizes, go up one. The size chart on the site shows which bra sizes each tank size covers.
Susie’s Built-in Bra Comfort Tank
3 tanks for $69.90 ($23.30 each) · Free US shipping
- No band to ride up your back
- Long hem tucks in, so it’s held down at your hips
- Molded cups built in, with coverage for fuller busts
- Wide, flat straps. No hooks, no wire
- Go by your shirt size, S to 6XL
90 days to try the fit. Wrong size? A new size free, keep the first one, nothing to send back.
Get the 3 Pack: $23.30 a Tank →One to wear, one in the wash and one spare.
Questions women ask me
“Will it fix sagging?”
It won’t lift you higher than you are. It keeps you where you were at breakfast, so you’re not sitting lower by lunch. For me that afternoon drop was most of what I hated.
“Will it look like I have no bra on?”
No. The molded cups give you shape and cover, and the body lies flat under a blouse. There’s no band, so there’s no line across your back.
“Can I wear it by itself?”
Yes. The square neckline and wide straps look like a regular tank top. I wear mine alone in the garden and under a cardigan to church.
“How do I wash it?”
I wash mine and lay it flat to dry. Check the care label on yours.
“My shoulder is stiff. Can I get it on?”
Sit on the edge of the bed and take your time. It goes on over your head like a t-shirt, and there’s nothing to reach behind you for.
“What are the guarantee terms?”
You have 90 days from delivery to try the fit. If the size is wrong, they send one new size free and you keep the first. It covers size and fit. It is not a money back guarantee.
Ready when you are
If your band is up your back by ten in the morning, try the tank. Tuck it in, lift your arms and see where it sits.
3 tanks for $69.90, $23.30 each. Free US shipping. 90 days to try the fit, with a new size free if yours is wrong.
