bust

• Measure around the largest part of the bust.
• Keep the measuring tape straight across the front and back.
• Keep your arms at your sides
• Breathe out (we tend to hold our breath when taking measurements)

waist

Finding the natural waist is important. The natural waist is higher than most think; about 1 inch above your belly button. To find your natural waist, follow the photo below:

• Bend to either side. Where your body bends is the natural waist.
• Keep the measuring tape straight across the front and back.
• Breathe out (we tend to hold our breath when taking measurements)

hip

• Measure around the largest part of your hips and bottom.
• Be sure that the measuring tape is straight across the front and back.
Now you can take this new education and find the perfect garment for every athletic venture! Have fun!

Want to know what other people have to say about the fit of a certain product? Check out lululemon.com's "We heart feedback" section under each product!

Above: Melissa, the designer of the Ta Ta Tamer and author of this blog post, at her desk in our head office in Vancouver, BC. 

How exciting that the Ta Ta Tamer is making it’s online debut! I couldn’t be more excited to share this product with our online guests.

Let me tell you a little about this bad boy; The Ta Ta Tamer is lululemon’s very first Full Support Sports bra – honest to goodness ladies, Full Support! I’m on the small end of the big boob girls out there but I have enough that I used to wear 2 bras to be comfortable when running. So naturally when I was asked where I saw myself on the Design Team (I was working as a Product Developer, always with goals to move into Design) I couldn’t help but suggest I design Full Support bras for us. The Ta Ta Tamer is my first ‘baby’ and we’ve had such great response from the guests in our stores that I just couldn’t wait to be able to share this with everyone.

We receive regular emails from stores/guests/online community about women no longer needing to wear multiple bras to go for a run – these are the things that make my life and the stories that give me chills I print out and put on my cork board for daily inspiration.

The goal with the TTT was to have a bra geared at larger cup sizes C-DD’s (eventually going up to E cups online only – stay tuned!) specifically for high impact sports like running. One of my pet peeves with most sports bras available today is that they smoosh, I’m a girl and a curvy one and I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t look like a girl when I’m running. The cups maintain your shape – say goodbye to uni-boob! The Ta Ta Tamer is available in regular bra sizes that fit true to size – if you don’t know your size you may want to go to a specialty bra store to get properly fitted, or if you are close to a lululemon athletica location we have fit experts there that would be happy to help you.  

Keep in mind this is designed specifically for full support – which means a snug fit – that’s how it works.

• Try to fit the bra on the middle row of hook & eye loops and a comfortable strap length for regular gym workouts and medium impact activities.
• Specific non stretch areas under the bust and under the arms take a lot of the weight off of your shoulders and keep it around the band – which is where it should be.
• Stabilized shoulder straps help control movement.
• The shoulder straps are also  lightly padded and a little wider to help distribute weight and be as comfortable as possible.
• Mesh around the cup areas not only helps with stability and motion control but also ventilation.
• Tighten up the shoulder straps and hook & eye closure for maximum support during your run

You know your bra is fitting you properly when:

• everything is feeling snug and secure
• there is no spillage out the armholes or top of the cups
• you can breathe
• your girls are front & centre – out of the way of your arms
• the rib cage band sits straight all the way around your torso – if your band is riding up your back then it’s too big and you likely need to go down a band size (*note* if the cups fit you well but the band is riding up, when you go down a band size you need to go up a cup size – so a 36C that is riding up the back may need to try a 34D)
• Jump up and down and make sure your bounce is minimal – adjust straps accordingly

Enjoy! And please send feedback! The Fall 09 colors (hitting stores somewhere close to August) will have adjustable straps in the back so you can easily hide the straps under your racerback tanks (you can see I like to colour coordinate my bras with my outfits).

Here's a peek at what we currently have available online:

In Black or Aruba: http://shop.lululemon.com/Ta_Ta_Tamer_II/
In Alarming: http://shop.lululemon.com/Ta_Ta_Tamer_II/

Or, as always, pop into your local lululemon and do the jump-up-and-down-in-the-change-room test.

Enjoy in good health!

Nothing gets me more excited than when I'm working in our stores and I hear about guests falling in love with the TaTa Tamer. It may seem a little self-serving to name the TTT as my favourite piece of lululemon, but how can I not?

Any girl who's ever had to wear two bras just to go for a run knows exactly where I'm coming from. It's of course a lot more than that for me, being my first (read: more gorgeous supportive bras to come!) major contribution to lululemon in the world of full support sports bras.

I'm passionate about what I do: bras and underwear are fun and shouldn't be boring! I believe they should be a part of your outfit; they should look great and function for you no matter what you're doing.

I love solving problems in creative ways. Whether it's educators telling me about guest experiences or it's getting the opportunity to fit someone properly in the perfect sports bra for their needs, it makes my day. It's one thing to love what you do, another to do what you love, and it's something close to incredible when doing what you love changes the lives of women in the best possible way.

I wear my TTT all the time, co-coordinating of course with whatever outfit/activity I'm up to - working, running, jumping, dodgeballin'...(yes, I have specific outfits for these activities!). I've got various colours to work with my various outfits.

I love love love being a woman, I love being active, and I don’t believe that women should ever have to compromise one for the other. I'm proud of my shape, I like my curves and I want to still look feminine while running. No more uni-boob, AND I get the support I need! What else could I ask for? It's a fun, cute garment that functions. How could the TaTa Tamer not be my favourite piece of lululemon?

Melissa is our bra and swimwear designer. Her big, hairy, ambitious goal is to have Oprah talk about one of her bras on air.

In the photo above, Melissa and MelEesa (both on our design team) are wearing the Movement Tank over top of their TaTa Tamers. To try on and fall in love with a TaTa Tamer yourself, please visit your local lululemon store.