The backless, strapless, bustier

Last week I wrote about a small miracle. I found a bra that I could wear under a low back dress.

When I bought my red velvet dress with it’s skimpy spaghetti straps and low back it didn’t occur to me that I would have a problem finding undergarments to wear with it. I have a nice collection of pretty lingerie that includes a few bustiers and one strapless brassiere, but all of them were too high in the back. I know lots of women, including myself, who occasionally wear underwear as outerwear, but there’s a difference between wanting to show off your pretty lingerie and accidentally exposing a strap. No problem, I thought, I’ll just go out and get a backless, strapless bra. When I was a teenager you could find a sampling of these low-back bustiers in every department store.  I searched and searched but couldn’t find one anywhere. I did locate some vintage 1980′s low back bustiers on e-bay, but who wants to wear a used bra? (There are limits to what I will buy second-hand.) Frustrated, I bought one of those “stick on” bras that seemed to have replaced the old-fashioned low back strapless bras. I tried it on at home and found it about as useful as a large band-aid. In end I bought a little velvet jacket and wore it over the dress to hide my bra straps.

Fast forward a couple of months. My husband found a new lingerie shop that had just opened and wanted me to see it. As I never say “no” to gifts, I went along. The boutique was called What Katie Did and I had never seen anything quite like it. All of the designs looked vintage but they were brand new! Bullet bras, old-fashioned girdles and corsets lined the walls. It was retro lingerie heaven. I searched for a strapless, backless, bra, among their selection of elegant bustiers and brassieres, but they didn’t have what I needed.

I thought it would be a lot of fun to write an article about the company for The Style Confessions, so I gave the manager my card, and not too long after was invited to their holiday party where I met the owner and designer, Katie. I’d had a bit of champagne. The dress that I couldn’t wear was on my mind. We were discussing her designs when suddenly I blurted out “You should make a strapless backless bra!!!!” I tried to backtrack and explain the situation, but I think Katie might have thought I was a little nutty, or tipsy. I was kind of embarrassed.

A year passed and another birthday loomed. My husband suggested we go back to What Katie Did and look for a birthday gift. Again, I don’t say “no” to pretty things, so we headed over to the boutique to see what we could find. I was pawing through the racks looking for something wonderfully retro to lift my mood when suddenly I saw it: a bustier with a very low back. I tried it on and thought about my red velvet dress hanging unworn and lonely in the back of my closet. I told the manager about the dress and she said “Oh yes. The bustier was your idea.” Oh. My. Goodness. Katie takes her customers’ suggestions seriously.

Thank you Katie!!!!

The Cabaret Bustier is a marvel of engineering. It stays up better than my normal strapless bra. In fact it doesn’t seem to move around at all. The boning you see in the front is made of metal, not plastic. I’m sure that helps, as does the excellent quality of the garment. I am very, very happy with my new bustier.

Would you wear a bustier like this one? Have you ever needed something like this?