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Ideal travel bra

I wasn't looking for a travel bra, but happened to see this in Costco and it struck me as the ideal travel bra, at least for someone like me. I'm not trying to advertise. Just noting that Filena "Side Smoothing Bra," seamless, tagless, wire-free, style # 74428 is comfortable for all day wear and would probably be great on a long flight.

It has removable modesty pads, so if you wash it out and need it to dry overnight you can slide the pads out and just wash the bra part. EDIT: I tried machine wash, cold, in a "delicates" bag and found that these pads shift during the spin cycle. Each pad is a contoured equilateral triangle (i.e., there's no L-R or inside-out difference), so it's fairly easy to pull them out and insert them in the proper place, but if you ignored this until dry you'd have a badly crumpled up set of pads. I will hand wash in future. Obviously, they're not to go in the dryer.

Drawback: It gives a rather smooshed/flat silhouette like a sports bra. OTOH if a minimizer is what you like then this would really do the trick. It comes in S-M-L-XL and I found it runs slightly small, so if you're between sizes go with the larger.

At Costco it was about $20 for a pack of two, one beige and one black.

Posted by
7876 posts

Several of the lower rating reviews give caution, so just a good reminder to wear whatever you’re planning to wear for several months ahead of a trip, Just like shoes, you don’t want to find out something is actually not comfortable for your specific body during the trip.

And I highly recommend bringing more than two bras on a trip. I had an underwire pick vacation time to fail.

Posted by
9436 posts

It doesnt look very supportive to me. I wear sports bras, supremely comfortable, dry fast.

Posted by
4657 posts

Big Mike, I didn't see that coming when I opened the link. 😂😂

Posted by
8156 posts

Epltd, thanks, I will check that out tomorrow as I’m going to Costco. It looks like a nice comfortable bra and that’s what I’m looking for right now. It will give me a couple of months to try it out before my trip.

Posted by
389 posts

My ideal travel bra is no bra. A cotton or silk camisole under a blouse is my choice. However this might not work for fuller figure ladies. I'm blessed with smaller breasts!

Posted by
5647 posts

Big Mike, I think there was a Seinfeld episode devoted to this "problem". 😂

Posted by
3511 posts

"None" is the ideal for my travels.
I mostly gave them up when I retired.

BigMike is obviously still on the lookout for the perfect one.... ;))

Posted by
3124 posts

Well, I'm glad this thread has been useful, for reasons of entertainment as well as practicality.

I certainly remember that Seinfeld episode -- hubs and I laugh about it often.

Posted by
358 posts

"None" is the ideal for my travels. I mostly gave them up when I
retired.

Amen to that!

Posted by
3124 posts

As I edited in the original post: I tried machine wash, cold, in a "delicates" bag and found that the removable pads shift during the spin cycle. Each pad is a contoured equilateral triangle (i.e., there's no L-R or inside-out difference), so it's fairly easy to pull them out and insert them in the proper place, but if you ignored this until dry you'd have a badly crumpled up set of pads. I will hand wash in future. Obviously, they're not to go in the dryer.

Posted by
111 posts

I just bought these yesterday and like them very much. They are very comfortable so will be making the packing list for my April trip to Belgium and the Netherlands.

Posted by
14816 posts

Just looked at these online. The instructions say you can't iron them. Like WHO would iron a bra????

I'll have to go to Costco to see if they have them in stock so I can look at them in person.

Posted by
11942 posts

The instructions say you can't iron them. Like WHO would iron a bra????

The kind of folks who made it necessary for manufacturers to put those big labels on hairdryers saying "Do not use in the shower"

Posted by
1607 posts

Re shifting pads: I safety pin them in place through the bra before washing. I unpin them after washing, smooth everything out and dry flat. Takes much less time and less frustration then trying to replace them appropriately.

Posted by
8156 posts

@epitd, I just bought a pair today and I love then! They feel very comfortable and secure. I mentioned in another post that I just had a breast reduction so buying new bras has been weird for me, since I don't really know what fits and what doesn't. But these are great! I might go back and buy a second pack - thank you!!!

Posted by
4183 posts

Unlike many, during the pandemic I actually lost weight for health reasons. That meant I was finally able to seriously consider wireless bras. I did a lot of online shopping and when I found bras that worked for me, I bought them. I was able to get rid of all my wired bras. Yayyy!

There are 2 brands and 3 options that worked best for me.

The 1st brand is Bali Women's Comfort Revolution Bras. The link below is to the Bali website, but these bras can be purchased in many online places, including Amazon: https://www.balibras.com/collections/comfort-revolution.html?bra_type=10372

The styles that worked best for me are the ComfortFlex Fit ones. Both the links I'm providing include a picture of the chart that shows the flexible sizing options.

I still have and wear my 2 of this style (DF3488) in Nude Dot and In the Navy Dot. I took the latter on my trip to Europe in the summer. These have slightly padded cups which I would never have considered except for the support. I love them and am being very tempted by the other cool colors and good prices.
https://www.balibras.com/comfort-revolution-comfortflex-fit-shaping-wirefree-bra.html

I also still have and wear all the ones of this style (DF3484) that I got. I took 2 of them on my trip. https://www.balibras.com/comfort-revolution-reg-comfortflex-fit-reg-wirefree-bra.html

The 2nd brand and 3rd option is the Spanx Breast of Both Worlds Reversible Comfort Bra. They are not cheap like the Bali bras. I have 3 of the color combinations. They come with insertable pads that were just like the ones epltd described. I'm using the past tense because the pads didn’t work for me and I threw them all away after the first try on. This bra style provides very comfortable support for me and I wear it both as a normal bra and at the gym. One big advantage with having no hooks and eyes is that I can also wear it for MRI and CT scans. I didn't take one of these on my trip last summer, but I wished I had. https://spanx.com/collections/bralettes-wireless/products/breast-of-both-worlds-reversible-comfort-bra?variant=43014644957395