"Flat Out" or "Full Throttle?"

It turns out that Sarah Mower and I have something else in common in addition to our obsessive love for fashion: we are both extremely flat-chested. In this month's issue of Vogue, Mower and Vogue beauty editor Catherine Piercy casually debated the benefits/ drawbacks of being flat-chested versus top-heavy, and how both body types make it easier or more difficult to wear certain styles.

I immediately identified with Mower, who wrote about the difficulty of finding bras to properly fit her 36AA size. Now, I've never purchased a "grown-up" bra, so I have no idea what these sizes mean, but I'm deducing that 36AA is an obscure size. So, this would definitely be a negative point for the small-chested ladies: difficulty of finding undergarments. I would recommend that Ms. Mower do what I do when in need of new undergarments: seek out the children's department in stores like Nordstrom. I bought six adorable children's bras there for under $20. Granted, I shopped alongside elementary school girls, but I found exactly what I needed. We flat-chested women certainly can't shop at Victoria's Secret, but we can find pretty, utilitarian pieces.

While we may have trouble finding bras that fit, Mower was quick to point out that we have far more style options than our bustier counterparts. Not only do flat-chested women look "chicer and younger" (Mower's words, not mine!), we can get away with wearing frilly tops and blouses, bandeaux tops, halter necks, and asymmetrical necklines with ease and grace. There's no doubt about it: small-chested women can pull off looks that would be downright offensive or vulgar on fuller body types. Perhaps this is why thin models (who tend to have small chests) tend to be most prolific on the runway? There are simply far more clothing options.

On the other hand, there are styles that we flat-chested women can simply not wear, or not wear as well as more shapely women. Strapless tops and dresses just look ill-proportioned on flat-chested women. They are also extremely difficult to wear and leave the wearer quite self-conscious. I had to wear a strapless bridesmaid dress once and were it not for the detachable shoulder straps, I might have needed to staple the dress to my chest to keep it from falling down. And, let's face it, shapelier women do look sexier in certain looks.

So, which body type is more conducive to fashion: flat-chested or "full throttle?" Because body type is so much a part of our identity, as Mower points out, I'm partial to the merits of the flat-chest. I think in this case, though, to each her own!

(** both images from Google**)