Carolunderwire bra

Round1/7

Lindabuilt-in-bra tank

The Haskins Twins Test · 7 days · 7 rounds

My Twin Wore Her Underwire Bra and I Wore a Built-In-Bra Tank for 7 Days. Her Bra Lost on the Band, the Clasp and the Wash.

Same face, same 38DD, same shoulders since high school. The only thing different between us was what we put on in the morning, so we scored it, round by round.

Linda Haskins, 66, with her twin sister CarolColumbus, Ohio · a reader story

Carol in a t-shirt over her underwire bra, Linda in the built-in-bra tank

Carol38DD underwire bra

Linda38DD built-in-bra tank

Day 1, our front hall. Carol has her usual underwire under the t-shirt. I'm in the tank on its own.

Carol	Tale of the tape	Linda
66	Age	66
38DD	Bra size	38DD
5′5″	Height	5′5″
Arthritis, both shoulders	Shoulders	Arthritis, both shoulders
Underwire, hooks at the back	Wearing	Pull-on tank, cups sewn in

Carol and I have been the same size since we were fifteen. We bought the same bras for fifty years, complained about the same bras, and threw out the same bras. So when I switched to a built-in-bra tank this spring and told her I hadn't worn a hook since, she said what every woman with a real bust says: "A tank can't hold a 38DD."

That's when we realised we were the fairest test anyone could run. Two identical bodies. If one of us had a better day, it wasn't the body. It was the garment.

The rules

Seven days. Carol in her own underwire bra, me in my tank.
Same tops, same errands, same walk, same washing machine.
A photo of each of us every round, taken by the other one.
Each round goes to whoever had the better day. No ties.

Round 1

Getting dressed7:30 am, bedroom, a stopwatch on the dresser

Carol reaching behind her back for the bra hooks — Carol

Linda smoothing the tank down after pulling it on — Linda

41 sechooks, straps, adjust

Time to dressed

4 secover the head, done

CarolMy shoulders don't turn back the way they used to. I reached behind me for the hooks, missed the middle one twice, and Linda read the stopwatch out loud the whole time.

LindaI pulled the tank on over my head and smoothed it down. There is nothing at the back to reach. My arms barely went above my shoulders.

Round 1Linda's tank wins

Round 2

The 3 pm shoulder checkEight hours in, kitchen, straps lifted

A red groove under Carol's thin bra strap — Carol

Linda lifting the wide tank strap, skin unmarked — Linda

3/8 instrap width

Where the weight sits

2 instrap width

A 38DD bust is real weight, and in an underwire bra most of it hangs from the band and two thin straps. By three o'clock Carol's straps had pressed a red groove into the top of both shoulders, and the band had left a line right around her ribs.

My tank's straps are two inches wide, about three fingers. The same weight spreads across the whole top of the shoulder, and there is no band at the ribs at all. I lifted my strap and the skin underneath was plain and unmarked.

Round 2Linda's tank wins

Round 3

The same fitted top, from behindMatching grey knit tops, our hallway

Carol from behind, a bra band line showing through her knit top — Carol

Linda from behind in the same knit top, smooth back — Linda

Yesband line + hook bump

Lines through the knit

Noone smooth line

We bought two of the same fine-knit top and took the photos thirty seconds apart. Same back, same weight, same posture. Carol's shows the ridge of the band across her mid-back, the soft skin pushed up over it, and the bump of the hooks.

CarolI have avoided fitted tops for twenty years because of that roll. I thought it was my back. It's the band pressing in, and Linda doesn't have one.

Round 3Linda's tank wins

See the built-in-bra tank Linda wore →

Round 4

The walk around the block1.2 miles, two hills, the support round

Carol walking with an arm across her chest — Carol

Linda walking briskly in the tank, arms swinging — Linda

3 timesarm across the chest

Held herself in

0 timesarms swinging

This was the round Carol was sure she'd win. A tank can't hold a 38DD, remember.

LindaThe cups in my tank are shaped and sewn into the lining, so they sit where they're meant to and lift from underneath. The wide straps carry the weight from above. I swung my arms the whole way up both hills and never once put a hand to my chest.

CarolMy band rode up at the back on the first hill, and once it rides up, the front drops. I held my arm across myself three times. Linda counted.

Round 4Linda's tank wins

Round 5

The washing machineSame load, same warm cycle

An underwire poking out of the bra after washing — Carol's bra

The tank turned inside out, cups sewn flat into the lining — Linda's tank

Nowire through the channel

Ready to wear again

Yescups flat, in place

Carol's bra went in a mesh bag, the way you're told to. It came out with the end of the underwire worked through the fabric channel under the left cup. It was her good bra.

My tank went in loose with the towels. I turned it inside out on the counter so Carol could see: the cups are sewn into the lining, all the way round. There's no pocket and no loose pad, so they can't fold, flip or wander in the wash. It came out flat and went straight back on.

Round 5Linda's tank wins

Round 6

The low V-neck dressSaturday dinner, the same navy wrap dress

Linda in the same dress with the tank neckline showing in the V — Linda

Hiddenunder a deep V

Plunging neckline

Showssquare neckline

LindaFair is fair. The tank has a straight, square neckline, and in a dress cut down to here, it shows. Carol's bra disappeared under the V. If plunging necklines are your thing, keep one bra for those nights.

CarolI'll take it. One round. I own exactly one dress like this.

Round 6Carol's bra wins

Round 7

9 pm, falling asleep in itThe end of a long day, living room

Carol unhooking her bra on the sofa at 9 pm — Carol

Linda dozing in a recliner in the tank — Linda

8:52 pmbra off, couldn't wait

Comfortable until

Bedtimedozed off in it

Every evening that week, Carol had her hand up the back of her t-shirt for the hooks before the news was over. On the warm Thursday she also had a damp line right where the band sat.

I fell asleep in the recliner in my tank twice. There's no wire to dig in when you slump, no band to roll, and nothing to unhook, so there's no moment where you finally get relief. There's just nothing bothering you.

Round 7Linda's tank wins

Final score · 7 days

1Carol’s bra

–

6Linda’s tank

R1 Getting dressed	Tank
R2 The 3 pm shoulder check	Tank
R3 Fitted top from behind	Tank
R4 The walk (support)	Tank
R5 The washing machine	Tank
R6 Low V-neck dress	Bra
R7 9 pm, falling asleep	Tank

Why the underwire bra lost six rounds out of seven

Carol and I are the same body, so none of it came down to shape or size. It came down to four parts of a bra that the tank simply doesn't have.

No band. An underwire hangs most of a full bust from a tight elastic band around the ribs. The tank lifts with sewn-in cups and wide straps instead, so nothing presses around you or rides up the back.

No hooks. The clasp sits exactly where stiff shoulders can't reach. The tank pulls on over the head in one movement.

No wire. Nothing to dig in when you sit, and nothing to work its way out in the wash.

No thin straps. Two-inch straps spread the weight across the top of the shoulder, so there's no groove by mid-afternoon.

Carol ordering tanks on her phone at the kitchen table with Linda

Day 8, our kitchen table.

"I lost to my own sister six rounds to one, wearing the exact same body. I ordered three the next morning, and I've kept one bra for the navy dress."Carol Haskins, 66, 38DD

The tank we both wear now is the Freeform Tank. It comes in six colours from S to 3XL, and you order it by your usual bra size, so Carol and I wear the same size in it as we did in our bras.