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Triumph have designed the new bra to appeal to Japan's busy golfing women. The green corset-style garment can be removed and unrolled to create a 1.5m-long putting mat. When the user sinks a putt into one of the cups, a built-in speaker pumps out a congratulatory "Nice shot!".

A hardline Islamist group in Somalia has begun publicly whipping women for wearing bras that they claim violate Islam as they are 'deceptive'. The insurgent group Al Shabaab has sent gunmen into the streets of Mogadishu to round up any women who appear to have a firm bust, residents claimed yesterday. The women are then inspected to see if the firmness is natural, or if it is the result of wearing a bra. If they are found wearing , they are ordered to remove it and shake their breasts, residents said. Al Shabaab, which seeks to impose a strict interpretation...

Man Bras - Japan Brings Us Bras For Men 80 rate or flag this page By Hope Alexander God bless the Japanese, they are true innovators. Along with panties from vending machines, solar powered torches, and the beautiful but deadly martial arts like karate, kenjutsu and ginsu, they bring the world this – the man bra, or MENZUSUKYANTI It's been done before no doubt, but has it ever been done with such style? Or with such a Herculean type model heating up the screen? (The fact that none of the models appear to actually be wearing the man bra indicates...

May 19, 2009 “Concept” and “bra” aren’t two words you’d typically expect to go together. After all, a bra is the epitome of simplicity. As Seinfeld's George Costanza said, “Two cups in the front, two loops in the back. How do they do it?” Well, Japanese lingerie maker Triumph International has complicated the humble undergarment with its concept “Konkatsu bra” – a bra that is designed to help Japanese women search for husbands by proudly declaring they're “on the hunt”. Triumph International's Konkatsu Bra takes its name from an abbreviated form of kekkon-katsudo, a Japanese term for “marriage hunting”, which...

Marks & Spencer has admitted to making a mistake by charging extra for bras with a DD cup or larger. The retailer had been the target of a campaign from Facebook group Busts 4 Justice, which orchestrated a protest against the "tit tax". Marks & Spencer said: "We boobed. It's true our fantastic quality larger bras cost more money to make, and we felt it was right to reflect this in the prices we charged. "Well, we were wrong, so as of Saturday May 9, the storm in a D cup is over! We will reduce the price of our...

ONDON – Busty women have banded together to battle Britain's largest clothing retailer over a surcharge for extra-large brassieres. Frustrated with failed attempts to convince Marks & Spencer to drop a 2 pound ($3) extra charge for sizes DD and larger, the women plan to take their fight to the company's annual meeting. "They aren't listening to customers, maybe they'll listen to shareholders," said Beckie Williams, a founder of Busts 4 Justice who has purchased a share of M&S stock so she can attend the meeting. "People think it would be great to have big boobs, but it's an emotional...

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Money stuffed in a woman's bra saved her life after she was shot aboard a bus in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, local media reported. The incident took place Saturday in Bahia's capital, Salvador, where 58-year-old Ivonete Pereira was shot in the chest by one of two attackers who tried to rob the bus. She was traveling to her summer home in the nearby town of Lauro de Freitas and because of frequent bus attacks in the region, she hid 150 reals (69 dollars) in 20- and 10-real notes coiled inside the left side...

A STEM cell therapy offering “natural” breast enlargement is to be made available to British women for the first time. The treatment could boost cup size while reducing stomach fat. It involves extracting stem cells from spare fat on the stomach or thighs and growing them in a woman’s breasts. An increase of one cup size is likely, with the potential for larger gains as the technique improves. A trial has already started in Britain to use stem cells to repair the breasts of women who have had cancerous lumps removed. A separate project is understood to be the first...

You know, writing about technology every day, you get used to a certain level of stupidity. But I’m pretty flabbergasted, no outraged, about this story of kids being threatened with jail time for “sexting.” So - check this out: The New York Times reports that 15-year-old Marissa Miller, a Pennsylvania cheerleader, was contacted by District Attorney George P. Skumanick, who said he had a nude photo of her on someone else’s cell phone. He threatened Miller and another girl with charges of sexual abuse of a minor unless she attended a 10-hour class on pornography and sexual violence. Nude photo?...

SNIPPET: "(LAWFUEL) - A 20-year-old Malaysian woman faced court in Melbourne today charged with attempting to import approximately 400 grams of heroin into Australia concealed within her bra." SNIPPET: "A female Customs officer conducted a frisk search of the woman which revealed inconsistencies around the woman’s bra and a package containing a white powder was subsequently located. Further testing of the white powder revealed approximately 400 grams of heroin concealed inside the package in the woman’s clothing."

The bizarre story behind the construction of Boston's most controversial building

Lawyers are seeking class-action status for a suit filed by an Ohio woman claiming many women have had allergic reactions to bras sold at Victoria's Secret. Roberta Ritter said that her skin blistered and became inflamed and itchy after she wore Angels Secret Embrace and Very Sexy Extreme Me Push-Up bras purchased at the lingerie retailer, ABC News reported. Her lawyers say they have received similar complaints from other women, including some who want to join the lawsuit."I was floored," Ritter said. "I thought, 'I have to come out with this. The can of worms has to be opened because...

A California woman is crying gender discrimination after she claims she was forced to strip off her bra and walk through airport security without support after being busted when the underwires in her lingerie set off a metal detector. The brassiere boondoggle took place Sunday morning at Oakland International Airport as Nancy Kates, a 45-year-old documentary filmmaker who grew up in Lexington, was going through security on her way to Boston. “I felt I was being treated like a criminal,” said the Harvard-educated Kates, who was headed to Massachusetts to see her mother and vacation on the Cape.

can't post, have to link

Nancy Kates, who wore a large underwire bra, told the San Francisco Chronicle the security check by a female TSA agent before JetBlue flight 472 at Oakland International Airport was too invasive. <snip> TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said security agents must "resolve an alarm" in all circumstances. "Unfortunately, we can't take a passenger's word for it," Melendez told the San Francisco Chronicle.

According to the Telegraph, female cops were complaining that while bullet-proof vests did their job adequately, they had the unfortunate side-effect of pushing the treacherous underwires and fixings of normal lingerie into the skin, causing pain and injury. This underweary unpleasantness has now been fixed thanks to the sturdy new street-battle-corsetry. The bras are well padded and free of pesky flesh-puncturing fastenings. 3,000 female cops have been issued with three apiece and are obliged to wear them on duty (not all at once, though, that would be silly). Just to make sure they are employed solely for utilitarian purposes and...

Stuck, lost and hobbled in the German Alps, a quick-thinking Colorado Springs woman hooked her bra to a mountainside supply line, which alerted rescuers to her whereabouts just as they were giving up the search. "We're going to have a party for her every June 19, and give her some new bras," Elana Bruinsma, said Monday morning of her sister, Jessica Bruinsma, 24. The white sports bra has become the talk of the Berchtesgaden area of Germany near the Austria border.

Solar bra brings conservation closer to the heart Wed May 14, 2008 8:53pm IST      A model (C) displays lingerie maker Triumph International Japan's "Photovoltaic-Powered Bra" during an unveiling in Tokyo May 14, 2008. The camisole bra, which the company calls it as "earth and human friendly", features a solar panel which can display messages on the removable small electric board when the cell generates electricity. The bra is also equipped with pads designed to hold beverages so that the usage of cans and plastic bottles can be reduced, the company said. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao    Related Video Solar...

A bra and a pair of knickers have been blamed for a flood and road collapse in County Durham. Northumbrian Water said the underwear was flushed down a toilet and caused a blockage in a sewage pipe in Middleton-St-George, near Darlington. Heavy rain, together with a build up of grease and fat, caused the pipe to burst and the road above to collapse. The road will remain closed for days and Northumbrian Water estimates repairs will cost more than £15,000. The company has now urged residents to think carefully about what they flush away. 'Offending items' A spokeswoman said: "If...

The Boston Redevelopment Authority went to court yesterday to prevent four of its key officials from having to answer questions under oath about a deal in which a city-owned parcel of land was transferred to an Islamic group for construction of a mosque. Lawyers for the city's most powerful agency argued in Suffolk Superior Court that critics of the mosque project at Roxbury Crossing had no right to depose the BRA officials about the project or obtain more documents than those already provided to the David Project, a nonprofit Jewish advocacy group. Leaders of the David Project have questioned the...

YUBA CITY, Calif. - A taxpayer advocate has complained to Sutter County supervisors that metal detectors at county buildings are so sensitive they are being set off by underwire bras. Sutter County Taxpayers Association member Roberta Fletcher said the male security guard seemed to enjoy waving the handheld metal detector over her chest. "It is, at a minimum, for a woman, embarrassing. And at a maximum, it is sexual harassment to hold your arms outstretched while a male officer waves a wand in front of your breasts," Fletcher told supervisors at their meeting Tuesday. Sheriff Jim Denney said courthouse guards...

A Cardrona Valley ratepayers and residents association survey had come out in unanimous support of the valley's iconic bra fence to stay as it is, chairman John Scurr said yesterday. A letter from the association asking that the bra fence be allowed to stay would be on Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Clive Geddes's desk today, Mr Scurr said. "We've asked for it to stay as long as there is some caretaking of the fence. We don't want it getting higher, longer or suddenly being filled with boots and knickers as well. But it should stay because it's become part of...

Top Czech model Helena Houdova was arrested in Cuba last week while taking photographs of Havana's slums – but she managed to smuggle out pictures she hid in her bra. Houdova – Miss Czech Republic 1999 – was arrested along with fellow model Mariana Kroftova, and Cuban police confiscated a roll of film in the women’s camera. However, Houdova concealed the memory card of her digital camera insider her brassiere. "The revolution's watchmen rose up because I was taking pictures of something they do not like," Houdova told journalists after returning to the Czech Republic. The Communist regime of Fidel...

A state judge has allowed a lawsuit to proceed that seeks to invalidate the city's sale of Roxbury land at deep discount to a Muslim society that is building a mosque on the property. Mission Hill resident James C. Policastro sued in an attempt to undo the Boston Redevelopment Authority deal with the Islamic Society of Boston, saying the sale violated provisions of the US and Massachusetts constitutions, which prohibit government from establishing or unfairly assisting religious institutions. If Policastro prevails in his lawsuit, it could create a serious problem for the already financially troubled mosque project. Construction has slowed...

A man dressed in women's clothing robbed a Hillcrest bank Monday, authorities reported. Police said just after 1 p.m., a man wearing a pink bra walked into the Union Bank on Fifth and University in Hillcrest and handed a demand note to a teller. The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of money to the man who then fled, 10News reported. Police described the robber as a Hispanic male in his 20s also wearing tight jeans and a black leather choker.

FORT MYERS, Florida // A Florida woman has been arrested for padding her bra -- with a stolen parrot. Jill Knispel, 35, is facing felony charges after hiding a rare Greenwing parrot in her bra and stealing it from her employer, Baby Exotic Birds, police said. Knispel allegedly stole the bird so she could trade it for a vintage 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia automobile. She couldn't resist telling the car's owner how she got the animal, according to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Turns out the car's owner is friends with the man who owns the $2,000 bird. DNA...

This past spring, China's biggest lingerie manufacturer, Top Form Inc., set up an unusual kind of laboratory. Situated in a four-story facility here, near the southern border town of Shenzhen, the lab has equipment that includes molds resembling oversized bullets. Surrounded by these molds, workers struggle to unlock the mysteries underlying such phenomena as the seamless brassiere and the shape-retaining bra cup."We spend a lot of time on how to make a better bra," says Willie Fung, chief executive of Top Form, which makes 61 million bras a year under well-known labels such as Victoria's Secret, Playtex and Maidenform.China's biggest...

BAGUALING, China - The Chinese are serious about building a better bra. There's now a degree in bra studies at Hong Kong's Polytechnic University. And China's biggest lingerie manufacturer, Top Form, has a bra lab at its factory. The company makes more than 60 million bras a year for well-known labels like Victoria's Secret, Playtex and Maidenform. The Wall Street Journal reports Top Form has been experimenting with various types of padding to give the bust a boost. They've tried air, but like tires it was prone to flats. Oil-filled pads were too expensive and heavy. Now, the company is...

An accountant whose bra saved her life when she was shot in the chest described yesterday how she looked down at the blood on her clothes and thought she was going to die. Helen Kelly, 24, was outside an exhibition centre in the City of London in the early hours of the morning when a gun battle broke out between rival gangs who had attended the Urban Music Awards ceremony. She collapsed to the ground after being struck in the crossfire, but escaped serious injury because the bullet hit the underwire of her bra and was deflected away from her...

Hundreds of bras stolen from Victoria's Secret MANCHESTER — An undercover investigation is undoubtedly needed to find out who stole hundreds of Victoria Secret Very Sexy brassieres from a Mall of New Hampshire store. Victoria Secret manager Kelly Duvall called police Thursday at 4 p.m. to report that up to 200 of the push-up, but not padded, bras in various sizes and colors were missing. The bras were stolen from the storage area of a display case. Each is priced as between $40 and $45. Police said the total value of the stolen bras could exceed $20,000. Anthony Hebron, spokesman...

Some locals are unhappy that the council has spent money helping motorists to get a better view of the Cardrona Valley's infamous bra fence. Several hundred bras have been pinned to the fence near Wanaka in recent years, but community board chairman Bill Gordon says people are unhappy the Queenstown Lakes Council used road funding to build a layby alongside the fence. He says a lot of residents think the fence has become tatty and the novelty has worn off. Mr Gordon says the layby cost up to $8,000 and the money could have been spent more wisely.

VICTORVILLE — A woman who strangled a friend with her bra when she discovered he had taken one of her undergarments has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Karen Denise Chades was drinking and dancing with 67-year-old Sesario "Rocky" Roque, a friend and neighbor, in his garage after a party on Sept. 24, 2002, when she discovered that Roque had one of her bras. Enraged, Chades attacked Roque with a broom, knocking back two of the victim's teeth. She then strangled him with the bra, jurors found. Deputies arrested Chades in August 2003, at her home in...

There are dozens of bras on the market that promise to make their wearers look curvier, shapelier or bigger in the bosom. But now there's a bra that promises to make women look like they've had plastic surgery. The Evolution bra is aimed at "women who lust after the look of cosmetic breast implants," according to Brastraps Inc., a Florida-based company that introduced the new bra on Friday. The Evolution features a sculpted, graduated cup "specially designed to mimic the appearance of cosmetic breast implants." With hundreds of thousands of American women undergoing breast-enhancement surgery each year, Brastraps believes it's...

TOKYO (AFP) - An underwear maker celebrated the birth of Japan's first new professional baseball team in 50 years with a commemorative bra shaped like baseballs each bearing the team mascots. The bra is made of synthetic leather and has dolls of the team's furry mascots "Clutch" and female "Clucchina" clutching the side of each bra cup turned baseball. Completing the theme, the bra is trimmed with a real eagle's feather, underwear maker Triumph said. The single commemorative bra will be sold by an internet auction closing Wednesday, a day ahead of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles' home debut in...

JOE Simpson, the former Baptist minister turned manager of daughters Jessica and Ashlee, doesn't shy way from talking about his offspring's physical assets. "Jessica never tries to be sexy," Simpson tells GQ. "She just is sexy. If you put her in a T-shirt or you put her in a bustier, she's sexy in both. She's got double D's! You can't cover those suckers up!"

Silk painting, brassiere unearthed from ancient tombs in N. China www.chinaview.cn 2004-06-07 15:47:45 HOHHOT, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese archeologists have announced their recent discovery of a fragmented silk painting and a brassiere in tombs at least 1,000 years old. Fragments of a silk painting of steeds were unearthed from a Liao Dynasty (916 - 1125) tomb in a village in Xinhui town, Aohan Banner of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region in north China. "Unlike frescos that are often found in Liao Dynasty tombs, this one is an independent painting scroll and must have been the tomb owner's favorite," said...

China's premier to tackle Bush over Taiwan and bra taxes By Richard Spencer in Beijing (Filed: 08/12/2003) The prime minister of China arrived in Washington last night for the new leadership's most important overseas visit yet, and he was preparing to challenge President George W Bush over a list of issues from Taiwan to brassieres. The visit by Wen Jiabao, regarded as the most liberal of China's leaders, was supposed to set the seal on two years of improving relations with the Bush administration. But meetings may be less friendly following a fresh outbreak of tension between China and Taiwan....

TOKYO (Reuters) - On a rare winning streak that could bring them their first title in 18 years, Japan's long-suffering Hanshin Tigers baseball team has got a little extra support from a newly designed bra. Cuddly "Truckee," the tiger mascot of the Osaka-based team, peeps out from each cup of the black-and-gold tiger-print brassiere, while the matching briefs feature a removable tiger tail. Model Shows Off Tiger Bra Maker Triumph International Japan plans to put 500 sets of the underwear on sale at 10,000 yen (53 pounds) a throw when the league championship competition nears its climax next month. "The...

WANT to keep abreast of the latest in male fashion? Well, the message from Milan is to say goodbye to Mr Macho and hello to Mr Androgyny. The provocative direction ? featuring male models with fake breasts under figure-hugging knitwear ? was sent down the catwalk by outrageous British designer Vivienne Westwood in the mens' autumn winter 2003 shows held this week. And while the effect may look outrageous today, fashion commentators reckon Sydney men may just end up adopting it ? in a few years' time. Director of fashion at Sydney TAFE, Alison Mason, said while Westwood's designs...

In Foreign Parts: GI Janes flaunt their sports bras as body search arrives in cultural minefield of Afghan frontier By Jan McGirk in Peshawar 14 December 2002 I idly mention to my translator in Peshawar how a war photo published in all the Pakistani dailies has outraged everyone who has seen it. Janula Hashim Khan is usually rather bored by my attempts to make polite conversation, but he suddenly comes to life, eyes ablaze. "Yes, I know the photo. It's a disgrace to see our sisters and mothers mauled like that," he says. To my amazement, he pulls a carefully...

Dear Diary: While shopping in a department store one evening recently, I noticed two unattended young children — a boy and a girl, about 5 and 7 — hanging around the sales desk. Out of kindness, boredom or to keep the kids out of trouble, the sales associate engaged them in a conversation about all of the pretty things for sale. At this the boy belted out, "I want a bra!" "Boys don't wear bras," the sales associate said. "My uncle does!" came the very loud reply. Robin Corey