Every issue: one reader and one notebook

The Posture Lift, here in black

October 2026 issue

Five weeks, a different bra every Monday. Was I still sitting up straight at 5 pm?

  • Sanne, 38
  • size 34C
  • 5 bras
  • 25 workdays

I caught myself from the side and winced.

Written by Sanne B., 38

It was in the black screen of my laptop, on a Tuesday at 10:30. Chin forward, shoulders rounded, like I was reaching into the bottom drawer. I'm 38. I don't want to be walking like that in ten years.

I'd already tried a posture strap. It cut into my armpits and was in the closet within a week. So when Wear Test asked who wanted to wear five bras for five weeks, I signed up with one question: which one makes it easier to sit up straight? A different bra every week, Monday through Friday, and a few lines in a notebook every night.

First, my ranking. Below it is the notebook, the way I wrote it.

My ranking after five weeks

Posture Lift

Top of my list after five weeks

Posture Lift

$39.95$29.95 per bra in a 3-Pack

Week 4. At 5 pm I was still sitting up straight.

  • The band carries the weight: a wide band around your ribs that you close in front
  • Wide shoulder pieces that stay flat, so no straps digging in
  • A regular hook closure in the back. You close that one first
  • No underwire, soft seamless cups
  • Looks like a sleeveless top: nothing showed under a T-shirt
  • 6 sizes, S to 3XL, cups A to DD. I wear a 34C and the M fits
  • The first morning I put it on in the wrong order and it rolled up
See the Posture Lift

My score

9.2/10

See the Posture Lift
Daily Essential

Daily Essential

$39.95

Week 5. The nicest one for just walking around in.

  • 3-inch-wide band that carries the weight from below
  • Memory foam cups that shape to you, no underwire
  • Seamless, with a regular hook closure and sliders on the straps
  • 12 sizes, S to 3XL+, cups B to H: the pick from a DDD/F cup up
  • For my shoulders it did less than number 1
See the Daily Essential

My score

8.7/10

See the Daily Essential
Marlies Dekkers lace plunge bra

Marlies Dekkers lace plunge bra

$119.95

Week 2. Pretty, and nothing for my back.

  • Beautiful lace, a bra for a dinner out
  • The cups fit my C well
  • Thin straps: by 3 pm I was already tugging at them
  • The underwire pressed into my side from 3:30
See it at Marlies Dekkers

My score

6.9/10

See it at Marlies Dekkers

The notebook, week by week

A few lines every night, at the desk in the attic. We only fixed the spelling.

Week 1

Hunkemöller Deep-V Push-Up

August 24 to 28

I started with what I already had. Underwire, push-up, $49. My usual office bra.

Rolled my shoulders 4x

  • Monday, Aug 24

    At 10:30 I saw myself in the dark screen when the laptop went to sleep. Chin forward, shoulders rounded. Sat up straight. Ten minutes later I was back like that.

  • Tuesday, Aug 25

    Red line on my right shoulder where the strap sat. Took it off the minute I got home.

  • Wednesday, Aug 26

    Working from home. I rolled my shoulders four times. I started counting because I noticed it.

  • Friday, Aug 28

    It fits fine, that's not the point. It just does nothing for how I sit.

Pretty under a V-neck. At 5 pm I was hanging over my keyboard like a question mark.

Week 2

Marlies Dekkers lace plunge bra

August 31 to September 4

The most expensive one, $119.95. I secretly hoped expensive would make a difference.

  • Monday, Aug 31

    A really pretty bra. The cups fit my C well, that's not the problem.

  • Tuesday, Sep 1

    By 3 pm I was tugging at the straps again. Thin straps and long hours of sitting just don't work for me.

  • Thursday, Sep 3

    At 3:30 the underwire pressed into my side. Buttoned my cardigan and kept working.

  • Friday, Sep 4

    My sister saw me from the side in a photo from a birthday party. She didn't say anything. I saw it too.

I'd buy it for a dinner out. For my back it did nothing.

Week 3

Triumph Doreen

September 7 to 11

No underwire, firm full cups. My mom wore exactly this one.

  • Monday, Sep 7

    Firm, I'll give it that. Everything stays where it should.

  • Tuesday, Sep 8

    After lunch the stiff bottom edge pressed into my side. A red line when I took it off at night.

  • Wednesday, Sep 9

    Wore a thin gray sweater. You could see the cup seams right through it.

  • Friday, Sep 11

    My shoulders slumped just as much as in week 1.

Lots of support for your breasts. My shoulders barely noticed.

Week 4

Posture Lift

September 14 to 18

From Monavida. $39.95. It looks like a sleeveless top with a wide band underneath.

5 pm, still upright

  • Monday, Sep 14

    Put it on wrong. Closed the band in front first and the back closure after, and the bottom rolled up. Off, start over: back first, then the front. Then it sat right.

  • Tuesday, Sep 15

    It feels firmer than a regular bra, closer to a sports bra. At 11 I still hadn't rolled my shoulders once. I wrote that down because I only noticed it at lunch.

  • Wednesday, Sep 16

    Working from home. At 5 pm I saw myself in the black screen again. I was sitting up straight. I actually stopped and looked.

  • Thursday, Sep 17

    Tightened the band by one hook. Only then did I feel what that band actually does.

  • Friday, Sep 18

    White T-shirt over it. No edge, no strap cutting into my shoulder. A coworker asked if I'd started yoga.

For the first time in months, I was sitting the same way at 5 pm as at 9 am.

The back, here in leopard: one piece at the top, the band with hooks at the bottom. You close that one first.

Why I stayed straighter, I think

The wide band around my ribs carries the weight of my breasts. The shoulder pieces lie flat and wide, so nothing pulls forward. My shoulders didn't have to do anything anymore, and then you slump less too.

How to put it on

Close the back first, and firmly. Then pull it over your head. Stand up straight, shoulders back, and only then close the band in front. The other way around it rolls up. I found that out on Monday.

My size

I normally wear a 34C. The size chart on Monavida's website says that's an M, and the M fit. You set the band tighter or looser yourself, so you don't have to guess there.

See the Posture Lift

Week 5

Daily Essential

September 21 to 25

Also from Monavida, their best-known bra. I wanted to know if it was the brand or that band.

  • Monday, Sep 21

    It feels lovely. Soft, no underwire, and a wide band that really stays put.

  • Tuesday, Sep 22

    By 3 pm my shoulders were forward again. It does nothing wrong, it's just made for something else.

  • Thursday, Sep 24

    For my sister with her G cup, this would be the one. The Posture Lift only goes up to a DD.

  • Saturday, Sep 26

    Wore it to the farmers market. Perfect for that.

The nicest one for just walking around in. For my posture I reach for number 1.

What other people said in week 4

Nobody knew I had a different bra on. I wrote these down at the back of the notebook.

“Are you doing yoga or something?”
CoworkerFriday, at the coffee machine
“You look different in that photo.”
My sisterabout a photo from the farmers market
“Mom, why are you sitting so straight?”
My daughter, 9at the dinner table
“Is that a sports top?”
My boyfriendMonday morning

Where can you buy the Posture Lift?

Only on Monavida's own website. That's also where you get the 30-day perfect fit guarantee. It comes in black, nude and leopard. In a 3-Pack each one is $29.95, so three Posture Lifts come to $89.85, with free shipping.

Which size should I get?
Look up your band and cup size in the size chart on Monavida's website. A few examples from that chart: 34C is a medium (M), 36B is a medium (M) and 38D is an XL. The chart goes up to a DD cup. Wear a DDD/F cup or bigger? Then look at the Daily Essential.
Is it a posture corrector?
No. It's a bra that looks like a top, not a medical product. The band around your ribs carries the weight, so nothing pulls your shoulders forward, and nothing yanks them back either. For me the difference was that I slumped less.
So is there a closure on the back?
Yes. There's a regular hook closure in the back, and the wide band closes in front. Always close the back first.
What if it doesn't fit?
Then you exchange it for another size within 30 days. That's covered by the 30-day perfect fit guarantee.

Number 1 on my list, now $29.95 per bra in a 3-Pack

Three Posture Lifts for $89.85 on Monavida's website. Wrong size? Then you exchange it.

Go to the Posture Lift

About Wear Test

Sanne

Every issue, Wear Test has one reader wear five bras for five weeks, with a notebook. The reader writes, and we put the notebook online almost word for word. This time that was Sanne.

At the back of the notebook, Sanne added: My sister thinks my shoulders will remember it on their own after a while. I don't believe that yet. I'm just wearing it, and in six months I'll look in that screen again.