Just when is it right to wear the "dinner party bra"

A recent investigative report by the Australian Consumers' Association detailed the failure of high end stores in Australia to fit women into bras that fit. Click here for story. A panel of experts found that only eight of the forty nine bras were the correct size for the woman who purchased it. But the experts also determined that women simply put up with bras that don't fit.

The comments of one of the experts is telling. Deirdre McGhee, a sports physiotherapist, said she regularly treated patients with pain caused by bras. Ms McGhee is a lecturer at Wollongong University and is researching breast biomechanics. Most women chose their bra based on how it looked and did not know that fashion bras were not designed to be supportive or worn for long periods, Ms McGhee said. She called many of the bras her patients wore the "dinner party bra", telling them to throw it out or reserve it for short-term occasions, such as "when you plan to take your top off".

They must have more interesting dinner parties in Australia.