This is most likely the most supportive bra I've ever worn. I'm almost 60 so you can bet I've tried just about every size and style out there and always seemed to choose an underwire style. However, having just completed 3 years of cancer treatments/remissions/relapses with illness causing me to lose weight, meds causing me to gain weight, the sedentary life style from being so ill as well as the infamous menopausal 50 lbs along for the ride I was feeling like an unfit, sloppy blob. I had pretty much been wearing cheap sports bras (you know, the 3 pack for about $9 kind) simply for the comfort and ease in dressing/undressing at the hospital and doctors' offices. Finally I got fed up with feeling lousy and looking lazy and sloppy and did some comparative shopping. Ordered several bra styles in several sizes and had myself a 'trying on party' when they all arrived. This bra is my favorite right now. The gel straps are amazingly comfortable and don't dig into my shoulders, pull on my neck or fall down the sides of my arms. My 'girls' look perkier than they have in about 20 years and no longer slouch against my midsection (wow, did I just really admit to that?), and the criss cross elastic straps in the back somehow, without discomfort, make me stand up straight and improve my posture tremendously.

Now all that above is the good stuff. What I'm finding now is that at the bottom of the front closure where the two sides meet, it digs into the area at the base of my sternum and in just a few hours has caused a gouge in my skin: almost looks like a bad heel blister from new shoes. A kind of scratchy, digging, wish-it-would-stop sensation and I find myself picking at the base of the bra closure through my shirt and adjusting it more and more as the day wears on. I'm not sure if it will soften up when laundered but I hope so. Otherwise I'll have to find something like a cotton ball to stick under there if I want to wear this bra for any length of time. I have no idea what would happen if I was more active: perhaps I would have noticed this irritation sooner, but I'm not allowed to leave the house for any reason due to my compromised immune system and flu season, so I'm not doing much other than housework and playing with the dogs. So right now I can say this is a great bra for fit and support but the front closure edges could use a bit more padding.

Edit: May 2012 - meant to write this much sooner but I forgot as I stopped wearing these and put them in the bottom of the drawer. Laundering does not soften up the lower portion of the closure. It remains hard and stiff and irritating to the sternum area. As much as these fit extremely well, the straps were a delight and my posture was vastly improved, I simply could not wear these without tucking a cotton ball or balled up toilet paper into that bottom section of the hook/closure area. They are going into the 'donate' pile today.