Saturday, November 22, 2008

Cures for Gapiosis

To my horror, I noticed in the monitor that my white bra was showing on national television! Mom called this "gapiosis," when your buttoned shirt gaps wide enough at the bust to show your lingerie underneath. Now let me set the record straight... this was not a Janet Jackson sighting... just a little bit of white in a field of royal blue.

I immediately clasped my hands together, covering the offending whiteness with my wrists. That was a stop-gap measure that worked temporarily. But here are a couple of steps you can take to prevent this dreaded disease from happening to you:

1. Wear a blouse without buttons. This is what my colleague Lisa Ryan does. She will wear a camisole under a button-up shirt, but never a buttoned shirt by itself. Or you could wear a blouse under a suit jacket that buttons or zips.

2. Use wardrobe or toupee tape. This is double-sided tape that holds the cloth between the buttons together. It works pretty well, but is hard to handle.

After the show, the first thing my husband said was, "Why did your producers let your bra show?" With a smile, I responded, "What? You didn't think it helped ratings?"

I went to the producers to ask them why they didn't alert me, and one said, "I didn't even notice." Let's hope the rest of the viewers didn't either.