Twin Cities attorney sews "bridge" to help buxom women stand tall

Criminal defense attorney Judy Samson tired of her breasts bouncing around, and instead of turning to a surgeon, she went to her sewing machine.

To take the bounce out of her breasts, the non-fan of the sports bra designed a connecting clip called the Bra Bridge, patent pending, which launched nationally two weeks ago.

"I decided to have it manufactured a year ago, but I started sewing these Bra Bridges about eight years ago into my own bras," said Samson. She said she wears hers every day.

The very creative Samson, who also paints, wrote the "rap lyrics" for the irreverent YouTube commercial "Introducing the Bra Bridge" (bit.ly/2tsVt18).

Some have been offended by the main actor grabbing her own breasts and another woman's. Nothing offensive here ­— permission to clutch was granted by these friends.

"We as women can be so hard on ourselves," said Samson. "If we can feel better about ourselves with something so simple and so inexpensive, why not?" Right now the Bra Bridge is only in the General Store of Minnetonka and online at brabridge.com, where you get three for $19.95.

The day Samson gets Bra Bridges in the hands of Serena Williams and Oprah, the inventor may jump for joy, but her breasts won't.

Q: Tell me about the Bra Bridge.

A: I came up with this idea because I noticed when I looked in the mirror I looked wider than I really was. Naturally, women fall beyond their rib cage; their breasts do. A bra still doesn't pull things in right here [gestures near cleavage area]. When I stood in the mirror and pulled it in, I looked much more narrow. That's when I started sewing pieces of material in my bra. I tried to figure out the best way because it has to be strong enough for women who have larger breasts. This is the design.

Q: Do you sew a lot?

A: I used to sew pants. I grew up in Holland, and when I was young I would make my own fashions. Fashion is really big in Europe. It wasn't a problem for me to take my [she made sewing machine noises] and take care of [a bra] in two seconds. Then I started doing it for other people. It really did something for my self-esteem. I noticed I usually walked with bad posture because I didn't want the breasts to be such a focal point. When somebody meets me, I didn't want this [pointed to chest] to be the focal point, and if they are bouncing all over the place. ... Once I had this, I noticed there was less bouncing. So I felt like I could stand taller. I want all women to feel better about themselves. That's another reason I created this product. And I didn't want to go under the knife. I thought about a breast reduction many, many, many times. I have three children and a husband. What if something happened to me just because I want to be vain?

Q: Many woman are surgically vain about this area in the opposite direction?

A: I know. But it gets in the way for yoga ... can't run as easily and go jogging. You can't do a lot of things when you have big breasts. This was a way for me to feel better about myself and not have that constant [urge] to hide myself. [She crouched]. And now I feel good!

Q: So, ah, what size are you?

A: I'm a 36D. Big enough. Too big.

Q: Do bosomy women run in your family?

A: Yep. So it was an issue when I was young [uncomfortable smile]. It's not going away.

Q: At what age did they kick in, so to speak?

A: I would say middle school.

Q: Oh, that's tough.

A: Uh-huh. Tell me about it. Again, I grew up in Holland. People are a little bit more …

Q: Sexually adventurous, open, accepting?

A: They are. People would lay on the beach without a T-shirt, and I would never ...

Q: Who'd you get to model the Bra Bridge?

A: I, embarrassingly, am on the website. It's horrific for me. But we needed like a real-person size to model [not toothpicks].

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count.