What to wear for first race?

For shorter distance tris, you have nowhere or opportunity to change, aside from adding to what you are already wearing (not to mention that nudity is against the rules, and can get you disqualified).  Yes, tri suits, whether they are one or two piece, are meant to be worn for the whole she-bang...from swim to run.  You don't need to change anything, there is a (small) pad in the shorts that dries quickly, etc and so forth.

For races I wear a two piece tri suit (separate top and bottom) over my sports bra (I'm a 38 D...shelf bras are NOT my friend).  That's it (well, aside from my wetsuit over that for the swim).  Easy peasy.

I'm not sure about the custom tops...most of the places I know of require a minimum number of pieces (ie, champion systems is a 10 piece minimum)

People wear lots of different things. I prefer tri top and tri shorts or tri suit. Regular bike shorts have a heavy pad that usually doesn't dry quickly enough and could feel like you are riding in a wet diaper while tri shorts usually have so soft microfiber fabric at the crotch which dries quickly. If you wear a swimsuit under shorts you may be more prone to chafing.

Tri suits are convient except when you have to go to the bathroom. I actually like to do my swim training in a tri suit, I feel almost naked in a swim suit, nobody else in my swim group does but I don't care. I set up ebay searches for brands I like and get some great deals. Just this week I got 2 zoot tri suits for $20 each that retail for $100 and $150.

If you want to have custom t-shirts make have a look at something like:
http://www.zazzle.com/cr/design/pt-shirt?style=performance_tshirt&c...
I would stay away from cotton for tris at it holds water and flaps in the wind.

If you have the money in the budget, i would buy tri shorts and a tri top.  Should cost somewhere between $75-$125 all in. 

At 36D shelf bra is no friend of mine.

When i did tris when I was a poor undergrad I just had tri shorts (a must) and put on the following clothes in the following order.  Sportsbra, then swim suit, then trishorts.  wouldn't recommend this for longer races, but it'll work for the super sprint/sprint distance.

I would not recommend putting a tight tank with a shelf bra on top of a wet swimsuit ()  Did that for my first tri.  I struggled in T1 for a very long time trying to peal that shirt on!!!

Thanks for your help so far!

I think I am going to have to do separate shorts and top, because of my size.  I am starting to wonder, actually, if I am going to be able to find tri shorts in my size.  I wear a size 16-18 pant (probably down to a 16 now that I've lost some weight, yay!) and a 42DD bra.   Can anyone recommend specific brands that will fit me?  It seems that most tri manufacturers consider "XL" to be a size 12.  I am trying not to be totally discouraged by that...

Hi,

I started out your size and I know you'll be able to find tri shorts that fit. Have you tried aerotechdesigns?  (add .com and you'll get to their site)  I think you'd be a women's XL in their stuff and they also have larger sizes if you needed to go up a size. I have a pair of their tri shorts and really like them.