There were expletives. There were sighs and more muttered curses. There was a summary slamming of torturous garments into the circular file, and a sigh.
I’m down to one bra.
Pisses me off. I bought four new ones two months ago–don’t bother buying Calvin Klein underwear, people. It’s not actually sewn together. Seriously. It seems the straps are super-glued onto the garment body. I got pwned. The straps shot off the bra like slingshots, one after the other. I’m a woman who owns a lingerie bag and I know how to use it. These were just shoddy workmanship. So I’ve become a woman who stalks lingerie shops…
You see, the real problem is… I’m not exactly certain I know what size I am anymore. I’m out of shape. I breast fed a kid for over a year. I have one that’s bigger than the other (remind me to tell you the time I tried on a bustier at the Renaissance festival while I was still nursing and co-sleeping with my son). And nothing is the size I remember it being, o once upon a time.
I’ve been hemming and hawing about it. Used to be, a quality downtown department store would have kindly, matronly ladies of a certain age in the lingerie department who knew how to fit a woman for an undergarment. Those days are long past. My only hope? The newly remodeled Victoria Secrets a few blocks from my office.
You know. The lingerie store with the impossibly perfect bodies in the window. I’ve been stalking the place for weeks, now, trying to get up my courage. Today, I got as far as walking past the front door. But let’s face it. I’m 40. I’ve never taken off the weight I gained when I quit smoking. For a while there, it looked as though I might beat the odds of getting lung cancer, but would be crushed to death by my own body weight.
It takes pains to be beautiful, but I can’t resist the siren’s call of a good bowl of pasta. Sigh.
I’ve looked into the windows of Vickie See’s. The women who work there look like the kinds of women who will be polite to your face and then totally take you apart in the back–in a voice just loud enough to carry. They look… superior. They look like they have time to go to the gym, have never been vomited on by a 10 month old, and have never had to walk through a doorway with a screaming toddler attached to their thigh. In short? They look nothing like me, and I am not about to trust my emotional breastitude to them. I’ll wait til the last bra strap snaps, so I can hobble in like a total loser and beg them to help me figure out what size I should wear. Does Victoria Secrets come in extra frazzled with a side of frumpy on top?
I thought not. I’m going to have to go back to the gym before I can get the courage up to shop with them again. Damn.
try going to lane bryant or macys. In lane bryant they will tell you your bra size any day and in macy’s its only select days and the staff at lane bryant are much nicer than anywhere else i’ve been too..they are usually older plus sized women who at least look like they love working there
(it’s a plus size store but if you are not plus size they will still do the measurements for free)
good luck
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I went to a local department store to be measured shortly after weaning my daughter. The woman working there reluctantly measured me, then proclaimed – they don’t make bras in your size. Case closed. I left in a state of confused bewilderment.
Heather, I know so many women whose size was not on the champagne glass end of the breast scale, who had never been properly fitted. It was like a whole new world out there!
Did you know the average bra is only built to last 180 days???
I know it can be incredibly awkward to have some stranger checking out your breasts — because I’ve been there!! — but Nordstrom’s saved me, too. After weaning, it was the first time I’d actually been fitted for real.
These women are professional, and as the other mamas say, a good bra does make you feel… like a new woman. You deserve it!!
I second the Nordstrom idea. I went there this summer, got fitted for a bra & bought one there. Then I went down the street to Nordstrom Rack (Do they have those back East?) and bought a couple more in the correct size.
They sold me on the bras with the molded (?) cups. Seriously, it made my waist look smaller and by boobs look bigger. And perkier. Good stuff!
Do you have a Nordstrom anywhere around? They always have someone on staff who will size you right up.
I had them tell me the right size, tried some on, and then promptly left and went and bought the exact same bras at TJ Maxx for half the price. (I do love the Wacoal bras!)
1) I worked at VS for a while, and we saw all types and never once talked about anyone after they left. As I always tell myself, I’m paying way more attention to myself than anyone else is!
2) You should absolutely buy your bras there. They may be expensive, but they last FOREVER! Plus there are so many different kinds, you’ll find something that will work great for you, no matter what
Lol, well I couldn’t help laughing. Shoping for bras is one thing I dread, and not just for some of your reasons, but because I am also of a larger size, which narrows the available bras for me. But if you do get the courage up and get properly fitted you will feel so much better in the new bra, you will most likely be able to go into the store you mentioned and buy with confidence. Good luck.
You are way too hard on yourself!
Huge congrats on kicking the smoking habit.
Likely, you are an average size woman, which does not mean a size zero. Find a store with genuinely helpful sales staff and try on–the only way!– until you find the right fit.
Everything from a basic (cheap) cotton tee to your “interview outfit” always looks better with the right stuff underneath. Some pretty lingerie might also lift your spirits.