My tailor suggested Bra-la-la with the highest praise for acquiring suitable undergarments for my wedding dress. I am small - about 105lb and 5'4". And I have, er, modest upper assets. I've tried lots of bras from everywhere (because I have enough up top to need a bra, just not enough rib-cage breadth to find one that fits). So off to Bra-la-la I go. But first, I call. Because it's an hour long trek for me to get there and I want to be sure they have stock enough to warrant a trip.
Don't worry, they said. We have so much, they said. We'll have something to fit you, they said.
I told them I don't know my size because no one will tell it to me since no one can sell me a bra that small and they want me to just buy their smallest stock. Well, Bra-la-la wouldn't tell me either!!! I got there, they measured me, and the whole experience was awful! They had EXACTLY ONE BRA IN A 28. AND IT WAS BLACK. AM I WEARING A BLACK BRA UNDER A WEDDING DRESS? NO. And besides that, WHY NOT TELL ME OVER THE PHONE YOUR LIMITED STOCK!?!?
That is why I called ahead.
The lady who worked with me as very rude. She kept trying to convince me to buy the black bra that was a 28 and still falling down with size D underwire cups that were so big they were, in the 10 minutes I had it on, drilling big red welts into my rib case as I STOOD. FREAKING. STILL. Her solution to keep the bra from falling off and gaping at the top was to have be buy boob inserts.... so $80 bra that hurts, doesn't stay on, and isn't the right color plus $50 boob enhancers is the best option...?
She told me that "clearly you can't wear underwire." I showed up in a bra with underwire that was fine... She wouldn't accept that it was hurting, either. She basically told me I was unhelpable.
She said, "you should have your seamstress tailor a bra you already own." .....because these $7 Ross 32A's I've been making do with are going to stay on me properly as a strapless bra when I'm clearly a 26D or 28C? What sort of solution is that?
Eventually I ended up being the one to ask about long bra's, to which she said, "oh.... yeah we have some of those...." Seriously? I make a 2 hour round trip to a specialty bra store that I called in advance fpr and you tell me I'm hopeless and fail to bring up all the options? And I have to do your job...? O.o
That is when my mom got involved because, well, I was crying. And this lady had the nerve to tell us that "I'm asking too much." And when I asked what she meant, the lady basically stuttered something along the lines of how I wanted a bra that fit but I didn't want to pay over $100 so I told her, "Okay well at this point forget my price point. Just bring out what you have that will fit me - I'll pay anything." And she said, "You've seen everything we have that will fit you."
Are.
You.
Serious.
It is asking too much for me to go to a specialty bra store and want 1) a bra that fits - i.e. stays up, doesn't stab me in the ribs till I cry, and does not require boob inserts keep from gaping a clear view of everything to anyone taller than me; 2) a bra that is preferably no more than $100 but could be if it's otherwise perfect; and 3) a bra that is white, because it's for a wedding dress, and that's sort of what you do. So basically of all those things really just it's asking too much to want A BRA THAT FITS.
And she had the audacity to accuse me of asking too much when the reality is there isn't anything in this store that will fit me...? You're a specialty bra store! THIS IS WHAT YOU DO!!!!
I ended up with an ill fitting long bra that my tailor is trying to make work for me. It took 6+ weeks to come. I had to call them over and over and over to get any info out of them regarding why it was taking so long.
I really hope this lady was just having an off day because she was immensely pregnant and therefore uncomfortable, but it was an awful experience and I left feeling terrible about my body - and I'm usually pretty comfy in my skin. I shouldn't go to an expensive specialty boutique and be made to cry.
I will never go back. read more