For my mother's Christmas present, I decided to take her bra and panty shopping (you start to run out of ideas for gifts ideas after a while). She has been wanting a bra from Soma for some time now as she was enticed by the commercials and - on the same token - turned off by commercials for the other intimate apparel store.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that the entire store was 15% off (and I was able to scratch off a card and earned 20% off all merchandise) on the day we went. The store is located in Winter Park Village with other upscale shops and when you enter, the environment is pleasant, clean and organized (in other words, panties weren't strewn about in a messy pile like I've found in the "other" intimate apparel store). Emily greeted us right away and was beyond helpful.
My mother and I had never been measured for our bra sizes before (FYI - most women are wearing the wrong bra size. I learned this from watching Oprah, so I hold it to be true). Emily measured us (it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be - you just remove your shirt with your bra still on and the measuring takes less than one minute) and then brought us different styles of bras to try on. My mom and I were just excited that we didn't have to look for bras ourselves since we had never been to this store. After we tired on the different styles of bras, we then chose different colors - quick and painless (have I mentioned that I absolutely HATE bra shopping? I don't like shopping in general like most stereotypical females, but bra shopping is even worse...well, until I went to Soma). Once our bras were picked out, my mom and I took advantage of their deal on panties and then we were good to go! Again, Emily is the bra whisperer and is amazing, so ask for her when you go! Soma has additional sizes and colors online and they also have a rewards program that I made sure to sign up for. read more