If you want to be a Grown-Up Lady...
Go get yourself fit for a bra. It might be quite an eye-opening experience.
For many years now, I have been wearing the wrong size of bra. It likely started back in high school, when my mother took me to Meier and Frank and helped me find some bras that fit. "You're a 36 C," she told me, and I, having very little knowledge in breasts and bras, assumed that this was a holy edict. I was a C, the way some people are tall or have red hair. It seemed factual enough and so I ran with it.
Unfortunately, as I was running with it, I was bouncing along furiously with every step.
Fast forward many years later. In my early thirties, I had entered "D" territory. Then the dreaded Double D. My back hurt, my boobs sometimes hurt, and the bras were less than comfortable. Then I got pregnant and discovered that my nursing bras were the best thing I'd worn in ages. The size on the box said DDD-FFF. Perhaps even bigger? I blamed the pregnancy and thought no more about it.
Until a weekend or so ago, when I went in to Just Like a Woman off of Macadam near John's Landing. My bras had been not working for so, so long, and once I had stopped nursing, I realized that the boobs probably had shrunk. I'd heard about this place from some well-endowed friends and needed new bras anyway.
Getting a professional fitting was the best thing I have done for myself in a long time. Here's the deal: you walk in and sign up for a fitting. Then sit on the couch and thumb through magazines while eavesdropping on other shoppers in fitting rooms. Sometimes an efficient employee walks through the front of the shop, looking for bras for a customer. Soon enough you're called in for a fitting and led to private dressing rooms with two doors: one from the lobby, and one that leads into their back rooms, where there are racks of bras to be seen. I was asked pointedly what I wanted in my new bra (lift and coverage) and then instructed to take off my shirt. The fitter measured my ribs for the band size first, left by the back door, then brought in two bras. Just two, not a whole pile. I love when someone knows exactly what you need and you get choice A or B instead of feeling at sea with too many options. Getting exactly the right fit took a couple tries and I ended up taking two bras home. Actually, I wore one home, I was so elated to have on something that fit so well. On the way home, I glanced at my new measurement: 34F. Who knew?
So, what are the perks to shopping at a fine lingerie store like this one? Well, unlike the Victoria's Secret stores, there was a sense of dignity about the place. Instead of mannequins of busty girls with skinny hips (yeah, right), there was an air of--dare I say it--adulthood present. Just Like a Woman does medical fittings as well as bridal bustier fittings, so it's no coincidence that there are no posters of hot, sexy girls being all fierce in their push-up bras on the wall.
The only thing that might put people off is the $15 fitting fee, which is waived upon purchase of a bra. And if you really can't find a bra there...you might be stuck. And the price for my two bras ended up being $24 less than I would have paid for them at Macy's. Not bad at all.
A week later, and I'm still a very happy woman. Working in the garden, I suddenly realized that I'd been leaning over for a couple hours and hadn't fallen out of my bra once. I hadn't even had to think about it. I'll be able to go to the chiropractor without having to discreetly move The Ladies* back into place. My tops look cuter, my body actually looks slimmer...the list of "Hallelujahs!" goes on and on.
So, if you are wanting to be a Grown-Up Lady, and your bra just isn't quite doing all it could for you, consider being fit by a pro. It's worth the time, costs less than the department stores, and heck, this place does the shopping for you. What's better than that?
*Yes, I call them The Ladies. Calling them The Girls would be a joke, as they are nearly forty years old and have nursed for three of them~~That's just not "girl" material.
For many years now, I have been wearing the wrong size of bra. It likely started back in high school, when my mother took me to Meier and Frank and helped me find some bras that fit. "You're a 36 C," she told me, and I, having very little knowledge in breasts and bras, assumed that this was a holy edict. I was a C, the way some people are tall or have red hair. It seemed factual enough and so I ran with it.
Unfortunately, as I was running with it, I was bouncing along furiously with every step.
Fast forward many years later. In my early thirties, I had entered "D" territory. Then the dreaded Double D. My back hurt, my boobs sometimes hurt, and the bras were less than comfortable. Then I got pregnant and discovered that my nursing bras were the best thing I'd worn in ages. The size on the box said DDD-FFF. Perhaps even bigger? I blamed the pregnancy and thought no more about it.
Until a weekend or so ago, when I went in to Just Like a Woman off of Macadam near John's Landing. My bras had been not working for so, so long, and once I had stopped nursing, I realized that the boobs probably had shrunk. I'd heard about this place from some well-endowed friends and needed new bras anyway.
Getting a professional fitting was the best thing I have done for myself in a long time. Here's the deal: you walk in and sign up for a fitting. Then sit on the couch and thumb through magazines while eavesdropping on other shoppers in fitting rooms. Sometimes an efficient employee walks through the front of the shop, looking for bras for a customer. Soon enough you're called in for a fitting and led to private dressing rooms with two doors: one from the lobby, and one that leads into their back rooms, where there are racks of bras to be seen. I was asked pointedly what I wanted in my new bra (lift and coverage) and then instructed to take off my shirt. The fitter measured my ribs for the band size first, left by the back door, then brought in two bras. Just two, not a whole pile. I love when someone knows exactly what you need and you get choice A or B instead of feeling at sea with too many options. Getting exactly the right fit took a couple tries and I ended up taking two bras home. Actually, I wore one home, I was so elated to have on something that fit so well. On the way home, I glanced at my new measurement: 34F. Who knew?
So, what are the perks to shopping at a fine lingerie store like this one? Well, unlike the Victoria's Secret stores, there was a sense of dignity about the place. Instead of mannequins of busty girls with skinny hips (yeah, right), there was an air of--dare I say it--adulthood present. Just Like a Woman does medical fittings as well as bridal bustier fittings, so it's no coincidence that there are no posters of hot, sexy girls being all fierce in their push-up bras on the wall.
The only thing that might put people off is the $15 fitting fee, which is waived upon purchase of a bra. And if you really can't find a bra there...you might be stuck. And the price for my two bras ended up being $24 less than I would have paid for them at Macy's. Not bad at all.
A week later, and I'm still a very happy woman. Working in the garden, I suddenly realized that I'd been leaning over for a couple hours and hadn't fallen out of my bra once. I hadn't even had to think about it. I'll be able to go to the chiropractor without having to discreetly move The Ladies* back into place. My tops look cuter, my body actually looks slimmer...the list of "Hallelujahs!" goes on and on.
So, if you are wanting to be a Grown-Up Lady, and your bra just isn't quite doing all it could for you, consider being fit by a pro. It's worth the time, costs less than the department stores, and heck, this place does the shopping for you. What's better than that?
*Yes, I call them The Ladies. Calling them The Girls would be a joke, as they are nearly forty years old and have nursed for three of them~~That's just not "girl" material.
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