Titillating Trial

In the summer of 2006, fed up with the task of trying to find a bra that fit properly on my own, I took myself to Pacific Centre’s La Jolie Madame.

Most gals will tell you that searching for a bra is at the bottom of their list of things they would least like to be doing…ever.  It requires no less than three hours and countless trips to the change room.  It helps to take a trusted, and patient friend with you – you know, safety in numbers.

At the end of it all, glaze-eyed and exhausted, you count yourself lucky if you have been successful in finding a half-decent fit.

That summer I had to go bra shopping.  I had put it off as long as I could, and there just wasn’t any getting around it.

So I went to La Jolie Madame and told the very knowledgeable woman there what it was I wanted.

She looked at me and said, “You’re a 32 C.”

(this is way more impressive if you know that I was fully clothed at the time).

She brought me a bra.

I tried it on.

It fit perfectly.  P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y.

I asked, “Do you have it in any other colours?”

She said, “Black.”

I said, “I’ll take one of each.”

Two bras in under 10 minutes.  Unheard of.

There was, however, a price to pay. A big price.  Including taxes, my two new undergarments cost just under $200.00.  I was told that if I diligently hand washed and hung to dry, they would last me a long time.

Well…it’s been a couple years, and six months ago I had to make alterations to one to maintain any sort of support.  Disappointed?  Yeah.

The reality is, $20.00 bra or $100.00 bra, elastic gets old and loses its sproing.  I absolutely loved solving the bra-buying dilemma in such short order, but unless I start making gobs of money and have an extra two hunnerd bucks to splurge every year, I’m going to have to cut out the middlewoman and return to DIY Brassiere Fitting.

Which doesn’t please me.

I do have several rolls of packing tape.  I think if I experiment with strategic wrapping techniques I may be able to put off the dreaded task a while longer…