So at the start of the summer, I found myself on a quest for a more suitable foundation, and by foundation I mean, over shoulder boulder holder….. yes a BRA!!!! If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you will know that I have a hard time finding clothes that fit my measurements and it’s all my fault!!! You see, when I was little, I prayed for big boobs. I figured that if I had to go through puberty, I might as well make it worth it!!!! At that age, I didn’t realize that that would mean missing out on those occasional $7.99 bra clearance sales at Macys. Neither did I fathom that I wouldn’t be privy to the secret that Victoria holds because my amples are just too large.
In early June I realized that the bras I recently purchased weren’t fitting the way that they should. I was last fitted at Nordstrom were I was told I was a 40 J. I normally wear Elomi but I had a bra by Panache shipped to me because it was so pretty. Once I hit a G cup a few years back, I started purchasing all of my bras at Nordstrom. My problem now was that Nordstrom only carried up to a J cup and I just felt like my J’s weren’t cutting it. It was at that point that I decided to look up lingerie specialty stores.
From my google search of Maryland stores, I came up with two that carried larger sizes: Bare Necessities in Lutherville and Bra La La in Fulton. I decided to go to Bare Necessities first because it was closer. The shop is located in the lovely Green Spring Station. I would give the store itself a B rating and the quality of the service was a B-. I was disappointed by the lack of variety available in store especially since I had called before going and was told that they had pretty colors in my size but I left with only one black bra. They said that the new colors would come in for the fall which was interesting because I would associate colors with spring and summer. They measured me at a 40 JJ, one cup size larger than what I was wearing before and I wasn’t surprised. Because I only left with one bra, I decided to check out Bra La La as well because I was in desperate need of better fitting bras.
This 40JJ doesn’t sit on my breast plate in the middle
On my commute to and from work, I always passed an exit called Scaggsville and I always thought it was such an odd name. Well let me tell you that there was a huge treasure hiding there called Maple Lawn. The shopping plaza and community area was a well planned and well maintained development. It is the type of place that would be great for families as well as young professionals. Bra La La was hands down the best bra shopping experience that I’ve had thus far. Both the store and the service received an A grade from me. When you opened the doors you were greeted with a front area with lots of open space. It was well organized and I LOVED the water feature behind the counter. Most of the merchandise was in the back along with the fitting rooms so you had to have a specialist assist you. I was taken to the back and the décor was on par with Nordstrom but a little nicer. They had a plush robe with several catalogues in the fitting room for you to peruse while waiting for the specialists to pull bras. Bra La La measured me at a 38 JJ and I can tell you that going down one band size made a HUGE difference in the fit. This was it!!! I was so excited!!! I ended up purchasing 4 bras. One regular ‘nude’ bra (not my nude), one ‘nude’ J hook bra (for racerback tops/dresses), one blue floral bra, and one purple floral bra. I also purchased bra detergent because I knew I needed to protect my investments better. The purchases came up to just under $300 and the only con I have is that my debit card didn’t go through!!! It was embarrassing even though the fault had to be on their side because I knew what was in my bank account!!! I had to go to the nearby bank and take out the cash to finish the transaction. It was so odd because I never had issues with any other purchases I made that day.
38JJ
Later on in the summer I went on a trip to Atlanta (I’ll write about that later). While in Phipps Plaza waiting for a storm to pass, I decided to check out Intimacy, a high end lingerie store. I asked the ladies that worked there if they carried my size and the confirmed that they did. I went into the back and they had catalogues to leaf through in the fitting room just like Bra La La did. The store wasn’t very big but it served its purpose. I would rate the store about a B+ and the service the same. The bra stylist brought me 38 Js to put on and they didn’t seem to fit badly at the time, much to my surprise. She said she didn’t think I needed the JJ. I purchased two bras, one of which was the Jasmine Balconnet by Panache that I had been wanting ever since I saw it at Bra La La. Now in retrospect I really wonder if the stylist felt that the 38 J was better because she never brought out a JJ for me to try on. Now I wonder if she had any JJs in stock and if she just sold me what she could. After actually wearing them out, I feel like while my front profile looks quite yummy, my side profile could look better. Next time I will insist on trying both sizes and not making a purchase unless they have both so I can really see which is best. Check out my Intimacy purchases below.
38J
All in all I am happy that I have more options than I did before. I have also been reformed as I no longer launder my bras in the washer AND dryer *gasp I know*. I am taking better care of my bras by hand washing them and not wearing the same bra back to back. I found an article that stated that you should leave a day in between wearing a bra so that the elasticity has a chance to recover.
Now that I have laid the right foundation, let’s move on to the other memorable moments of my endless summer.
misskittywally 