Sometimes my customers’ reactions during their fittings remind me of these stories. I often hear from my customers, “I don’t want to be able to feel my bra” or “But I can feel it”. I explain to these customers that just like these feral children if you were not used to wearing clothes you would be able to feel them too.

The feeling of the bra on your body is something that some people need to get accustomed to. That doesn’t mean it should be tight, uncomfortable or dig-in. We wear bras to hold up our breasts so, unlike most clothing which we wear to cover our bodies or keep us warm, bras are actually doing something. To physically hold up our breasts the bra has to be firmly anchored against our body or the weight of our breasts will pull it down.

When women tell me they want to rip their bras off as soon as they walk in the door this is an indication that they are not wearing the right bra for them. Unlike these feral children who can not stand the feeling of clothing what so ever the rest of us are used to wearing clothing. Similarly these women can get used to wearing bras once they are fit properly.

Once fitted properly a secure bra shouldn’t bother the person wearing it because it won’t shift around and dig in like a loose bra will. In almost all cases, in my 15 years bra fitting experience, once someone gets accustomed to feeling the bra doing it’s job it actually is much more comfortable for her. I can’t comment on whether or not any of these feral children ever got used to the feeling of clothing.

You can read about 10 cases of Feral Children at the link below.
http://www.smashinglists.com/10-feral-human-children-raised-by-animals/

If a man comes into the store to buy for his partner we ask him about her style. Does she wear lacy things, is she more of a sporty girl who would like cotton sleepwear or is she a classic type who would prefer silk? Once that is determined we can focus on finding things that in her size. Purchasing lingerie as a gift is less difficult than buying a bra set. Lingerie typically runs from XS-3X while bras come in almost 200 sizes at Tryst so he is less likely to make a mistake when buying a lingerie piece. Unless a man is dead set on getting her a bra and panty set, we will steer him in the direction of lingerie or sleepwear.

When it comes to buying a bra most men don’t know their partners real bra size. Because a woman is often not just one size but a variety of sizes, the best way for us to figure out what size she would need would be if he took a peek into her lingerie drawer and noted the various sizes and brands. Also many women don’t disclose their true size to their mate. After all, a 36DD is easier to comprehend as being large chested than a 30FF is, though these equal the same breast mass. This means that often men come into the store without the correct information to make a bra purchase.

If a man is overwhelmed by the lingerie buying experience he can always buy a gift certificate. And since so many women out there are wearing the wrong size, if she’s never had a fitting that’s often the best place to start. Once she’s in the store a fitting will ensure she gets the perfect fit and picks the item that works best for her. Not only does a gift certificate purchase the item she wants it also offers the service of a professional bra fitting. If she’s been in before and has already been fit there is a good chance she has a wish list on her customer file. Even looking at a customer’s purchase history will help figure out her size and her likes giving him a chance to choose from already proven items.

We can’t forget that men buying for their partners often want to enjoy the gift themselves. Not only are they trying to make her happy, they want to enjoy seeing it on her – so getting it right is important! And women should understand how intimidating it can be for some men to shop in a store with brassieres on every wall. So as hard as he’s tried, if he gets the size wrong knowing the return policy of the store is beneficial. At Tryst, we offer 14 days for exchange or store credit, but the item must be unworn with the tags attached and come back with either a receipt or gift receipt.

So ladies, pass this blog  along to the man in your life. Give him permission to buy you pretty things and enjoy them, and the holiday season, together.

I just returned from Buenos Aires and while packing for this trip I decided that I was going to pack all of my bras in my carry-on. Because I was going for 11 days and I only wear my bras once before washing them (I didn’t want to do laundry while I was away), I packed 13 bras – one for each day, a strapless and a sports bra just in case our hotel had a gym. I made the decision to always take my bras in my carry-on after one of our customers told us that her luggage had been lost and she had to replace all the bras that she had taken with her. This is a nightmare of mine. I always have the fear that while travelling I might lose my luggage and, while it would suck to lose everything I packed, nothing would be as bad as losing my bras. While clothing can be easily replaced, bras in my size are not sold in most of the countries I visit. Wearing ill-fitting replacement bras would be uncomfortable, look terrible and not give my breasts any support. Or, I would be wearing the same bra for the entire trip, the one I was wearing on the plane! After my conversation with this customer I decided never to leave the safe arrival of my bras to fate.

The only thing to keep in mind when packing your pretty intimates in your carry-on bag is this is the luggage that is most likely to be rummaged through by a complete stranger. While going though the security at our stop in Chile, the woman scanning my bags gave me a very quizzical look and asked me what it was that I had in my bags. It took me a second to understand what she was asking about. Luckily I know 3 Spanish words for bras so I could explain to her why she was seeing 26 giant metal “U”s in my bag. I have heard customer concerns about wires setting off the metal detector but I have never heard of this actually happening and it has never happened to me. Since wired bras are so prevalent one would think that frequent pat-downs would be more commonplace if this actually was a concern of airport security. It would be a wonder that any flight would arrive on time!

You may not realize that the bra-back sizes we are most familiar with here, in Canada, are indeed imperial. 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and so on refer to inches. These are not exactly the measurements of our bodies but we do use that measurement to help us determine what back size we are going to use and the measurement is taken in inches.

When I was in university I learned pattern drafting using inches. I later developed a system of my own design for pattern drafting which used either inches or cm. It was for a program that would do the drafting for you and the program could use either system. Maybe the traditional seamstresses have held on to the imperial system and passed it on to the next generation of designers and pattern drafters.

In the case of bra sizes metric is much more confusing then the imperial. This is because there are two metric systems: French and European. (By the way, I do realize that France is part of Europe but they have their own scale). Both use centimeters and both use numbers divisible by 5, however the sizes vary greatly. A 30 back is an 80 in French and a 65 in Europe. A 32 is a 85 in French and 70 in Europe. And so on.

Both scales have numbers from 80 to 105 but whereas a 80 is a 30 in French sizing it is a 36 in European sizes; very different sized women. This means every time a man comes to our store visiting from another country and tells us his wife is a 90 we have to ask him to describe her body because that could be a 40 back (which is a plus sized woman) or a 34 back (which is our most common size sold). Using inches, although it seems old fashioned, is much more convenient because there is only one meaning of a 32, 34 and so on. Of course different brands and collections may have slightly different fits-which is why you need the experience of a bra fitter with an arsenal of product knowledge.

If we did change our system of bra sizes from imperial to metric we would have to decide if we would adopt the French or the European scale. 32″ is about 82 centimeters which is closer to the French size of 85 and not the European size of 70. When measuring we hold the tape measure tightly under the bust and then add 5 or 3 depending on her measurement so this explains why the European sizes are much smaller then the centimeters that the inches convert to (if they do not add that extra to the number). However when we take the 2nd measurement which is above the bust we do not add 3 or 5 which would correspond closer to the French sizes. I think the best thing is to stick to the imperial sizes. Besides, how many women do you know who would want to go from a 36 to an 80?