5
Jun 29, 2013
My bra wasn't fitting well so I read a bunch of stuff on the Internet about bra fitting (how I discovered this site) and watched some videos and generally assembled, assessed, and analyzed data - which I'm good at, having been trained to do so in college - and, thus armed, I called the local Cacique, which is at the Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton, CA. Over the phone I asked whether they did bra fittings. The person said yes. I said I had questions, so she put me through to the store manager.
Now I wore a 42DD and I was pretty sure that my cup size was way too small, based on what I'd read. I asked how they did the fittings, and the woman said, "we measure your chest." She started talking about how they did it over your clothing, which I wasn't concerned about. I interrupted and said, "WHERE do you measure on the chest?" This totally confused her. I realized it was pointless to ask any more questions and simply said I'd be in for a fitting.
Later in the afternoon I went to the store for my fitting. I was given to a "professional bra fitter." I told her I thought my bra band was too loose because I could pull it well away from my back and it kept rolling up. I said the cup was too small because if I actually scooped all my tissue into my cup, it overflowed. She looked at my bra and said it looked good to her, and that she'd never heard that the most common bra fitting problems were cup too small, band too large. Nevertheless, I expressed, I wanted a fitting. So she got her measure and measured me. My band was 42, but she was surprised to see that I was probably a G or H cup. She left to go find those bras.
She returned with my choice, which was the Cacique Smooth Balconette (36851). I'd been wearing these for years. I tried on the 40G, the 42G, the 40H, and the 42H. The gore didn't tack with any of them. She had no idea what the gore was and said that her gore didn't tack either and she'd never seen a bra where that actually happened. I said I needed a bigger cup size, but they don't carry bigger cup sizes. She tried to get me into a bigger band size, but the band fit reasonably well though she expressed concern that it was too tight. At this point she went to get more bras and solicited the help of her store manager.
The manager then came and told me that *her* gore didn't tack, either, and that often they just didn't do that and that I should just compromise and accept that the bra was only sort of going to fit. Now it did fit better than my old 42DD, but it still didn't fit. And I wasn't going to drop upwards of $100 on bras that only sort of fit. The manager actually argued with me. I kept stressing that I knew what I was talking about because I'd done all this research and she practically rolled her eyes when I said that it had been Internet research. It was clear that she didn't think I knew what I was talking about. She finally said that maybe the balconette just wasn't going to fit me, and she got me a Cacique Embroidered French Full Coverage Bra (129400) and a Cacique Passion Lace Full Coverage (92120). Neither of those fit me, either - in fact, the French full coverage bra in 42G was *entirely* too small in the cup.
I did buy the two bras that most adequately (though imperfectly) fit me because I'm a big girl and I needed *something* that fit better than my old 42DD bras. But I was very upset because they just wouldn't listen to me, presumed I didn't know what I was talking about, and were clearly ignorant.
The Nordstrom's is next door and I went there. I was immediately helped by an experienced, professional bra fitter who knew how a gore should fit. She took me to a room, had me take off my shirt, tightly measured under my bust, and returned with bras in 42G and 42H. The H was a little too big, but the 42G fit very well. It was so comfortable! The gore tacked to my chest with both bras (Elomi Betty (8170) and a different @Elomi bra). The band fit well, the straps didn't dig in, and nothing hurt. She had me bend down when I put it on and scoop all my tissue into the cup, too - like she actually knew how a bra should fit and was trying to help me find one in my real size. I bought a third Elomi bra, wore one out of the store, returned the Cacique bras, showed the Cacique fitter what a gore should look like, told her about my Nordstrom's experience, and threw out my ill-fitting bra on my way out the door.
Lesson learned: At least at the Stoneridge mall the Cacique people are clueless and the Nordstrom's people rock.
Filed under Bras ups and downs
3 comments
My first well fitting bra was a Freya Active underwired sports bra from that Nordstrom. I had called to see if they had my size, and when I finally got there, after an hour of driving, I was delighted to find how well it fit. One of the lingerie salespeople politely asked if she could check out the fit. When I showed her, she agreed, enumerating the points discussed on bratabase and abrathatfits--wire width, gore tacking, band level, etc...That is a great store.
How did the Cacique fitter react when you showed her the unheard of phenomenon--gore tacking??
learningaboutbras She reacted pretty well, actually, as if she really wanted to know. I'd been saying all this stuff to her about how bras should fit and she didn't know any of it. Based on how she reacted to what I said and me showing her how the gore works, I wouldn't be surprised if she either actually went to Nordstroms and got fitted or is doing internet research of her own. She was much more open to new ideas than her store manager - it was as if she had been trained to think the only thing you needed to do to fit a bra was take two measurements.
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