Archive for March, 2011
Bras That Breathe
March 29, 2011
I just returned from a trip to the Galapagos Islands with my girls last week. Boy, do I now understand all you women writing to HerRoom asking for bras that breathe. I had on a bra that didn’t, and I’m telling you, I couldn’t wait to get it off. It was uncomfortable, hot and literally sticking to me.
I have noticed some confusion, though, about all of this breathing bra business from reading our customers’ email inquiries. Most jump right in and want to know what all-cotton bras we have; assuming cotton is breathable and the answer to their problem.
The truth about cotton is that there is no bra out there that is 100% cotton. And for good reason. Think about your cotton jeans. They stretch. An all-cotton bra would do the same thing. Therefore, spandex is usually included in the content so that a cotton bra can hold its shape. So yes, a bra with cotton content will help in a hot climate. But, a cotton bra will not dry quickly. You will most likely find yourself in a soggy cotton bra with perspiration bleeding onto your top.
The better solution is to find a bra that breathes and has wicking fabric. Wicking fabric draws the moisture from your skin to the surface of the bra for evaporation. You may not know this, but you might even have a bra in your collection that does this. So, how do you know if your bra is breathable?
I posed this question to several of my vendors and received back a very simple and quite funny response. A bra has breathing qualities if you can hold the cups against your mouth and blow through the fabric. Those bras that allow your breath through the cups are considered breathable.
So, on this vacation, I did the "breathable" test on the 3 bras I was traveling with. Sure enough, the one bra where I couldn’t blow air through its fabric was the one I arrived in and couldn’t get off fast enough. After I quickly changed to one that I could breathe through, I saw a tremendous difference in improved comfort.
Lesson learned here: on a hot day, breath through the bra you are thinking of wearing to make sure it breathes. And if you don’t have one in your bra collection, consider getting one that does.
Find breathable bras and moisture-wicking bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
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Posted by Tomima at 11:09am
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New Playtex Bra Marketing Strategy Rolling Out in Europe
March 23, 2011
We’ve probably all seen those Playtex bra commercials on TV. The full-busted young women offering up their scripted opinions of how they want a bra to fit and feel while standing there in nothing but a colored or printed Playtex bra. This was Playtex’s effort to appeal to a younger demographic that has considered Playtex bras more for their moms and grandmoms than for themselves. So, this new marketing campaign in Europe is curious.
Playtex is investing $2 million towards branding Playtex as the underwear brand for women over 50. Called the "Feeling better than ever" campaign, it will use a 42 year old model. The goal is to reposition the brand to aim at this market that feels ignored. The message will be that Playtex knows you are really young at heart even though you are having to cope with body shape changes.
My guess is they will roll out a similar campaign in the US, once proved successful. Why? Because, like Victoria’s Secret, Playtex too abandonded their core customer who grew up with them. Turning to the younger population who is fickle and not as brand loyal just to be in the forefront of fashion may be trendy, but the money is with the boomers. This customer grew up, but hasn’t died. She’s the center of the Baby Boomer population – the largest in the USA. She grew up with those Jane Russell "Cross your heart" commercials and still wants them… and in white. Yes, it may be a less glamorous population, but they have the spending power and the needs to be met.
My money is on seeing the "Feeling Better than Ever" campaign in the US by the end of this year.
Posted by Tomima at 8:27am
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From Girdles to Spacesuits
March 11, 2011
A new book is coming out at the end of March, Nicholas de Monchaux’s Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo, that chronicles the development of the spacesuits Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and the rest of the Apollo astronauts wore on their historic journey. What, you might be asking, does this have to do with lingerie? Well, the spacesuits were designed and custom-made by Playtex.
Known at the time as International Latex Corporation, Playtex won a contract to develop the spacesuit. But they were overseen by a defense contractor who, contemptuous of the abilities of a mere fashion company, took over the project and subsequently failed.
In a James Bond-worthy sequence, Playtex stole its designs back, worked 24/7 for almost 2 months and created the AX5L. Their design beat out the competition–one of which couldn’t fit through the opening of the space capsule and the other of which had an exploding helmet.
NASA should have trusted Playtex from the start. As Wired Magazine writes, "Any company capable of making a girdle tough enough to sustain that 1960s hourglass shape without cutting off the wearer’s oxygen can handle the rigors of space."
Find Playtex lingerie, although not spacesuits at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
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Photo courtesy: Courtesy Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL, NASA
Posted by Jan at 9:29am
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