Archive for the 'Intimate Wisdom' Category
Help! My Favorite Bra’s Been Discontinued… Now What?
September 01, 2010
Been there? I think every woman has at least once in her lifetime. One of the questions I’m most asked once I’ve been outed as being in the lingerie business is "Why did my favorite bra get discontinued?"
Generally, there are 5 reasons a bra style gets shelved.
1. Lackluster Sales – It’s simple economics. If the bra is not selling well, a manufacturer will stop making it.
2. A Major Department Store Stops Buying It – The lingerie industry is ruled by the major department store chains like Federated, Macy’s, Kohl’s Nordstroms, etc. Not all of them carry the same bra styles. In fact, they like to have styles exclusive to them, or ones that not all stores have. So, when one of these major chains decides not to carry the style for whatever reason, the manufacturer will discontinue it – regardless of other smaller stores and websites that might be selling the style well. Simply put, it’s the Big Gorilla symptom.
3. High Return Rate – If the bra style has a high return rate, neither the manufacturer or the retailer wants the style. This is one of the reasons that so few front closure bras are on the market. They have a high return rate because they don’t have enough adjustability like a back closure bra, so they get returned because they stretch out and women can’t make them tighter. Also, that front closure clip breaks and limits the support that can be created in the center of the bra.
4. No Longer Fits The Manufacturers Design Direction – I have seen fabulous selling designs be abruptly discontinued by a manufacturer. It’s crazy and makes no sense, but when asked, the manufacturer will say things like "It’s the only remaining piece in the collection" or "We are designing in a different direction" or "We want to make a new statement." Here are some examples. Olga bras (made by Warnaco) decided that they only wanted to make bras in C cup sizes and larger. They had several terrific styles in A and B cup sizes. But, they decided to let them go. To this day HerRoom gets inquiries from former Olga customers asking where their B cup sizes are. Chantelle is another company that discontinues great styles every year. It’s a little more understandable with this brand because they consider themselves very fashion forward, with European styling, so they want to have fresh new styles to offer each season.
5. Materials used for the bra can no longer be purchased – Most lingerie manufacturers are very specific on this point. If they can’t get the exact fabric or lace, they will discontinue the style rather than find an alternate fabric. Over the years, they have learned that if it isn’t exact, the customer knows and gets mad. It’s better to come back with a new style number using the new fabric than to risk trying to pull a switch on the customer. Wacoal is particularly sensitive to this. One of their best sellers had to be discontinued because the lace manufacturer changed the design just slightly. Because it wasn’t exact, Wacoal chose to lose sales rather than disappoint their customers.
So, knowing all this, what’s a girl to do when this happens? Allow me to put on my Super Hero cape and come to the rescue. For the last 5 years, I’ve asked my staff to figure out what style to recommend as a replacement once we hear that a bra is being discontinued. Not every discontinued bra has a close replacement, but when there is, we document it. We then put this information on our site. So, if you key in the manufacturer name and the style number of a discontinued bra style (or panty or shapewear style for that matter) into our search box, most of the time you will see the recommended replacement styles. As an example go to HerRoom and type this into the search box:
Warners 2015
First, we tell you that it was discontinued in August of 2008. This way you know it’s been gone for two years, so trying to hunt it down in any store will probably be futile. And then we give you similar styles that might be a replacement option for you.
Now, truth be told, you probably are not going to like the similar items because they are not EXACTLY like your old bra. But, my goal is to at least give you a starting point and make your search for your new favorite bra a little quicker and less painful. Let me know if you like this feature.
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Posted by Tomima at 10:53am
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Bra Fitters are Failing Most Full-Figured Women
February 10, 2010
An interesting article was posted in the United Kingdom Telegraph recently. A London consumer watchdog group called Which? sent eleven mystery shopping women with cup sizes of DD or larger to 70 stores in the high street area to see how well they would be fitted in bras by the so-called experts in each store.
The results? Only 29% of the bras sold to these women were rated as a ‘good fit.’ But even then, none of the eleven women felt the service they were provided at any of the stores warranted a recommendation.
Many of the women from the watchgroup were sold wildly different sizes. For one of the women, two different shops had fit her in bras that differed in cup sizes by 7 sizes. Another went to the same store in two different locations–one sold her a 34C, the other a 34F.
Now, I have written on this before. Yes, there are hard-working bra fitters out there who do a very good job of getting women into the proper bra size. Unfortunately, it’s hard to know which are good and which are not. And, keep in mind, that if they can convince you that you are a different size than what you walked in wearing, they can probably talk you into buying several new bras. The temptation is simply too great to get you into a different size – especially if the fitter is working for a commission or piece of the sale.
I have said this before, so I’ll gladly say this again. I think we women are smart enough to figure out what size we are with a better understanding of bra sizing and how to translate your fitting symptoms into size changes.
I’ve spent hours researching and writing about bra sizing. Simply go to the HerRoom Bra Fitting Advice section located at the bottom of each page of HerRoom.com. There are over 40 pages that I hope will answer any questions you may have on how a great-fitting bra should look and feel.
Read earlier posts about proper bra fitting and about understanding cup sizes.
Find bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
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Posted by Tomima at 12:35pm
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How a Seamed Bra Can Look Seamless Under Clothing
February 03, 2010
I’ve been watching some old movies lately – mostly ones with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. It is amazing how, no matter how much things change, they really stay the same. Specifically, the fashions. Tight sweaters, pencil skirts, fabulous pumps. Many of the fashions back then could be worn today. And guess what? In those old movies, I’m not seeing any bra seams.
A quick bra history lesson. The common t-shirt bra of today was first introduced by Josie Natori less than 20 years ago. The timeframe for these movies is late 1950’s and early 1960’s– before bra cups were molded as they are today. Older bras were actually "cut and sew," meaning there were seams in the cups to give them shape. Granted the shape was more cone-like, but even creating a round shape back then required seams in the cups.
So, how did women back then pull off a seamless look in those tight sweaters? The answer is they wore additional undergarments that most of us have forgotten about.
Adding a slip, chemise, or undershirt was a natural step for most women before putting on a blouse. Surely some of us may still have a full slip in the back of the lingerie drawer. This additional layer of fabric eliminated, or at least minimized, the seams in the cups of a woman’s bra.
It is still true today that a seamed-cup bra or cut & sew bra (as some call it) will give a woman the best breast support and will last longer than seamless bras. They also tend to be much prettier because they can incorporate lace and beautiful trims. But their popularity has waned because of the seams showing through t-shirts and form-fitting clothes. We seem to have forgotten that simply wearing an additional layer can solve the problem.
Women who are a D cup and larger, don’t shy away from a seamed bra the next time you go shopping. Instead, find a great underpinning such as a camisole or full slip, and enjoy the feminine feeling it gives you along with the seamless appearance.
Find seamed bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
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Posted by Tomima at 11:03am
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