Tomima's Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

 

Talk about the Yuck factor!   The Today Show on NBC did a hidden camera investigation on several prominant retailers to see if they would return to stock underwear that had signs of use.

Eight retailers including Victoria’s Secret, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdales, and The Gap in a mall in New Jersey were targeted. Lingerie was purchased in each location.  The investigators then removed the tags and protective strips, marked each purchase with two small black dots on the label, and then went back to the store to try and return them. Oh, and the investigators also stained each garment with a few drops of baby oil so that this underwear would have a "used" look to it.

All eight stores accepted the returns for full refund. And, at Bloomingdales, Victoria’s Secret, Nordstrom, Macy’s and the Gap, the investigators found the merchandise re-tagged and back out on the selling floor for another customer to purchase.  The investigators did not find their merchandise returned to the floor at J. Crew, Saks, or Express.

All the stores claimed that this was not their policy and that they would be educating their employees immediately.

Like everyone, I watched this expose in horror.  The idea of buying underwear that has been used is appalling.  And, it is just one more reason to consider buying underwear on the Internet.  I can proudly state that all the garments we sell are pristine and new.  Our returns are very closely scrutinized and run through biological testing.  Those garments not passing the tests are not put back into inventory.

Hats off to my return team for their outstanding efforts to maintain the highest standard of quality and safety for our customers.

 

 

You can see the video on HerRoom’s page on Facebook.

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Posted by Tomima at 8:59am
Tags: bra shopping, lingerie
1 Comment »

 

The average bra size used to be a 34B in America.  In fact, when I need a sample of a new bra style, what size arrives?  Yes, a 34B.  Everyone in the bra industry still uses this size as the norm. But over the last 10 years, the average bra size has been climbing. 

Ten years ago, when I started in this business, I was informed that the new average bra size was a 36C.  Well, it is now being reported that today’s median bra size in the US is 36DD – that’s an increase of 2 cup sizes.

I’m happy to say that the bra industry has seen this trend coming.  I’ve noticed that many traditional manufacturers, like Wacoal for example, have increased their cup size range.  You can now purchase many of their bras in a G cup (which is the same as a DDDD cup).  The brand Olga actually revamped their entire bra size range two years ago.  Their products now start with a C cup and go up – no more B and A cup sizes.

As the need for larger cup sizes grows, I really do wish we could standardize how these cup sizes are named.  You may not know this, but many manufacturers could be calling your cup size by other letters.  For instance, some manufacturers refer to a DD as an E cup, a DDD as an F cup and so on.

For those of you needing help deciphering all the variations for your cup size,  I’ve tried to make it easy by creating our size conversion chart.  Simply find your column, and you now have your cup size in every bra brand available.

 

Find all cup sizes at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

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Posted by Tomima at 1:45pm
Tags: Bra Fitting, bra sizes, cup size
4 Comments »

What do Beyonce and Pablo Picasso have in common?  Apparently a lawsuit! 

Here’s what happened.   Beyonce’s video for ‘Video Phone’ has her wearing a unique black and white costume.  Meanwhile, German lingerie manufacturer, Triumph hosted a lingerie design contest similar to American Idol.  A Bulgarian lingerie designer named Iskren Lozanov was a finalist with his Picasso-inspired black and white lingerie that looks shockingly similar to Beyonce’s costume in the video.  The competition rules required that the designer give Triumph the intellectual property rights to his designs.  The contest aired the design before the video was launched.

Triumph, upon seeing the video filed a lawsuit against Sony, Beyonce’s record label, in Munich Germany.  Both sides argued their inspiration was Picasso. And the result?  Judge Peter Guntz recognized the bra designs owned by Triumph as ‘highly original’ and therefore deserved ‘a very broad scope of protection.’ He then ordered that the ‘Video Phone’ video be removed from German television and banned from viewing in Germany.

Prior to the ruling, Triumph extended an olive branch: If Beyonce would agree to be a judge in their next lingerie competition, they would drop the suit.  Beyonce and her team rejected the offer.  Triumph attorneys responded by saying this was a sign of Beyonce’s arrogance.

So, now going from bad to worse, attorneys for Beyonce and Sony are filing papers to appeal the ruling.

 

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Posted by Tomima at 7:55am
Tags: Beyonce, celebrity bras
No Comments »