A lot has been said about bras, how pointless they are, and how terribly uncomfortable they can make one feel—and on any given day I would agree with those sentiments. But as someone who has spent her adult life trying very hard to find a bra her size in lingerie stores, and almost always failing, I had to go and check out the new Victoria's Secret store in Ambience Mall, Delhi. Now, I walked into the store knowing fully well that I will roll my eyes and drop my jaw at the price tags of everything the store houses, and despite that knowledge, I walked out of the store with a bra. And the knowledge of how a bra is supposed to fit MY body.
I've had bra fittings done before, but it is almost always followed by, 'Oh, we don't have your size!' so what I have in my closet is whatever was the next best thing.
At the Victoria's Secret store, the fitting expert measured my under-bust and chest, and gave me a tentative size—which is also what I thought my size was. They asked me to try out a bra they picked out that they felt would fit my body well. I tried it out, and (here's the catch) let the expert in to show them how it fits. They ask you to keep your T-shirt or shirt off so they can check if it is a good fit. And while I am not someone who would be excited at the thought of undressing in front of strangers, the professionalism with which they approached the situation made me feel comfortable enough to go through with it.
The expert explained to me why the size wouldn't work for my body (the straps were digging into my skin a bit too much, and the spillage indicated that the cup size was a little small), and brought an alternate size, which was one cup size up.
When I had that on, they told me how to check if a bra is the right size. The waist of your bra is supposed to have room for two fingers to slide across with ease, and the strap should have room for one finger. The straps of a bra that fits well would also not touch your body throughout, and there would be a gap between the strap and your body towards the bottom. She also gave me an idea of how much spillage is okay for my body, considering body fat is different for different people, and a standard size bra can't always incorporate it.
The moment of truth for me, however, was how many pieces they would have stocked in my (new, and even more complicated) size, which to no one's surprise was a grand total of ONE, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt as they had a busy day. Though, to be fair, the bra cost INR 6,000 and I probably wouldn't be able to afford another (anytime soon). But I will, for sure, go back for more.
