(no subject)

[some_stars]

After two hours spent filling out online job applications--including one that let me get about twenty screens in before revealing that it was literally impossible to complete and submit it without filling in three references--I thought I might be eager to escape into pornographing, but when I opened up the file I realized I was feeling resentful of all the characters for not having to go through jobhunting. Which, aside from how it is a fucking ridiculous thing to feel, is legitimate in some cases (Charles) and in others makes me a truly terrible person (Raven, Erik) but I can't help it, okay, MY PAIN IS WORST. Because it's real, but mostly because it's mine.

Semi-related topic: Does anyone have any experience with department store bra fittings? My makeshift, stopgap, "well I guess they don't make me look actively deformed or cause any notable pain so I'll buy five" bras are all starting to wear out past even my ability to ignore clothing damage, and I don't want to just buy five more because they're sixty dollars each and hardly perfect. I've preemptively rejected those specialty fitting stores like Intimacy that have popped up everywhere in the last several years, because 1.) I am far too fat and would only sadden and confuse them, and 2.) it's not like I'm expecting to get a $20 bra to fit my 48/50-C/E mismatched deflated boobs, I have more or less come to terms with that bitterness, but I'd rather not spend $120--or more--if I can avoid it. So I'm thinking about Nordstrom, where hopefully there will be slightly less judgment, or at least less terrified incomprehension of how someone could possibly be that big and still willingly leave the house, and also possibly less of the blatantly dishonest sales techniques I've heard about from Intimacy et al.

So, uh, anybody ever get fitted at Nordstrom or a similar institution? How do they do with large plus sizes and/or uneven cup sizes? Are the fitters really all brusque old ladies who have Seen It All and don't especially care about you or your breasts as anything but abstract problems? Because that's what I'm shooting for here: competence, and a total, bored disinterest in my shape and consistency.

Comments

[minim_calibre]

Nordstrom fitters are AWESOME.

[some_stars]

This is encouraging!

[lilacsigil]

I have never been fitted, I just measured a lot and worked out my size (which was 46DD, not what I expected). But my boobs are fairly even, so that probably makes it easier.

[some_stars]

I had a long and horrible period of years going from bra to bra before settling on the ones I currently use, and no amount of measuring or trying on different styles and brands yielded anything at all useful. The ones I finally gave up and settled on (from Decent Exposures) are basically one step up from a sports bra, in that it has cups (sort of). I mean, were it up to me I would live 90% of my life in a sports bra, but these don't even really fit either, it's just easier to live with their failures because they're not painful or quite as obvious visually. And also there's that other 10%. IDK what magic I'm hoping for from the bra fitter ladies, because I do have extremely saggy/floppy breasts that are nonetheless much too large to go braless (but much too small to be ~proportionate~), and the right one is almost a whole cup size smaller than the left, but I figured I should give it a try before spending another couple hundred dollars on unsatisfying despair-bras.

(Also they always say to take your measurements in a well-fitting bra that you currently own, which of course I don't and never have in my entire life.)

[jumpuphigh]

(Also they always say to take your measurements in a well-fitting bra that you currently own, which of course I don't and never have in my entire life.)

A good fitter can and will work around that. My first fit was in a not-so-well-fitting bra.

[lilacsigil]

I live 100% of my daytime life in a sports bra - I have a few with cups (but no wires, ugh) and some that just squash everything in firmly and comfortably, including my underarm fat. I didn't own a well-fitting bra until I was 28. Good luck with the bra fitter ladies!

[some_stars]

I love me some almost-sports-bra for most of my waking life, but I also love really deep v-necks and sleeveless tops with narrow straps and sleeved tops that show maximum shoulder and decolletage, and these things are rarely compatible. Hence my eternal quest!

[lilacsigil]

Good point! I'm rather small-busted and very small-shouldered compared to the size of my hips. I often have to buy for hip size then actually sew tops shut to stop them being open to the bottom of my bra or falling off my body, meaning that I look for things that are not too deeply v-necked.

I always wondered if Jean Grey had a telekinetic bra...

via network

[jumpuphigh]

I'm not sure I've ever been fitted at Nordstroms but that's the quality of stores I usually go to and I find that fitters don't care about my boobs. They just care about the bra and how it is fitting my body. It's a weird combination of personal and impersonal. I mean, they'll look at your boobs but they really aren't looking at your boobs. I think it's like anybody who works with bodies all day, they've seen it all. I've found it to be quite liberating as a client.

I've always had great service in general at Nordstroms so I would expect that you shouldn't encounter any problems there.

we don't have a nordstoms in nola

[harpers_child]

the best bra fitting i ever got was at a lane bryant. at my mall the intimates section has it's own storefront. i'm on the smaller end of the band sizes they carry, but have ginormous boobs. a lot of the time they've got sales going. bras are about $40 as listed on the tag, but i've never paid more than $30 for one. right now they have a buy two get two free special going on. even the styles that aren't right for my boob shape are the most comfortable and best supporting bras i've ever worn.

i'm between a 36 and 38 with E boobs if that helps. the first time i went into a lane bryant the saleslady looked at me and very politely told me i was wearing the wrong size bra. she was correct by both band and cup size.

Re: we don't have a nordstoms in nola

[some_stars]

Unfortunately, the bra-related trials of a 36E--which are many and difficult--mostly don't overlap with those of a 50C/D. I used to wear Lane Bryant bras, when I could just barely squeeze into a 46D basic underwire. Now I can't, and they only carry wired bras up to 44 anymore anyway, last I checked. (I find it interesting that this shrinkage happened about the same time they decided to take their lingerie department upmarket and rebrand everything a few degrees fancier.) And their wire-free bras are pretty atrocious in my experience.

Re: we don't have a nordstoms in nola

[harpers_child]

i was afraid of that. sorry i wasn't any help.

[aris_tgd]

I have been... well, I got fitted at a lingerie shop, but I bought some bras at Nordstrom. The clerk was very friendly and professional, and their clearance rack seemed to have a pretty wide variety of sizes. I think clerks are going to naturally vary by which store you go to, but they seem to have very good training.

Most of the *bras* there are quite expensive, but like I said, they have a clearance rack which is awesome. Also, they may have stuff, like, fitted padding for your smaller boob so you can wear a larger cup size comfortably?

... Okay, the only thing that might be Not Good is that looking on their website, they only seem to have one brand online that goes up to a 48 band size and nothing that goes up to a 50. So they might not have anything in stock in your size and I know that feeling of awful when that happens in a store. On the other hand, they will probably be able to size you properly even if they don't have anything in stock, and then you might be able to order online.

[sara]

I have basically the opposite problem (I am a 40A, many days) and I find myself well-satisfied with the services of a small local specialty shop that caters mostly to women who've had mastectomies and is willing to do alterations. They do big gals, they do small gals, they do gals who are variable, they do gals who are nursing...and also they understand one's desire for something actually-attractive even if one is not a 36B. Which is why I bought the extremely cute black lace number last week.

Nordstrom may be awesome but I have yet to be in one that has a sewing machine standing by. Thus I recommend a trip through the yellow pages, looking for a place that does "foundations" or "post-mastectomy."

[ellen_fremedon]

I have had good luck getting fitted at Nordstroms, and also good luck finding sale bras on their clearance rack.

[brownbetty]

I dunno, I had a horrible fitting somewhere that told me I was a 32 D. (For the record: neither.)

But everything was on sale, so I persevered.

[phosfate]

Nordstrom's is probably the closest you'll get to the department stores of my childhood. These are people who (a) want to sell you stuff and (b) probably get a commission, so it is not in their interest to make you run from the store crying.