(no subject)

[rm]

I just had a total meltdown in Victoria's Secret trying to get underpinnings for the Trashy Diva dress I want to wear tonight. NO ONE MAKES PROPER UNDERGARMENTS ANYMORE. And they had me trying on all these convoluted bras that were so unnecessary if folks just made low-back bustiers and slips these days. I couldn't figure out how any of the technology worked, wound up in gender-related tears and just totally couldn't cope. Finally bought something adequate, but still think there will be problems of excessive revelation if anyone takes any flash photography of me. But it was really horrible -- Macy's, Victoria's Secret and being told to go to bridal stores that won't, you know, see me if I'm not there to buy a wedding gown. Also, the woman in the store thought I was getting ready for my prom.

I'm still reeling.

Comments

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

Which dress did you get?

I hate Victoria's Secret. They don't carry my bra size anyway, so I have no reason to go in, but whenever I go in with a friend I always feel like the salespeople are staring at me and wondering why I have the audacity to be in their store. I used to feel that way about the Gap. This may all stem from a conversation I had with a girl in high school who told a tale wherein she was laughed out of the store when she asked if they had a 38DD.

[rm.livejournal.com]

This is a white silk one I bought ages ago they don't carry anymore. From the quiz the other day I got the green and white and teh black and honey.

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

I loathe Victoria's Secret. Next time, go to Nordstrom's. They have a much better lingerie department than anything else you mention (including snooty bridal stores).

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

you might have tried them, already, but did you try Frederick's of Hollywood?

Seriously. It's actually one of the first places I go when I need strapless/backless/etc type support. Granted, that's partially because they're the only chain that makes such things in a size that fits me but I've been pleasantly surprised by their offerings, more than once...

[rm.livejournal.com]

We don't have those here either!

[dvanulya.livejournal.com]

Prom? Whoa. Wow.

Hope everything stays where it's supposed to be.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Right! I'm used to being mistaken for 26 or 27, but 18, really? I think not.

[gina-r-snape.livejournal.com]

I don't have gender issues and even I've reached my limits at VS at times.

Might I suggest you try Orchard Corset?

http://www.orchardcorset.com/Store_ep_40.html

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That looks appropriately from the dawn of time.

[lachupacabra.livejournal.com]

victoria's secret makes crappy glued together stuff & has notoriously shitty staff.

a store that carries foundation garments is usually the best bet.
theyre likely to have better stuff & more helpful & knowledgeable staff.

you probably would like something from the goddess brand.
its pretty well made even tho its kind of pricey & they
still make simple items like what youre looking for.

also, agent provocateur might have a location in NYC & altho ive
never owned anything by them (they dont make anything even close
to my size), a gf of mine has some of their lingerie & its beautiful.

good luck.
:)

[zmayhem.livejournal.com]

This is a very weird rec, so please forgive me, but I've found Goddess nursing bras to be both ridiculously comfortable and perfect for certain vintage silhouettes--I have a couple of New Look dresses with the high, very defined bullet-bra torso that have never looked or fit better than with a Goddess nursing bra. Big and ugly as sin, but no wires, just great comfort and support and shape.

I haven't had as much luck with the non-nursing bras - the sizing seems to be a little different than for the nursing, and I can't find any brick-and-mortar stores, so I keep ordering them online and hoping for the best, but it hasn't worked yet.

I have a friend in NYC who swears by a little family-run shop with elderly women who find your perfect bra by feeling you up like overly intrusive grandmas. I could ask her for the name of the place; she says it's mildly uncomfortable (though less so if you have theater experience and are used to costume shop people), but they know their stuff and have an uncanny ability to home in on everybody's ideal brand and size.

[51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com]

I thought I was the only one who felt this way. :)

Everyone I know loves that place and their undies but I hate it. I like standard department stores for bras, even though I have to poke through racks and racks of dull ones.

[drinkingcocoa.livejournal.com]

I never shop at Victoria's Secret for proper undergarments. If I lived in NYC, I'd look up a fancy brassiere boutique shop or go to Bloomingdale's, maybe? Way back when I had a nightlife, I used to shop where drag queens shopped. Prom, huh? [whoa] I'm still glowing from getting carded at Azkatraz, but prom brings up very different associations!

the under feminine....

[sarantha.livejournal.com]

I recommend searching out one of those bra and corset type shops that specialize in that sort of thing. VS is evil, don't let those evil chain store drone gals get to you. They need to be ejected from our gender for perpetuating a bad stereotype.

[abnormal-apathy.livejournal.com]

This won't help you for your immediate issue and it's a trek, but there is a lingerie store in Borough Park that has EVERYTHING you could ever imagine. The Hasidic women there are absolutely terrific and don't even need to measure...they look you up and down and take you directly to what you're looking for. I think it's called Underworld Plaza or something like that and it's on New Utretch Avenue off the D line. I still ONLY buy undergarments here because they're worth the price, last, and always fit correctly.

[concertigrossi.livejournal.com]

Ah, foundation garment shopping. Seriously, something not to be undertaken without a shopping buddy and a stiff drink beforehand.

I second what everybody else said. Victoria's Secret is FROM HELL.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

At least you're still young and beautiful!

I know I'm pretty clueless about guessing age, but isn't Prom, like, in June?

[ophymirage.livejournal.com]

Being *quite* large, the only time I will go into VS is if shopping with the younger, skinnier subset of friends. and yes, saleswomen tend to stare down their noses with complete disdain. hate hate hate.

[villeinage.livejournal.com]

Do you have a David's Bridal chain?

One used to be able to walk in without an appointment.

[herself_nyc]

Next time go to Town Shoppe.

[charlottezweb.livejournal.com]

Seconded!

[marchek.livejournal.com]

I've got something that may or may not work for you if you want to borrow it.
(unfortunately it is the bra I bought to wear with my wedding dress)

See you tonight.

[saomigray.livejournal.com]

Try walking into a Victoria's Secret and asking if they have anything corset-like. I've been to several, and the employees had no clue what a corset even was. After patiently explaining what a corset should be, I was presented with various and sundry items which in no way resembled my descriptions.

Victoria's Secret = trendy and not a legitimate source for anything that is not the hottest thing this season.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Also, the woman in the store thought I was getting ready for my prom.

*blinks* You are amazing-looking, but you in no way look 17. The rest sounds wretched, but that sounds impressively surreal.

[kirby-crow.livejournal.com]

wound up in gender-related tears and just totally couldn't cope.

Aw, hon, I'm sorry. :( If it were me I would have burst into tears before even walking into Victoria's Secret. I hate that store. I would wear pretty much anything in there but the salesclerks, ye gods. They're enough to give you an eating disorder. Or an ageist disorder. They almost sneering, like; "Aren't you a little mature for this store?"

"Yeah, I'm so old I stopped getting naked years ago. Now I'm never naked. Not even under my clothes."

Kirby!SMASH!

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Augh, so much agreed with you on trying to get proper undies, and that's even just looking at regular bras rather than the slightly more specialized things you're after.

Intimacy on ?89th and Madison makes a big thing in its window-adverts of getting undergarments in the right size and shape for its clientele, so it might be worth asking them what they have? They sound appropriately "boutiqueish" as opposed to the ridiculous and generic (not to mention ill-made) Victoria's Secret.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

I am so very sorry about the trauma. I think lingerie shopping may be the closest we get to gender police these days, or at least while not fully clothed.

Although frankly, looking for proper undergarments these days seems to make you *more* ladylike than any VS employee it has ever been my displeasure to encounter. Like most others here, I loathe their service, have the added plus of being allergic to their perfume, and do not shop there unless I am escorting a friend who will still shop there.

Like others here, I prefer Nordstrom's and Frederick's for such things, although Frederick's I usually use the catalog, now that I know their things fit me. JC Penney, which probably also doesn't have a store in the city itself, still carries "special occasion" support garments and a traditional selection of slips and liners.

I don't think many of our generation, let along the next few, have a clue what a longline bra or slip are for, other than as trashy outerwear. The amount of bad underwear lines I see daily on the street seems to agree with me.

There must be someplace in NYC that carries elegant eveningwear and formals - Neiman-Marcus or Macy's perhaps? The eveningwear departments of better clothiers may know where a *lady* can get decent underthings to wear underneath such a thing, and not be expected to wear nothing but wig tape beneath. (I strongly suspect I am allergic to wig tape, since I rash up from band-aids.)

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Actually, a JC Penney just opened in Manhattan. A New York Times fashion columnist wrote a review that some readers interpreted as “OMG, knock-offs for dumpy peasants LOL” at which point it was on.

I will have to swing by and check out their lingerie section.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Do you have an old-school corset shop there? Doesn't help you now but we have a couple here and they are, sadly, the only place left to find what you're seeking. And they ladies really know how to fit, brusque hands and all.

[fragiletender.livejournal.com]

This is no practical help but it is quite funny. There used to be a fantastic underwear shop in Leeds that I just adored. It was a proper old-fashioned shop with the wall to wall cabinets and drawers and glass countertops and it was run by an older woman who used to say things like, "ooh yes, that's very romantic, isn't it" - when I'd picked out something rude like a pair of crotchless knickers and matching peephole bra! She used to totally crack me up.

[byzantienne.livejournal.com]

Lingerie shopping in Manhattan: The Town Shop, 81st and Broadway. Worth it. I never buy things from anywhere else, now, and they are professional, courteous, and know what they're doing. Even if they did put me in a 30E. I kind of like the 30E. It fits amazingly.

[annablume.livejournal.com]

Victoria's Secret is worthless.