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Another Shopping Expedition

Updated 21 February 2004
Fixed typos, added pictures of nighties

My wife and I went to our local mall at about lunch time, today. She went to meet a girlfriend for lunch, and I went along because we had some joint errands to run after her lunch. That left me with over an hour for lunch and shopping...

Well, shop first...

I was DRessed As a Boy (DRAB, for those of you into CD jargon). Grey slacks, pink oxford-cloth dress shirt, no jacket or tie. Underneath one of my favorite bras, in a pink cotton stretch underwire design (Maidenform's "Sweet Nothings, from some years ago, which has no padding -- just the underwires to help gather -- For a good description of gathering, go to Wendy's Bra Manifesto.

Express was showing some stretch blouses -- sometimes a 12 will do, other times a 14, but usually the sleeves are too short for either. Sort through the rack, and find two styles, in 11/12 and in 13/14. Grab the four of them and look for a shop clerk, who has been conspicuously absent while I was checking out the blouses.

Oh - two tall women -- 5'10" or maybe taller -- were checking out some suits in the same vicinity, and I asked them where they found blouses that were long enough in the arms for them... Where do you think? In the Mens' departments! Two more CDs in the shop? Well, people who like the other gender's clothes, anyway!

There's the clerk... holding the blouses in my hand, purse over my shoulder, "Hi, can I try these, please?" and she turns, fumbles for her fitting room key, and leads me over to the fitting rooms... "Here you go" and she's off to doing something else. These blouses were neat, but again sleeves were short. :-((

Onward down the mall...

Oh, my, Chez Viqui (or, as they prefer, Victoria's Secret) has a big sign by the door -- free bra fittings! ("fittings" was one of the typos I fixed... can you believe I had "tittings" there before?) Even better, it appears that there are no customers in the store so the staff's likely a bit bored!

Wander about, looking at nighties, panties, and more -- I've been looking for a particular shade of hot pink and a particular shade of teal for years, ever since my wife gave me a couple satin chemise nighties in those colors.

Alas, no joy -- but as I'm looking in another area, suddenly a door near the dressing rooms popped open and a clerk came out with a couple boxes. I was startled, and, of course, she came right back after putting the boxes down to ask if she could be of help.

Well, since she had the big tape measure, it was time for Dee to speak up, even though at that moment she was not very visible. "Yes -- I'm a guy who's found that he's more comfortable wearing bras than not. It's nice to feel supported and not bouncing around, even though there's not much to bounce, for me it just feels better."

A smile in return...

I opened another button on the shirt, and pointed to my bra. "This bra is a bit older, and seems to creep upward at times... could you measure me and make sure I'm not way off base in my sizing?" Fumble -- Fumble -- the purse straps are in the way -- fumble -- "Yes, I think 36 would be your best band size."

"The catalogs all seem to say measure that and then add 4 or 5 inches to get an even numbered band size, but that seems that would be way too loose -- "

"Well, you don't have the same shape, and you have less tissue, so a smaller band, like what you're wearing, will work well for you. Do you like these cotton styles?" pointing as some very nice looking, soft styles that were pretty similar to what I was wearing.

A Body by Victoria full coverage underwire bra was screaming at me after an earlier brief touch of its microfiber fabric... "How about these? They feel like they'd be wonderful."

"I really like this line, because they feel great and they are almost invisible in the right colors." she said, as she turned to show the invisibility of her bra under a simple white blouse. "You said 36B, right?" and to the drawers to select one.

"That's another great feature -- "

"Would you like to try this? -- Which color?"

"I'd rather check the fit before I worry about color, so this will do." as she led me to a fitting room. A few seconds later I had fastened, 'fluffed' myself by pulling into the cups.

Tap--tap--tap "How does that do for you?" she asked. Opening the door a bit, she said "Don't step out of the fitting room... oh -- that's nice! The band size is great, and you do OK in the cups, too. How's it feel?"

"It seems like a great fit -- do you think the straps are a bit tight?" A negative nod.. "I'll be right out and we can look at colors."

It turned out that the "nude" color she was wearing and we'd discussed for its near invisibility was not in stock in my size -- saving me US$30 for now. I know what fits, though, and there's always the catalog.

The end of the 20 minutes or so discussion... "Do you have a VS charge card?" If you apply, you can save $10 off the price..."

A great visit, no problems!

Shopping IS a lot of fun, right?

Go back to Dee's Home Page


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