I sold my only Brooks Brothers shirt at a garage sale last May because it never felt right, but two weeks ago I visited their flagship store to do some research. At first, I thought my salesman Jonathan was great.
Wouldn’t you love a guy who brings in a size 10 because he thinks you’ll swim in the size 14 you’ve requested?
Of course he was right and wrong. I did swim in the size 14, but after he saw me in the size 12 (below), he knew there was no way I’d be wearing the 10.
So he brought in the 14P (below). This one, he assured me, was the right one for me. Sure, it pulled, but it didn’t gap. It was probably my bra, he whispered. Many women had this issue.
Jonathan was so earnest about making a sale that I wished I could oblige him, but he was so wrong about the fit, there was no way I could. I’d be tugging at the collar and buttons every time I wore this shirt until I finally sold it at my next garage sale.
Perhaps I could have made the shirt work with a minimizer bra. In that case, however, the issue still isn’t the bra, but a shirt that requires anyone DD or higher to modify her natural line to conform to a shirt that otherwise cannot fit. We all do some conforming every now and then–that’s why there’s Spanx for those clingy special occasion dresses. But for everyday wear, we shouldn’t have to treat our breasts like extra bulges of fat.
