Ha ha! Today’s post is NOT about cleavage. It’s about a dilemma I face as I write reviews for you. My goal is to be honest and candid. That’s why I write good things about competitors’ shirts and link to other helpful blogs. I want you to have as much information as possible. But Friday reminded me that one of my biggest challenges is being a people pleaser.
I visited a store on Friday afternoon because a woman who tried one of my shirts told me that it was her favorite place to buy bras. She’s very large-busted and has experienced a variety of fitters, so I respect her opinion.
I loved the proprietor’s attitude, and her store has received only glowing reviews on Yelp. Normally, based on Friday’s visit, I would report my positive impressions with a caveat that I have never tried the store’s products or been fitted there. Unfortunately, I know someone who has: the woman who recommended it to me.
Something wasn’t right about the way her bra fit (or didn’t fit) during our shirt fitting. It was a high-quality brand, but it might as well have been a stretched-out Victoria’s Secret for the lift it gave her, and there was extra space inside the cups.
I really wanted to share Friday’s discovery with you, and I wanted to make the proprietor happy by writing nice things about her. After all, if she likes me, she might tell her large-busted customers about my shirts. I rationalized: (a) perhaps the woman who referred the store to me had let her bra stretch out (but she told me it was only a few months old); (b) perhaps she had put it on incorrectly; and (c) how much do my readers really need to know?
Unfortunately, I couldn’t rationalize enough to publish a good review today. Ignorance is bliss, and I wish I didn’t know about the ill-fitting bra. I would much rather you readers break the bad news to us–like MizBlum did through her comment about Stop Staring dresses last week. However, I don’t have to publish a bad review either. Instead, I’m going to wait until I can check the fit of the woman’s bra myself (hopefully we can go to the boutique together), or I can have a secret shopper* be fitted there.
Once I have first-hand experience of the store, I can decide what to write.
*Speaking of secret shoppers, let me know if you’d like to be one! No, I can’t pay you, but if you were going to buy a bra anyway, why not help the rest of us out? I only get fittings if I am planning to buy a bra, and I don’t need a new one right now, but I know that many of you are experts when it comes to the bra fitting experience. Knowledgeable, actual customers provide the best guide for the rest of us. Even a referral to a Yelp review that you’ve written would be helpful. Perhaps I can set up a page just for reader bra-fitting experiences. What do you think?
