I still think Orchard Corset can be good value, but it wouldn’t be a fair not to caution you to try each bra before purchasing it. I was so pleased with the nude bra that I bought on October 29 that I went back two days later to buy two more. Before giving them to me, Ralph held them against the October 29 bra that I had brought with me and said, “You’ve really stretched this one out.” I was surprised that he could see such a difference after one wearing, but I chalked it up to his superior understanding of bras.

Two painful wearings of each October 31 bra later, I held them up to the October 29 bra myself. They were at least 3 inches shorter! No amount of wearing them was going to stretch them to the length of the original bra. I dug up my receipt and took another trip to the Lower East Side.

Ralph didn’t seem surprised when I explained the problem. It turns out their Wacoal bras can sometimes be “mislabeled”. It wasn’t clear which of the three bras I had purchased was actually a 36DDD, but he found one nude and one ivory that were around the same length as my October 29 bra and sent me on my way. By the time I reached the subway, I was kicking myself for not insisting on two nude bras and annoyed with Ralph for not giving me an exchange in the same colors that I had originally purchased. But I couldn’t bring myself to go back again.

So now the question: Am I really a 36DDD? This gives me the excuse I need to visit my favorite bra store in Manhattan for another fitting review: Linda’s Bra Salon on Lexington Avenue, between 63rd and 64th Street.