And the Winner is . . .

This is my precious five year old, she looks just like my mom Helene, the name sake of our company.

She doesn't know how to read yet, but I wanted y'all to know that we had an official drawing by a non-partisan third party.

Then the cute two year old sister wanted to draw a piece of paper out of the colander.

Enough rambling, congratulations to J. Campbell, you won the Bratique Helene garment of your choice. Please email me to let me know what & where you want your winning to be!

Thanks to all who participated in our first giveaway. Please check back, the Bust-line Quiz will be an on-going series with a prize given to the winners.

Bratique Helene

I should have known in high school when I was the only girl during drill team practice to wear a sports bra that I was going to be a boob-girl. I recall in college I had brassieres that fit well, but were matronly in appearance and didn’t quite match the image of myself as a cute new sorority pledge. As a young single woman living in Dallas in the mid 90’s, my hobby became acquiring luxury lingerie at the likes of Neiman Marcus and exclusive boutiques around the world. I had disposable income and easy to fit 34Ds. My eyes were opened to the fact that one could have a correctly fitting underpinning that was also aesthetically inspiring. I became a bra aficionado.

I married and had a family, which affected both the pert D bust and disposable income. Hint: the bustline grew and the money for bras shrank. These changes lead me to start researching brands, body types, breast shapes, etc, and increased my knowledge and skill. Shopping with family and friends and fitting them in bras, I began giving consultations and evaluations to friends’ friends as they were referred to me. My flair became evident, my passion developed. I was offered positions in both the retail and the trade sectors of the lingerie industry, but I chose to stay home with our growing family.

Then in May of 2007 my life dramatically changed: my mom - Helene - died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm. We went to pick her up to go to the children's swim class and discovered her body; I was eight months pregnant with my fourth child. Through the next several months as I mourned our family’s loss I realized that if GOD can walk me through a nightmare, he can walk me through a dream as well. Thus became Bratique Helene, both my dream and my homage to my best friend who I know looks down and says, “YOU GO GIRL”.

She's My Inspiraton

My Mom, Helene Agorastos Rose, was born in Galveston to a working class immigrant family. At the young age of 13 her bust-line had developed to a D cup; and consequently she spent many years pining for a smaller bust-line, one that was easier to fit in stylish clothing. Suffering from an absent mother, Mom had no one in her life to offer guidance about bras, shirts, breast health, etc. She graduated high school in 1958 and went to the University of North Texas to study Fashion Design, where she didn't enjoy all the extra attention from men that came with her nice rack. Mom's picture is the middle one on the top banner of the home page, the head shot in the ruffle blouse.

To say that my Mom was my best friend would not be an understatement. Although she struggled being a single mom in Dallas and working two jobs, she never complained about it. When I was in college we corresponded weekly, and she came to visit me in all my strange travels. She termed us 'running buddies'. She was kind to me, never saying critical things about me (or my figure), she believed in me, telling me I could do anything, and she was proud of me, continually saying I was smart, beautiful, etc. What more could one want in a Mama?


You can imagine my devastation when, going to pick up Mom to come to the childen's swim class with us, I found her dead body. Eight months pregnant with my fourth child, I ran down the apartment stairs back to the truck to tell the children, "something's happened to Mamaw". I'll spare you the emotional details, lets suffice it to say that was the longest afternoon, evening, and night of my life. After the coroner's autopsy we learned she suffered a ruptured aortic aneurysm.

Through the next several months as I mourned our family's loss, I realized that if GOD can walk me through a nightmare, He can walk me through a dream as well. Thus, when I received the proceeds from Mom's Home Depot 401(k), I decided to use them to start Bratique Helene. Bratique Helene is both a dream of mine and an homage to my best friend whom I know looks down on me and says "YOU GO GIRL".