Bra-vo Intimates

The last Friday in September, I had the pleasure of attending a fall trunk show at Bra-vo Intimates in Royal Oak, Michigan. This is an excellent week long promotion for Bra-vo clients to pre-order everything from lingerie to swim to our clothing line - Bratique Helene for women with large breasts and misses sized bodies!



Bra-vo's owner is the wonderful Rebecca Aughton, a lingerie industry veteran and master bra fitter. In addition to its urban location, hardwood floors, and resident cat, my favorite section of the store is the bra alcove. Lots of goodies I wanted to get my hands on. And on one of the many sample racks I saw a Freya bustier - Nadia - that I'm excited to see in stores.



As I worked with the Bra-vo staff that day I heard them say, "There is no normal size. Women come in all sizes & shapes, just like snowflakes." All they talk about is fit, fit, fit and I knew I was in good company when looking at a new bra that had just arrived Rebecca briefly inspected it and said, "Looks like jiggle to me", meaning she thought the fabrication wouldn't offer strong support.

Bra-vo stocks Rosa Faia, Prima Donna, and Simone Perel in addition to the standard full bust brands Freya, Fantasie, Panache, etc. Every woman who emerged from the dressing room(s) had more than just one bra in her hands. If you are in the Detroit vicinity and need a bra intervention or update, the place to go is Bra-vo!

Trunk Show at Loretta's Intimates

Last Saturday Bratique Helene had a trunk show at Loretta's Intimates of Plano, this generationally owned family boutique also has another store in Flower Mound TX. To say the trunk show was a success would be an understatement, as Audrey the manager (and third generation) said, "your shirts were flying out the door".

Loretta's is an excellent place to go if looking for lingerie, and they fit all sizes. In fact I have purchased two out of my last three bras from their store. Their website is a breeze to navigate and their shipping is quick and free. The staff at the Plano store - Audrey, Sarah, Katie and Monica, are helpful, kind and knowledgeable too.

Although most of the women who came to the event were wearing unstructured knit tops, it was encouraging that their bustlines were nice and uplifted. We fit women from their 20's through their 60's that day, the working single women to the grandmothers, because everyone wants to feel their best in a structured, woven article of clothing (when was the last time you left the house in knit pants and felt put together?). Regrettably I forgot my camera, so didn't take any before and after pictures. It was a blessing to meet the women, and have the opportunity to get their feedback, which was positive, on our clothing line.

The fit of the line was right on for our target market. At first the women who came to us were incredulous and skeptical, as in "you'll never get a shirt to fit my bustline" (this especially was the sentiment of the R's - really endowed's), but once they had the shirt on it turned to pleasant surprise and astonishment, "OMG, it looks awesome". From the dressing room we heard women exclaim, "GASP, I have a waist", and "WOW, look at my back, you can see that its shapely", etc. etc.

A big thank you to both the great staff at Loretta's and the beautiful women who participated in the trunk show!

BH Inaugural Trunk Show

I just took a few pictures at our trunk show last Thursday, November 13. My mom, Helene, our store’s name sake, was the resident picture taker for our family so I am challenged in the picture taking area. Oftentimes I don’t eve remember to take them.

In the photo on the left is Yudie, a pre-K teacher, in the shirt she wore to the trunk show. A beautiful color tee – in fact a very similar color to the teal sleeveless shell. Note it is an unstructured knit, a common article of comfort in our society. But not so flattering on ladies with a full bust. I ask you, where is her waist?

In the photo on the right is Yudie in the longsleeve Bratique Helene shirt. Yudie is so expressive and charismatic, truly a jewel of a woman. She put the shirt on and started spouting out the one-liners. I ran to get my pen & paper. This was the best: “I don’t even have on Spanx and I feel this good.”

On a side note: while at church on Sunday I glanced behind me and saw this lady with a great front silhouette (she was seated so I could only see the front profile). And then I realized it was Yudie in her new shirt. What a testimony to her comfort & confidence in the shirt: she bought it on Thursday eve and wore it on Sunday morn. That’s awesome!!!

This is Jill on the left. She is wearing a cute blue top, but look at what it does to her shape. The bustline looks so big and her posture saggy.

The photo of Jill on the right has not been re-touched at all. Please I am not that good. Jill’s quote: “I can’t believe I can put a shirt on off the rack and it fit me this good. It makes you feel like you want to have better posture.” Mom would be so proud.

Jill is wearing a black brassiere, thus the darts really stand out. Please wear a skin tone color bra when wearing this great white shirt.

And finally is a picture of my dear friend Gina and I, she came to support us and partake of the delicious food and yummy libations. This is my clean-up outfit (bra included), so I'm not looking my cutest. Next time I'll try to take more pictures.