Very Sexy, Very Surprised

Motivated by the fact that only 20% of women wear the correct bra size and armed with a $10 Have a Very Sexy Birthday card, I went to Victoria's Secret today for a bra fitting. I was somewhat apprehensive walking in, because I hate feeling pressured into buying something I don't want. Every time I am in VS, I am asked to sign up for an Angel card. Every time I decline to do so. I don't shop there often; I usually just go when they are having a sale or if I receive a postcard for a free pair of underwear. Whenever I use those postcards, I am asked to buy something else. A bra, perhaps? Maybe try some other underwear? No, thanks, I tell them. I just want my free pair. (I am loyal to my Jockey undergarments. They've always done me well, and I swear by them.)

But I was intent on using the $10 card that they had sent me since it expires on the 31st. And I had the feeling that I could be part of that 80% majority wearing the wrong bra size.

I did a quick lap around the store, thinking I might chicken out of the bra fitting once again. But then I was stopped by a sales associate who did her quick sell on their new seamless bra. If I bought one, I'd even get a free lipstick. I nodded and thanked her as I usually do to the salespeople. Then I told her, "I want to do a fitting."

You'd think I had just offered her $50,000. Her face lit up and she unraveled the tape measure from around her neck. Off came my coat and up went my arms. She was just going to do this in the middle of the store? For some reason I had expected a little more intimacy.

"I thought I should do this, you know, since so many women wear the wrong size."

She finished measuring. "What size do you wear?"

"36C". I can't tell you how long I've been this size. I remember the day I thought I was busting out of my B cups and was so shocked that I could fit into a C. This was the moment I was waiting for, when she would tell me I was a 38B or something totally different.

"36C, huh? Have you ever tried a 36D?"

D? There was no way a D would fit me. I'd be swimming in a D. Those bras were for large-chested women, not average gals like me. But she was the one working in the lingerie store, the one with the tape measure. And so I let her lead me to the fitting room where I was given a C and a D, and asked to try each on for a better idea of my size.

To my great surprise, the D fit just right. Upon revealing this to the woman outside the door, I was given a bra box containing a dozen 36Ds in various styles and colors. I rummaged around and found a few styles I liked. I decided to ignore the price tags and remember that this was an investment for which I was long overdue. When had I become a D? How long had I been wearing the wrong bra size? It was time to change all this. And since my old bras no longer "fit", I'd have to buy a few new ones today. This was not saleswoman pressure, this was necessity.

Two bras and $80 later, I walked out of VS feeling like a new woman. A large-chested woman. A D-cup. And the newest Angel cardholder (damn those pushy saleswomen!).