When Is A Bra Not Just A Bra?


I took my daughter bra shopping today, at Victoria's Secret. When I told her she'd have to buy her own, in other words--pay for them herself--she was shocked. I explained that if she wanted to wear $30 bras that was fine but it is a luxury I won't afford.

I hadn't been inside a VS in a few years. Yikes. There are Demi Push-Ups, and Push-Up Tee, Simple Lining, Cotton With Push-Up, as well as sexy numbers with lace, etc. It was dizzying and by the time I staggered outside to wait for her I'm sure my eyes were glazed. As I made for the door, I stopped to ask a clerk "do all of the mothers race for the door as soon as they can?" She might have been in her early thirties but she laughed--she knew exactly what I meant. "Often," she replied. Holy crap, there must have been at least thirty different bra models. I couldn't even find my way back to the dressing room after I finally stumbled upon the staging area with the right model in a different size. I wanted a pith helmet and a machete.

It's weird when you realize that your daughter now cares how she looks in her bras. Not long ago when she was kvetching about needing bras, I caught myself about to say 'why do you care about your bras? It's not like anyone is going to see it." I stopped myself just in time to muse. She's only 15 but she does have a boyfriend so maybe she has a reason to care? Then I quickly thought about something else--the Mets, I think or maybe the new Red Sox phenom.

I must say that except for a few times in my life--post divorce perhaps--I find the subject of bras dull. You put one on in the morning and you take it off before you go to bed. It's like an undershirt but it makes your clothes fit better. I remember that when I was nursing, I wore a horrible white cotton bra to bed. It had panels that you unsnapped when it was time to play cow. I never minded nursing but I hated, hated, hated that bra. I remember how happy I was when it was no longer needed. I might have even burned it, had I thought of it at the time. Alas I was too young the first time around.

It's ideal if your bra fits, I do know that. I know the criteria for a good fit but other than that, who cares? As long it's not white. Ugh. I remember having white bras as a teen. They were quickly dingy and gray and I hated them and I have never, ever bought or worn a white bra. Come to think of it, I remember asking the clerk at the nursing bra store (they probably sold other things as well, but it was back in the Pleistocene era so who the hell remembers) whether or not they came in black or nude. I remember she looked at me funny. They came only in white. Cow. These days they probably come in sheer lace and push-up models with cute little holsteins embossed in crystals.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Basketball Twenty Years Later

I played three on three basketball yesterday morning. I think I last played about 20 years ago. The good news is that I can see the floor better, meaning I can anticipate and react faster. Mentally that is. Physically I am a bit of a wreck. I can't really run because of my back so instead I try to skittle as fast as I can from one basket to the other. I can't jump higher than about six inches but that may be my utter lack of conditioning. As for shooting--I had no muscle memory of even how to shoot. I had four points but only because I flung the ball upward while I stood under the basket. Today I woke up and the only thing that isn't sore are my hips. I had a blast and my surgeon reassured me this morning that unless I run two marathons a month or do something similarly bizarre, my hips will be fine. Basketball, volleyball, biking--it's all okay. After we played b-ball there was a holiday party hosted by the amazing woman who makes all the weekly arrangements for soccer
Read more

A Sunny Day in March With My Cast

It's sunny and cold today. The snow is shrinking quickly, though not quite fast enough. I am on my second week in my walking cast. Tomorrow may be the day I am finally liberated from any cast at all and "get" to progress to wearing just a brace. A brace with sneakers, but still not a cast. If you've ever had a cast you know the day-to-day indignities, the insecurity, the balance issues, the importance of not tripping others and not being tripped and the balance issues. Yes, I said 'balance issues' twice. The first two weeks or so I fell on average twice a day. Some days I fell four times. My son would hear me topple and yell "Are you all right? Are you all right?!!" and rush to my side. The worst fall I took was on the carpeted floor in the living room. I managed to break a few Xmas ornaments with a crutch and smacked my head hard on the hardwood floor. I fell twice on the highly polished hard wood kitchen floor at my little six-year-old charge'
Read more

Launch Time Count Down

My star child turns 18 at the end of the month. She is finished with high school and she starts an internship on Monday. Seniors are required to do an internship 20 hours a week until graduation on June 20. A design company called "Project Gravitas", they make custom dresses for women who want to be taken seriously in the workplace. That's the "Gravitas" part. The lead designer is an FIT alum so she had a head start. Well, actually she didn't need a head start because this is the first time they've had an intern. She is very excited. They let her "help" the last time she was there and apparently she'll be doing the stuff she is interested in. Figuring out a creative-office wardrobe for a 17-year-old is turning out to be rather difficult. Banana Republic is "dumpy" as is J.Crew for the most part. Vince and Theory are great but their prices are not so great even on Poshmark . Shorts, not skirts, probably not dresses. No Bermuda sh
Read more