Hurrah of Fitting Bra

I often used to silently grumble over the misfitting of my bra. I was tired of trying this and that brand but had never reached the comfort level that I imagined an ordinary woman should be, wearing a bra. I know my mother had also suffered the same problem throughout her life.

All thanks to the Australian workmates who would usually discuss on bras super openly. Hearing those women's stories, for the first time in my life I realized that it was not only me and my mother who had struggled to find right sized bra. There are many women in the world like us who had the same difficulty. But the bright side was, according to my co-workers, that in Australia there are certain shops where a team of experts is assigned simply to help women find the perfect-sized bra. I was fascinated by this news but culturally I was not bold enough yet to approach those shops.

I was more encouraged and chuckled inside when I heard them talking like, " Look at the boobs of this girl, they stretch up to the belly like a cow's udder." The conversation made me roll my eyes and think, "Hmm... the booster bras and bras with wires are out there! I'd never known about their existence!"

The most brilliant thing among bra stories was an experience of a giant looking immigrant girl from Cambodia. She said, " The shameless things! When you push them from one side, the bump flows to the other side and starts teasing you. They need to be caged in a wired bra." And everyone laughed their belly out when they heard the story in her heavily accented  English and funny gestures.

However, the idea of getting the right sized bra did not leave me alone. "If only I dare to enter the shop and tell my situation to the staff I would get the comfort that I've always dreamed for," I thought continuously. I mustered my courage for weeks. Eventually one day I requested my husband, "Let's go to the Bras N Things. I want to buy a suitable bra for me."

So we went there. The level of anxiety was high within me, though. I spent a long time outside the shop, again collecting my courage to open up the subject. On the one hand, I wanted to come back dropping the topic then and there. On the other hand, it would be a shame to miss this opportunity. Finally I decided, "Now or never." I went inside and told a sales girl what was eating me at once. The girl took it as easily as anything else and encouraged me, "It's alright. Don't worry. We are here to help you." She assigned a girl to help me. The cheerful girl led me to a fitting room. I could hear, "It's not good...Wow, it's just perfect...Please try this one...It's more comfortable..." from adjacent fitting rooms.  Gradually I started to feel relaxed. The girl took my measurements patiently. She brought different bras in. Under her supervision,  I kept trying them until I was hundred and ten percent satisfied. It took nearly an hour to complete the whole fitting ritual.

Hurrah! After many years of struggle I eventually found the correct sized bra which made me feel the comfort that I had almost given up to achieve in this life time. I thought, "Well, later than never is always good." On a light note, discussing about bras openly in Nepali culture is still considered as a "taboo," at least by the people of my generation. In Australia, it is merely a women's clothing item. What a cultural difference!