Bra Fitting at Torrid
So, I have always wanted to have a correct bra fitting done. This is my amazing journey.
If I am going to be investing some money into clothing including bras, lingerie and other women’s clothing, I feel that having the correct bra size is important. I started looking around the internet for different stories and saw what other crossdressers had experienced. I guess that is a little of my OCD but if I am going to purchase anything, I have to do my research.
I should have saved the link but I found this amazing story of a crossdresser that found a boutique that helped her out. The owner was nice enough to open for him late after closing. She even asked an employee to stay a little late to help. They went through the whole process. Tried on a couple of different bras. The owner and employee gave their honest opinion. After the correct bra was chosen, they even let her try on some other sexy lingerie and even some shapewear.
After reading that story, I was determined to find a local store that could provide me with the same experience.
So a couple of weeks ago, I headed onto Google Maps and found the closest (some local and some in a neighboring town) independent lingerie/bra stores and started to contact them mostly by a carefully worded email. I started to get emails back slowly and I wasn’t very happy with what I was reading. Some of the responses included
“Unfortunately, as discreet and comfortable as I am, my services are provided for bodies with full bust or no busts due to breast cancer loss. I take my employ quite seriously & as a result, will advise that I’m not comfortable fitting you.”
Then I started to get some positive replies but lots of these stores don’t deal with larger or plus sized women.
“Based on your measurements, your size would be about a 40 or 42 A or B. Unfortunately, we have very limited options in those sizes, and what we do have are quite standard and simple looking.”
I contacted some of the more commercial lingerie stores but I knew that the majority of these stores would also have limited options available. So, in my location, Ontario, Canada, there are only a few women’s clothing stores that will cater to larger/plus sized customers and sell bras and lingerie. They are Reitmans, Penningtons and Torrid. We used to have Addition Elle stores but they were owned by Penningtons and closed back in August of 2021. I tried to use the customer support channel for these commercial stores but that didn’t lead me anywhere so I started to call the stores and talked to the Manager.
My first store was Penningtons. I called and I talked to someone (I should have probably asked for the manager) and I was open and honest, I asked if they had ever done a bra fitting for a man and she said, “Nope but if you want to make an appointment, I think we can help you.” She thinks. No thanks. I wanted this to be discreet and something that they had done before.
My second store was Reitmans. I called and asked to talk to the manager and/or assistant manager. I waited a few minutes and a lady came on the phone and introduced herself as the store's assistant manager. I asked her, "Do you carry plus size bras? For example, 40C."
"Yes, we do. We carry all the way up to a 54 DDD. Are you looking to buy a bra for someone?" I quickly replied back, "Yes, actually, it is for myself but I wanted to ask if you, or someone there would be able to get me a proper bra fitting? I have been told that I should be a 40C but I want to make sure."
And then the very long pause as I can picture the person on the other side of the phone picking their jaw up from the floor. And then she replied back, "Oh alright. I don't see that being a problem. Would you feel comfortable being in the store doing this?" I could hear a little reluctancy in her voice as she asked. I replied back, "I would want you and your customers to be comfortable too. Thank you and it is good to know that you can offer this service. I will be in touch." She said, "Thank you." and we ended the call.
That's not the response I was really looking for but at least I found a place that I thought I could go but I still had one more place to call.
I called my local Torrid store in the local shopping mall. I don’t remember if I asked for the manager or not but a nice lady came on the phone and introduced herself as Tracy. I said “Hello Tracy. I am wondering if you or someone at your location has done a bra fitting for a man.” Her response was “Yeah. We have. All of the girls here have. Would you like to have a bra fitting?”
At that moment, I felt a sense of relief. A weight lifted off my shoulders. She was honest and confident in her answer which brought me a sense of calm. I replied back, “Yes I would but I want to be discreet. I don’t want to upset your customers or your staff.” She completely understood and she appreciated me mentioning that. She said, “When you come in, hopefully it won’t be too busy and I will get you into a change room as quickly as I can without too many people noticing.” I said that would be perfect. I will call you in the next few days to set up an appointment and see what would be the best time for me to come in.”
So a couple of days later when I knew I could get to the store, I called my local Torrid store and set up an appointment for a proper bra fitting for that night. Luckily, I had an excuse to go to the mall without my wife. I told her that I was going to go shoe shopping for a wedding coming up.
On my way to the mall, I quickly called the store to see how busy it was and Tracy told me to come in and she will help me. Immediately I had butterflies in my stomach. Thinking to myself, “Is this really going to happen now?” Calming myself down, I started to think about all of my adventures lately being out and wearing a bra and all of those were great experiences with no incidents or problems. I said to myself, “You got this GIRL!”
As I walked in the store, there were a couple of ladies shopping for different items. A dress caught my eye so I immediately went over to see it. As I was looking at the dress, a lady approached me and said quietly “Hello, how can I help you. My name is Tracy.” A smile came over my face and she knew exactly who I was. She said for me to follow her and she has a changeroom already saved for me.
Great start so far!
She comes into the changeroom, closes the door and asks me to lift my arms. She wraps the measuring tape around me and then asks me, “Are you wearing a bra?” I said, “Yes but it was something I picked up quickly. I don’t know if it is the right size. Hence me coming in to have this done.”
“Well, let us take a look then.”
I take off my t-shirt to reveal my Genie padded bra. “First off, I didn’t even notice that you were wearing one if you were concerned. Secondly, I think this is a little tight. You can probably go a size bigger.” She then proceeded to show me why it was too tight.
“Lets go back to your fitting.” She wrapped the measuring tape back around me and said, “OK so you are a 40”. Then she moved the tape up a bit and measured my chest. “Well, you are definitely 2 inches or a B cup but I am going to assume you would like something a little bigger.” I nodded and said, “But I don’t want them to be too big. I would like them to have a natural look.”
“Then I think you should either go with a C or D cup. Personally, with your shape, a C might be better.” I nodded again. She said, “Just wait here and I am going to see if I can find you some bras to try on. Oh, by the way, I can put a star on the door instead of your name.” I gently said, “You can put Michelle.”
“Ok perfect. Michelle, I will be right back.” She gave me a huge smile and a little wink and headed out. A couple of minutes later, I hear a knock on the door and I hear “Michelle, can I come in” It was so nice to hear my girly name said to me for the first time. I wanted to say “YES” but I didn’t want to say anything with my male voice so I just opened the door to the changeroom. I think I was blushing when she came in.
She had given me 3 bras for me to try. 1 of them I put it on and quickly took it off. Not for me. The second I put it on and I heard “How’s it going in there Michelle?” I opened the door, telling her that she could come in. She looked at me in my new bra and said, “Now that looks good! Actually amazing!” She asked me to turn around and she looked at the back. “Perfect! I really like this bra on you, Michelle.” There was my name again. Euphoria! I loved hearing my name.
“Ok try on the other 2 and let me know what you think.” I quickly said, “I tried this one on and I didn’t like it. I took it off immediately. I’ll try the other one.”
I quickly changed bras and Tracy came back in. “That one looks nice.”
“I like it but I don’t like the straps and the way that they come up. wearing a t-shirt like this one is nice but I am afraid that if I wear anything else, you are going to see those straps, which is a huge sign that I am wearing a bra.” She agreed and said, “Ok. Take off that one and put the other one back on. I will be right back.”
“I'll be right back???” I agreed but now I was a little baffled. Why is she asking me to put the other one back on? I did as she said and a couple of minutes later, I heard a knock and “Are you ok Michelle?” I open the door and Tracy walks in with a couple of pieces of clothing:
A black silk camisole.
A beautiful light blue blouse with a flower pattern.
The dress I had my eye on when I walked in.
“Why not give these a try. You have amazing blue eyes so I wanted to see how these would look on you.” I was absolutely shocked. I was literally on Cloud 9. She continued, “Well you need a nice cami and this one will compliment the bra. I think this blouse will look nice with your eyes and you already had an eye on this one.” She gives me a huge smile and a giggle.
I tried on each item. Each felt amazing and Tracy came into the changeroom to give her opinion too. The silk camisole felt amazing and looked great. Tracy agreed. The blouse she picked out looked great. The dress I picked out looked great on the rack but, unfortunately, did not look good on myself.
I changed into my normal clothes and waited a few minutes. No Tracy so I slightly opened the door to see if anyone was outside. The coast looked clear so I opened the door and headed out of the changeroom. There were 2 women standing there that I could not see from the crack of my door. So I looked them straight in the eye, smiled and said, “Excuse me ladies” and walked right past them. One gave me a nice smile and the other gave a stunned (not weird) look.
I went to the cash register and said to Tracy, “Those other clothes are lovely but I think I am only going to get the bra today.” I had tried on the black version but ended up getting the “beige/nude” version. I am going to go back to get the black one soon.
As I waited to pay, I pulled up my phone and gave the store a 5 star rating on Google Maps. I waited to post it because I wanted to show her the review.
Before leaving, I had to thank Tracy for an amazing experience and it will be something I will never forget. The last thing she said was, “Michelle, it was a pleasure helping you today. Please come back soon if you want to do some more shopping and try on some different outfits.” I was smiling from ear-to-ear. One very satisfied customer.
Thank you Tracy! Thank you Torrid!
