Underwear and Lingerie

Boy, do I love, love, love shopping for lingerie.

I love seeing what's new, what's on sale, the designs, the fabrics, new colors, all of it. I had to run an errand at the mall, and of course had a stop in Victoria's Secret. This brand has a large portion of my annual lingerie and underwear budget. (Yes I do have a lingerie budget.)

What cracks me up about this store is the employees. There is a token 'VS Girl' look about them, much like the token department store make-up counter girl - 90% of them probably were ex-high school cheerleaders, of average height, all with a similar upbeat, innocent personality and very girly. There is a uniform that extends beyond the black apparel and requisite low-cut blouses. But for the product they sell, the image extends to that fine line between classy woman and porn star tart. Some women just shouldn't have acrylic French manicure nails, or that teased-underneath but smooth on the top 'bump' up-do, the pasted-on-forehead straight cut bangs, and super overdone lip gloss plastic smile. Eeek...

Don't get me wrong, they're all very nice and they all are super customer service oriented, sometimes to a fault. It grates on my nerves a bit being approached by each member of the 'squad' but that doesn't stop me from dropping some hefty coin in this store.

On this particular occasion, my salesperson suggested I get measured again just to check and make sure that I had the right sizing. I had a few different styles of bras in different sizes. and had explained to her that I was in between 2 bra sizes after losing some weight in recent months. So she followed me into the dressing room, closed the door and the first thought that popped into my mind was, 'oh no she's going to measure my breasts!' Not sure she was an ex-cheerleader - not as fluffy and perky, she was more on the demure side which made it easier for me to talk to. I wasn't distracted by bad highlights and heavily lined doe-eyes.

Tape measure in hand, she made some suggestions on sizing - I was surprised that she knew my size even before whipping out the tape measure. I've been fitted at lingerie stores before, and on one occasion, the fitting was rather 'hands-on'. I didn't know what to expect. Was she going to ask me to take off my shirt? The room felt small and I felt my flight instinct kick in ever so slightly. Before I knew it, she had the tape measure around me and verified what she had guessed and validated my assumption. "Yes, you are right in between a 34 and a 36." So was she going to verify my cup size now? Nervous, I found myself babbling on about how things fit and sizing, and I had mentioned one of my favorite VS bras but couldn't remember what it was called. So I lifted my t-shirt and flashed her. Just a quick flash, but then I wondered if I had crossed the line. It didn't seem to phase her at all, in fact she knew what bra I had on right away and it launched a whole new conversation topic on how much I loved that model and had it in multiple colors.

But then she left the room so I could try on my selections and my shopping experience continued on as normal. No awkward moments or uncomfortable silences, no hot and steamy impromptu girl-on-girl action. (sorry folks...maybe in another store, not VS) Of course it did make my mind wander though...

Wandering is good, lingerie shopping is good. And right the checkout, I was tempted with a new fragrance, like a nice bow on a present, my intimate apparel shopping experience was complete. New lingerie, new scent, I couldn't wait to get home and really try them on and break them in....

Mmmm love that part almost as much as I love the hunt....