The 5 Best Bra Shops In NYC
A badly fitting bra does more than just ruin your look. It causes back pain and breast droop, among other issues, and can make its wearer appear far heavier than she is. Make sure you're supporting yourself properly and dressing your body as best you can at one of the city's best bra shops. By Jessica Allen.
Since 2002, Azaleas has supplied the East Village with its lingerie and swimwear needs. Here you'll find lots of rare labels and up-and-coming designers, as well as famous ones like Stella McCartney, Elle Macpherson, Marc Jacobs, and Mimi Holiday. In addition to underwear, Azaleas stocks clothing and accessories. For a more, um, intimate event, you can book Azaleas for a private shopping party, including pre-selected racks of items, champagne, and snacks.
Both women and men will feel at home shopping for unmentionables at this Hell's Kitchen store, which caters to professional wardrobe and costume designers as well as your average citizen, especially brides-to-be and full-breasted ladies. As the co-founders and co-owners Alan and Lori Kaplan explain, "We've never let a customer walk out of Bra*Tenders without the right-fitting bra for her body—and we never will." It's an attitude that continues to work well after more than 30 years in business.
The guiding principle at Iris is "it all starts with the right foundation." As such, the attentive, helpful, friendly sales staff at this Brooklyn store will work hard to make sure you're supported, enclosed, and lifted as necessary. You'll be shown a range of colors and options, so you won't get pressured to spend beyond your price point or buy leopard print when you wanted pale pink (or vice versa). The goal here is to make sure all of you—your insides and your outsides—walks out happy.
At Journelle, you'll likely get water and chocolate brought to you as you try on this shop's selection of lovely, elegant pieces in a spacious fitting room. No bumping elbows against walls or struggling with hooks at this emporium of pretty, whose philosophy is best summed up as "don't save lingerie for special occasions." Instead, you can, and should, wear the designer pieces everyday. Whether anyone else knows what you've got under there is, of course, up to you.
According to owner Linda Becker, who opened her eponymous store more than 25 years ago, just about every woman is wearing the wrong size bra. The bra fitters who work at her two stores must attend Bra School for three months before they're allowed to even talk to a customer. That's some pretty hard-core training. Still, with more than 275 bra sizes in stock, from AA to N cups, with every bra hand-selected based on such criteria as quality and fi, there's a lot to learn.
