Today was a real reminder of why we founded Attollo.
We started this morning re-reading over an article written in Vogue about french women’s lingerie, written by Marina Khorosh.
How their lingerie choice underneath, is as important as the outfit that conceals it. Wearing delicate, intricately designed pieces; the ultimate symbol of feminine. Every season they re-stock up their lingerie wardrobes with the latest colours and styles.
To any DD+ woman, a lingerie wardrobe simply does not exist. Only the other week did we stop and think, ‘A lingerie wardrobe…could you imagine having one..?!’
In all honesty, to us bras are just something we have to buy and wear but never really like, feel proud of or truly confident in as they are so unflattering, unshapely and designed so appallingly.
So what spurred this new round of frustration today? Doing our frequent competitor analysis in the department stores along Oxford Street.
Lingerie shop floors take on this almost no mans land - there's the beautiful, feminine, stunning designs and intimate pieces that you're drawn to but that don't fit, then you cross over into the gloomy DD+ trench of despair where you inevitably have to buy from this range that fits you better, but that you ultimately don't want to be seen in, ever.
What do we do? We settle! For the best of a bad bunch because, Lord knows we can't go braless!
We went round the department stores along Oxford Street to have a check on the lastest designs being stocked, the latest concession space interiors and what new ranges were appearing in the shops. This generally involves a lot of photo taking, almost getting asked to leave by suspicious shop assistants and picking up hundreds of bras that we can only dream of wearing.
In the second department store one shop assistant approached me to ask if I needed any help, to which I asked, ‘What sizes does this brand go up to?’ ‘D madam, what size are you?’ ‘GG’. ‘GG?!!!, oh ummmmmm we only have X brand and X brand for you’ of which there are only a couple of styles, most of which are sold out. Why? "Those sizes are popular and go very quickly, as I’m sure you are aware."
Yes, very aware. so why on earth do they not stock more bras in those sizes? Why are there not more brands and why on earth are they designed in such a way that so many women don't like them?
What about the women who want to own lingerie wardrobes like the French?
DD+ concession spaces should be the hub we turn to to find our lingerie wardrobes, but are in some ways the worst part of this ridiculous oversight by the industry. Usually afar and separate from all of the gorgeous designs at Stella McCartney, Calvin Klein, Elle Macpherson, Alice Temperley and even Wonderbra, we are faced with a sea of beige, wide straps and something that wouldn't look out of place on your granny's dresser! Hardly the French glamour or effortless, sophisticated chic that our A-D cup counterparts could find.
The beautiful colours, designs and delicate lace detailing seen below is what we long for.
In one department store the concession space is on the whole other side of the lingerie department! There's very little price or no price division whatsoever, but just a second rate area designed for DD+ women, seemingly to make us feel even more sub-par.
So are all hopes of a DD+ wardrobe lost? This is how we hope to completely transform this experience.
Better bas: better prints, details, colour and to top it all, better shape and profile. We will bring bras to the market that women want to wear and are desperate to buy.
Competitive pricing: we are keeping our prices as low as we can to encourage women to buy Attollo lingerie over our competitors'.
Sizes: larger quantity of specific sizes like the hard to find small band and large cup size combinations.
Shopping experience: better concession space, hopefully with our own staff, to create a better shopping experience, making you feel rewarded and excited to wear our products.
We find that lingerie shopping is only a cruel reminder of what we cannot buy and have never been able to buy. So please bare with us over the next 11 months while we work to change that for all of you lovely, booby ladies who desperately want to own a lingerie wardrobe that you love and love wearing.
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