I’ve spent the last 45 years of my life in small rooms with naked people. As the Fairy Bra Mother of Broadway, I’ve helped thousands of humans arrange and rearrange their human skins and bits and parts, into more pleasing or acceptable (to them) shapes and sizes with the use of undergarments. My unusual skill is looking at someone’s body, and being able to tell their bra size without the use of tapes, formulas or equipment. I expertly help them shapeshift by adding pads for curves, binders to compress breasts, cinchers for hourglass waists, corsets, bloomers, girdles and garters, oh my!
Over the course of my illustrious career I have had hundreds of celebrities come through my shop, BraTenders NYC, for help with costumes and their personal wardrobes. We’ve assisted thousands of brides from places like Dubai, Shanghai, or Beverly Hills, and tens of thousands of women in need of proper support, lift and shape. We’ve worked with costume designers for stage and screen, and stylists for Pop, rock and hip hop stars, as well as many drag artists, opera singers, & Alvin Ailey dancers. We have the solutions for wrangling breasts in cut out clothes and costumes on red carpets and runways. We have tights to fit 6’7 Marilyn Monhoe in her perfect skin hue for her drag act.
Writing is the one thing I do better than bra tending, and it’s my passion and salvation. I’ve learned so much about who I am by journaling, Morning Pages, Evening Pages, and this is my first attempt at putting myself out there with my work.
The Covid pandemic changed the world, and my business, forever. We haven’t fully recovered from the 21 month shutdown, and the demographic that the business was built to serve, Broadway, film and Television, which was 60% of our revenue, now finds it easier to point and click than to support their local brick and mortar vendor who has faithfully served them for decades.
The entertainment and performing arts industry is now struggling with an unsustainable business model, and sky high ticket prices most people can’t afford. Let’s face it, 2500 bucks for 1 night out for 4 people, if you include travel, food, and tickets is an extravagance any way you look at it. And sitting in a Broadway relic of a theater is anything but a luxurious experience.
The entertainment industry is going through massive upheavals that have changed the way people consume culture. I can’t remember the last time I was in a movie theater to see a really excellent grown up film, or even a theater that ran a movie that didn’t involve super heroes.
From the time Sex &The City was an HBO hit, and caused women to stop wearing pantyhose and bare their skin instead, morphed into And Just Like That, New York, fashion, and the world changed forever. What was the relevance of these women now, still comfy in their privilege,
whining over which multi million dollar property to buy? I lost my taste for it in the ensuing years.
I do miss the business we used to get from these productions, before Amazon guaranteed same day delivery. And before they started to “borrow” items, use them in scenes or skits, and then return them, swearing they weren’t used, and they have no idea where that glitter came from.
Life goes on. We live, we change, we adapt, we grow, we shed, we peel away all the layers of life that no longer serve us. Somehow we manage, one foot in front of the other, one breath at a time.
Join me as I post weekly in an attempt to make sense of the world we find ourselves in, and entertain you with tales from My Life Behind Bras. I’ll also provide tips and info to help get the undergarment situation under control. and yes, it includes shapewear. Bodies change over time,
which means that what we wear beneath our clothes needs to be updated, upgraded periodically as our lives and needs change. Since the pandemic, women are now insisting on more wire free options than before, comfort is the trend.
We’re getting more requests for chest binders, tucking kits, and other items requested by non binary, trans, and all types of humans who want to feel more comfortable in their bodies. I’ve been helping people explore their gender and sexuality with intimate apparel for almost 50 years. We are about to embark on a new collaboration with Lola Olivia, and just like we offer bra fittings, we will be a fitting store for Lola Olivia’s binders.
We’re currently working on finding a certain print for tights used in Wicked Worldwide. What was available in the hosiery world in 2002, is a far cry from the much more minimal selections available now. Emerald green and yellow diamond print, which is transfered to a specific denier of sheer to waist white opaque tight, was first produced for the show when they opened. Now they will have to buy enough to last for another 20 years, or the job can’t be done at all.
What BraTenders does, did, is way beyond just fitting bras. And in a post covid world, what used to be easy, simple, is now, not. Some things are still worth doing, and some are not. I want to expend my time and effort helping people who appreciate and want that help. My job description is unusual- if you go to a social function with 250 people, how many BraTenders will you encounter? I have a very specific set of skills that have endured for 47 years. BraTenders outlived Barney’s! Who’d a thunk it?
We’re in the laboratory, and everything is an experiment. Failure has been the surest road to our success. Sometimes I feel like the little choo choo train, I think I can, I think I can, and use that as a mantra to manifest, and keep going when I want to stop.
Celebrating confidence and comfort with decades of bra-fitting expertise and inspiring stories.