Tips from a Buckhead “Bra Whisperer”!
Perhaps no shopping trip is quite as anxiety-inducing as searching for a bra. The fitting room stress, the forced up-close-and-personal look at our bodies, the inconsistent sizing: It can truly take an emotional toll that makes us put off these excursions as long as possible.
Enter Leslie Jones, a bra specialist and stylist at Nordstrom Phipps Plaza. Jones started her journey as a bra fitter in 2003 at Nordstrom in Perimeter Mall and worked her way up to management before stepping away from the position for a few years to be a mom. In 2016, she went back to work, this time at the Phipps Plaza store, and has been pleasing customers with her personal brand of nurturing guidance and straight shooting ever since. For years, Jones was a best-kept-secret among Nordstrom shoppers who discovered that her expertise and hospitality in the fitting room can make bra shopping almost pleasant. But when one of her longtime clients shared her information and photo with a neighborhood Facebook group of nearly 8,000 members, Jones went from under the-radar to on everyone’s radar.
Here, we tap Jones’ expertise to shed light on common bra-fitting misconceptions and misinformation.
First things first: Common signs your bra doesn’t fit include gapping cups, the band riding up in the back, side bulge, cup “spillage” and strap pain. If you experience any of these issues with bras, Jones says it’s time to find new ones. But those aren’t the only reasons you should go for a bra fitting: Jones says women should be fitted every six months. “Our bodies are constantly changing, as are our fashion needs,” she says. “Think of it like a check-up at the doctor.”
During that check-up, Jones finds most women have misconceptions about bras. The most common are that all underwire bras are uncomfortable and that lace always shows under clothes. She says neither are true when you find the right bra. “There’s no one brand or one bra that works for everybody,” Jones says, “But there are tons of options, and we can always find something that works.”
Another intriguing bra fact that may come as a surprise is that bras need to “rest.” “You should never wear your bra more than twice in a row before you allow it to rest a day or two,” Jones says. “Wearing it without giving it a rest wears it out too quickly.”
One final bra fitting standard many people don’t know: Never buy a bra that fits when hooked on the tightest hook. “Bras naturally stretch out as you wear them, so if it’s already hooked on the tightest option, it will become unwearable as it stretches,” Jones says. “If it fits on the loosest hook when you buy it, as it gradually stretches out, you can tighten it more for a continued good fit.”
Jones’ standard weekly schedule is Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but she regularly accommodates customers with appointments outside her standard hours.
BRA FITTING BY THE NUMBERS
0: How often you should put your bra in the dryer.
2: Times per year you should go for a bra fitting.
6: Bras every woman should have: two nude, one black, two sexy, one strapless.
22: Years Jones has been a bra fitter.
30-60: Minutes a typical bra fitting with Jones takes.
To book an appointment, contact Jones at Jajales34@yahoo.com or 770.265.2511.
NORDSTROM PHIPPS PLAZA
nordstrom.com
@nordstrom
PHOTO: Joann Vitelli
