Intimate Apparel

[bonobo]

Just out of curiousity, a very good friend of mine and I have been discussing opening an intimate apparel store in BKK, but done with privacy and an expert sales staff, and we were wondering how much interest there may be in that.

My secondary business is with women's fashions, and she has several family enterprises. We were discussing how most Thai women have very little clue as to what bra size they should wear (same with American women and probably many others as well), and how most lingerie seems to be out in open bins at the local department store. We have been considering opening up a classy store with no windows to the outside where women could come in, and in privacy, discuss their needs with a trained staff member who can get them the right product and the right size. My friend is gay, so she thinks getting gay men as the staff would be better, but I am open to anything.

With the extra service and quality of lingerie being offered, prices would be somewhat higher than the norm.

Does this enterprise sound plausible?

[donna]

i say go for it. i have discussed this very thing with many friends and think that its a fab idea. you will have a market with the western ladies here in thailand (and there are zillions of us) for sure.

mail order would be good too.

i dont really support the idea of having gay men as the staff would be a good idea. gay men dont have boobs, nor do they play with them, so they dont know the first thing about them. get a TRAINED woman in there, some good brands that us western ladies know, larger sizes etc, and you will have a very good trade. not only westerners will shop there. many thai ladies i know will pay good money for a good bra.

good luck!

[November Rain]

Please don't just cater for Thai sizes, but get some Western sizes, too, as Donna says. We really, really need decent lingerie shops that your average Western lady can confidently shop in!

[suegha]

My wife has a terrible time shopping for underwear in Thailand - nothing fits. She's quite tall be Thai standards (5'8"-9") but quite slim too so she thought she would have no trouble getting things to fit. She would love a good quality professional shop with a range of products and services.

Regarding the Gay men question, sure have a gay man working there but not exclusively. Woman often prefer discussing 'sizes' with a woman who's in the know! (this is what my wife says!)

[November Rain]

I agree with the comment about only gay men working there, suegha. For bras, especially, I would prefer to take advice from someone that actually wore the bloomin' things! If you get the wrong one (size/fit/style) they can be very uncomfortable. Maybe a couple of women assistants too, for that purpose.

[Artisan]

Intimate apparel? ....................That's got to be a towel worn as tightly as possible around the body of a Thai lady!!!

[LaReina]

I agree with the lack of gay men in the store. Why would a woman want any man, gay or straight, helping her fit her bra.

I know back home in some of the brand stores, the women attendants enter the dressing room and ask to see how the bra fits on you. I can handle a female doing that, but a guy would be a wee bit too weird.

However, I beg to differ on your opening statement. Thai women DO have a clue about bras and how they should fit. A female attendant in Robinson had no problems looking at me, taking me to the section of the bra dept that catered to my size and insisting she made sure the bras cups were not too small, right.. smack dab in the middle of the store. And that's not the first time.

But by all means open up a store.

Will you be thai priced or western priced??

[donna]

i suspect that they will be western priced, but i dont care about that. i pay AUD$50 for one bra in australia, so it wouldnt bother me to pay a bit more here.

as i said, many thai women will be more than happy to pay good money for a good bra. my thai girlfriends often check out my bras and tell me that if they sold that quality here then they would buy them...

[sylvafern]

I wouldn't care whether the prices were western or Thai prices - just having a shop that had bras in bigger sizes would be fantastic! If this idea takes off, how about having swimwear as well. Most lingerie sections in department stores are next to the swimwear but, like bras, they never have 'western sizes'.

Definitely agree with NOT having men working in the shop - gay, straight or otherwise (and by otherwise, I mean 'ladyboys'). Someone advising and fitting bras should definitely be a person who has real boobs.

Also, I suggest any staff be quite 'western' in their personality ... not people that will take one look at you and start laughing as is often the case in Thailand. For the shop to be successful, they should also be trained in what they are doing - they should not - and I repeat should not (!) pick up a bra and go and show it to a customer without knowing what style they are looking for or what size they want. I am sick to death or sales assistants making judgements about what I want and what size I am ..... the other day at one of those stalls for 'big' sized clothes, the assistant took a guess at what size I am and shoved a size 24 skirt in my face .... absolutely no clue whatsoever as I am a size 14-16!!! I have been shown the most hideous clothes numerous times almost as if they automatically think 'fat' means ugly!

If you want to get an idea of what a western style lingerie shop could be like - take a look at La Senza at Central World. Your shop would need to be better than this one though .... they don't have bras higher than a D cup (maybe a C cup) and the assistants looked at me like I was an alien when I asked if they had double-Ds!!!

Good luck - hope your idea works out - I'll definitely be a customer!!

[November Rain]

Oooh! Oooh! La Perla or Agent Provocateur! Died & gone to heaven! Can't afford them, but I'll window shop all day!!

[MissAnge]

the other day at one of those stalls for 'big' sized clothes, the assistant took a guess at what size I am and shoved a size 24 skirt in my face .... absolutely no clue whatsoever as I am a size 14-16!!! I have been shown the most hideous clothes numerous times almost as if they automatically think 'fat' means ugly!

Oh yes! I have experienced this also... went shopping for bathers, i'm about a size 14 and don't mind wearing a bikini when I am at the beach but when I asked the shop assistant for bathers in my size I was shown the most hideous selection! knee length, flouro colours, thick nasty spandex, frilly skirt, shoulders covered, zipped front... nasty!!!!

In response to the OP I think you should go for it, while La Sanza has bras and knickers that fit the service is poor and I would never feel comfortable having a bra fitting with any of their sales staff. If you could offer professional bra fitting services and maybe even a good selection of fancy intimate apparel (along the lines of Anne Summers?) I think you would do great... I'd be there for sure! Good Luck with it!

[donna]

stick a shop that sells good sandwiches and coffee on the front and you will be sitting on a goldmine!

[bonobo]

THanks for the input. We have been discussing this at length, and based our comments here, the model will change somewhat to include all sizes and no gay men. All female staf will be trained not only in sizing, fashion, etc, but also in service.

[LaReina]

And if the phrase "Free Size" rolls off anyone's tongue, you will fire them..

ohh and while you are at it.. include the word .. "Caaaaaan"!

[donna]

other phrases worthy of instant firing:

ooh, you very big...

no have big sie...

and ANY thing else spoken in either thai or english commenting on a womans size in a bad way. be it big or small. nothing pisses me off more.

[sylvafern]

other phrases worthy of instant firing:

ooh, you very big...

no have big sie...

or

we have big size (said to someone who is actually a size 8 (not me!) who, due to having white skin, is automatically classed as fat!)

[sylvafern]

just came across this australian website in a magazine .....

www.slimform.com.au

The catch phrase is 'sizes for the women you are' and the pictures are of a curvy larger lady wearing pretty bra and pants. Went to the website looking for mail order, but they only say which shops they sell in plus have a link for wholesale .... maybe a place to start looking for stock.

Just ordered something off of bravissimo for first time, so when it arrives, will let you everyone know if it's any good.

[suegha]

other phrases worthy of instant firing:

ooh, you very big...

no have big sie...

and ANY thing else spoken in either thai or english commenting on a womans size in a bad way. be it big or small. nothing pisses me off more.

That's funny that is! My wife who's 5'8"-9" and a UK size 12, slim by western standards, got that in Thailand once when she forgot to pack underwear. She came back from the shopping trip feeling depressed and fat! I had to give her loads of attention, comforting and re-assurance to get her feeling good about herself - but hey, it was worth it!

[MTW]

I would like to bring up a problem I have had with bras in Thailand. I wear an American size 34C.

When I bought bras that matched this size I was usually not comfortable. I wondered why. Then I took some bras bought in America and compared them to bras in Thailand. Well, the bras in Thailand had about a 1 mm gap between the cups and the American bras had about a one inch gab between the cups.

Also, many panties in Thailand don't have a cotton "patch" in the middle and don't seem to quite fit right either.

If you want to cater to some farang women, I think you need to take these things into consideration. However, many of us don't live in BKK and won't travel there just to buy underwear.

[rychrde]

OK, I first had to ask myself, why am I reading this thread?! lol.

Then realized it's coz my thai wife has the same problem. She never seems to have the right size bra! I'm sorry for her as she's uncomfortable and wasted money, but when watching her buying the sales girls seem clueless. Now even I know that getting the right size needs two measurements. Have I ever seen two measurements taken? ever? nope. the wedding dress-maker had no qualms about measuring her from head to foot, so there can't be some kind of social squeemishness about measuring for bras. And there I was thinking that getting a good bra was one of those secrets handed down from mother to daughter :-)

Anyway, reminds me to ask around for a professional lingerie shop here.

Good luck with the business!

rych

[shopgurl]

I would say research the market, there's a lot more shops that are catering to various sizes and styles. LaSenza is a shop you should check out, it's at Central World and they have a good collection but sometimes they may have only a small quantity of sizes for each style. But I do agree that there is need for educating the modern women on how to choose a bra. And for the sales ladies, I think it's really up to your luck, I met some that really did know their stuff but the problem was that in the Thai market of bras, they're ALL PADDED!!! I mean I'm for enhancing your clevage but it ain't clubbing everyday (well for me anyways). Well would love to give more ideas, my friend and I were thinking about the same business venture but there's a lot more than just offering what the market wants, there's things like production if you're planning to do your own line. Hope this helped. Good luck!

[girlx]

agree with many people here. i have a horrid time finding bras that fit me here, and i hate the molded plastic feel of a lot of thai bras. it would be excellent to go to a shop like the one you describe that had a wide variety of sizes and styles, and someone to help fit me correctly. one comment though- i hate going in to department stores here because the thai clerks follow me around, throwing things i don't want in my face, even barging in to the dressing room to show me more. i would appreciate thei initial help fitting, but after that, leave me alone to compare items and decide! i will not buy from a salesperson who is too persistent.

[Goinghomesoon]

Oh and pretty please could you include some industrial strength over the shoulder boulder holder sports bras? The triple hook "they ain't jumping around" sort... I do believe there is not one solidly built sports bra in a western size in this town.

[Andiamo]

Hello,

I rarely post but I often read the Ladies Forum and just want to say Congrats to you all for providing sound advice, supporting each other and having a giggle. Well done gals!

Moving on to the bra topic.....

I totally agree with the comment about Sports Bras - the Wacoal ones are a complete waste of time and money. Last one I bought was from La Senza (Central World) which so far is the best one I've bought in BKK. I also don't fancy paying top whack for a Sports Bra at Marks and Spencers

Just wanted to say Best of Luck with your venture - I think its a great idea. Sports Bras & Swimming costumes would also be another great sideline.

Whilst on the subject of bras and good quality ones for Western sized gals, do check out Marks and Spencers, Central Chit Lom!

Why? Cos they currently have 2 sale rails for Underwear - one at 50% and the other rail is up to 70% off!! Bargains and they have some lovely stuff (both Bras, knickers and thongs etc). I stocked up the other day - 3,000 baht later....... Still was worth it as when you wear a properly sized bra you feel properly dressed and get proper suport!

p.s. I notice Marks & Spencer at Central Chit Lom also advertised a "Trained Bra Fitting Service" I did not use it as I know my size in M&S, but presume it's in Thai although I may be wrong. Maybe the language would not be an issue though, as long as the lady is trained to measure boobs and fully knows her bra stock to recommend bras!

[Khutan]

...Then realized it's coz my thai wife has the same problem. She never seems to have the right size bra! I'm sorry for her as she's uncomfortable and wasted money...

So true.

I would suggest to my wife for the regular stuff and then also the Intimate stuff.

Personally, I think and I am agreed here with "her on the Sofa" that its nice to spend a little extra and get exactly what fits right and feels a little better.

[nidge]

Another thing to consider in addition to big sizes is strap width. My ex had huge boobs, (before a reduction operation), and would rarely find any bras to fit in Thailand. On the rare occasion that on did fit the straps were thin and because of the weight they dug into her shoulders making them unwearable.

As to thai girls knowing about fitting bras, i went to buy my wife some bra's while working away and called her to ask what size, she said medium!! I ended up waiting till i got home and had her measured. It was the first time she ever had a bra that fit properly.

[nidge]

On a side note to my last post, if any of you ladies are considering cosmetic surgery i can highly recommend Bangkok General Hospital, they did a fantastic job on my ex.

[philliphn]

You shoudl try the Big and Tall Store.

Or perhaps you could go back to Farang Land! Their you might not be considered so fat . You might find brasieres that fit?

I did not know bras had to be "trained" I thought that it came natural to them .

Edited June 30, 2007 by philliphn

[rainman]

Can I drop in my request that you actually offer some "sexy" underwear in the shop? As opposed to most of the department stores who offer 95% "plain" or "grandma" underwear that range from the knees to under the arms.

[sylvafern]

Or perhaps you could go back to Farang Land! Their you might not be considered so fat . You might find brasieres that fit?

What a nice guy you are .... I think the ladies here would rather you kept ridiculous comments like this out of our forum .... totally pointless and offensive.