Listen. There’s some things that women of a certain age never used to talk about, bras being one of them. You might mention lingerie on occasion, but, in talking about undergarments at all, you probably would refer to them as “dainties” or “undies.” 

Even those who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s and carried placards for the Equal Rights Amendment avoided saying “bra” and “brassiere.” We broke many rules through a purple haze, but when it came to knickers, we quietly went to the lady’s department in Steiger’s or Grants and bought Playtex bras, packed discreetly in their own cardboard boxes.

It’s now apparent that we missed out on a lot, because the world of lingerie can be all about comfort, refined style, and most importantly, making every woman feel beautiful and empowered. Pity the poor woman today who does not venture into lingerie stores. Not Victoria’s Secrets, but the stores that cater to women of all ages and sizes. Guaranteed, she will emerge happier and more comfortable in her own skin.

There is lace and there is cotton, there is silk and bamboo, and there is the softest newest fabric on the market and which dries in a heartbeat. There are contoured T-shirt bras, shapewear and low-riding bras for gowns. There are brilliant colors, understated blacks and browns, and simple whites. There are slips and stockings and naughty corsets, and all things that make women look and feel sleek.

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“This bra is so spent,” says Dee Bielenberg, as she appraises one woman’s favorite piece of lingerie, a pink lace job that has fallen to the dressing room floor. “You can’t get support because it is way too big.”

She’s right. It is long past any former glory, ever more evident as Dee hands through the dressing room curtain a new beautiful bra, black and outlined with pink lace. There’s no resisting trying that on. This is a dressing room at City Drawers, in downtown Belfast, and there is an art to bra fitting. We are not at T.J. Maxx, sister.

Dee owns City Drawers, and she knows the business. In fashion her entire career, she decided in 2011 to launch Belfast’s retail store specifically for undergarments. She was answering the cry, “there’s no place to purchase underwear in Belfast.” (Sotto voce: there was no place to buy quality lingerie on the coast of Maine.) 

So successful, she has now opened a men’s store next door to her women’s store. She has also expanded City Drawers to Bath, and has added skirts, shirts and jeans, all made from sumptuous fabrics.

(For the history buffs, there were corset stores in Belfast in the 19th-Century; in fact, in the alley behind the current City Drawers,  “Corsets” is stenciled on the granite window sills, reflecting what once was.)

On this particular Sunday afternoon in mid-autumn, there is a trunk show at City Drawers, and the place is hopping with women from Boston and Montreal. They talk about fabric and tension, bulges and beauty. The conversations are frank and encouraging. Yes, every woman deserves lovely undergarments, and customers range in age from eight to 94. There are young teens, beauty queens and nursing mothers, women who have lost breasts to cancer, women who are so over-endowed that their backs hurt. 

All of them find support — moral, professional, and physical — at City Drawers. Every woman, and this is no exaggeration, extols the benefit of going there for a bra fitting. Like an exact shoe fitting, or getting sized for a tailored suit, you learn your own true dimensions. Then, your clothes fit better, you stand taller, look sharper, and feel more confident in the world. Plus, there is comfort in wearing a bra that you don’t even know you have on.

“The most touching was a father bringing in his daughter for a fitting,” said Dee. “Her mother was not around, and it was evident the daughter was uncomfortable, always pulling at her straps. He saw she was not getting what she needed.”

And forget what you learned at department stores. Bras do not just go from 32A to 44DDD. One style of a well made bra can come in 60 sizes. Sixty!

“Someone might come in saying she is a 36B, when she really is a 32F,” said Dee. 

A bra fitting is a flexible process, according to one’s sense of privacy. Some choose not to have anyone in the dressing room with them, and when they are ready for a new piece, they extend an arm through the curtain for one to magically appear. They do, by hangerfuls.

As women get each one of them on, the storekeepers analyze how well each fit. Dee measured rib cages, where the bra band sits, and contrary to what one woman had been assuming for the past 23 years, since she had gotten pregnant, she was a smaller size. But when it came to the cup....

”She’s at least a triple,” Dee reported to her colleagues.

A triple? Get out!

The art of fitting a woman to the right bra is fundamental to fashion, how we live, and how we celebrate the human body. For a store like City Drawers, it is more than just moving the merchandise. There are comfortable chairs, and on the counter, a picture of lemon water sits next to books about French fashion design. It is a shopping experience, the kind for which ladies used to trail down to Madison Avenue, or jet over to Milan and Paris. Forget that, we can have it all here.

“When a husband gives his wife a gift certificate for fine undergarments... what a way to show he cares,” said Stephanie Brown, store manager at the Belfast City Drawers. 

“I love helping women feel better physically and emotionally about themselves,” said Dee.  Forego the fashion magazines, Internet sales, and the billboards of what is supposed to be. Get fitted for your own self. You won’t be disappointed.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657