Review: My True&Co experience

A few weeks ago I placed an order with True&Co. In case you missed the hype from when they launched, True&Co was founded by two women who wanted to improve the bra-shopping experience. Instead of spending an hour in a dressing room trying on different-sized bras, True&Co determines your bra size through short survey -- yes, really -- and then sends you five bras at home (with free shipping). You try them on at your leisure, send back the ones you don't want (also free return shipping), and only get charged for the ones you keep. Oh yeah, and all the bras are $45. Sounds cool, right?

When I first read about it, I was pretty skeptical that anybody could determine my correct bra size from a survey. With no measuring tape. How ridiculous! But I immediately went to the site to check it out anyway, and as I answered each question I became convinced. It's actually pretty neat. And since studies have shown that 80% of women wear the incorrect bra size, it seems like a wonderful tool to get those 80% of women on the right track.

The other clever thing they do is send you two mystery bras. After you finish their survey, you get a choice of several bras that are specially selected based on your answers. You pick three of them, and then they send you two surprise bras based on what they think will fit you best. Here's what I got:

The left three were my picks.

Before I go any further, you'd probably like a little background on my bra status: at this point in my life, I pretty much only wear Victoria's Secret bras. My favorites are the Body by Victoria and the Sexy Tee lines. I don't like to spend a huge amount on bras, but since I wear them every day and more than anything else I own, I find $50-60 to be pretty reasonable. So for me, True&Co's $45 price tag is extra acceptable.

Also, even though 80% of women wear the incorrect size, I am apparently in the lucky 20% who wear the right thing. Countless Victoria's Secret employees wielding measuring tape have all agreed (as well as True&Co's survey), so all the bras True&Co sent were the same size.

What I got

I placed my order on June 1, but due to overwhelming demand my order was delayed and didn't ship until June 19. (They sent me an email to let me know, so it wasn't so bad.) To make up for it (and also to thank me for being a "founding member"), I also had a special gift included in my package. This turned out to be a pair of cute panties, but unfortunately they weren't in my size. The label optimistically said "one size," but apparently that one size was a 2 or a 4. It was too tiny for me, sadly, but I appreciate the effort on their part.

Anyhow, the box arrived this afternoon, and the unboxing was quite pleasant:

Ooh, glittery paper!

In addition to the bras and the cute notes and the glittery paper, the box also contained the pre-printed return label (not shown). Once I opened everything up, here's what I had:

I'm not the biggest fan of bras with lots of lace, but nearly all the choices they gave me had at least some. To me, super-lacy bras always say either "sex kitten" or "elderly woman," though there are exception to this. And maybe that's just me, but I would have liked a wider selection to choose from -- less lace and some brighter colors. On the other hand, I believe I placed my order the day after the product launched, so what can you expect from a two-day-old business? The bras were cute, and I got to see them before I placed my order. So that really wasn't a huge drawback.

The bras

I'll go over them all in detail. The first three are my choices and the last two are the "expert" choices.

#1, Taylor (my pick)

Taylor

I thought the Taylor was by far the cutest of the set. It fit well, but the fabric in the cups was thinner than I prefer. I like some padding in my bras, so this one won't cut it for me (despite the cuteness). 

#2, Pamela (my pick)

Pamela

The Pamela was my second favorite aesthetically. It fit pretty well, but despite being my size, it... well, let's just say that my cups runneth over. Also, the lace along the bottom seemed a little scratchy -- though that may just be because I'm not used to lacy bras. 

#3, Naomi (my pick)

Naomi

There isn't really any place on the Naomi that isn't covered in lace. And even though I'm not generally a lace fan, this bra really did look very nice in person. Unfortunately, this one seemed unusually small. I even checked the tag to make sure I had been sent a 34 and not a 32, but it was indeed my size. Even on the loosest hooks this one was noticeably tight, and you can imagine the effect that had on the fit of the cups. This one will be going back. 

#4, Private Affair (expert pick)

Private Affair

The Private Affair is a bra I would never carry into a dressing room with me. It just isn't my style -- or so I thought -- and in fact I passed it over when deciding which ones I wanted to have sent to me. Since it was here in my apartment, though, I gave it a try -- and liked it! It fit very well and was super comfy. Also, it had a really nice feature I've never seen before: wide, ribbon-like straps. Check it out:

Left: True&Co's Private Affair strap - super thick and comfy!
Right: Victoria's Secret's Sexy Tee - fine, but nothing special

The Private Affair was great and I'm totally keeping it. Like some of the others, I would have preferred a little more padding, but it's still good enough to keep in exchange for $45. 

#5, Nicole (expert pick) 

Nicole

The Nicole seemed fine, but nothing about it blew me away. Also, like the Pamela, I found the lacy bottom a bit scratchy. Aside from that, I don't really have any big complaints, but I didn't like it forty-five dollar's worth. It's going back.

Conclusions

All in all, I really like True&Co. I'll be keeping one bra and sending four back, but the entire experience was pleasant and calm and easy and refreshing. I didn't have to deal with a tiny dressing room -- they never have enough hooks! -- and then ask a store employee to go get me the next size and then wait, topless, for her to return. And then trying to open the door and grab it without exposing myself to every other customer.

And aside from the obvious advantages of not having to spend 90 minutes of my day dealing with the mall - mall traffic, parking, walking, carrying stuff, etc. -- trying on a bra is just so much more pleasant in your own bedroom. Even when it doesn't fit and parts of your chest are leaking out where they aren't supposed to, you don't feel... like an impostor. I love Victoria's Secret's products, but there's something a little demoralizing about trying on a too-tight or too-loose bra next to all those mannequins and wall photos of women who are a million times sexier than you'll ever be. Sometimes I wonder if Victoria's Secret has done the research about what their target market wants... but I think their bottom line is doing just fine, so they probably don't need any advice from me. But I digress:


The whole True&Co experience just makes you feel good. That's the crux of it for me. The site is beautiful and the experience is charming. In my book it isn't perfect -- I'd like to be able to specify padding preference and cut (demi or full coverage), and I'd really like to see more colors and less lace -- but it's pretty damn good. Especially for just launching a few weeks ago! So if you need a new bra, and especially if your current bras don't seem to fit quite right, you should totally give True&Co a try.