Lane Bryant smooth satin full-coverage bra
Finding a great-fitting bra can be a pain. And if you’re plus-size with breasts that are still larger than average (for your plus size figure), it can be a real bitch. So you better believe that when I find a bra that fits well I buy it, and several others in different colors!
Well, on January 10th, 2009, while enjoying a mini-vacation in Pittsburgh with my husband, I checked out a local Lane Bryant to see what kind of jeans they had in stock. While I was there I also looked over the bras, and tried on and fell in love with the smooth satin full-coverage bra (note: it’s worth mentioning that the smooth satin full-coverage bra is very very very similar to the sateen sculpted bra). Since the smooth satin full-coverage bra fit well, and the price was right (buy one, get one half off), I decided to buy three of them: one white, one black, one cafe mocha. (I also bought a fourth bra, in another style.)
A few days later we made the 250 mile drive back from Pittsburgh. A day after that, after wearing the white bra exactly two times, an underwire broke through the side. I must emphasize that I wore the bra TWICE, and never even washed it. Well, needless to say I was a bit annoyed when the bra broke, since I had just purchased it. Worse yet, the closest Lane Bryant I could go to for an exchange or return was almost fifty miles away.
It wasn’t until a month later, on February 22nd, 2009, that I happened to be in the area of a Lane Bryant, so I made sure to bring the bra with me that day. I exchanged the broken white bra for another one, and made sure to let the clerk know that I had not abused the bra in any way (aka I made sure to take it off properly and not twist or bend the underwires), and it hadn’t even been washed yet.
I can’t believe this actually happened again, but it did. Last week my husband and I were at the park, and one of the underwires on the replacement white bra broke through. Same underwire, same side. This leads me to believe that there is obviously a defect with this particular bra. Why else would it happen twice to the same colored bra in the same spot? My black bra and tan bra are just fine. And for the record, this time around the white bra had been worn perhaps five or six times, and had been washed twice. I wash my bras by hand, using cold water and very little detergent. I then lay them flat to dry in the bath tub.
So now I don’t know what to do. I should just make the hundred mile round trip to the closest Lane Bryant and exchange the broken replacement bra for yet another replacement — only this time I’ll make sure to get a black one or a cafe mocha one! I’m also thinking I should write a letter of complaint to Lane Bryant. In fact, I think I’ll do that first, and see if they’ll be willing to do an exchange through the mail. Wish me luck (I also hope that when this is over I don’t need to join a wine of the month club just to deal with the hassle!)!
Rating: 
A positive response from Lane Bryant
My correspondence with Lane Bryant
Cacique sheer lace full-coverage bra
Cacique Back Smoothing bra
Lane Bryant sateen sculpted bra
That is why I hate underwire bras. I hope they do fix it for you through the mail instead of driving that far to get it fixed.