Update on San Fran

Well that was productive. 

In case you missed our last blog, we deemed e-mail inefficient and mannequins stupid so we flew out to San Francisco and hired a fit model to finalize the 5th prototype. Once we landed we immediately went to the factory which left very little time to be presentable but we only had two work days so there was no time to waste. 

We sent over a bunch of notes and changes ahead of time so our designer could order necessary material. We won’t bore you with those, but just know that the most important change was to the overlay. This will solve the VCL therefore needs to be perfect. I'm not sure if we've explained this in the past but this is the "secret sauce" of brablem solving. Most people wear undershirts to smooth everything out so our idea is to incorporate the same concept into the bra itself (i.e. overlay across each cup to hold those suckers down).

Once we got there everyone was ready to work. Chelsea, our badass model, put on prototype #4 and agreed with our changes (particularly the band being too tight) but it seemed that finding the solution to one problem, created a whole new one. It was frustrating for all of us and there were a lot of sentences that started with "like I said before..." (you know the tone) but we couldn't turn on each other, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THE BRA WANTED, and after about an hour of playing with ideas, we finally had a new plan in place and left our designer to work. At this point it's a 24-hour waiting game which was stressful. What if it's still wrong? What if flying out here was a waste of time? 

The next day we walked in with the all of the anxiety. Seriously, if you found yourself with no anxiety on November 9th, it’s because we had it. The prototype itself looked great but the test was when Chelsea put it on. Before we were even finished hooking she commented on how much better it felt (thank God). The band fit perfectly, she had the support and coverage needed on the side. We also decided to "criss-cross" the overlays to ensure they stay over each cup. There was minor pulling in the middle so they tacked it and the problem was immediately fixed hence the black triangle in the middle (don't worry, this will be cleaned up and match the fabric on the final product) 

The best part is that we both tried it on as well and it fit us (almost) perfectly too! The bra was designed to be a 34B which is Chelsea's size. Rachel measured just under 34 but most her bras are 34B or C; and Rebecca is a 32B. Yes, we’re a little bias but the bra feels like a hug, it’s so comfortable. More importantly, it fixed the VCL when testing it under a t-shirt so, contrary to popular belief, when it comes to gaping: SIZE DOESN'T MATTER (within reason, of course).

NEXT STEPS: 

Production sample has been ordered. As a reminder, the above picture is still just a prototype and needs to be cleaned up before going into production, hence the production sample! This is what the final product will look like. We’ll also get a Tech Pack with costs per unit, sewing instructions, etc. We can either take to another factory for price comparison or order through our current manufacturer. We've agreed, at least for the first order, to use our current factory which will likely be more expensive (being in San Fran and all) but they’ve created it from the ground up and really get it, so we don’t want to risk starting with someone knew. Plus we love them.