{"id":793,"date":"2017-01-27T23:39:33","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T23:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/?p=793"},"modified":"2017-07-05T18:54:10","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T18:54:10","slug":"why-do-bras-cost-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/why-do-bras-cost-so-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do Bras Cost So Much?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to lingerie, do you get what you pay for? Is a $300 bra really better than a $80 bra – or a $25 one? And why do bras cost so much, anyway?<\/span><\/p>\n

Wait, how much?<\/span><\/h4>\n

Depending on your needs, preferences, and budget, that $300 bra might be worth the price. But \u201cbetter\u201d really depends on your criteria. There are genuine differences between more and less expensive bras. Most lingerie can be categorized this way:<\/span><\/p>\n

Low end (under $50)<\/strong> – Brands in this group select materials based on low cost, not comfort. This means that their bras aren\u2019t as soft or durable, and findings (hooks, wires, fasteners) are likely to be plastic instead of metal. Bras in this group generally have a plainer aesthetic, without much in the way of embellishment. It can be tougher to find an ideal fit in this group, since these brands lack the budget for more thorough pattern drafting and wear testing. (That means that instead of creating a pattern to fit a 34G, they\u2019re taking the pattern created for, say, a 32E and just making it bigger. It\u2019s a small thing that really impacts the fit of larger sizes.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Panache's

Panache’s Clara. A gorgeous mid-range bra.<\/p><\/div>\n

Mid range ($60-$100)<\/strong> – In this group, you\u2019ll find softer and more durable materials with better quality (metal) findings. These brands put more of their budget towards fit, developing a good size range, and design. More money for design means more fun colours, more lace, and more embellishment like embroidery or bows.<\/span><\/p>\n

High end ($125-200)<\/strong> – Brands in this group include Prima Donna, Empreinte, and Simone Perele. Their materials are softer, more luxurious and will last longer than the two previous tiers. Brands in this group also sometimes have proprietary designs – for example, underwires specially designed just for that brand, or exclusive prints or lace. These would be things that you literally could not get from another brand. Once again, a higher budget means more research and development. You\u2019ll notice a more tailored fit in many of these lines, as well as some groundbreaking designs. (For example, a moulded seamfree lace bra in full bust<\/a> sizes – something that\u2019s really difficult to create without the right materials and a strong R&D budget!) <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ewa

Ewa Michalak’s Bibi with a fun strappy detail. Another great mid-range bra!<\/p><\/div>\n

Luxury ($250 and up)<\/strong> – A good example of this group is Harlow and Fox. At this level, the difference is mainly about material costs. Here you\u2019ll find silk, high end cotton, exclusive laces, and embroidery or beading done by hand instead of with a machine. This group is all about the details.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where does Broad fall?<\/span><\/h4>\n

Broad is a mid-range boutique. We\u2019re not selling the bras that go for a few hundred dollars; our average price is around $80. This isn\u2019t an accident. While Sam\u2019s worked with pricier brands in the past (and still loves them!) it was important to her to make Broad more accessible. The brands and bras we stock are carefully chosen and they\u2019re high quality – and they\u2019re almost all between $60 and $150.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what are you really paying for?<\/span><\/h4>\n

Retail pricing is sort of mysterious when you\u2019re looking at it from the outside. It\u2019s hard to know what a \u201cgood\u201d price is, because consumers don\u2019t have all the information retailers use to set prices. Here\u2019s what we consider.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Panache's

Panache’s Jasmine is beautiful and – you guessed it! – mid-range.<\/p><\/div>\n

Our time.<\/strong> Fittings can take 30 minutes to an hour (or more!) and while we don\u2019t charge for fittings, we do have to factor this in when pricing a bra.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our expertise.<\/strong> We know these bras inside and out. We understand fit points<\/a>, matching bra shape to body shape<\/a>, etc. Plus we\u2019re constantly learning, and passing that knowledge onto you!<\/span><\/p>\n

Our space.<\/strong> It costs money to run a brick-and-mortar store! Broad pays rent, the store had to be furnished, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bra.<\/strong> Ya know, the physical thing you\u2019re taking home. Fabric, elastic, wires, hardware – plus the research and development that went into designing the bra, as described above.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, you might be able to find cheaper bras elsewhere, but that price difference is what allows us to offer our time, expertise, space, and bras of this quality. (It\u2019s okay if that\u2019s not worth the extra money to you, by the way. Everyone has different needs and priorities, and none of the things I\u2019ve listed are mandatory. If you\u2019re happy shopping solo, or online, or at a different kind of store – do that! You get to decide what\u2019s important to you.) <\/span><\/p>\n

What about discounts and sales?<\/span><\/h4>\n

If we put things on sale all the time, we\u2019d be out of business real quick. Our prices are set to cover the factors mentioned above. We\u2019re not trying to rip anyone off, we\u2019re trying to stay open! That said, every now and then we\u2019ll run a sale or offer discounts. We get that you\u2019re on a budget. We are too!<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to learn more about lingerie pricing and how retailers set their prices, Bluestockings Boutique<\/a> and A\u00a0Sophisticated Pair<\/a> have blogs that are wonderfully transparent on the topic. (Check out <\/span>this post<\/span><\/a> they teamed up on!) And for more on fashion pricing in general, <\/span>this piece <\/span><\/a>from Racked is an awesome start. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to lingerie, do you get what you pay for? Is a $300 bra really better than a $80 bra – or a $25 one? And why do bras cost so much, anyway? Wait, how much? Depending on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[9,16,19,17,18,131],"class_list":["post-793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-the-bra-fitter-diaries","tag-bra-fitting","tag-bras","tag-danforth","tag-lingerie","tag-toronto","tag-why-do-bras-cost-so-much"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":801,"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793\/revisions\/801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadlingerie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}