Hacker News Reader

Just tried the website out and can't resist jumping in either. Sorry to be harsh but I really don't appreciate a long questionnaire with a forced sign up under the pretense of personalization when really, none is offered in the end. Why did I just spend 10 minutes filling out all the information only to be offered none of what I asked for?

There has to be a term for this as it happens very often: describe a common, frustrating consumer problem thereby implying that your product will solve it; follow up with a bunch of exciting and mystery-building hand waiving; finally, unveil your cheap, run-of-the-mill product identical to all the other cheap, run-of-the-mill products already on the market. At the end of the day, the website sells the same stuff that you'd find at any lower-priced mass retailer and doesn't appear to actually curate its supposedly personalized "my shop" based on my answers.

Some more impressions. One, it's rather discrediting for a "true fit" company not to offer true fit sizes such as AA for example. Two, it's rather annoying when a sales page asks for your preferences (brand, coverage, etc) and then proceeds to suggest things that are the exact opposite. Three, those impractical, showy "sexy time" bras, which seem to be 90% of the inventory, require panties to match, otherwise there is literally no point to them. Four, it's rather lame for a supposedly women-oriented website to push those fake silicone inserts as tough there is something wrong with real women's breasts.

Yes, bra fit is a big problem, and yes, it's a disruption opportunity. But I fail to see how True & Co has an interesting approach. They sell the same brands as everyone else and ignore your preferences just like those overworked, disinterested sales people. The shipping is free but if you have to return anything - which at a minimum of 5 bras per shipment is virtually guaranteed - it is easier to just go to your local mass retailer and try things on.

The article was very poorly written -- I couldn't even finish it..doubly surprised to see it at the top of HN.

> "..doubly surprised to see it at the top of HN."

It has "boobs" in the title.

sad but true

That's a shame. It was an interesting article about VCs not understanding consumers and backing startups that have no chance of succeeding. Nothing in it was exceptionally hard to understand, even for someone not engrossed in startup-culture like myself.

> True&Co doesn't have a subscription model. You get a bunch of bras in a box when you order from the site, you keep what you like.

That's pretty important. Just from that line it seems like a great idea.

If they can keep tack of the different sizing between brands (or can help with sizing in any way) they could do well.

I wish them luck!

What happens to the bra's that are returned? Unlike Warby Parker, I wouldn't mind trying a used pair of glasses but I doubt woman will be OK with used underwear(bra's).

I'm not sure it would be very different to trying one on in a store - someone may have already tried on the same one.

I am not sure you can try out bra's in a store (I am a guy). I am just glad I know you can't try out boxers!

How would anyone be able to buy a bra, which is an elastic device that lifts, shifts and holds the breasts – an incredibly variable bit of anatomy – without trying it on?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sousveillance/6617089103/

You seem to imply that it is obvious that woman have to try bra's to buy them. But it's not, proof is that even woman ask this question:

https://www.google.com/search?oq=can+you+try+bras+at+store&#...

You've just voluntarily lumped yourself in with Yahoo Answers folk.

Yeah but it's just a weird dichotomy of women buying stuff that's been tried on and dudes just buy a bunch of boxers.

I would assume this company has a marked bunch as having been tried and sends those out first and they are marked as 'trial' bras.

Not especially weird.

Boxers go against your asshole. Bras, not so much. Women's swimwear – very fit dependent – includes a protective, throwaway panel for this purpose.

Tons of women's clothes are highly fit-dependent. Boxers mostly aren't.

This is a bit silly don't you think? Boxers and bras are not close the same thing. Clothing can be washed and I would argue that trying on a bra is more akin to trying on a shirt.

On the contrary, I've never been to a store where you couldn't try on a bra. It's what makes this service and it's appealing algorithm so interesting - most women would never consider buying a bra without having tried it on.

My understanding, perhaps incorrect, is that even after trying them on, most women still buy the wrong sizes (80-85%. Wikipedia has 4 citations to this stat, i haven't bothered to read them all, but here is one study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2275741/).

That makes this even more fascinating to me, because while women apparently want to try them on so they can test "fit", whatever they are trusting to determine that fit is apparently causing them to buy the wrong bras most of the time.

Of course, it's also not clear if this is intentional (IE they uy the wrong bra size thinking it makes them look better or whatever), or accidental.

Interestingly, reading the results of that study, it could be they don't care. The study finds that various forms of pain are not correlated with improper bra size, so it could be women just wear what they think makes them look good, and since it doesn't cause any pain, they don't realize it's not the right size.

If it makes them look good, and doesn't hurt, by what measurement is it not the right size anyway?

Apparently, providing proper support, etc.

It turns out that just because something doesn't hurt, and looks good, doesn't mean it's good for you.

My naive, non-boob-having understanding is that using the wrong size will cause your boobs to sag faster, as well as causing other medical issues, even if it doesn't cause pain.

Wearing a bra will actually make your boobs sag faster, not the other way around. It's a very common misconception among women, though, who apparently can't be bothered to look these things up before shoving "advice" down your throat that "everyone knows" is correct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptosis_%28breasts%29#Bras_don.2...

Who said that you may not try boxers out? I do it sometimes, but saw many times others doing it. Most of good brand boxers are not paked in plastic, so you can try them out.

When Gilly Hicks launched (subsidiary of A&F), one of their main selling points for the stores was having all of their bra sizes and styles available in the dressing rooms. Thus, you could go into the dressing room to figure out what fits, then pick out the ones you liked from the store floor.

I'm not sure if this is still the case, since I no longer work at A&F and don't go to Gilly Hicks, but my coworkers at the time were pretty excited, since finding well fitting bras can be very difficult.

I've confirmed with my girlfriend: you can try on bras in stores.

Yes, you can. In fact, it's kind of crucial, because each bra fits differently.

And I can't resist but to point out the awesome fact that you can actually wash clothes you bought. (That, and bras don't come in contact with waste products. )

They aren't used. It's no different than trying them on in a Victoria's Secret. Trying stuff on is a little different for women than it is men.

Unless you are actively lactating, trying on a bra is more like trying on a shirt than like trying on a pair of boxers.

And if you ARE actively lactating, the last thing you want to do is go try on bras.

My girlfriend 1) buys underwear from VS (well, gets it free due to a VS credit card, some weird promotion) periodically, and would probably subscribe. She buys (new, thank god) bras from random sellers on eBay several times per year, and it's always some kind of roulette because price seems entirely uncorrelated with quality. I showed her True&Co and she likes it.

It's a little different from shoes (she also seems to buy a lot from Zappos, using the buy 3 and return 2 model, not sure how that works for them...), in that you don't show off underwear as much, but for some reason I think this model will work.

I'm constantly amazed at how imaginary or brand-specific sizing seems to be for female clothing. I love being able to just buy an L or XL and have it fit ok, or call up a tailor and say "would like 3 more shirts the same measurements as last time" (or do a fitting).

Great response and I agree that the scathing critique from this article seemed factless and tactless. True and Co. is a company I have looked at a few times and is definitely the one both my wife and I think has great potential for disruption. Seems like a good idea worth investing in and seeing if it works.