Mimi Holliday don't owe their customers anything, i want to stress this. I'm not throwing all my toys out of my pram because i think i'm something special or that i deserve any special treatment. I'm not claiming that Mimi Holliday should keep producing bras that don't sell. But i am upset about the way they went about this and the notion that they believe all we need are triangle bras. That's upsetting because i truly believed that they understood small busts and they were aware of our needs. I'm upset because i had to find out in such a quiet, blunt way. And most of all i'm upset because now i cannot think of any UK brands that regularly produce beautiful, affordable bras for small busted women. |
| I took this photo a long time ago and it never occurred to me that i'd end up using it for such a sad occasion. |
I'm actually not pleased to be writing this but i feel it needs to be documented somewhere and i'd like to alert all my readers to this new development vis-à-vis Mimi Holliday sizing.
It came to my attention when Mimi Holliday's AW14 collection was released that not a single bra was available in my usual size, a 28B. If you're unfamiliar with Mimi Holliday then now is a good time to tell you that their bras, ever since AW12, run large and sizing down a band or cup is completely necessary to get a decent fit. So whilst i am a comfortable 30B in most other bras, i find the fit on a 28B to be the best for me in Mimi Holliday. After mentioning it on twitter the other day i received this response:
which is odd because i am fully aware that Mimi Holliday phased out their 28 and 30 backs in the A cup when they also phased out their AA cup option completely (sometime after SS12). Today during a conversation about the sheer lack of brands catering to the small back small bust combo on twitter, i happened to mention that again, Mimi Holliday was once my favourite for this but they seemed to have stopped altogether and this is what happened:
So, no public announcement or warning, they just stopped producing bras for 28 B and C cups, having already discontinued 28 and 30 A and AA cups quietly a while back.
I have been a huge Mimi Holliday fan, i have bought almost every bra in my size that was suitable for my shape. If they still made 28A or 28AA bras then i would have also indulged in their balcony styles. I have promoted Mimi in every way i could to both the small busted, average busted and relatively large busted as a great brand that was almost fully inclusive to all sizes. A brand that understood that there do exist the smallest of small busts outside of the early stages of puberty and that we do have needs for the support and shape you can only get from a proper bra. I have sent Mimi over to small busted friends in the USA because i was unwavering in the notion that everyone needed a bit of Mimi Holliday to make them feel good about their small bust.
I could fully understand the lack of demand being a problem if, as one instagram user pointed out to me, they had actually ever promoted themselves as catering to small busts. They've never once made it a point to advertise that they are one of the very few UK brands that recognise our sizes and made beautiful bras for us. That's a pretty unique selling point that would have been sure to drum up demand. And if it didn't, well then it's understandable that they didn't feel it was economically viable to continue making those sizes.
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| If you follow me on Instagram then you know all too well my love of Mimi Holliday |
But wait, there's more. I am not only heart broken and very disappointed, i am also furious. They could've mentioned they were discontinuing these sizes due to lack of demand and left it there, but instead they went one further and insulted us, mentioning that they still catered for us with triangle bras.
That's not catering for us.
Yes, i can indeed fit in a triangle bra in most XS sizes. But it gives me no support, no lift, no nice shape under clothes and most of all, it flattens me. I've been told time and time again that i don't need to wear a real bra (erm excuse me busty person or man, how do you know?) that a triangle bra, usually purely decorative or in the "pre-teen section" and adorned with minnie mouse and rhinestones, would suffice. It's not a solution. If you can no longer make our sizes then don't tell us that we should buy your triangle bras instead. A triangle bra offers me nothing that a proper bra, in my size and not a standard dress size, does.
This all wouldn't be a problem for me if Mimi hadn't of changed their grading on all bras, a few years back, because people were complaining the cups fit too small. So now they run too large, which is fine for all of those who can size down, but now some of us, whose sizes are still made (and yes, 30B and 30C are not being discontinued as far as i'm aware) have been sized out. I can no longer purchase Mimi Holliday, a brand who made my all time favourite style of bra (that i own nine of), because of these reasons.
And no, i don't want to buy another triangle bra.
Over all i'm so so disappointed that not once did Mimi Holliday try and reach out and drum up some interest for their smaller sizes. Not once did they contact a blogger or put out an advertising campaign letting all the small busted people in the world know that tits don't begin at 32A. And of course, not once did they make a public announcement before discontinuing sizes that it was going to happen. They did it quietly and i only found out because i kept mentioning it on twitter.
The sad thing is that the small busted community is such a quiet one that there won't be any outrage, there won't be any responses. It will just serve as another reminder that we're an abnormality, there's not enough of us to prove such a simple point that there is a demand for bras in our sizes, that we exist and we are normal.
So not only am i writing this blog post to vent about how devastated i am, i'm also hoping it serves as an announcement to anyone wondering where their size has gone next time they want to buy some Mimi Holliday.
There are still bras from previous collections available on ebay for those who don't want to go without their favourite styles, however sizing changes from like SS12 and before to SS13 and after and ebay sellers tend not to have returns policies. And of course, they won't be there in a few years time so keep an eye out and buy quickly.