On any given Saturday, our little bra shop sees the most desperate of customers: women who have travelled to southern Vermont for a wedding and have forgotten a crucial piece of their outfit at home. We see a lot of them right when we arrive in the morning – some of them are sitting in the parking lot waiting us for to open the door – but we have seen them as late as their trip from the church to the reception.
One woman “got through” the wedding by covering herself in a shawl and ran in to get a strapless on the way to the reception – she forgot hers and wanted to do some dancing. Another slapped a credit card down, swooped up a pair of hose, plopped herself in a chair in the fitting room to pull them on, and circled back to sign the credit card slip faster than you can count to ten. She was out the door and back in the car with her husband in no time flat. Off to the reception! We laugh that we are saving lives, but it’s kind of true.
At this point, we can just about spot the wedding-warriors when they walk through the door. No casual browsing with these broads. They usually just say one word like, “strapless” or “Spanx” and they are always in a hurry. One woman this summer was a “bridesmaid in an hour” and forgot her strapless. Thank God we had her size.
We had a gorgeous summer here in Vermont so being chilly wasn’t really an issue. Today though…today there was a distinct chill in the air and ladies were lined up to buy hosiery. We’re pretty sure no one was thinking nylons when they packed. One wedding guest commented that she didn’t realize the wedding was outside today. Oops…
One of the best faces I’ve ever seen came from a pregnant woman who came in on an early summer Saturday. Her roommate from college was getting married that day and she had driven up from New Jersey. “You don’t by chance carry Mama Spanx, do you?” she asked. I can’t even describe the look of relief when Courtney answered, “We do!”
The wedding game is ON here in Vermont. On any given Saturday you’ll find us dressed and ready to play. Bring us your fumbles. We’ll help you recover.
Celebrate good times…come on. Thanks for getting married in Vermont!
– Joy
Joy Slusarek is the owner of JOY all things underthings in Manchester Center, VT. JOY is a full-service lingerie shop with bras for all ages and stages in life with a mission to help women find their joy from the inside out.
