Trouble finding a bra that fits? New Warner Robins salon may be the ticket

Not ready to retire and finding a mentor in the owner of a shop she’d frequented in Florida, Beth Strickland of Warner Robins decided to open a business of her own.

She and her husband, Steve Strickland, and their son-in-law, Steve Welch, own Southern Accent Sod and Southern Accent Landscaping Supply in Warner Robins.

“When (my husband) decided to retire, I looked at him. I said, ‘I’m not. I’m not ready to stop working yet,’“ Strickland said. “There’s something else that I’m meant to do.”

After long hours of figuring that out, Strickland settled on a bra-fitting salon.

“I think that’s the way I can serve the community,” she said.

May 8, Strickland opened Elegant Essentials at 1109 Russell Parkway, Suite C, in the Parkway Square shopping center.

The salon specializes in consultation and fitting, offers well known brands and those not typically found in department stores, and sells everyday bras, maternity and post-mastectomy bras, strapless and sports bras in band sizes 30-46 and cup sizes A-KK. The bras range in price from $50 to $100.

“I do carry bras for larger sizes, hard to fit,” Strickland said. “But believe it or not, most people would consider themselves hard to fit.”

Strickland learned how to expertly fit bras from her mentor, Ingrid Theys, who owns La Jolie in Melbourne, Fla.

“She’s the whole reason that I even do this, because she was my bra fitter for years,” Strickland said. “I would go to my sister’s in Florida, and it was always, ‘Oh, we’re going to see the bra lady, we’re going to see Ingrid.

“We’d make a day of it, and go over, and she would do our fittings, and we would have just a great time. It was always a wonderful experience, and you came out of there knowing that you had a bra that fit and that looks good on you.”

Elegant Essentials offers a specialized way to shop for bras

Step inside Elegant Essentials to a large space with a comfortable seating area, a collection of bras and other merchandise on display, and a spacious fitting room with a large mirror and cozy chair with a throw and a robe hanging nearby.

Most of the bras for sale are not on display but held in a stockroom.

“As you can see from inside the store, we are not a shopping store, we’re not a browsing store, although I do have, you know, a lot of the bras out for display, just so we can discuss those and what they would look like,” Strickland said.

“But it is about getting the right measurements and getting the right fit for them that meets their needs instead of having to, you know, put your bra on that doesn’t work, put your clothes all back on, go back out ... shop around some more, see if you can find the size — maybe this will work, maybe it won’t — back in, out of your clothes again, back in a bra ... rinse and repeat until you’re exhausted of putting your clothes off and on.”

Instead, after a consultation and fitting at Elegant Essentials, customers stay in the fitting room with their bra on and a cover-up, if they desire, while Strickland steps out to retrieve bras from the stockroom she thinks will work well.

“Then I come back with the ... bras, and we try those until we get the right fit, and then we go from there,” she said.

The consultation with measurements and fitting are free. A consultation and fitting takes about 15 minutes, but can be longer depending on a customer’s needs.

Walk-ins are welcome. Strickland is a one-woman show, which means there could be a wait. Appointments also may be made by calling the salon.

What all does Elegant Essentials offer?

The salon carries multiple brands to cover a full range of sizes, with manufacturers often focusing on a particular size range, Strickland said. For example, Natori focuses on small bands and cup ranges while Goddess caters to larger sizes.

“Believe it or not, it’s harder to find bras in the smaller sizes than it is in the larger sizes,” she said.

Her inventory includes multiple styles of bras ranging from full cup for full coverage to plunging styles for those who enjoy wearing V-neck tops and dresses.

“It just depends on their breast shape and size, how well they would fit into one of those, and that’s kind of where we start — breast shape and size and then which one they prefer and look good in,” Strickland said.

The salon carries both wire and wireless bras. White T-shirts are on hand for women to see how the bra they’re trying on looks under a T-shirt.

In addition to mastectomy bras, the salon offers post-surgical compression garments and breast prostheses. Products range from Amoena’s premium mastectomy bras and breast forms to free Knitted Knockers, soft handmade prosthetic alternatives.

A group of ladies who gather at Our Yarn Studio on Russell Parkway in Warner Robins are among a host of volunteers nationwide who knit or crochet Knitted Knockers, Strickland said.

With a background in radiology, Strickland has worked with oncology departments and done countless CT scans.

“I have a heart for my cancer patients that has just never diminished,” Strickland said

Elegant Essentials is starting a closet to help women in need

A project that Strickland is just starting is The Support Closet, which aims to provide no-cost bras and undergarments to women in need.

So far, Strickland is partnering with Southern Santa of Houston County, a nonprofit founded by firefighters which works year-round with local businesses to help families impacted by fires, illnesses and other hardships.

She hopes to expand with other nonprofits such as the Abba House, a residential ministry program in Perry for women struggling with life controlling issues, and The Well Recovery Homes in Warner Robins, a Christ-centered transitional recovery program in Middle Georgia for women overcoming addiction.

Donations of new and lightly used bras are welcomed, with Strickland to provide the consultation and fitting in the salon.

“Customers have donated their lightly used bras that don’t fit them anymore, and so I have the beginnings of The Support Closet now,” Strickland said. “And I actually even have some donations of mastectomy products that folks have given me as well.”

Future plans for Elegant Essentials include private events

In the future, Strickland expects to offer private events after hours for small groups of ladies who want to have “a little bit more of a social aspect to their bra fitting.”

She already has ladies that will come together two or three at a time, grandmothers with their granddaughters, mother-daughter sets, and a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law.

“They’re like … can we bring back a bunch of friends? … So, I’ve been working up a plan for being able to hold events,” Strickland said.

Elegant Essentials is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m Tuesday through Saturday. The number is 478-371-6686.