New lingerie shop offers customers a perfect fit

SIOUX CITY | Before she became a professional bra-fitter, Candie McDonald spent years climbing the ranks at Tyson Foods and finished her tenure in the sciences at the University of South Dakota as a lab technician.

“I was ready for a change,” she said. “Even though I loved what I was doing, I was capped out. I wasn’t going to go any further where I was.”

An Alaskan adventure led her to a lingerie shop.

“I was just impressed by the quality, the styles, the sizes and the fact that it’s very classy, very mature,” she said. “We are all young at some point in time, but we all grow up.”

After her summer vacation in 2012, she went straight to Barnes Noble to buy a book about writing a business plan.

Her three sons, ages 18-22, were a little “freaked out” at first about their dear mother’s desire to become a certified bra-fitter. But when the time came, they helped her remodel a former Verizon site into a home for Candie’s Couture, at 4295 Sergeant Road.

The shop, which opened in April, carries everything from pajamas to swimsuits. “You can get a swimsuit about anywhere you go,” McDonald said. “But again, my swimsuits go by the bra size. First and foremost, they fit you for the top.”

Most of all, McDonald strives to meet the needs of women in Siouxland – always seeking to provide products that are pretty with a proper fit.

In the midst of her youngest son’s chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma that fell out of remission, she has found herself helping women battling breast cancer by stocking stylish undergarments at their request.

She didn’t have any post-mastectomy bras in the store when it opened. She does now. Pretty ones, no less.

One woman told her, “When we do find them, all we find is the bras. We never have matching panties with them.”

Recognizing the woman’s need to feel feminine and sexy, McDonald made sure she could get a matching set at Candie’s Couture.

Countless women of all shapes and sizes have stepped into her store in search of the perfect bra with proper support, and she’s helped them every step of the way – in same cases, turning tears into grateful smiles.

It becomes clear these women aren’t the only ones who have found the right fit.

“I carry all sizes, but my customer is that larger-busted gal,” she said. “My most popular cup size is a G, and I have it in a 28 band all the way up to 46, and I can get bigger around if I need to get bigger around in that style. In other styles, I carry up to a 54.”

Before the shop opened, McDonald said a majority of her full-figured customers would just buy the biggest bra they could find and make do.

A few knew about cup sizes that went beyond DD and knew they could get a good fit. But they were traveling as far as Kansas City or Minneapolis to buy their bras.

“I carry the European lines, and right now, in the store, I have up to a J cup,” McDonald said.

Still, the different sizes come as a shock to some of her customers. She sends them into the dressing room to try on something like a 34G. They’ll put it on and praise the fit.

McDonald stands by, wishing they wouldn’t ask about the bra’s number or letter.

“I tell them they’re in an H or a GG,” she said.

And they gasp in disbelief.

“It’s not about the size. It’s about the fit – getting the look that you need and getting that support where it needs to be,” she said.

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