About us
You know how in the story of King Arthur, how there’s this sword stuck in a rock that no one has been able to remove for hundreds of years, and everyone thinks it’s this impossible thing and then one day Arthur magically pulls it out? That’s pretty much how Hollis felt about bras. Hollis was born in Fairbanks, raised in the Mat-Su Valley and has lived in Juneau since 2008. Hollis had her first training bra when she was in 4th grade, and struggled finding bras that fit correctly from the time she was 12 until she was 22. One day she happened upon a bra company based out the UK that told her information about bras that she had never heard of before. She took a chance, ordered bras in a size she had never heard of and waited for them to arrive in the mail. She put on the first one, followed the guide on their website about putting on bras correctly and never turned back. From that day she felt like she had been lied to about bras and was determined to find out as much about bra fitting as she could and tried to convince anyone who would listen about how bras were supposed to fit and feel (comfortable, supportive and not painful). Luckily for her Lindsey listened.
Lindsey was born and raised in Juneau and being such was never properly fitted for a bra. She is on the opposite end of the spectrum than her business partner and friend Hollis. Originally a proud member of the itty-bitty titty committee, typically sporting a 36 B/C (with the right amount of padding), it took a trip to Ireland after she was done with college to find out her true size was a 34 D/DD after a proper fitting. Unfortunately, back in the States, she had a difficult time finding a 34 D/DD, online, or brick and mortar; stores were either sold out, not stocked or uglier than sin. So she didn’t buy the right size again until after she and Hollis opened Bustin’ Out Boutique.
Why we fit the way we fit
The worst part of bra shopping is bra shopping. You have to find a few bras in your size, try them on, have none of them fit, get dressed again, look for more, and you start working up a sweat and get sticky while trying on undergarments. Even worse, you order 6 or 12 bras online and none of them fit right but you really need a bra and don’t want to return them because you know it will take them 2 more months to send you a different size only to be told they no longer have the size you need or have stopped making it! Basically a massive hassle and makes shopping for bras feel like a major inconvenience.
When we opened Bustin’ Out Boutique we were determined to give our clients a positive, informational and instructional bra shopping experience. You may have to try on 5 or 15 bras but they will all be beautiful bras meant to keep you supported and more comfortable than you thought bras were ever able. Either Hollis or Lindsey will also expertly fit these bras to your body, because there are over 20 variables to a properly fitted bra and our goal is to make sure the majority of those variables are being met. If we don’t think the bra fits well enough to buy, we won’t let you buy it-unless you really really really want it.
Our story
Hollis and Lindsey met in ceramics at the University of Alaska Southeast Juneau as Teaching Assistants. They immediately hit it off and have since had a pretty dang yin-yang relationship. While working together at the University Hollis told Lindsey about her idea on starting a bra shop someday but since they were both in college it had to wait. Later, Lindsey worked in the retail and service industries and Hollis worked in the service industries eventually getting sucked into the corporate world as a means to learn more about business and how to run one. Thankfully their friendship continued through many a year. One day while Lindsey was working out at the Taku Lodge a mutual friend who was pregnant started crying that she could find nothing to wear on her extra small frame that was cute or comfortable for her extra large belly. Lindsey had a sudden epiphany, why not open a maternity boutique with her good friend who wanted to open a bra boutique! So Lindsey sent Hollis a message via Facebook asking her what she thought and Bustin’ Out Boutique: Lingerie and Maternity Wear was born.