- Hey everyone, Devin here, and while we here at Ladylike
are definitely getting into the spooky spirit,
October is also the month of boobs.
Saving the boobs, specifically.
That's right, it's breast cancer awareness month
and this year we're doing something pretty special.
Ladylike is flying my mom out from Atlanta
to LA to fit her with the proper bra
that won't hurt her back.
'Cause my mom's a breast cancer survivor
and quite frankly one of the most badass women I know.
It's Ladylike, it's Sharon-like.
And this week we're going bra shopping with my mom.
(whooshes and squeaks)
Hi mom.
- Hi.
I'm Sharon Lidell, I had breast cancer when I was 40
and when you were two years old.
While I was at work and my gynecologist called me
and said Sharon, you need to go in to see a breast surgeon
and I said I don't have time to go see a breast surgeon.
My gynecologist said, well they're a sign of breast cancer
Sharon.
I remember sitting in the room waiting for him
to come in and he popped into the room
and he handed me a box of tissue
and I thought whoa, this is a little more serious
than I thought.
I felt like oh my gosh, why is this happening to me.
At that time the only choice I had was to remove the breast,
but it wasn't a difficult decision for me to take off
my breast because I had this wonderful family at home.
For me, living with one breast wasn't the problem.
It was the worry that I had about the other breast.
And I think that's probably common for most women.
You might be getting the flu and you think
you're getting breast cancer again.
I just decided and the doctor was a proponent of it
just to take the other breast off.
- Because my mom has been so private about her cancer,
and the disease, she's always just been my mom
and so I've like cognitively, logically known
that she's a breast cancer survivor but to me
she's my mom and so when I think
about breast cancer awareness month I think about like
how important it is because if we didn't have organizations
to help research for breast cancer I wouldn't have my mom.
The month of October for me is just a month
for me to reflect on how incredibly blessed I am.
Because there's a lot of girls out there
who don't have their mom because of breast cancer
and I'm so lucky that I have a job
where I can fly her out and fit her with the proper bra.
Like that is so cool.
For me this is very special and I'm really excited
that I get to do this with my mom this weekend.
- Once a woman has breast cancer, they think
she's lost her femininity, just because you don't have
a breast doesn't mean you're any less a woman
and I am very much a survivor
and I've been very blessed with a wonderful husband
and a terrific family and beautiful daughter.
- I'm taking my mom to a special bra shop in Long Beach
called Lucy's Boudoir and they not only specialize
in all things booby, they fit women of all different shapes
and sizes and they're actually bringing in a representative
with different prosthesis companies to help fit my mom
with two prosthesis that are lighter for her
that won't hurt her back anymore.
And hopefully they'll give her a bra that's like fun
and makes her feel like wild and free and sexy.
Growing up with my mom and how she never really made it
about her ever, it was always about my brother and I
I never thought of my mom as less than
even though she didn't have breasts, pretty much
my entire life.
- You just have to dig deeper in yourself
and realize how strong you are
and how much you can overcome.
I'm looking forward to being fitted tomorrow.
- In the mean time, we're probably gonna go eat lunch
and go shopping, because why not, mom's here.
(upbeat music)
Look how fun this shoe is.
- Uh yeah,
- [Devin] You like that?
- Yeah I think this is cute maybe for you.
- [Devin] Mom I would look like Miss Frizzle.
- Frizzle?
- [Devin] Yeah like in Magic School Bus.
- Oh.
- [Devin] What are you wearing?
- I'm wearing a scarf that you need to take
to Germany for Thanksgiving.
- [Devin] Oh my god mom.
- Yeah it's like a down comforter, and it would be so warm.
Everything is always too long.
- [Devin] Momma you're a petite lady.
It looks great on you though.
You're beautiful no matter what cup size.
- But I like this shirt.
- [Devin] It looks great on you, and with those pants
its super cute.
- I can't wear this kind of thing ever.
This is the kind of stuff you should wear
and appreciate it.
- Full disclosure my mom actually went bra shopping
about three for months ago.
- And bought two new breast forms
and a slew of new bras, I walked in and I, you know,
once again explained that I had some back issues
and my bras weren't fitting well and
and I walked out with the same bras
and the same breast forms.
- I don't really understand that, if you walk into a place
and you explain that your back is starting to hurt
along the bra line, why would they let you walk out
with the same bras, as your daughter
and as someone who loves you, it kind of turns me
into a bulldog.
My mom just told me I have to wear lingerie
and appreciate it.
(upbeat music)
- Good morning, I'm Sharon Lidel, nice to meet you.
- Good morning Sharon, nice to meet you too.
(sparkling music)
we're here today with Theresa Antridger and with Sharon
and Theresa and I are going to team up today
to help Sharon find a special type of bra
and a special type of form.
- I have back pain that I've had for many many years
and because I've had it for many, many years,
it aggravates right along my bra line.
- Any woman which has back pain, she has to check up
on her bra, if the bra is the correct fit for her,
if the straps are correctly adjusted
and if the bra line and the band is the right band size.
It all helps if the bra is your correct size
and if the bra is perfectly for your needs.
- When a woman comes in to Lucy's Boudoir
and she has recently had a mastectomy
or you know, anywhere in between,
it's a very emotional experience
because what you're dealing with is a woman
who feels like she's not whole anymore.
We're here to give that back to them as best as we can.
- When you are diagnosed with breast cancer
and then after the surgery like who taught you?
- Well nobody really teaches you that,
which is a shame, knowing not how to fit anyone,
you know it's not, it's kind of like,
you don't have a mom there to help you with it.
You know when I first got breast cancer,
my insurance company said that I could have two bras
for my lifetime, that's how long ago it is.
That's how far we've come.
- Mm-hmm.
- And I said well should I wash it on alternate years
or what?
That's how.
- You got smart with them.
- Well I have a smart mouth so.
(laughs)
- We have lots of different options for you today
to try different bras, different versions,
different breast forms, so we're very happy
that we can do this today.
(upbeat music)
- It was so cool to see her like whip out her suitcase
of boobs and they were all different shaped
and they counted for distribution of fat
that women naturally carry in our breast.
We all don't have the same breast size and breast shape.
Back in the days only this shape
was available as a breast form,
it's called a tear drop shape but since we develop so much
in the last years, now different shapes
and different silicon types are available to us.
- You were wearing a size five, we learned today that a five
correlates to a D mom.
You were wearing a D cup.
- Right well it certainly didn't look like a D cup
I got news for you.
- So when I did the fitting for your mom,
I noticed that her bra was not the right bra
she should wear, the bra had very thin straps,
gave her very little support, actually the straps,
digged into her shoulders and that's maybe why,
she had so much back pain.
So most important in women sometimes don't recognize that,
that the bra is giving you the whole lift and support
to secure the breast firm and shape.
So you need to have the correct bend
and the correct cup size,
and the correctly adjusted straps as well.
- Obviously we were trying on clothes all this weekend
and like shopping and I noticed that your prosthesis
was peaking out of your bra but I feel like
that's always kind of how you had it.
- I know and that was what always bothered me.
- So the breast form that she wears in this bra,
they were the size which she wanted but they were not,
in the correct bra, so the size five which she really wants
and which the breast type and the perkiness that she wants
to achieve was just not in the right bra.
- You know I could see my prosthesis
and it was on the top of my skin and my bra was much lower
so obviously things weren't copacetic there.
It wasn't fitting right.
- Mm-hmm.
- And I thought well, maybe that's how it's supposed to be.
It's incredulous to me that people accept this
and never think about, well maybe there's a better way.
- You lived your entire life letting this happen
and yet you would not let me get a B in chemistry,
like come on.
- No.
- No, (laughs)
- You were much better than that.
- She had a bilateral mastectomy so she was able to choose
which is the best fit for her
and she picked the triangular shape.
So we will start showing her some t-shirt bras,
padded bras lacy bras, sports bras and we will see
what she likes most and we will go and have fun with it.
- The first bra that I tried on is the one I purchased.
- We went straight to our Valentino bra
and it's a specialty which you liked a lot
was the cushion straps, wider cushion strap,
they are centered more towards the inside,
so they're not slipping off the shoulders.
- It was so comfortable
and it didn't hurt my back but then I was really excited
because they had a sports bra.
- And this was like your first time,
ever wearing a sports bra right?
- Absolutely.
- The specialty about this bra is that its seamless
and it has a super nice wicking microfiber.
It's nice and wide, gives a lot of coverage
and it's just very very comfortable bra, it's a great
every day bra too, so it's not just for any activities.
- When I put this bra on, I could wear this all the time
- Yeah.
- I could wear it under a sweater, I could wear it
under a blouse, I was like oh boy, this is great.
So I wanted that bra.
- Yeah.
- It feels great because I don't feel like I have a bra on
and that's a wonderful feeling.
- And that's what you were looking for.
- Absolutely.
- A bra that became a part of you.
- Absolutely.
There was more love and caring shown today,
I think it's real important for you to be your own advocate
to ask questions and insure that you're treated
with respect and you don't feel like
you're on a conveyor belt so to speak.
That's part of the learning process for me,
I would really need to be more persistent.
You've given me a whole new life
and I really really appreciate it.
- Ah you're very welcome.
- This morning was all about you, so I just wanted you
to be in the bra shop, I wanted you to be the center
of attention, I wanted the video to all be about you
so how did it feel to be in a Ladylike video?
- I felt very special and that's, was a very good feeling.
I think all women, you know, who have breast cancer,
should feel special like that.
It was an experience for me to give back
to whoever watches this because no matter if you're young
middle aged, you're gonna be touched
by breast cancer somewhere in your life, whether its you,
yourself or your mother, or somebody in your family.
Thank you not only for the opportunity to have that fitting
but to be able to say something about this.
- You always have been so fashionable in my life,
and I've loved clothing and,
- Oh yeah.
- And I love, and you know I think that's actually
a good thing because I think that a lot of
our power kind of derives in our fashion statements
for some people and so I hope that this kind of opens
up your world a little bit more
and that gives you a bit more freedom
to like be the badass fashionable woman that you are.
- Oh thanks.
Thanks.
- I love you momma.
Getting a custom fitting for my mom,
the badass cancer survivor, lady tested.
- And lady approved.
- Lady a-boobed.
(laughs)
- Ah mom.
- I don't know that I've stayed a breast of everything,
so to speak.
- Coming at you with the boob puns everyone.
(laughs)
- [Sharon] Abreast of what's going on.
(whooshes and squeaks)