If the bra fits

Posted on 3 October, 2018

Colleen’s Lingerie and Swimwear is a place where all breasts can find their place.

It’s a dreaded yet unavoidable part of the turn to warmer weather—the time to shed winter layers and brave the glare of change-room lighting and full-length mirrors to find a swimsuit. Imagine for a moment, however, how much more difficult that process would be were you recovering from breast cancer surgery or treatment, or you were learning to live and dress after a mastectomy.

For the last five years, Gillian Horton from Colleen’s Lingerie and Swimwear has been providing gentle and compassionate guidance to women at all stages of their breast cancer journey—taking some of the fear and uncertainty out of buying lingerie and swimwear.

Gillian provides expertise from the heart. In 2008, the former public servant and mother of three received the diagnosis that she had breast cancer. The world literally shifted beneath her feet and Gillian faced her worst fears.

She had no idea at the time that her experience would guide her into a career change and towards what has become her true vocation—providing an affirming shop catering to women who just want to reclaim their lives. It may sound flippant, but being able to buy a beautiful bra or even brave a bikini after medical intervention can be a watershed moment for many.

Gillian knows this from experience.

She remembers her first visit to Colleen’s Lingerie when it was based in Phillip and run by Colleen Findlay and her own relief and feelings of positivity after she was fitted for her first breast form.

“I just remember feeling happy and restored in a sense. My husband said he could see a change in my outlook right away. I just felt different, and whole.”

Gillian Horton

But back in 2008, the range of specialised bras with a pocket to fit a breast form was still small and bland.

A few years later, when Gillian was travelling in France, she by chance came across a specialised lingerie shop that provided all the beautiful lace, colours, silks and materials of a high-end boutique but included the unobtrusive pocket for breast forms. It looked like a conventional shop, but it catered for women who had been touched by breast cancer.

“I just stumbled across the store in a whim, and it literally changed my life.”

Cut to 2013 and Gillian, who was in remission, saw an ad for the sale of Colleen’s. She knew immediately she would buy it and bring beautiful lingerie to the Canberra market.

She moved the store to Garran and has not looked back. Gillian stocks a range of bras by labels such as Amoena, Anita, and—for larger cups—Elomi, Freya, Fantasie and Ulla.

Her swimwear range is huge—covering all bases from bikinis to tankinis to rashies and swimdresses by labels such as Poolproof, Sunseeker, Jantzen, Amoena and Speedo.

Such is the store’s range and reputation for superior fitting that many women will purchase their bras and swimwear there—even when they have two average breasts!

And after years of experience, Gillian is able to fit a breast form on sight and has travelled to the Amoena factory in Germany where they are manufactured to see for herself the complex engineering that goes into making the silicone breast forms. Many women with a diagnosis of breast cancer aren’t aware that there is a subsidy through Medicare for breast forms, whether they have had part of their breast removed or all of it and that some private health funds will reimburse women for their bras.

“We cater for breast cancer survivors, yes, but also can happily fit anyone who comes in—and increasingly we are serving mainstream women just wanting beautiful lingerie or a great swimsuit. It still surprises me how few women are wearing the correct size bra and how a proper fitting can change their comfort levels and also transform how they look in clothes.”

But for those women for whom shopping is not as straight-forward—because of cancer, illness or large or lopsided breasts—there is security in knowing that Gillian, and her two colleagues Lisa and Shirley, have all survived breast cancer and bring empathy with their understanding.

Gillian has also diversified her stock to include a beautiful range of wigs, turbans, scented candles and even ginger—which really helped her with chemo-induced queasiness and which she highly recommends.

“We often find people coming to the store with a friend or relative having gone through a diagnosis and they feel so powerless, so they come and talk and maybe buy a voucher for the woman to come in once she is able. Or we can help them choose a gift that is practical. This is a place where there is community and lots of support and advice for those who need it.”

She recommends women who have not previously been fitted at Colleen’s call to schedule an appointment.

Such is her immersion in her subject field, Gillian has recently been invited to write a chapter on bras after surgery in a new edition of one of her favourite books—Lifestyle after Cancer by UK oncologist Professor Robert Thomas.

In a way she is grateful to have turned her own cancer journey into one where she is supporting others. She travels throughout the region to provide a mobile service for women who do not have access to specialised fitting services.

Her customers thank her with hugs and tears of relief and happiness.

“It sounds like a small thing to be able to use a breast form and buy a bra, but for some women this is a big step back into reclaiming a so-called normal life.

“It is so much more than underwear—it is re-entering the world looking and feeling whole. It is a foundation garment and a foundation for life.”

the essentials
What: Colleen’s Lingerie and Swimwear
Where: Shop 6, 22 Garran Place
Phone: 62851311
Open: Mon-Fri 9.30 am-4.30 pm and Saturday 9.30-1.30 pm.
Web: colleens.com.au