I’ve always been excited about a bargain, and when I became a mom, finding a bargain garnered almost the same level of euphoric excitement as having Channing Tatum show up at my door and offering to be my dishwasher for the day.

One of the least exciting things for me is bras. In order for me to find the appropriate bras to wear, I need to find a specialized boutique and get a proper fitting. In the end, the appropriate bars end up costing more than your regular mall brands. I simply just can’t waltz into Victoria’s Secret or La Senza, because these popular brands fit me horribly, and they are more uncomfortable than getting a root canal done, at least with a root canal operation, you get your mouth frozen.

With my first child, I don’t remember which store it came from, but my nursing bras came from one of the mall maternity stores. They were tolerable, for what it was worth, and they lasted me for the year I was on maternity leave.

When I became pregnant with my second, I didn’t get a chance to go shopping for nursing bras, and somehow ended up with only 2 sleeper bras by the time the baby came.

The couple of days I stayed at the hospital postpartum, I had a lot of time to myself with my baby, so I browsed on my phone a lot. Somewhere amongst the hours of browsing, I stumbled across Bravado Designs’ website. I was looking for good nursing bras to purchase. While perusing their website, I saw a small link to their Test Wearer Program. I got curious and clicked on the link. First paragraph was a question: Did you know that we test all of our nursing bras and tanks on hundreds of pregnant and nursing moms?

No I did not.

At the bottom of the page it asks: Are you located in the Greater Toronto Area? Yes I am.

Sign up here. Ok!

I filled out their online form and sent it through. A few weeks after, I receive an email requesting my attendance for a certain date and time. I replied yes. To be blunt, while I signed up for the program, I actually didn’t really know exactly what I’d signed up for. Today the web page says “Try One On And Take One Home”, but I don’t think that was there when I originally signed up.

I showed up to my first appointment at their head office in a semi-industrial area near Leslie and York Mills. I walked in, and it’s pleasant, behind the reception desk there’s about 4-5 bras on display, so I know I’m at the right place. It’s a large office, very pleasant atmosphere, and somewhat quiet. I sign in and wait. The receptionist comes over and offers me water, or an assortment of teas, I almost feel that she probably would have offered me a nice spa massage treatment if it wasn’t a formal business appointment that I was there for.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, I’m greeted by one of the associates. She brings me in through a hallway and into a very tastefully decorated room. She introduces herself, and asks me to try on a garment and takes measurements. Then she brings out a stack of garments for me to try on. She asks me questions regarding the feel of the garment, and how it compared to the other pieces. The session took about an hour, including a 15 mins break to nurse my baby. While I’m trying on these garments, I finally get a clear idea to what exactly I was there for. That day, I was assisting in quality control of a new shipment of bras that just came in from their overseas manufacturer, and they needed to make sure it was on par with their original piece they sent off to make. What better way to make certain their quality was not compromised than to have a live tester trying it out for them, I like that.

At the end of the session, I’m asked to choose a garment to take home. I choose a nursing tank. I ended up being called in 6 times, and each time I took home a bra of my choosing, a couple of times they even added a gift card on top of the usual incentive because of unique circumstances.

In a nutshell, the Test Wearer Program brings in real live moms-to-be/nursing moms to test their products for their quality control or product development. In exchange, they offer you a brand new product of your choosing, which they also do a proper fitting on you before taking it home. Their products are super comfortable, and they make you look awesome too. I affectionately named their Bliss bra the “Madonna cone bra” because they really lift your ladies up. If you don’t believe they are that good, go check out their bras in retail stores and you’ll find that their flagship garment comes with a DIY “conversion kit” that converts your nursing bras into regular bras after you’re done nursing, that should tell you how pretty awesome these garments are.

I loved the whole experience with Bravado Designs, because in exchange for a little bit of my time, I got an entire set of nursing bras for free, which I would have had to shell out $40-60 per piece if I went out and purchase them. Yes, this whole thing was almost as euphoric as Channing Tatum showing up at my door and offering to be my dishwasher for the day.

If you are a mom-to-be, or a new mom, and you live in the Toronto area, chances are, you’ll qualify to be called in to be a tester. Be aware that you are testing these products in front of people that find your physical and verbal input very valuable. You should be ok with them taking pictures of you (neck down only, no face) in their garment. You should also be ok with them making adjustments to the garment while you are wearing it, so if you don’t like the idea of people touching you in that area, don’t sign up. On “unique circumstances” days, you might end up standing in front of a dozen people (men and women) while they evaluate and have a corporate discussion of the garment you are wearing right in front of you. In my opinion, I found each appointment fun, the associates were very friendly, and extremely respectful. For me, I would do this all over again if I’m having more babies, but I’m not, so I share this with the rest of you so that you can benefit if you are comfortable with being a “model” for a quality nursing garment company.  

Sandy Lynch is an entrepreneur, and mother of 2 strong willed girls. To sign up for the Bravado Test Wearer Program, go to http://bravadodesigns.com/pages/become-a-test-wearer