The Breast Form Store — It’s So Much More

Breast forms for everyone!

What is it with us Canadians and our business names?

We have a nation-wide chain of stores, huge, a national institution. Fathers can’t wait to take their young sons there. Families are known to spend the better part of their Saturdays there and when you buy your first house chances are you are going to be there to get your first garden and hardware supplies. If you are going to be doing some hunting or fishing; you will get your gun, rods and reels there.

The name of that chain of stores: Canadian Tire. Americans visiting and seeing a Canadian Tire store for the first time must say, “Who Knew? I came in looking for a replacement tire for my car and what do I find but a whole department store of products —  not only tires  — but anything for my car, and for the home and garden, for sports and recreation, and even casual apparel.

It is almost a rite of passage for Canadian children to get their first skates and hockey gear at Canadian Tire. It should be called the Canadian Life Store.

So it is with The Breast Form Store. You are a reader of TGForum so unless you have developed ability to totally block out banner and side bar advertising you will be aware of The Breast Form Store. They are a big part of TGForum. I should disclose that they own the TGForum website. I also disclose that while they own this website the content of this article and the opinions expressed, and questions asked, are entirely those of this writer. In no way have I been influenced or received any favor for writing this article.

I confess that for the longest time I bypassed looking at The Breast Form Store (TBFS) website since I have loved my DDs for a long time and saw no need for another pair. Then one evening curiosity got the better of me. I decided to see what they had in breast forms. What a pleasant surprise it was to click on their banner ad only to be taken to a virtual ‘Canadian Tire Store’ of products and services for the crossdresser, in particular, and the wider transgender community in general. As if I was walking in to a real store there, straight ahead of me were the breast forms. Over to the left was ‘boutique space’ for several leading wig manufacturers representing the full price range. There were sections for high heels, lingerie, jewelry, makeup, special body padding and more. What is just as impressive is that I found very clear information on how to order and how one’s order would be delivered. Client service seems to be an important feature at the Breast Form Store.

Rain (sitting) and Eden working on TBFS website.

The website also includes gratis information on how the crossdresser can improve her look by wearing age and body-type appropriate clothing, hair and makeup. These articles are written by crossdressers for crossdressers.

The fact that TBFS is a Canadian business located in a suburb of Vancouver and that I am a Canadian who was about to visit Vancouver also perked my interest in learning more about The Breast Form Store. With the help of Angela Gardner I contacted Oren, the current owner of the business. Here are some of my questions and his answers:

Linda Jensen: I see by the ad The Breast Form Store (TBFS) has been operating since 1993. That would suggest it was not originally an on-line store. How did it get started?

Oren: The business was started by my mother in 1993, but it was a mastectomy fitting boutique, called Sharon’s Fittings that on occasions did transgender or crossdressing fittings. In 1995 my dad had the brilliant idea to create a website, and offer the products to people that wanted anonymity. With advice from a web developer he chose a name that was good for search engines ranking, so he came up with the name The Breast Form Store.

LJ: What has been the impact of the Internet on the business?

Stock

Oren: The Internet did wonders for the business, and in 2003 my mother sold her boutique and retired. The web sales did okay at first, but it took a big jump when my bother-in-law, a web developer, offered to create a new website. Peter had a good understanding of search engines, and how to build websites that functioned well. Within days of launching the new site sales took a dramatic jump. While the business started out serving post-mastectomy customers but now for the most part it only caters to the TG/CD market.

LJ: Have you been involved with TBFS since the beginning? If not what is your business background and how did you get involved with TBFS?

Oren: I joined the business in 2006, and bought it with Peter, my sister’s husband, in 2011.

My business background is limited to starting a small business when I was 16 selling berries on the side of the road. It was very successful, but I hated doing it so I went to school to study investing. Once I was done that my dad suggested that rather than becoming a stock broker or banker I come join TBFS , and I gladly did.

LJ: Also what changes have you made since taking over the business?

And more stock.

Oren: The big change I did was to start making breast forms ourselves, and also diversify the products offered. I added wigs, jewelry, lingerie and makeup.

Oren: We have a shipping point in the UK that services the EU for about 9 years now. It’s located in Grimsby, and we stock most of our popular products there. It is run by a father and son team, and it represents over 10% of our business.

In Japan and Australia we have franchisees that represent us in those markets.

LJ: Do you do anything special to provide for some customers’ desire for privacy?

Oren: We do what we can to protect the customers identity and/or what’s inside the package they are receiving. We encourage customers that are anxious about receiving the parcels at their homes or place of business to get a PO box or have things shipped to a UPS store.

Being very close to the Canada/ USA border we are able to take orders to the US in to the States and ship from there. Orders that will be direct shipped from US suppliers go directly to the customer from a facility in Texas.

LJ: How did you get involved with TGForum? I understand you are now the owner of the TGForum website/enterprise. What convinced you to make that move?

Oren: We have been advertisers on TGForum for many years, and my father had a good relationship with JoAnn Roberts. In conversation with JoAnn I found out that there was a chance that she would shut the site down, so I set out to work out a deal to make sure that wouldn’t happen. It turned out that the best way to assure the uninterrupted delivery of the news on TGF was for us to buy the website. We do some advertising on the site and we also sell some advertising spots to help cover the cost of running TGF, and we hope one day to be able to expand the content offered.

Linda Visit the Store and Meets Eden

Now that’s a nipple.

Unfortunately, Oren was going to be away at the time of my visit but he put me in touch with the very capable Eden who took me to visit their offices. As she drove Eden gave me a non-stop education in how to keep an Internet customer satisfied. Eden explained that if the customer does not get the right product the business is going to spend a lot of money dealing with returns. While she talked I listened but also enjoyed the amazing Vancouver scenery so Eden was good enough to e-mail to me a recap of our conversation by answering these questions. I must warn you that Eden is very enthusiastic about her work and the company. She does not spare many words to describe what they do on behalf of their clients.
LJ: I had always presumed that with on-line shopping you pay your money and take your chances. You outlined some considerable steps TBFS takes to get the right product to the right person. Could you go over that again?

Eden: We’re here to help the client find what will work for them. We do fitting either by e-mail or by phone, and we also do fittings by appointment in our office.

When it comes to finding the correct breast forms for a client, we generally ask the following questions:

• What do you measure going all the way around your chest, approximately two inches below your nipples (where your bra band would usually sit)?
• What do you measure going all the way around your chest, going through the middle of your nipples?
• What do you want to do with the forms? This can take the form of a number of different questions, such as:
• Do you want to attach?
• Do you want to just wear them in a bra?
• Do you want to go braless or go swimming, or sleep in them?
• Is it important for them to give you shape under clothing, or do you want them to look realistic when you’re nude?
• What cup size do you want to achieve? (Do you want something really busty, in proportion to your frame, or something petite?

Sometimes, the client doesn’t have the ability to take their measurements, or we need a better visualization of their body structure, so sometimes we ask:
How tall are you and what is your approximate weight? Is there a certain bra size you want to fill? The very first two questions (the chest measurements) are the most important measurements. It tells us not only what their bra size should be in order to be in proportion to their frame, but it also tells us how much pec muscle or breast tissue is already naturally developed on the body. We have a fitting guide available on our website.

Based on a person’s measurements and what they want to do with the form, it’s very easy for us to narrow down to 1 or 2 breast forms that would work best for that person and their needs. From there, it’s simply choosing the size they wish to be and away we go!

When it comes to breast forms, unless you’re looking at a specialty prosthetic like the RealBreast, breast form manufacturers generally only make two skin tone colours: a milk chocolate colour, called Tawny or Sable, for the African skin tones, and a creamy colour, usually called Ivory or Beige, for everyone else (Indian, Asian, Native American, Hispanic, Caucasian…) That being said, there aren’t generally color issues.

However, when it comes to the RealBreast breast forms, and other specialty products (like the Gurl Shorts), we have something called a “skintone kit.” This contains samples of the six standard colours of the RealBreast forms. Based on that, the client can physically handle the silicone and find out what color will be best for them. After all, computer monitors and printers display different colous, but the physical silicone is the best way to check it!

Tamar prepares a shipment.

If the client’s not sure of the color, they can take a photo and send it to us. We’ll check it with the artists, who will make the best recommendation. Or, in a case where they’re between two different skin tones, the client can choose to customize the skin tone and the artists will make a perfect blend for their body.

Unless it’s a product that’s been attached to the body, or has been custom made for the client, we do allow returns or exchanges (within a reasonable period of time). If the forms are too big, too small, just don’t fit or the client just doesn’t like them, we’re happy to do a return or an exchange.

LJ: Testing. How do you make sure the products are worthy of being sold by TBFS. Can you describe an example?

Eden: Many of our products are either designed and/or made by The Breast Form Store. This includes our Gold Seal & Silver Seal breast forms, our double sided tapes, Naughty Nipples, and our Classic and Luxury Gaffs (among other products).

When it comes to our breast forms, we’re heavily involved in the design of many of our products. For example, we’re very involved with the Divine Collection Aphrodite breasts and regularly give feedback on how to improve the product (even though it’s manufactured by a different company).

We take great pride in knowing and understanding our product. For example, the majority of our breast forms (with the exception of the Aphrodite and RealBreast) are made for us by companies that also make breast forms for breast cancer survivors. They use the same equipment and the same materials that they use to create a breast for someone who has lost a breast to cancer, and they make forms for us.

We’ve made slight changes to fit a more masculine torso more naturally, and because of these changes, the breast forms don’t have to be approved for insurance purposes (for use by a breast cancer survivor) and are easily half or even quarter the price of the same breast forms used for a breast cancer survivor. Because of this, we’re very, very certain of the quality of the products we offer.

Our RealBreast and Aphrodite forms are a bit different. Rather than coming from a medical background, they’re made for us by companies that have a background in movies and television special effects. So although we expect the exact same standards from them, it’s a bit of a different experience (which is why the RealBreast and Aphrodite breast forms are very visually realistic.)

All of the products we carry are chosen and tested by us. We regularly test breast forms and adhesives to check for fitting, durability, and lifespan. If we’re not happy with the quality of the product, we don’t offer it. All of our nylons and shapewear was tested in the office for comfort and durability before we offered it on our website. The same thing with our lingerie. And when I say ‘us’ I mean Oren and Peter, the only two males in the business, are of course recruited to test products that will be supplied for male torsos.

For example, when we first started carrying our Secret hosiery, everyone was given a different style to wear in the office. Everyone wore a different style for at least a week to test for durability and comfort, and then when we were happy with certain styles, those were the ones we carried.

For example, we’ve even gone so far as to inspect facilities. When we started offering MOOM hair remover, we actually went to their factory and inspected the manufacturing process to make sure it was as clean as they said it was.

Our cosmetics are made for us by industry standard cosmetics manufacturers. Our main supplier also makes cosmetics for some of the big names you see in drug stores. We do our best to offer products and colors we feel work best for our clients (and we test and use the makeup ourselves!) We also do our best to price match what you would find in a drug store or department store for the same price.

LJ: What do you do if you just can’t supply the right product for the customer?

Eden: If a client has a very specific product in mind, and we don’t offer it on the website, we try to track the product down to offer it. For example, we created our Gold Seal breast forms because we found too many of our clients were damaging their Transform breast forms when trying to remove the double sided tape. We also created our Naughty Nipples when we kept having requests for larger, firmer nipples that would show through clothing.
However, if we have a client who has something very specific that we just can’t offer or just can’t deliver in the amount of time that they need it by, we do refer them to a trusted source that we know will take care of them well. This might be a local dressing service or shopping service, or it might be another specialty retailer such as ourselves.

LJ: Thank you for your time and help Eden. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Eden: The Breast Form Store here in North America often sends door prizes, gift certificates, and other goodies to conventions and fundraisers in the CD/TG community. You’ll often find a pair of breast forms we’ve donated for fundraising at events like Southern Comfort, Esprit, Fantasia Fair, First Event, Keystone, and River City Sparkle. Our Australian office often attends or sponsors events as well, such as the Seahorse Ball. Our UK office does the same for their conferences, including Sparkle. I believe our Japanese office even hosts a conference, but all the information is in Japanese and I have no idea what I’m reading, so I can’t provide too much information on that.

In addition, we’re also here to support the community. About a year and a half ago, we took over the hosting and server maintenance for Laura’s Playground, which is a suicide prevention and support web site dedicated to the CD & TG community. We mean it when we say that we’re dedicated exclusively to the CD & TG community. That’s who we’re here for and it’s what we do.

There you have it, dear readers, all the scoop on The Breast Form Store or as they say in their banner ads, The Breast Form Store (and More)”. That is so true.

Tags: crossdressing, featured, shopping, TBFS, The Breast Form Store

Category: Product Review, Transgender Community News