Press
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Kababayan LA March 11, 2013
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Kababayan LA March 11, 2013
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7x7 SF November 12, 2012
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The New York Times "FOR THE A-CUP CROWD, MINIMAL ASSETS ARE A PLUS"The New York Times September 1, 2010
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San Francisco Chronicle "LINGERIE FOR THE LESS ENDOWED"San Francisco Chronicle July 26, 2009
IT is commonly assumed that small-chested women feel that nature's lottery has left them coming up short. The parade of heaving bosoms in Victoria' Secret catalogs not only suggests that bigger is better but also that supersizing with a push-up bra is universally desired.
Wrong, says Ellen Shing, the owner of Lula Lu, a Web site and boutique in San Mateo, Calif., that cater to AAA- to A-cup sizes. She says that while a small number of her customers come in looking for padded bras and tell her, "Make me as big as you can," the majority "don't want to supersize themselves."
Those customers, including ones who are nearly ironing-board flat, "are happy with their bodies," said Ms. Shing, 42, who wears a 36AA. "It's a misconception still that you want to be bigger if you're smaller." She isn't sure if the small-and-loving-it attitude she has noticed is "about pride or more like being O.K. with who they are." But it's fueling her sales.
In the last three years, said Elisabeth Dale (formerly Squires), who wrote "Boobs: A Guide to Your Girls," there has been "a huge surge in Web sites and online retailers that specialize in smaller bra sizes in a very empowering way," like evesappleslingerie.com. "They are not about 'Here's how you stuff your bra,'" she added. "They are like, 'The way you are is perfect, and here's how I can help you.'"
These days, it's not uncommon for women with modest busts to flaunt what little they've got with a deep V-neck cut or a halter top. And more small-chested ladies seem to be openly celebrating their look on Twitter, Facebook and various blogs.
Ellen Shing wants you to know that in a society where bigger is flaunted as better, at least where the bustline is concerned, there are plenty of small-chested women who beg to differ.
Shing's Lula Lu lingerie in San Mateo specializes in bras whose cups are so small and shallow they are not quite cups, and almost not even saucers.
And yet there is so much demand for sizes from 30AAA to 38A that Shing has done what any entrepreneur would do: failing to find as much as she needed at trade shows, she's begun designing and selling her own line of lingerie to supplement the 14 lines she stocks.
Shing said that her best-selling size is 34AAA and that many women do not - repeat, do not - want padding. Are you listening, Hugh Hefner?
"T-shirt bras are usually heavily padded, if they're geared toward smaller-busted women, based on the assumption that anyone who is small-busted wants to become big-busted, and that's really not always the case," said Shing, 41 and a 36A herself. "A lot of our customers are happy with their bodies. They find the bra shopping experience wrong because nothing fits."
Ellen Shing wants you to know that in a society where bigger is flaunted as better, at least where the bustline is concerned, there are plenty of small-chested women who beg to differ.
34B. The average bra size. Easy. Bosoms of the smaller variety—30AAA to 38A, to be exact—may want to head to Lula Lu, a Bay Area-based lingerie website created for the petite lady looking to fill her dainty lingerie drawer.
The small framed designer of Lula Lu Petites, Ellen Shing, has bucked the industry standard with a pretty, super sexy lingerie line for bra sizes 30AAA to 38A. Her line is available on the Lula Lu website, which also carries various petite lingerie brands like L.Z., The Little Bra Company and Timpa. Sleepwear, bra accessories and swimwear for smaller-breasted women can also be found.
Really, it's about supplying flirtatious underthings to an underserved customer. Shing created the site based on her own shopping frustrations and after realizing that the definition of a petite woman being 5'4" and under was too vague, as women's frames come in all lovely shapes and sizes.
The website is well organized, replete with push-up bras—for when you do want a boost—adhesive solutions, extra pads, stockings and bridal accoutrements. Everyday t-shirt bras, sports bras, smart convertible bras, dead sexy lace; it's all there and it's all pretty.























