One in eight U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime, and currently slightly more than half, 56 percent, undergo mastectomy. Few fashion options exist for those who don’t seek reconstructive surgery or postpone it until after their treatment and recovery — a condition the clothier Wear Ease (www.WearEase.com) seeks to remedy.
“Fighting breast cancer is a big enough challenge,” says Wear Ease owner Phyllis Keith. “We’re trying to help ensure women don’t also lose their self-esteem, dignity, and femininity.”
Wear Ease designs and markets post-surgery and mastectomy bras, camisoles, loungewear, and lingerie. According to several specialty boutiques, its clothing is in vogue.
“We started ordering their Dawn post-surgery camisole because it’s prettier than other brands, and they’re flying off the shelves,” says Michele Yett, a certified mastectomy fitter at Expressions Appearance Center at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, Calif. “They’re great products — they come with fiber-filled breast forms and a pair of pouches for drain tubes and bulb syringes, plus they’re comfortable, they come in a variety of colors, and they’re very desirable in terms of femininity.”
Pamela Ludwig, who owns Pretty in Pink Boutiques in Franklin and Nashville, Tenn., concurs. “The post-op camisole is so comfortable and stylish a lot of my patients wear them far beyond the post-op period,” Ludwig says. “Often they wear a black one as a fashion camisole under a black blouse.”
Retailers also say the Wear Ease line helps women feel whole. “They’re very up to date with fashion trends,” says Sheila Robertsdahl, a certified orthotic/mastectomy fitter and manager of the Just for Women boutique at MeritCare HealthCare Accessories in Fargo, N.D. “And with the way the pockets for the prostheses are designed, nobody can even tell it’s a pocketed mastectomy garment.”
Ludwig, a registered nurse who worked for 10 years in clinical oncology before opening Pretty in Pink in 2005, agrees, adding, “With off-the-shelf products like these available, women can achieve the look they want without having to undergo reconstructive surgery.” However, she says many patients undergoing breast reconstruction use Wear Ease products, too. “A lot of times reconstruction doesn’t give a woman the exact symmetrical look she wants,” she says, “so you can sometimes fix that with a bra or partial prosthesis.”