Judy Masucci ‘the bra whisperer’ reflects on her bra-fitting business
From genetics labs to bra and lingerie shows, Judy Masucci, the owner of Levana Bratique, has made it her life goal to change the world — one bra at a time.
The Women’s Press Club of Pittsburgh hosted Masucci to talk about Levana Bratique. Masucci said when she opened the business in 2007 her original focus was to create proper nursing bras for new mothers. After the closure of a local bra-fitting shop, The Pussycat, Masucci relaunched her business in 2016 to cater to even more women by supplying harder to find bra sizes.
However, bras were not Masucci’s original passion. Masucci said she received her Ph.D in genetics from Columbia University and then went on to climb the corporate ladder. Masucci said after her baby, she realized she didn’t want to work the long hours of her corporate job.
“After I had my baby, I didn't want to work 14 hour days anymore,” Masucci said. “ I was only working 11 hours a day and I felt like I wasn't doing a good job at home because I was only seeing my son for an hour and a half a day.”
After the birth of her child, Masucci said she found a passion for helping new mothers and saw a need to provide adequate and better nursing wear for mothers.
“So, I originally started my business because I wanted to help others as I had a baby and it literally changed my life,” Masucci said. “So, I wanted to be able to help other new mothers in their breastfeeding journeys and I wanted to, you know, do something that can make money. “
Masucci said she originally wanted to create a “one stop shop” for nursing mothers and bras had been an afterthought.
“For me personally, when I had my baby, I had to nurse in public and breasts are beautiful but bellies are not so I started my business with the clothing that would allow you to get access to the breastfeeding area without exposing your belly,” Masucci said. “And then I brought in bras honestly as an afterthought. I wanted to have a complete solution so that people could have a one stop shop.”
Masucci said she saw that there was a much greater need for bras than she initially thought she began to primarily sell bras for nursing mothers.
“I soon realized that bras were a must have and nursing friendly clothing was nice to have if you can afford it and so I started specializing in bras,” Masucci said.
Masucci attributes some of her success to knowing when to shift the focus of her business. When the local Pittsburgh bra-fitting business, The Pussycat, went out of business Masucci saw a large demand for bra sizes that couldn’t be found in normal retail stores.
“So, when I first started carrying bras, I was only nursing bras and in 2014 and there used to be a bra store in Squirrel Hill called the Pussycat and the Pussycat went out of business and so there were all these women coming to me looking for these bra sizes that you couldn’t find anymore,” Masucci said. “So, it took me two years to revamp my business and in 2016 I relaunched my business to cater to women with harder to find bra sizes.”
Masucci said while she considers herself a “self-taught” expert when it comes to bra fitting, she also continues to take classes to maintain her expertise.
“So, a lot of what I did was self-taught but then I went and took online courses and then courses in New York and now when I go to the city in between my appointments with my vendors, I just go and I sit in classes and every single time I learn something new,” Masucci said.
Masucci also discusses the shortcomings of other popular bra retailers such as Victoria Secret. Her business offers over 250 different bra sizes with cup sizes ranging from A to X, with the most popular sizes being H and I cups.
“People get frustrated when they're uncomfortable and as women we wear our bras all day every day and it's uncomfortable when your bra doesn't fit properly,” Masucci said. “And so a lot of women don't know that these sizes even exist, but they do know that Victoria's Secret is not doing them justice, and that's how they find their way to me.”
Masucci said her business tries to be inclusive of everyone by including models of all shapes and sizes, including transgender models on Levana Bratique’s social media.
“We try to make people feel confident about their bodies, and especially through our social media we try to include pictures of all different type of women like transgender women and women whose bodies might not typically be represented in the media,” Masucci said. “We even try to use gender neutral pronouns because we feel body positivity is really important.”
In addition to selling bras, Masucci said her love for helping people made an easy transition to managing her charity, the Pittsburgh Chapter of I Support the Girls, whose mission is to restore dignity to women and girls experiencing homelessness. Through her charity Masucci has donated over 100,000 bras, menstrual products and toiletries to families in need in Western Pennsylvania.
Masucci said her charity work is to provide women dignity and confidence with their bras.
“I don't care how destitute you are, nobody deserves a crappy old bra,” Masucci said. “People deserve dignity and that's why with my charity I make sure we inspect all our donations carefully so that when we donate our stuff gives people dignity.”
Masucci said her future goal for the business is to continue her dedication to a quality customized experience for bra fittings.
“So, my goal is to be able to have clients booked all the time, have as many fitters as I have clients, so that we can continue our one on one service,” Masucci said. “I think a personalized service is what really sets us apart.”
Masucci said one of the most rewarding aspects of her business is when a customer feels comfortable and happy in their bra.
“I think happy customers are one of those things that you cannot buy,” Masucci said. “When I see someone super happy and lifting their shirt up and saying ‘look at my new bra’, it’s really a life changing experience.
From genetics labs to bra and lingerie shows, Judy Masucci, the owner of Levana Bratique, has made it her life goal to change the world — one bra at a time.
The Women’s Press Club of Pittsburgh hosted Masucci to talk about Levana Bratique. Masucci said when she opened the business in 2007 her original focus was to create proper nursing bras for new mothers. After the closure of a local bra-fitting shop, The Pussycat, Masucci relaunched her business in 2016 to cater to even more women by supplying harder to find bra sizes.
However, bras were not Masucci’s original passion. Masucci said she received her Ph.D in genetics from Columbia University and then went on to climb the corporate ladder. Masucci said after her baby, she realized she didn’t want to work the long hours of her corporate job.
“After I had my baby, I didn't want to work 14 hour days anymore,” Masucci said. “ I was only working 11 hours a day and I felt like I wasn't doing a good job at home because I was only seeing my son for an hour and a half a day.”
After the birth of her child, Masucci said she found a passion for helping new mothers and saw a need to provide adequate and better nursing wear for mothers.
“So, I originally started my business because I wanted to help others as I had a baby and it literally changed my life,” Masucci said. “So, I wanted to be able to help other new mothers in their breastfeeding journeys and I wanted to, you know, do something that can make money. “
Masucci said she originally wanted to create a “one stop shop” for nursing mothers and bras had been an afterthought.
“For me personally, when I had my baby, I had to nurse in public and breasts are beautiful but bellies are not so I started my business with the clothing that would allow you to get access to the breastfeeding area without exposing your belly,” Masucci said. “And then I brought in bras honestly as an afterthought. I wanted to have a complete solution so that people could have a one stop shop.”
Masucci said she saw that there was a much greater need for bras than she initially thought she began to primarily sell bras for nursing mothers.
“I soon realized that bras were a must have and nursing friendly clothing was nice to have if you can afford it and so I started specializing in bras,” Masucci said.
Masucci attributes some of her success to knowing when to shift the focus of her business. When the local Pittsburgh bra-fitting business, The Pussycat, went out of business Masucci saw a large demand for bra sizes that couldn’t be found in normal retail stores.
“So, when I first started carrying bras, I was only nursing bras and in 2014 and there used to be a bra store in Squirrel Hill called the Pussycat and the Pussycat went out of business and so there were all these women coming to me looking for these bra sizes that you couldn’t find anymore,” Masucci said. “So, it took me two years to revamp my business and in 2016 I relaunched my business to cater to women with harder to find bra sizes.”
Masucci said while she considers herself a “self-taught” expert when it comes to bra fitting, she also continues to take classes to maintain her expertise.
“So, a lot of what I did was self-taught but then I went and took online courses and then courses in New York and now when I go to the city in between my appointments with my vendors, I just go and I sit in classes and every single time I learn something new,” Masucci said.
Masucci also discusses the shortcomings of other popular bra retailers such as Victoria Secret. Her business offers over 250 different bra sizes with cup sizes ranging from A to X, with the most popular sizes being H and I cups.
“People get frustrated when they're uncomfortable and as women we wear our bras all day every day and it's uncomfortable when your bra doesn't fit properly,” Masucci said. “And so a lot of women don't know that these sizes even exist, but they do know that Victoria's Secret is not doing them justice, and that's how they find their way to me.”
Masucci said her business tries to be inclusive of everyone by including models of all shapes and sizes, including transgender models on Levana Bratique’s social media.
“We try to make people feel confident about their bodies, and especially through our social media we try to include pictures of all different type of women like transgender women and women whose bodies might not typically be represented in the media,” Masucci said. “We even try to use gender neutral pronouns because we feel body positivity is really important.”
In addition to selling bras, Masucci said her love for helping people made an easy transition to managing her charity, the Pittsburgh Chapter of I Support the Girls, whose mission is to restore dignity to women and girls experiencing homelessness. Through her charity Masucci has donated over 100,000 bras, menstrual products and toiletries to families in need in Western Pennsylvania.
Masucci said her charity work is to provide women dignity and confidence with their bras.
“I don't care how destitute you are, nobody deserves a crappy old bra,” Masucci said. “People deserve dignity and that's why with my charity I make sure we inspect all our donations carefully so that when we donate our stuff gives people dignity.”
Masucci said her future goal for the business is to continue her dedication to a quality customized experience for bra fittings.
“So, my goal is to be able to have clients booked all the time, have as many fitters as I have clients, so that we can continue our one on one service,” Masucci said. “I think a personalized service is what really sets us apart.”
Masucci said one of the most rewarding aspects of her business is when a customer feels comfortable and happy in their bra.
“I think happy customers are one of those things that you cannot buy,” Masucci said. “When I see someone super happy and lifting their shirt up and saying ‘look at my new bra’, it’s really a life changing experience.