Some women might claim that a comfortable bra is an oxymoron but don’t tell that to Racheal Alton and Sarah Nightingale, co-owners of Project Scrubs/Project Bras.

The duo believes “it’s all about the anatomy” in getting a proper, customized fit.

After seven years in business as Project Scrubs, Alton brought Nightingale on board and the duo recently expanded the business to include Project Bras at the dual-purpose specialty shop’s new location at 255341 Highway 101, across from Olympic Cellars.

“We sell great quality products that are award-winning and top-selling in the world to create that perfect fit,” Nightingale said. “Besides Nordstrom, nobody else in Western Washington offers bra-fitting services.”

An estimated 8 out of 10 women are wearing the wrong size bra and are doing it some 18 hours a day.

“The most important thing to us is service — a proper fit is key,” Alton added. “We want our customers to say, ‘I love,’ not ‘like’ but ‘love this bra.’ I’ve had people walk out so comfortable often they’re in tears. I had lots of women fit this week and not one came in fitted right in band size and cup.”

Although the women take their bra-fitting skills seriously, they’re not without a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor with quips like “Giving you our full support” and “Got bra-blems?”

“I think everyone can relate to bra-blems and we want to hear about and solve your bra-blems,” Alton said. “It’s all about finding the right bra for the right body type.”

Out of their own frustrations through the years, the women researched companies whose styles and quality in design and construction made them comfortable, literally and figuratively, including Le Mystère, known as the “Oprah” bra, Anita, with a 128-year reputation, Goddess Lingerie and Wacoal. Company representatives trained the women in the art of bra-fitting.

“We went for quality and went against disposable,” Alton said. “We want them to last for several years.”

They also learned that bras can vary in band and cup size from company to company and style to style, so it’s advantageous to receive a custom fit, which takes about 30 minutes in their shop.

“We will not put a customer in the wrong size bra to make the sale,” Nightingale said. “If I don’t have it, I can get it for you.”

“Nothing beats a good-fitting bra because it affects the clothes you choose, your self-confidence and your posture,” Alton said.

“You can get sloped shoulders if there’s not enough support and shoulder pain if the straps aren’t correct.”

Project Scrubs

But Project Bra is only half of the business. Alton said their inventory of medical attire is “the largest uniform selection from here to Seattle with the best variety and best prices.”

“We have tops, bottoms, jackets, lab coats, shoes, socks, stethoscopes, BP cuffs and other medical accessories,” Alton said.

Long gone are the days of plain white for medical personnel. The store’s scrubs, as today’s uniforms are known, are mix and match, in a rainbow of colors and a plethora of patterns. Sizes range from XS to XXXL.

Project Scrubs also sells comfortable and stylish clogs in black, white, blue and leopard and zebra prints, plus tennis shoes for those always on the run.

Free the Girls

“We are thankful that we have this business and knew we wanted to do something cool with old bras,” said Alton, “so we’ve partnered with Project Purpose with its Free the Girls project.”

She explained that the group retrains girls in Mozambique who have been rescued from sex trafficking and supports their new livelihoods by helping them sell gently used bras from donors around the world.

“That allows the girls to make extra money and they receive two to three times the minimum wage — bras are a luxury item there,” Alton said.

“Everybody’s got bras in the back of their drawers that they hate or have only worn once and we want these. We think it’s a really cool thing to help other women across the world. This is just so easy, to do right by people, it’s just a simple thing.”

Alton and Nightingale have strung the used bras they’ve received from customers in the store’s windows, but need many more.

Drop them off during business hours of 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and join them during their open house week with special sales, giveaways, drawings, coupons and prizes Tuesday-Saturday, Oct. 28-Nov. 1.