Brava Bodywear

Brava Bodywear came through for me BIG time!
I’m from Los Angeles and last week I was on the hunt to purchase and ship a pair of pointe shoes to the St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Some friends of mine traveled from CA to MO so their 10-​year old daughter, who’s never been able to walk, could have a potentially life altering surgery. This beautiful little girl, through all the challenges she’s faced, has had a dream of one day becoming a ballet dancer. Not knowing the area surrounding the hospital in the slightest, I relied on Google to start pointing me in the right direction. After a few phone calls to less than helpful stores, I decided to try a dance studio nearest to the hospital to see if they could help. They referred me to Brava Bodywear mentioning that many of their students purchase from there. I called, and Christine, the owner, answered the phone. She worked with me to find a beautiful pair of point shoes in the right size and for a great price! After explaining who the shoes were for and asking if Brava shipped to the hospital, Christine explained they could be shipped the following morning (Saturday) but offered to do better than that by delivering them herself to the Children’s Hospital Saturday afternoon. I was shocked and amazed by her kindness and willingness to go out of her way for her customers. She packaged together a GORGEOUS gift bag (which she showed me in a picture text) and even included toe pads, a tiara, and «dance» bracelet free of charge. Christine went above and beyond what I could have asked for. Saturday afternoon, my husband and I received the most beautiful message from our friends saying their daughter was over the moon with joy with her brand new and very first pair of ballet shoes (she also LOVED her tiara!) Thank you, THANK YOU, Christine and Brava Bodywear for being a part of this priceless moment. Thank you for caring about your customers and for going above and beyond in every way!

I came here to get pointe shoes. The girl fitting me was nice and knowledgeable, had me try on some Blochs but there weren’t any in my size so we moved on to Gaynor’s. I left with a pair and took them to class to show my teacher, but my foot was overflowing from the box since they were too small. The next weekend I went back to the store to try and exchange them for a different pair. The guy I had to talk to would hardly acknowledge me and just gave me an index card and said to put my name, number, and why I was returning them. Wouldn’t let me try them on to show him what was wrong or anything. He said they would be ordered Monday and would arrive in about two weeks. Well four weeks pass, then five, then six… after the sixth I called asking when to expect the shoes to arrive. They said they weren’t sure, maybe Monday but that they would call me when they arrived. I waited another week, no call, so I called again and got the same answer. By this point it had been almost eight weeks and no sign of the shoes coming in. I checked my size on Gaynor’s web site and they said they could have them shipped to me in 3 weeks. A week later I get a call saying they had arrived so I went back to see and tried them on. They were not the right size at all and hurt to try and go up on. The girl fitting me asked if I wore toe pads and I said I did, so she had me try the shoes on with padding-​something Gaynor’s site specifically says not to do. They didn’t hurt as much but still weren’t the best fit. At this point I had been dancing with dead shoes for a month and just needed a pair. Since they refused to refund my money it was either wait another 8 weeks or make these work. I ended up just taking the pair and messing with padding until they fit right.

I went to Brava to buy adult sized tights as mine were all torn to shreds. I was sad to see that they only had a very limited selection of tights and adult leotards as well. On top of that, the service was terrible. They did not acknowledge my presence for the longest time and then acted like I was just being troublesome. I was really disappointed as this seems to be one of the only dance stores in town.

LOVE this little shop! They bend over backwards to accommodate the needs of my dance school and our dress code. We have a LOT of boys in our dance program, and most places have NOTHING for the boys, but they manage to find and have appropriate attire and shoes for them, as well. They also do an exceptional job with fitting pointe shoes, and shoes in general. I took my daughter to a different store prior to Brava, and it was a NIGHTMARE. I appreciate that Brava has responsible, reliable ADULTS to wait on you, and they all have strong knowledge of their product and the other products out there. I’ve never had to return anything as they seem to have a good handle on their quality control — unlike other places to purchase dance shoes.

I took my daughter in for ballet and tap shoes. The guy who fitted her for her shoes didn’t really seem to know what he was doing or even care. In the end we had to return her shoes because her dance teacher said they were too small and so were her ballet shoes. So we went back the second time… service wasn’t much better. My daughter’s shoe size was a 6 so instead of going to the next size up they tried to put her in an 8. Unreal. The second pair of ballet shoes were two different sizes once we got them home and her tap shoes were on order. They were supposed to call me because her shoes were supposed to be in Thursday or Friday. The following Tuesday I called them. They said they would check and call me back. I haven’t heard from them yet. And these shoes are already paid for. At this point I think I am just going to get my money back and go elsewhere. I think a mail order place would have been better than this shop! Terrible service and they don’t really seem to care!

This was my first trip here. I needed a dance leotard and some other items, and I was very happy with the offerings and the service. They have a selection of good quality, reasonably-​priced dance wear for adults and children. In other words, not everything is pink and covered with rhinestones. There are some things like fashionable shoulder-​wraps for after dance class that are a bit less practical (unless you’re 14, in which case they are obviously a matter of life or death!). But in general, this place is no nonsense and a good value.
If you need clothes for your or your child’s dance class, this place is perfect. If you’re looking to dress as a princess from Disney On Ice for Halloween, go elsewhere.