Acte 3 Lingerie is the sibling of the old Acte Lingerie shop down the road in Balmain(now closed). It was the first bra shop I ever went to, and the same lady runs the place now. Just think … she’s seen all the boobs in Balmain, for decades … Acte 3 do bra fittings, that’s their schtick. This means they WILL come into your change room and help you do the«lift up and pull across» trick, if you haven’t done it already. In fact, ever since they taught me the«lift up and pull across» trick, I’ve done it every day. I don’t think I realised until now that this was ALL the Acte 3 Lady’s doing. Well, they might ingrain some weird boob-related habits in teenagers, but at the end of the day, the bra will fit properly. If you like being left alone while shopping, this is not the place to come. They tend to be a little pushy and you have to be firm and just say NO, I do NOT need to buy those undies, thank you very much. Acte 3 stock some good brands, and some rather up-market stuff. While they do have sales, this is generally not a place to find cheap underwear. If you can catch them on a sale day, well, that’s different, but then you might be on a size-hunt.
Rachel C.
Place rating: 3 Sydney, Australia
Acte 3 Lingerie has a surprisingly good range of lingerie, inluding a substantial stock of Elle Macpherson Intimates, Calvin Klein and Berlie underwear. I say surprising because from the outside, Acte 3’s red and black design screams ‘hooker den’. So finding panties with a covered crotch was a welcome discovery. I was drawn inside by the massive«Sale» signs plastered over their windows and I’m glad I was. When Acte 3 says sale, they mean it — the entire store was 50% off, with other bras that I would usually pay $ 50 for going for $ 10, which was less than cost price. The ladies here are fitters as well, offering the same no-fuss, push-your-boob-to-the-left-there-we-go bra fittings as you’ll find in most places — no ceremony, no worries. If you’re not a fan of having your breasts fondled by strange women, then don’t worry — they’re not likely to bust in on you as you can expect from some lingerie stores, only offering assistance when required. My only words of caution is that you should be prepared for the up-sell. These ladies are retail hawks and don’t mind pressuring the sale. Hold your ground — I almost couldn’t.