‘Save the ta-tas’ gear sells fast at hospital gift shop
Weston, WI — The gift shop at Saint Clare’s Hospital is putting some fun in the fight against breast cancer.
The store has started selling T-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, bumper stickers and other items bearing the words “save the ta-tas,” a slang word for breasts. Five percent of sales go to The Save the Ta-tas Foundation for breast cancer research, according to the foundation’s Web site. So far, the foundation has raised about $200,000.
“We can’t keep them in stock,” said Lori LaPorte, manager of Gifts from Saint Clare. “Our staff has really been buying it.”
The brand is the brainchild of fashion designer Julia Fikse, who previously worked at Levi’s, Gymboree and Adidas — “brands that give a lot back,” Fikse said. Two of her relatives had breast cancer, and when she had an opportunity to start her own fashion line in 2004, she knew she wanted it to support breast cancer causes.
“People asked us, ‘Can I laugh and talk about breast cancer in the same sentence?'” Fikse said. “Humor is a healing force.”
LaPorte said the brand first caught her attention this fall at a conference in Chicago for hospital gift shop managers. At first, LaPorte said, she was a little worried.
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