At Monk's, Elaine recounts meeting her new writer boyfriend, Jake Jarmel, at work when he audaciously "felt her material" by taking her jacket between his thumb and forefinger. She has found nothing wrong with Jake, but George foresees that this will not last. Jerry has started wearing a sweater he found in the closet.
Barry Prophet, Elaine's accountant—who is also managing Jerry's money—passes by. As they all make small talk, Barry sniffs repeatedly at seemingly nothing. Jerry and George worry that Barry could be snorting cocaine and funding his habit with Jerry's money.
Obediently returning home for dinner, George learns that Frank got him an interview for a bra salesman job. He is galled at his parents assuming that he knows nothing about bras. For George's edification, Frank checks what Estelle's bras are made out of, then explains that bras are "cups in the front, loops in the back".
Kramer is likewise alarmed because he and Newman also entrusted money to Barry. Though Barry does not use Kramer's stereotyped addict slang, Kramer reels at the damning evidence that Barry used a bathroom. He gladly takes Jerry's itchy sweater off his hands, and wears it everywhere.
Elaine is delighted to come home to Jake having cooked and cleaned. He has also transcribed her phone messages, including one announcing a friend's baby. Elaine is let down that Jake did not punctuate this exciting news with an exclamation point, and scolds him for the omission until he walks out. Jerry is baffled at this, but Elaine has no regrets. However, her boss Lippman catches her gratuitously inserting exclamation points throughout Jake's book manuscript, and chews her out.
Barry goes on a South America trip, which Jerry, Kramer, and Newman all assume to be for drug running. Elaine, vouching for Barry, objects that they have no evidence, so they stake out Barry's after-work bar, planning to catch him in a sting "like Abscam". Kramer, incognito, finds Barry still sniffing. To gain Barry's confidence, he lays on thick his impression of a hedonistic junkie, downing an entire mug of beer with a cigarette in his mouth, then smoking the cigarette backwards. When this fails, he ambushes Barry on the toilet with a Polaroid camera. Jerry pushes Newman to try Glide floss as they wait for Kramer.
At the interview, George frames his "interest" in bras as a wide-eyed childhood passion, and gets hired. He then presumptuously feels a woman's material without a word, outraging her. She turns out to be a company bigwig, and his hiring is rescinded. Back home, Frank and Estelle berate George for feeling material.
Despite failing to catch Barry red-handed, Jerry writes a letter to demand everyone's money back, tormenting Elaine with his profusion of exclamation points. Another explanation for Barry's sniffing comes to light when Kramer's mohair sweater triggers a pizza delivery man's allergies. Newman nearly mails Jerry's letter with Kramer's photo enclosed, but at the mailbox, Newman feels a woman's material and gets chased off, losing the letter.
Everyone's relief turns to regret when Barry files for bankruptcy, revealing that he did indeed spend their money on drugs. Jerry has missed his chance to get reimbursed, but a woman feels Jerry's material, and comes on to him.