BOOBS!

[crikeyaphrodite]

I've done loads of bra fits this week! That's me properly working as a bra-fitter now and it's actually really fascinating seeing how different figures fit. Every age from teenagers to great grannies and all shapes and sizes. Mostly larger busts though, the smallest I've done this week has been a DD, the largest a GG. It's amazing seeing the

Comments

[sewcurvy]

How on earth do you decide which bra to fetch ? Experience I guess?

[crikeyaphrodite]

Each fitter has their preferences. Most use the Gorgeous comfort t-shirt bras, for younger women anyway, as they're a reliable fit and a nice shape. Older women tend to get Fantasie. It depends on what they're already wearing and prefer themselves.

Then sometimes it's just whatever you can find in the size.

[sewcurvy]

lots to learn about all the ranges tho .. when I went bra fitting with Paula I thought my 'superior' knowledge of these thing may get her a perfect fit .. but it was a nightmare from start to finish and though she's a size 8, she ended up with a 36B!!!

[crikeyaphrodite]

Well that would've surprised me too. A 36B! So far though I'm finding smaller busts more difficult. Granted for obvious reasons we get less of those to fit. But you then get wanting padding etc factored in, or alternatively older women who want a smaller busted bra that isn't moulded and those are few and far between.

[virginiadear]

"The biggest problem is small backs, large cups, we're struggle because they sell and the suppliers seem to ration them. It's amazing how many people really do need them. That's annoying and frustrating for us and the customer."

I wonder if there's some kind of designer-think correlation between this, and certain shoe-sizes. I wear a shoe size which I've been assured by numerous shoe salespeople is hugely common---and vastly under supplied. 'Oh, yes, women are always looking for this size, and it sells out as fast as we get any styles in, in that size.'

The small back, large breasts and inadequate bras available to supply that market conundrum---why doesn't the industry get a clue???If so many women wear the same shoe size I do, and have the same "predicament" (narrow foot, quad-narrow heel) I have, WHY aren't more shoes made in my size

[crikeyaphrodite]

I think it's a supply error based on misunderstanding and miscommunication. Lots of people (70% was the last figure I read) are wearing the wrong size and when they are they're generally wearing too big a back and too small a cup. So overall, in shops that don't fit or don't fit properly, maybe their figures suggest a different picture. However I'm in a department store that really promotes fitting and our customers are coming back and buying those sizes. And as we don't get that many in, they disappear quickly

[virginiadear]

I'm sure you're right; "demand" is being determined by sales figures.
Normally, I'm leery of "survey bias" but in this one instance, I'm thinking it would be a splendid idea to get as many women as possible to participate in a survey to find out what the deuce size bra they should be wearing, and work from that, instead of what's being purchased.
I am convinced that a lot of women "just know" that "36C" means their bust line (fullest part of the bust) measures 36" and----this part, they always grasp---that the "C" means a three-inch difference between the bust line and the cup.
I know: that's a misconception based on the old method of measure. Guys used to get that turned around, too---but you can understand, in their case, why and how that happens in their male-thinking minds

[crikeyaphrodite]

I agree, I think a representative survey could work quite well. Or even ask fitters to log the sizes they fit over a period - walk in size and fitted size. That would give a decent picture for fuller busts, because that's who mostly gets measured. Feed that back to the suppliers and they'd see, not only what people are buying, but how many are being forced to walk away empty handed.

Celebrities are a big problem too. Mad Men star Christina Hendricks for instance has claimed to be a 36DD! There is no way she's that. More like a 32H. That sort of thing doesn't help, as it just makes young women feel more self-conscious.

[sewcurvy]

awake now! Do not even TALK to me about the big boob small back thing ... apart from the fact that many girls have this problem naturally, what annnnnnnnnnoys me intensly (i'm trying to cut down on my use of capitals), is the fact that were' subjected to images of 'babes' with huge false boobs and tiny frames every day .. this is the fashion it seems ... so ... where are the damn bras to match?? Drives me insane ... thank the gods for Debenhams Gorgeous range is all i can say, and as for Mrs Bravissimo, she is a queen of women .. and as for that other antiquated way of measuring .. argh! it should be outlawed as a crime against women ..

[crikeyaphrodite]

That puzzles me too. But then implants don't need the same support and don't squish in or overflow like natural tissue. So I suppose they just buy badly fitting bras and don't notice.

Yup the Gorgeous range is good. Some cute new ones just in for summer actually. But there are a few styles we always have that I really don't like.

Part of the problem too is weaning people off M&S. We're so brought up to put trust in them but their bras aren't that great.

[sewcurvy]

I know .. their bras aren't great, their fitting is RUBBISH - their women don't know what they are doing! I've noticed though, they're jumping on the 'fuller bust' bandwagon with the Freya/Bravissimo/Gorgeous style sizing but the range is MINUTE and the size range ridiculous ... sigh ....