Call to action for Bravissimo customers

Now I think this is pushing things too far. You can search me: I have been in this board for a long time. But I am not trying to make life impossible for trans women. They need to buy bras and they should be allowed to do so. You seem to be advocating for complete bans on trans women going into shops. That’s unfair. We are not after apartheid. And I am old enough for that to mean something to me.

It sounds like Bravissimo have a sensible and careful approach which meets both women’s needs and transwomens needs. Serving a trans women in a closed off area sounds perfectly fine.

It’s the approach of John Lewis I don’t like where they let trans women into what was a female changing room.

It’s worrying that when women bring up concerns about risk of predatory behaviour that they are called discriminatory.

Bravissimo has full length lockable doors and a manned changing room. Of course they cannot discriminate if a male born person wishes to try on clothes. It's this thread that's being discriminatory. There is no safety risk unlike changing rooms in leisure centres that are not supervised and have open changing.

Gutted. I valued their privacy and expertise in fitting bras for large boobs, they also saw me through pregnancy and breastfeeding.
I want to be nowhere near a man on a journey of exploring his surgically created large boobs and with this new policy will feel uncomfortable both on the shop floor and in the changing area after hearing reports of cameras fitted in changing areas in other places that welcome male bodied people into female spaces.
I do not want to have to explain why I don’t want a male bodied person to fit me, especially when I feel already self conscious due to pregnancy or breastfeeding.
I do not want to have that awkward conversation after I have travelled an hour to get to a store to get fitted with a comfortable bra.
Cos if they welcome male bodied customers why can’t they welcome male bodied staff- will be the argument. Great job for someone who has a liking for big boobs.
Will be writing to them and looking for other stockists

Hmmm. The bravissimo near me is all individual cubicles, but the possibility of hidden cameras is a bit worrying.
I might drop them a line.
A man wouldn’t necessarily have to have out of the ordinary sized implants to shop in Bravissimo since they start from a D cup (not that huge).

I have emailed them. Both me and my daughter bought bras there. No longer.

She said it was common for men to insist that they had to go into the area to see bras on their female partners

????

There are lots of creeps like Toby Young out there

Only too true

I found them years ago when they were 'Bras for big bosomed women'. It was a huge revelation. Before that, I would travel to a large department store in a major city where I would buy what I could from a choice of about 5 that fitted.

Gutted.

@Itsallgonetoofar I thought 'fetid' was a Freudian slip .

@VinandVigour Agreed. And I imagine some cross-dressing men would get a thrill out of having a female dress them up in lacy underwear, which is effectively what is happening.

What I don’t get is how they can differentiate between a ‘woman on a journey’ and say, my husband. What criteria will they be using to determine who is and who isn’t allowed in? We could just go to their fitting rooms and march straight in with our DH/DP in tow? Their poor (female) staff are going to be policing this. For everyone’s safety this should not be happening.

@Lumene I bet they haven't even thought of that.

I am also wondering about how the staff will be treated if they refuse to touch a male customer. There are lots of Muslim staff at Bravissimo. Are they going to force them to put bras on male customers?

This is such a load of shit.

I went into my local Bravissimo today and spoke with the manager, who was very understanding and helpful. She said that yes, they did provide a service to biological men ( my words not hers ) but that they used a completely separate changing room and when it was in use by a man, it was closed off to women.

This is on a different floor from the main changing area, so would not infringe on womens privacy.

She was very well informed about the issues and aware of the potential risks to her staff of serving ( some ) male customers. She explained what steps they took to reduce the risks ( which of course I won’t mention here ).

She was clear that men were not allowed in the main fitting area, however they identified, in order to protect the privacy of women . She said it was common for men to insist that they had to go into the area to see bras on their female partners and their policy is to explain that the women need to come out ( into the public seating area outside ) , the men can’t go in for any reason.

I was very satisfied with her answers and her attitude. She clearly understood my concerns and was courteous and respectful.

Oh no! I buy all my bras there. I shall have to email them. That's really pissed on my chips.

I am more concerned with the issue for staff than personally based on the Bravissimo shop I shop in. Cubicles have sturdy locked doors, thick walls and feel very much private. Don’t feel like that about most places - eg m and s or John Lewis changing rooms. And no idea what other branches’ changing room are like.

Would be very interested to know their policy in Male bodied assistants though. I would absolutely not be happy with a male measuring me and fitting me for a bra, or bringing bras for me to try on. Anyone Bravissimo’s policy on this?

Every single one of my bras has come from Bravissimo since I first became pregnant 15 years ago. This pains me more than M&S. I shall be contacting them.

@AnneLovesGilbert Figleaves are OK, but don't have any shops as far as I am aware.

How are Figleaves?