To suggest that M&S should train their staff to measure bra sizes correctly?

[quietlyafraid]

It would seem that rather a lot of women on here think M&S are rubbish at measuring bra size and that they are responsible for making many women walk around wearing the wrong size bra. Especially since they do not seem capable of stocking a full range of sizes, like other department stores. M&S always had the reputation of being the place to go for underwear, and its SCANDALOUS that they are not not leading the way in proper boobs loving support. If I search my size on their website, I am even directed to bras in the wrong size!

Being told to shove your cleveage into the wrong size has created a situation where women think they are a bigger back size than they actually are. They are responsible for making the lives of women a living hell and suffering in constant strap sliding, wire poking, saggy tits, four boob syndrome, falling out at inappropriate times or other such hardships.

I blame M&S and their terrible measuring. AIBU?! Have you been a victim of the M&S "just shove your bras into the wrong size it'll do" mafia? Have you got measured there only to find out you are a completely different size elsewhere?

Worse still an underclass of unrepresented women are being persecuted for daring to be little. The high street does not seem to recognise that 30 backs are a real size and thinks there is no demand for them. This is despite the fact that a size 8 loosely equates to a 30 inch rib cage. Most places start clothes at size 8, so why do most bras, only start at size 32? And just cos we are small back size does not mean we are all flat chested. We are real people too!

We are fed up of having to hide away and use mail order rather than shop on the high street which stocks next to nothing or is totally sold out anyway. We are fed up of being asked whether a 30 back is even a real size and we are fed up of having a choice of deeply unsexy black or white only by other stores.

And AIBU to ask you all people who got measured at M&S to go and get yourself remeasured at House of Fraser or Debenhams (Especially if you are size 8 or below to see if you are one of us and to join the 30 Back club, to increase demand so we can be better represented on the high street) and force M&S to change their policy on boob shoving and fudging?

First AIBU thread of my own. Hope it is silly and hysterical enough to do MN proud. Seriously though, is M&S bra dept rather shit or not?

the only fool-proof way is to take a variety of sizes and styles into the changing room and try them all on.

After seeing a thread saying how good bravissimo were, I went in to get maternity bras.

The lady insisted I was a 30GG even though I said it was incomfortably tight. She said it would be fine, and stretch a bit after a few washes. I thought, 'well I want one that fits now, not in a couple of washes,' but thought she knew best. Anyway, it's not stretched and it's fucking uncomfortable still. I bought one (32FF) from amazon for £7 and it's the comfiest bra I've ever had.

I wear Princesse Tam Tam. Pre-pregnancy was a 32A but now in a 34B though it's slightly too big in the band and cup, but only slightly - it was bought in anticipation of growing further (fingers crossed). The 32s were too tight.

Tried 34A in M&S and JL recently (again 32 too tight - could barely do it up), but cup too saggy :(

Using the 'add 4/5 inches' method, I'd be a 36AAA - double :( :(

All help gratefully received! Quietly, your DH sounds like he's found his dream job!

Haha I think if the pay was better and women didn't mind being fitted by men, he'd do it in a shot. He's been accused of being slightly 'gay' at times for it. I find it endearing actually. I love shopping with him.

I'll ask him. He may/may not know.

Thank you :)

Nickelbabe, you're definitely doing it the old way. If you measure a brand new 34 back bra, the circumfrance with it on the loosest hook will be 34", not 30".

The proper way to measure is along these lines:

Measure your ribcage, making sure the tape stays horizontal. Round it down to the next even number, or maybe round up if you're very close to an even number, eg. 31.5". This is your back size. So I measure 31" and wear a 30" back.

Then measure at the widest point of your bust while wearing a bra that fits reasonably well. Take the first measurement from this measurement, eg. I measure 43", so the difference is 13" (from 30, not 31).

Then for every inch difference, add on a cup size.
0" difference is a AA
1" is an A
2" is a B
3" is a C
4" is a D
5" is a DD
6" is an E
7" is an F
8" is a FF
9" is a G
10" is a GG
11" is an H
12" is a HH
13" is a J
and so on...

So my bra size is 30J and my boobs look fantastic in that size, even if I do say so myself! Without a bra is an entirely different matter

This method is a guide and you may need to go up/down one band/cup size.

well, I'll do it that way until the shops change their sizes.

I never buy a bra without trying it on, and the way the sizes work haven't changed in all the years I've been buying bras.
and I certainly haven't changed dimensions myself (present situation excepted), because I measure myself every time I make a garment.

Havnt read thread but-
Debenhams Gorgeous range: excellent, and they seemed to have v. good measuring lady.

What Katie Did explain the old/new bra measuring on their website.

They also did a bit of detective work, going around a few shops to see how the sizing differed between them. The results are very interesting:

www.whatkatiedid.com/src/brasizing.php

Just out of curiosity, has anyone with bras from both Bravissimo and, say, M&S measured the actual band size on BOTH their bras to see how they compare and whether it matches the label size?

The difference in sizes given by M&S and Bravissimo are astounding. I can't think of any other item of clothing that would have such variation in sizes, despite us all being different sizes and shapes.

M&S told me I was a 36AA. Given that I was a) size 6 at the time and b) did actually have something to stuff in a jumper I was a bit wary. Bravissimo put me in a 30E and my god it was amazing when I tried it on! I didn't have to have it on the tightest hook and still have it slip, I didnt have to loosen the straps right off and still fall out of the cups and my boobs looked amazing!

I wholeheartedly agree with every word on this thread. I got measured a few times at M&S (had to make an appointment, how long does it take to measure someone, its not like they gave me a proper service helping me choose bras or anything ).

Anyway, as a result I spent years beleiving I was a 32 B, merrily wearing bras which always felt slightly uncomfortable and had the shoulders forever slipping down. Then one day I got measured at a local independent department store which told me I was a 32DD. It was a revelation! Apart from the fact that I now had a boob size that a page 3 girl would be proud of, my bras just fitted so well, I cant believe I had my eyes shut to such comfort for so long! And for the record my tits are really that big I dont think, so I am sure that loads of women are much bigger cup sizes than they think.

Also agree that M&S range of sizes are crap for the smaller or back/bigger of bust, John Lewis all the way!

Sorry, it should say I spent years thinking I was a 36B!

And it should say my tits are NOT really that big! God I really need to proof read!

I have had terrible service when I have asked to be fitted for a new bra so now I just go in and try on a load on my own.

I am a plus size so am limited on which bras I can get at M&S as not all go to larger band sizes. I went in a while ago and was treated with such rudeness and contempt by their "measurer" I will never go back. My DD was then 18 and was appalled at her attitude.

I had a bra from Bravissimo but like somebody else upthread I found it just too tight and, being larger, hated the "backboobs" it gave me where it dug in.

Evans do a range of bras but I have not found them particularly good quality and the underwire broke after just a couple of months in the last one I bought.

YADNBU. M&S reckon I'm a 36C/D. I'm actually a 32E. I buy Fauve, Freya and shop at Bavissimo, Leia or Rigby and Peller. I occasionally shop at M&S but not often because they don't stock the sizes.

Before I got fitted properly my bras never touched the skin between my boobs because the sizing was all wrong. I look much taller and thinner now.

YANBU. M&S fitters have no idea and M&S stock size 8 clothes but not the bras to go with them. The only fitters I trust are rigby & peller and selfridges in london. The latter is where I discovered I was actually 28E (27" back) having spent years being told I was 36C or 34DD. The difference a well fitting bra makes to an outfit is immense. Trying to find bras with 28 or 30 back on the high street is almost impossible. And a nursing bra of 30FF (current size) on the high street? Ha! Ha! Ha!

YANBU

One day a while back I got measured in John Lewis, triumph, bravissimo and m and s all on the same day as I wanted to be absolutely sure what size I was before I got a bra for my wedding day and m and s was the only one who gave me a completely different size to the other three shops (who all gave me exactly the same size!) and wearing the right size bra for the first time in my life was a truly enlightening experience !!!! I highly recommend triumph bras! Bravissimo were also fantastic.

I've now become a bit of a "get measured" preacher now though to any of my friends who have never been measured properly and just guess their size. Wearing the right size makes such a difference to your whole figure and so much more comfortable!

I find the Bella Donna range fab and they last for ages as well.

When I am back in UK in the summer I go to an independent in Tavistock (up Paddons Row) and their measuring is fab.

M&S think I'm a 34B. Rigby and Peller think I'm a 30D. The 30D is waaaay comfier. I dragged my Mum along to R&P having been converted and she was measured as a 32E compared to the 38C she'd been told at M&S.

I am a size 10 - by no means tiny. There must be lots of people who need 28 or 26 bras and just can't find them at all.

PlinkertyPlonk

I have just fished my old, measured M&S bra from the back of the cupboard and measured the bottom edge as closely as possible with a tape measure. It was about 27" and a 32C

New fitted Bravissimo bra, 30F, is 24"

I do have a less well-worn M&S bra hanging around somewhere but I can't find it. I imagine an inch of the M&S one could be due to wear and tear so they are about 2" apart in size. When I wore the M&S one it gave me no support whatsoever - the strap was high on my back and I could easily put a finger between the front and my ribcage. The Bravissimo one fits so well DP thought I wasn't wearing one earlier when he gave me a hug (no, I don't know how he missed the wire either ).

I'd be interested to see what anyone else measures theirs as.

There was a thread a while ago where someone was highlighting ill fitting bras, I can't remember who it was. She described how a bra should fit and how the band of the bra should be 'corset tight' so that the band and not the straps do most of the work. It was a revelation.

I went into a independent bra shop and I bought a Triumph bra in a size that actually fitted me and it was nothing short of amazing. It took a while to get used to wearing a tighter band than I was used to, but now I never ever get sore shoulders from straps holding up my boobs.
I hardly ever get back ache any more either.

Rose, I wish I had a tape measure to try. Are you measuring them while pulling them in the same way they'd stretch on your body? Although, to be fair, most of my bras are 34HH nursing bras becasuse I never get round to sewing nursing clips on my 30Js.

sams, I'm glad you editted your post. I was trying to imagine 32DDs squashed into a 32B!!