ABIU to be incensed at M&S bra fitting! Thumbs up for bravissimo.

[Theas18]

Took 12yr old dd2 for bra fitting at M&S today.

Fitter didn't quite say " but no one has boobs that size " but might as well have !!!!

She wandered in, looked at dd and said " well 12 is really very young to be in a wired style"...........ummm...... Well maybe but make a flippin bra that fits her without wires and that would help!!

In the end there 28 back range didn't fit as it stops as DD anyway.... We left empty handed. Just as well she doesn't have self esteem problems.

In the end we went back to bravissimo - and had a lovely sensitive fitter, who sorted her out with the same style as she has now in a bigger cup size. But I shall clearly have to feed her more as some of the other 28 backs were really a bit loose!

Now all I do is take out a second mortgage to get a couple more ( actually no I've grabbed last years colours from eBay which helps!).

W

As a big boobed lady myself I was going to say YABU to have expected decent bras from M&S but I guess if your boobs conform to a very narrow 'normal' you may not have realised this.
Your daughter may like freya bras - quite girly and fun and give lots of support. you can get them in lots of places (incl debenhams and most department stores)

I love Bravissmo for Bras - even though I am quite a small size - 28D (this is the size Bravssmo start at) or 30C. I find that most stores only start in a 32 or even 34 back size and both of those are far too loose around the back.

Need to find a cheaper alternative though as £30 for a bra is just too much for my budget. Looking for £15 - ish.

Reggaegirl I can help you on that!

Google your style name ( or bar code) and size, and if it's a " big name" maker then you'll probably be able to do like I did for dd and get brand new with tags ones from a sort of " overstocks" place on eBay or similar. About half price even incl postage but the seasonal colours rather than black/ white/ flesh coloured.

I'm off to Bravissimo next week and I can't wait!

I've lost 5 stone in the last 14 months and although my back size has gone down from a 36/38 to a 32, very little has come off the cup size, meaning that my last bras, 4 months ago were 34K! I suspect that I am now a 32J or maybe even a teeny tiny HH! How exciting is that.

I know it's absolutely nothing to do with the thread, but just wanted to share news of my finally shrinking norks.

OMG I think I need to go to Bravissimo. M&S and Debenhams were selling me 36C and D cups, I popped into a Playtex shop while on a day trip and the lovely lady there gave me a once-over and brought me a 34F, I was gobsmacked but she was right! But I've tried several other bras in that size and they don't feel right.

Am I going to need to take out a second mortgage for a shopping trip to Bravissimo? How much do they run?

I'm 32E and find that Debenhams are surprisingly good for bras. Wouldn't trust them to measure me though. And agree that M&S are hopeless - they once measured me as 34C - if only .

Yeah, M & S don't seem to able to cope with bigger boobs, anything over a D cup and they just try and palm you off with a bigger back size, which doesn't help. Bravissimo are excellent, but Debenhams have got pretty good in recent years and stock a wide range of narrow-backed, bigger-cupped bras.

There's no Bravissimo in my town, I so wish there was.

Love Bravissimo, my DD is a 32 E/F and i'm a 34G. It's the only place to get properly fitted and to be not made to feel like a freak by the staff. You can order whatever is not in stock at the shop for free home delivery and they have proper sales with real reductions. M n S are fine for pants, but their bras have really small cups for the sizes. BTW my daughter also has a fab figure and doesn't look like a Jordany freak. Unfortunately mine is less than pneumatic these days after 3 children, but hey, properly fitted bras make one helluva difference.

Yes, M and S are terrible at fitting. I made an appointment after I lost about 2 stone and was fairly sure my size had shrunk with my clothes size! They sized me at larger than I started! I do however buy bras from there, I just try them on till i find one that fits. Currently 40F in some styles (the plainer ones) but don't fit into any style that stops at 40! So thats all the fancy ones out of the window.

I do think it's great OP, that you are taking your DD to get fitted. I was given a second hand AA cup monstrosity when I was 12 or so and told to get on with it- great but I started periods at 9, was probably about 34 DD by that point (judging from old photos). I didn't get a bra that fitted me till I discovered that Evans did them!

Mmecoffee, you'll be pleasantly surprised I think. I wear the tango balconette (soooooo supportive but pretty too, who'd have thought it? Certainly not the bra manufacturers of olden times, ha) and it costs about £25, the same as you'd pay in M&S etc.

Bravissimo are fantastic! I get most of my bras there. I love that they can just look at you (well, they do at my local branch!) and decide what size you should be - 9 times out of 10 they get it right.

I would never go back to M&S for measuring/fitting...here's why:

For years I measured a 38DD; M&S told me this. I then lost 3 stone, went back into M&S for new bras - the cups were bagging and the bra was totally useless. Anyhow, they measured me up and the result....38DD.

I queried this, but was told I must have been wearing the wrong size bra before

Will have to get myself to Bravissimo, I think - bought my first non-maternity/feeding bras in several years from M&S a few weeks ago. Am sure the back size is far too big, as am already on the last row of clasps. And think the cup is too big, also. Sigh.

Peoplesprincess - you are barking. And now 'Anybody in the whole wide world' can read about it .

M&S are shite.

I go to bigger deaprtment stores such as John Lewis or Fenwicks and I've never had a problem with them. They've always been very helpful, and very good.

I must try bravissimo... do they have shops or are they within dept stores?

Another Bravissimo supporter.
Unfortunately, it's difficult to find large cups and small backs in most shops, but Bravissimo stock them.

I can't complain about M&S fitters, only at their range, but I was measured once (over my clothes!!!) at a Triumph shop and they claimed I was an A. I am a 30-32D (depending on bra and brand)!

No Bravissimo anywhere near me unless I go into London which I fecking can't.

I live reasonably close to Lakeside and Bluewater. I HATE shopping centres but would actually brave either pits of hell to get a decent bra-fitting. Can't believe they don't have branches there - oh, well, we in the S.E have fake orange tits anyway and don't give a fuck about being comfortable as long as we look like the women from TOWIE

When I was 16, I overhead my M&S fitter telling her colleague I was "disgusting", as my boobs were 38E. It was years before I dared get fitted again, this time at Bravissimo. I've never looked back since.

M&S have horrible, dated styles, unhelpful staff and a very limited size range. hefts bosom, hops off soapbox

I'm 32E and find that Debenhams are surprisingly good for bras. Wouldn't trust them to measure me though. And agree that M&S are hopeless - they once measured me as 34C - if only

That's exactly waht M&S told me I was: a 34C. But I'm a 34DD or a 32E.

Catpower, that's fucking awful.

ZEEightyMum Try Leia in Bluewater which does a good fitting service and a good selection of bras in the larger cup sizes.
I don't always want to trek into the centre of London to go to Bravissimo and I find Leia a good substitute to cater for my 32 J boobs.
However, love bravissimo when I get the chance to go.

M&S and my mother had me in 38DD all my teenage years. Then I discovered Bravissimo and that I was 32G, and could actually fit a size 12 top.

Now I'm a 34J/K and am happy to broadcast it over the entire internet in the hope that someone will tell me where I can get an underwired nursing bra!

Cheers sillybillies I will.

LeQ

I am not a professional but surely a 38 A means a very tall and broad person with minimal bustage and a 32 F or FF is Barbie a slight person with maximum norkage. Major difference.

I couldn't find an underwired nursing bra in a J cup and I'm fairly sure when I enquired at bravissimo that they advise against wearing underwired when you are breastfeeding.

Theas, sounds like your DD is a bit like me. First time in Bravissimo they had great fun fitting me as even they thought I was much smaller than I am, but how good they just kept on. M&S had me in b cups for years and I measure e/f.

I recommend them to anyone who isn't comfy in their bra as just cos you dont look it doesnt mean you dont need a big cup. I'm 27 and have saggy boobs already from bad bras for years (developed early like your DD seems to have) so good on you for getting your DD a good bra!!