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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think M&S really shouldnt sell bras

130 replies

ineedanexcuse · 25/01/2014 14:31

Just pootering online and saw this minimiser bra for sale.

Not only is it far too small for the model but it is padded!

What sort of idiot dreamed up a minimiser bra -worn expressly to make a large chest look smaller -and then added padding. Unbelievable .

OP posts:
Bunbaker · 26/01/2014 09:20

"It's one of the mysteries of the world that they continue to sell bras."

No it isn't. Not everyone has ample proportions. Is it me or does there seem to be a disproportionate number of posters on MN who is amply provided for in the chest area?

Thanks to the wonderful advice on here I have graduated from a 34A to a 32B. Having looked in all the other chain stores I find M & S offer the best choice for me and they are always my default option for buying underwear.

MrsKoala · 26/01/2014 10:09

Quite the opposite for me Bunbaker. According to M&S i am too small for their bras. They measured me at a 40a then the cups were still baggy with breast tissue spilling into my armpits and the bra cutting across my breasts at the top. They just couldn't fathom my very unusual shape.

As i said tho, tbf no one can, and i have yet to find a bra which fits. I am technically a 36D, but my boobs are this ) shape, rather than a teardrop. I have lots of tissue at the top so every bra cuts into it and no boob below so every bra is baggy. The wire sits a good inch below where my boobs actually start so i have no under support at all. I need a slightly padded cup to try to fill the void/keep the shape round (which they don't). Otherwise i look like my boob has suddenly collapsed half way down. They are really wide apart too, so always have armpit boobs.

Add to this that one is now bigger than the other after only being able to BF from one side. When bfing one fitted a 36ee really nicely, but the other side was swamped - so when i get them sorted that's the size i would go for. It sounds massive, but on my 5ft10in broad frame it really looked just right.

Even my doctor told me i have 'terrible breasts' when he was giving me a breast check. Apparently they are just a thin layer of breast tissue all over rather than a 'boob' shape which gets fuller. It means you can just feel the ribs thru them and can't get any flesh together to feel for lumps.

I assume it's hereditary. My sister is the same as i my paternal aunt and so was my paternal grandmother. Whatever reason, it's a monumental PITA.

SorrelForbes · 26/01/2014 10:13

Is it me or does there seem to be a disproportionate number of posters on MN who is amply provided for in the chest area? Well, tbh, if everyone was fitted properly, the majority of women would be an F and bigger!

ilovepowerhoop · 26/01/2014 10:19

even my 10 year old measures as a C cup as she measures 3 inches more round her (just starting to develop) breast area compared to underneath. I would say it would be pretty unusual to be as small as an A cup or even a B cup as that means only a 1 or 2 inch difference between the figures.

Sheldonswhiteboard · 26/01/2014 10:35

Absolutely sorrel. I was horrified at first when I discovered my real cup size! I thought I was a freak - I'm not that massive though, I certainly see many larger women than me maybe they are all cramming themselves into dd and e cups!

Lovecat · 26/01/2014 10:50

I was in M&S bra department a while ago (I'd just had a bra intervention from MN and was trying some on to see if it was right - from a 38C to a 32GG!) when I overheard in the next cubicle the assistant with a teenage girl and her mum (first 'proper' bra).

M&S - Oh, no, I've measured you, you're definitely a 34C
Mum - But she's only a size 6, are you sure?
M&S - Oh yes, it's because of the total measurement across the chest.

Teen - It feels weird
M&S - First bras always do, you'll get used to it.

They came out at the same time as me and were on their way to the tills, I couldn't help myself, I said 'excuse me, that woman was talking nonsense, go somewhere independent and see what they say' - could not believe that they were selling this tiny teenager such a huge bra!

Their Rosie bra, btw, is the only one I've found anywhere that fits my norks perfectly, so I am slowly buying one in every colour...

SorrelForbes · 26/01/2014 10:58

I have never done an intervention in M&S. Oh no not me... Blush

Bunbaker · 26/01/2014 11:03

"even my 10 year old measures as a C cup as she measures 3 inches more round her (just starting to develop) breast area compared to underneath. I would say it would be pretty unusual to be as small as an A cup or even a B cup as that means only a 1 or 2 inch difference between the figures."

Sadly, my family are not well endowed. DD is 13 and measures 28 under bust and 29 over bust. I measure 31" under, but can't even do up a 30". A 32" feels very tight indeed and a C cup in every style is way too baggy. So a 32" it is and a very good and comfortable fit. I can't even do the "scoop" because I have no back fat or under arm fat.

Bunbaker · 26/01/2014 11:04

I meant a 32B it is.

Hoppinggreen · 26/01/2014 11:13

I'd be quite happy if M&S gave up clothes altogether and just sold food!!

Dontletthemgetyoudown · 26/01/2014 14:12

Not sure if they have had new training but I was in the huge m&s at camberley today, stocking up on bras for myself (they fit me very well so every so often I buy another stock pile especially as they have pretty colours today was hot pink and a teal blue and a Dalmatian print to go with my 2 white 2 nude and 1 black.) and I overheard the fitter talking to a customer and she said you measure just over 31inches so we'll try 30 and 32 bands and the full bust is 34inches so that would mean a c or d depending on style. Doesn't sound like she was adding 4 to any measurement?

StatisticallyChallenged · 26/01/2014 14:19

No it doesn't! We have had scattered reports of the odd fitter doing it right (normally they were trained elsewhere!) but fingers crossed...

edamsavestheday · 26/01/2014 14:22

M&S bra fittings are awful. They don't have a clue. Wonder if that's at least a factor in why their clothes division has been doing so badly for years?

IF only the guy in charge would ruddy READ what customers (or potential customers) say about his ruddy shops and do something about it.

Bravissimo are usually great but I did once have a bad experience in there with someone who sold me the wrong cup size. It'd been a while since I'd been fitted and I'd lost and gained weight so I was prepared to believe her. Wrongly.

NotYouNaanBread · 26/01/2014 15:24

They're useless for the small of bosom & they can't even decide what a 34a is. The version of 34a in the Rosie thingy range is great. Only a little padding, unlike most of their tinychest bras which assume that you want masses of stiff, uncomfortable padding that distorts the bra horribly.

Bunbaker · 26/01/2014 15:47

"They're useless for the small of bosom"

I don't find that at all Grin. You must be looking at the wrong bras. Thanks to the intervention threads on here I bought the right size and now don't look like a boy in a T shirt.

NearTheWindmill · 26/01/2014 18:49

They are hopeless for my amplish norkage - I have a lot of flesh in the cleavage areA and as I have said a million times one7 yes one bra, caters for that - triumph Amourette.

DD is not as well built in the centre and an MandS 32C/D - rounded, slightly padded cup, suits her very nicely in all its styles and colours.

I think MandS bras are like midwives and health visitors - designed for the average and unable to differentiate for anything that doesn't fit a round hole.

SorrelForbes · 26/01/2014 18:55

But M&S aren't designed for the average at all, as the average is probably around a 32FF and M&S doesn't even do an FF!

BillyBanter · 26/01/2014 21:42

How the hell would the average be that? Confused

M&S bras work for some people and don't work for other people. If their bras don't work for you, the solution is not to buy your bras there, not for them not to sell bras to anyone at all.

ilovepowerhoop · 26/01/2014 21:45

its not a problem with the bras per se but with the way they are fitted. If they routinely add 4/5 inches on to peoples back sizes then the average back size of bra is actually 4/5 inches smaller than what they say is the average size i.e. if they say average size is a 36 inch back then in reality the average size is around 32 inches as they have a silly way of measuring.

ilovepowerhoop · 26/01/2014 21:47

and conversely you then need to add those extra inches onto the cup size as the way they measure 'steals' fabric from the cup size to add onto the back size. Most people wear a bra that is too big in the band and too small in the cup due to silly measuring practices.

edamsavestheday · 26/01/2014 21:48

Billy, same way the average woman is a size 16.

StatisticallyChallenged · 26/01/2014 21:53

I'd pretty much agree with Sf's assessment actually. I remember reading (I think it was an M&S estimate actually) that the average UK bra size has gone up to a 36D. In M&S measuring style, that would be someone who measures 31 or 32" underbust and about 40" overbust

In reality, fitted properly, that person would fit a 32FF or thereabouts.

CelticPromise · 26/01/2014 22:27

YANBU they are no use to me at all. I wear a 30HH and they want to put me in a 38DD/E Hmm I'm a size 16 so I want to bang my head against a wall at so many size 10-12 women wearing 34 or 36.

NaanBread would you humour a sad bra lady and post your measurements? 34A is really a very very unusual size.

SelectAUserName · 26/01/2014 22:58

Could someone please advise me as to where to start re sizes? I have a 37" underbust and 41" overbust (size 16 dress size). Am currently wearing M&S 38Cs which are okay but I get some bulging at the side of the cup under my arms and also a bit of 'ridging' of the skin/flesh on my ribcage just below the band.

StatisticallyChallenged · 27/01/2014 00:01

I'd suggest trying 36dd and 38d. The underarm bulging suggests not enough cup space. Probablythe 36dd