As someone who works in fashion marketing, we often just have samples to shoot on the model, and even when you know what size the samples are, finding a model that fits perfectly isn’t always easy.
In our case, we usually have samples in a size 10, but most of the models available are a size 8, no matter how hard we try to cast a size 10. We do also shoot size 16, but that’s another whole set of issues to cast for - there is a lot more inconsistent sizing between top and bottom half, for example, and the fact the industry as a whole doesn’t follow the same measurements can mean that while the model themselves wears a size 16 in many brands, she’s a size 18 for ours. Or she’s a 14 top and 18 bottom, at which point we’re not going to get her into size 16 jumpsuits or trousers.
So I can quite imagine that if all you have is samples in a 34C, for example, you’ll struggle to cast a model to that bra size. Most brands cast based on more than just fit, and often the agencies don’t provide a bra size, giving only a chest measurement. I’ll typically put a brief out to 8 agencies, get 20-25 models back from each to sift through, and only call to castings the ones that both have measurements that will work and also look like they will fit the brand image. From all of that, I’ll see the physical fit and make a decision based upon how the model truly fits the clothes. It takes ages.
One of the stylists we’ve worked with also does styling for a high end lingerie brand, and the kit of bits she has available to resolve fit problems includes a fresh roll of toilet paper to stick in the bra band at the back for when the model has too narrow a rib cage for the samples, for example. There are lots of tricks and hacks to get through a shoot and have the garments look like they fit. So while I’m a lot less judgmental about what I see these days on model shots, it does also inform my expectations of what things will look like on me. I can tell when something has been clipped, for example.
We do say what size our models are and what clothes size they usually wear. My favourite shoot days are those where we’ve not had to pin or clip a single garment: it’s almost a personal victory compared to where the brand was 2 years ago. But I’m well aware from talking to stylists and photographers that I’m unusually picky about fit issues. Most brands seem to operate on a “good enough” approach. I will still always be the person calling for us to only cast someone that actually fit the samples, though. As this post shows, there’s only so much you can fix after the shoot in Photoshop.