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Original poster

M&S bra measuring - absolute insanity?

125 replies

Aperolsprizter · 23/12/2023 12:57

Just wanted a sanity check here. I’ve not had a bra measure in a few years, used to love Debenhams. Had an experience with m&s when I was younger and hated it but thought I’d have to give it another go as nowhere near me does bra fittings on the high street any more (have tried boom and bust, measuring myself but never seem to get it right).

anyway, go in wearing a soft unsupportive bra and state that I’ve been wearing 38Ds, but feel they aren’t holding me and I can pull them onto my stomach so want something with more support. She tries to put me in a 44 B - I humour her and try it on but can literally pull it out miles on the back and the cup clearly doesn’t fit. She then says my current bra made my boobs look deceptively small and actually I might be a 40 D. I try and then again, don’t feel supported. We size down to a 38 E and it’s still too loose. I eventually ask for a second opinion (possibly snippy but I don’t want to spend 40 on badly fitting bras!) who says I’m a 36e. I try this and it gives support and fits fine.

she then tells me it’s policy to size up at least four inches on what you measure (so she was a 32 but said she was wearing a 36) and I must like bras a lot more fitted than most women.

is this normal??? For context I’m 5’3, a size 12/14 and yes, quite top heavy with a comparitifely wider back to my hips

OP posts:
RufustheFactualReindeer · 23/12/2023 15:17

Its absolutely rubbish

if i go and buy a pair of jeans i get a 31 inside leg…i don’t add 4 inches on for shits and giggles

i don’t measure a shelf to fit in an alcove and add 4 inches!

(i know its not quite the same but its how i explain it to anyone i am ranting about badly fitting bras to 😀)

HollyLondoner · 23/12/2023 15:30

Hahahaha oh dear M&S! Similar experience here. Always been a 34B but wanted to get remeasured after having a baby as are now much saggier and felt bigger. She measured me a 38B and in a size 12. It was huge at the back. She then brought me a 36B, again too big. Then agreed to bring the 34B, which obviously fitted and she said it must be a very stretchy bra 😂

Friedtofuandbeans · 23/12/2023 15:37

Using the boob or bust measurements I’m a 28D - where even sells those?! I don’t think I’ve ever seen less than a 32 inch back.

fyn · 23/12/2023 15:40

@showmethegin sounds right, I’m the same height but a 12/14 and wear a 30 band with a K cup. Before I’d been properly measured I was forever buying new M&S bras because the wires kept coming out. Now I know the band was too big and causing the wires to move and break.

3Tunes · 23/12/2023 15:40

Friedtofuandbeans · 23/12/2023 15:37

Using the boob or bust measurements I’m a 28D - where even sells those?! I don’t think I’ve ever seen less than a 32 inch back.

Bravissimo and John Lewis. And online places like Brastop and Amazon, but for trying a new size I’d go to Bravissimo.

WaitTheNoo · 23/12/2023 15:43

mumstheword1982 · 23/12/2023 13:05

I'm 5 foot 2 and a size 12/14.
I'm a 34 and I can still stretch my bra, although a 32 would feel tight.
M and s notoriously bad a measuring.

I've been everything from a size 6 to a 12 and back down again over the years. It's crazy to me that a 32 is a snug fit at a size 12 (so 5 sizes bigger than the smallest adult size) and yet a 32 is as small as bands generally get in most shops. They act as if a 30 or god forbid a 28 is a child's size.

annahay · 23/12/2023 15:46

Aperolsprizter · 23/12/2023 12:57

Just wanted a sanity check here. I’ve not had a bra measure in a few years, used to love Debenhams. Had an experience with m&s when I was younger and hated it but thought I’d have to give it another go as nowhere near me does bra fittings on the high street any more (have tried boom and bust, measuring myself but never seem to get it right).

anyway, go in wearing a soft unsupportive bra and state that I’ve been wearing 38Ds, but feel they aren’t holding me and I can pull them onto my stomach so want something with more support. She tries to put me in a 44 B - I humour her and try it on but can literally pull it out miles on the back and the cup clearly doesn’t fit. She then says my current bra made my boobs look deceptively small and actually I might be a 40 D. I try and then again, don’t feel supported. We size down to a 38 E and it’s still too loose. I eventually ask for a second opinion (possibly snippy but I don’t want to spend 40 on badly fitting bras!) who says I’m a 36e. I try this and it gives support and fits fine.

she then tells me it’s policy to size up at least four inches on what you measure (so she was a 32 but said she was wearing a 36) and I must like bras a lot more fitted than most women.

is this normal??? For context I’m 5’3, a size 12/14 and yes, quite top heavy with a comparitifely wider back to my hips

Their policy is very old fashioned and isn't relevant to the way bras are made these days. Bravissimo will do a virtual fit for you.

Bluevelvetsofa · 23/12/2023 15:46

The very best bras I’ve ever had were from Rigby and Peller. They look at you and then fetch a selection. I went in a 36C and came out a 32E. Sadly, I can no longer afford them and there isn’t a store within striking distance since we moved.

annahay · 23/12/2023 15:53

christmaspawpaws · 23/12/2023 13:49

M&S put me in a 40HH
I'm actually a 34K

That's probably because they don't sell anything bigger than an HH.

christmaspawpaws · 23/12/2023 15:59

gotomomo · 23/12/2023 15:05

I went to an expensive independent shop who tried to tell me I was a 30g, it was so uncomfortable! I didn't buy their suggestions. 34e fitted so much better without making marks

Marks are ok as long as they're not sore
Socks, skinny jeans, waistbands etc all leave marks
Obviously if it's not comfortable though then it's not right
My bras are firm (34 band at size 16/18) but I could sleep in one comfortably

christmaspawpaws · 23/12/2023 16:00

@annahay definitely but you shouldn't try and sell someone something that doesn't fit
They said it was perfect and the band was up around my shoulders!

Greyandrare123 · 23/12/2023 16:00

I was wearing a 38D from M&S on their advice and then I got my actual size measured. Im a 34FF and Ive never looked back. The band sits flush against my sternum, takes nearly all of the weight and the straps are comfortable. The cups hold my boobs with no gaps or bulges.
However Ive learned too the best bra for me is a balcony bra which I now stick with.

TheKnittedCharacter · 23/12/2023 16:04

They are rubbish in this aspect. Fitter in M&S told me I am 36B, all bras in this size rode up and my boobs were poking over the top.

Went to Rigby and Peller, they told me I am 32DD which fits me perfectly.

Original poster
Aperolsprizter · 23/12/2023 16:06

Thanks so much for this reassurance, I thought I was going mad. fwiw the size I bought in the m&s bra I like and fits OK - but it’s still not the really supportive tight fit I went in wanting

OP posts:
annahay · 23/12/2023 16:06

christmaspawpaws · 23/12/2023 16:00

@annahay definitely but you shouldn't try and sell someone something that doesn't fit
They said it was perfect and the band was up around my shoulders!

I agree. I think they do it deliberately to make a sale.

NeverForgiveMyself · 23/12/2023 16:20

My last bra measuring experience at M and S was a bit of a surprise for me - I've been wearing a 38a/36b for years, haven't been measured for more than 20 years, but after breast surgery this year I thought i would get measured and buy unwired bras (recommended by the surgeon)

I was measured and told I was actually 34d! And the bra she recommended actually got rid of my back fat! Win win.

LakieLady · 23/12/2023 16:25

BlazingJune · 23/12/2023 13:47

Oh and just to confirm this, I once looked at bras in a local shop selling high end bras. I said I was looking for a size 34 and the owner took one look at me and said 'no way- you look more like a 30/32'.

It's amazing how experienced fitters can do that.

I used to know someone whose mother had been an old-style corsetiere, and had a lingerie shop.

She met me once, briefly, and as they walked home she told her daughter that I was wearing a 38C but what I needed was a 36F. Tried a 36F on in Bravissimo, and never looked back: it stayed in place, was far more comfortable and I no longer had a problem with my underboob escaping from my bra whenever I reached up for anything.

greengreengrass25 · 23/12/2023 16:31

I find the sports bras very poor in M&S

The hooks at the back always seem to become distorted after a while

CouldBeOuting · 23/12/2023 16:43

M&S reckoned I was a 38C last time they measured me. I am 5’ 3”, size 10-12 bottom half and 12-14 top half. Rigby & Peller and independent lingerie shops all have me as 32FF. I think the reason M&S wanted me in a 38C was because when I told them the size I was looking for they didn’t have any. The 38C I tried on I could have put on and off practically without unfastening it and no way were my huge boobs fitting in the cups! Now they sell Fantasie bras I CAN buy my bras from M&S online though. I’d never let them anywhere near me with their ridiculous sizing rules again.

therealcookiemonster · 23/12/2023 16:47

marks and sparks are crap for bras. go to bravissimo, your life will change

Mumaway · 23/12/2023 16:49

I bet it would be right. I'm a 12sih top and never more than 32, with DD/E depending on the brand

Original poster
Aperolsprizter · 23/12/2023 16:54

It was just a very weird experience. The fact she was trying to act like there wasn’t an enormous gap in the band when I tried them as well. Miss Debenhams just want her back

OP posts:
soemptyinside · 23/12/2023 16:55

M&S are insane when it comes to bras. My mum took me there for my first ever fittting.

When I was older, I went to Bravissimo by myself and got a completely different size. Have never looked back.

The fitters at Bravissimo take one look at you, and have a pretty good idea of what size and style will work.

I think M&S bra fittings should be banned, TBH. How many women have they sent into the wild wearing shit bras?

junkfoodheaven · 23/12/2023 17:21

I went to m&s a few months ago and got told i was a 36DD.
The bra i tried on was lace and not my kind at all i said it dont feel right its to lose.
She then got a T-shirt bra my sort of bra i said the cups are to big she says no thats the right size for you.
The whole bra was to big / lose i said thank you and left,
I went to a different shop and got fitted turns out im a 38C and fits perfect.
And id like to take a moment to say M&S fitting room mirrors are fat mirrors
I looked like a over sized oompa loompa.
The second shop mirror i looked fine im fat but not that bad.
Rant over.