To expect to actually be measured for a bra fitting?

[CaptainCabinets]

I booked a bra fitting at M&S today as I’ve just finished 13 months of breastfeeding and have also lost a little weight (only about a stone) so my old bras no longer fit properly. For context, I wore a 34G (properly measured and fitted) prior to pregnancy/breastfeeding/weight loss. The band still fits properly but the cup is now too large, so I guesstimated I’d be around a 34E-F these days.

I arrived for my bra fitting, expecting the fitter to have a tape measure to measure me, but she said she ‘just goes by eye’ and that she guessed I would be a 42C based on my shape. She brought a 42C into the fitting room and, predictably, it did not fit me at all. I explained I’d been a 34G previously and she actually laughed at me and said there was no way a 34 band would fit me.

She went to get a 42D and I scarpered from the fitting room while she was out because I had no confidence in her fitting ability and felt completely humiliated after she had laughed at me. Is ‘going by eye’ the norm for M&S bra fitting now?! I could do that my bloody self!

M&S are dreadful. Not only do they use the +4 thing, but they will also fit you in whatever bras they have rather than say they don’t do your size.

I’m a 36HH and m&S tried to put me in a 44DD. Coincidentally the largest bra they had in store that day… The fitter was offended when I laughed at the state of it on me.

Bravissimo have always been good for me. Not only at sizing, but also styles that suit my shape. They’re also really good in the nearest one at being able to say “I’d say probably X size in this brand, Y size in that one because they fit smaller/bigger”. And they’ll also say when they don’t have a size in stock rather than just stick you in something else.

M&S are absolutely awful for fitting and I tell everyone this. I told them my size, they didn't have it, and told me that absolute rot about 'sister sizes' (going up a band and down a cup size) which essentially means they try to sell you a poorly fitting bra just because it's a size they stock. I've (against my better judgement) been back a couple of times in the last couple of decades and they're still peddling it out.

@bumptybum , It makes a big difference if you are wearing the wrong bra size - it affects how you look in your clothes and can give you back pain.

I got measured at Bravissimo a couple of years after I had DD. The fitter looked me up and down a few times, bought in a couple of different bras and, lo and behold, turns out I had indeed gone from a 34B to a 34E. Best fitting bras I’ve ever worn and not a tape measure in sight.

Former bra fitter here (Knickerbox). This is how we trained to do it back in the day - could save you a repeat stressful trip:

• measure under bust
• if even number, add 4 inches to get the band number. If odd number, add 5. So 28 inches under bust becomes 32 band. 27 also becomes 32.
• Measure around the fullest part of the boob (usually across the nips). If this number is 1 more inch than the band measurement, that’s an A cup. 2 more inches = B cup and so on.
• For example, I measure 28 inches under bust, so I add 4 and I am a 32 band. I then measure 36 inches around the fullest part of boobs, which is 4 more than 32, therefore I am a 32D.

Might be total bobbins, but it’s worked for me and all the female family members and friends I’ve measured over the years.

I would say though that I can tell ‘by eye’ also, so the fitter wasn’t necessarily wrong to do so.

Surely people know by now not to go to M&S for bra fitting? They couldn’t fit bras if their lives depended on it!

MayasJamas the +4 method would result in a bra that is too big in the band and small in the cup for most women, retailers like it because it helps to reduce the range of sizes needed. It would put me in a 34C. I wear a 30E or 28F depending on the bra and get a much better fit. Not many high street stores carry bras in those sizes though.

I wouldn’t ever go to M&S for a fitting. They’re shit.

It is total bobbins. The band size would be too loose to support you. The band size should be roughly what your underbust measurement is.

M and S use this incorrect and out of date method, and that is why so many women are wearing the wrong size bra.

Interesting! So my ‘true’ band size could be 28? Good excuse for going bra shopping, I say…

I used to go to bravissimo but can also measure myself. The add 4 or 5 method is nonsense. If your under bust measures 32 then your band will likely be 32, although brands do vary.
Whenever I went to bravissimo they asked me to wear my best fitting bra. They then look at that and decide if the band is too big, cup too small etc and work from there.
They got my fitting spot on but it wasn’t the same in every bra, for example I went up a back size in a strapless bra as the band had next to no give.
People expect to be one size but they’re just like clothes, I have jeans ranging from a size 10 to 14 depending on where they’re from or what style they are. Bras are the same

Yes they do. I overheard a bra fitting last time I was in the changing rooms and had to stop myself shouting out to say how wrong she was!

I’m lucky to have a good independent lingerie shop in my town. They’ve seen me through breastfeeding, weight changes and breast cancer and I’ve never had a badly fitting bra from them!

Found my tape measure!

Underbust: 34
Bust: 41

If my calculations are correct, that’s 34F.

42C indeed 😅😂 I’ll go back to M&S and try some on, hopefully she’s on fitting room duty…

M&S do make 30F. Ignore all M&S fitters and order online. Their instore stock is useless.

You're being unreasonable to go to M&S for a bra fitting full stop. They do not know how to bra fit.

No one is a 42C, having 5 years of bra fitting experience I never fitted anyone in a size near that. It actually makes me mad that they continue to make those sizes but it's so hard to find a cup over an E in most of the shops.

You're also being unreasonable for expecting a tape measure. When I first started bra fitting we used a tape measure and it was wildly inaccurate the way they taught us. We very quickly ditched the tape and learnt how to measure by size and by actually trying different styles on. I would say 95% of the time I could get the right size just by looking.

OP I had almost this exact experience about 10 years ago in an M&S in London somewhere. I wasn’t even having a fitting - I just asked where to find bras in my size which was a 32F at the time. The lady was a complete tosser, told me there was no way I was a 32F, somehow she ended up measuring me and sneered and told me I was something like a 42C. I tried one on and I could have fitted a friend inside it with me. Absolutely ludicrous and I was so cross. I was a curvy size 10 at the time with a 28-30 inch waist and the idea that I would be more than 12 inches bigger in circumference around my bra band than around my waist was pretty funny when I stopped to think about it!

if even number, add 4 inches to get the band number. If odd number, add 5. So 28 inches under bust becomes 32 band

Yup, exactly the reason I thought it was inevitable my bra back was always climbing up, straps digging in and boobs climbing out of cups.

I was measured spot on by eye in Victoria’s Secret. It’s how they do it now. 38C 🤣

Agreed. I just grabbed a tape measure to check - my underbust is 30" and I wear either a 30 or 32 band, depending on the style.

Victoria's Secret also loves to put people in too big backs and too small cups. My 28H friend was told she is 34DD and the bra they gave her fits brilliantly! She sent me photos, it was hilariously bad, like boobs wearing tiny hats.

Rigby and pellar know what they are doing going by eye but everyone else I’ve ever had do This to me were wssayyyy off

My last one was about 6 months ago at John Lewis so they just got a few sizes and tried them on. They were really helpful in telling me what sizes would fit in other shops eg Bravissimo and other brands eg if you're a 30 E in x you'll probably want to try a 30 F in y. M&S are bad though. Way off the mark.

M and S are dreadful at bra fitting but it’s nothing to do with measuring it’s just bad training. Rugby and Peller - who are amazing- never use a tape measure.

Keep in mind that after DD some ranges in M&D will skip sizes so if they skip EE then you’d need FF as your start point.

The backward band test is the most important step in trying a new bra imo.

if it fits you backwards then the band fits. Then the cup is where you need to tweak - too many poorly trained fitters mess with the band when it’s the cups that are wrong.

Also after years in the wrong size a properly fitting one will feel tight. I was convinced bravissimo were wrong the first time. Then a week later I was like “so this is what it’s meant to be like…” not the constantly adjusting straps nonsense that’s been normal for years 😂