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!

I measured DD at home to get a vague sense of her probable size and then grabbed a few sizes either way in M&S and went from there - it is very much like jeans

Every bra is different you need to try them on. I cannot understand how anyone just goes and buys a bra off a supermarket shelf. There must be loads of people walking round with the wrong size bra on. You need a trained fitter.

Experienced bra fitters have fitted so many women, they don't need a tape measure. They do just know.

I thought M&S used tape measures - I certainly read an article about a man being fitted with a tape measure last year, but that could be store specific or a made-up story.

https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/08/21/marks-and-spencer-bra-fit-sophie-molly-trans/#

I also did get eye-ball fitted though and they tried to give me a bra several bands too big. Seeing as this keeps happening, who do the staff think the sized 30 bands are for, if not the women with a 30 inch back? Slenderwoman?

Have a look at Weirwonderful on Instagram - I’ve just had a virtual fitting with her and for the first time in my life feel like I’ve got a perfectly fitting bra. I was wearing a 40D (thanks to M&S) she sized me at a 36GG and I’m finally comfortable, no sagging or straps sliding off my shoulders!

I always go up Bravissimo and they have never measured with a tape measure. Always get a great fit.

I did go to M&S about 18 months ago and goodness knows what flipping hocus pocus they use, but it’s absolute bobbins. They told me I was 42C I think it was, but that size didn’t fit at all, and after a bit more faff they told me they didn’t have anything to fit me. I was a 38F, which was completely as expected.

Oh pre-kids I was a 28FF, and M&S tried to palm me off with a 36D “because it’s a sister size” (ie they didn’t have any cup sizes larger than a D in stock).

A 36D and 28FF are not in any way interchangeable. This is why people say M&S are shit at measuring bras 🤣

Not been measured using a tape measure for maybe 20 years. I go to independents. I will only buy one brand and style of bra now.

It’s like shoes , you will only get a bra to fit you exactly if you have it made to measure .

Came on to say this, it's quite an experience! 😀

What's more, once they have run their eye over you they may suggest different sizes in different brands, because they can vary in cut and style.

My last two bra fittings were Bravissimo and M&S. The Bravissimo one was awful, she tried to talk me into buying one that just didn't fit. I wasn't really expecting much from M&S but she was great, knew exactly what I was looking for and found the right size and shape. So much so I bought another two in different colours because I liked it so much.

Wait, did she have no clue how to measure because she didn’t measure as you’ve set out or was she actually a professional because she didn’t use a measuring tape?

M&S can’t measure with or without a tape, they consistently put women in back bands 4-6 inches too big and cup sizes too small

She is very much a professional. She also asked me what bra size I was wearing.

Back in the day when I could afford such things I would go to the Rigby & Peller next to Harrods

You strip off and the assistant would briefly put her hands on either side of your back, have a look at your breasts, and come back with 3/4 bras which would all fit!

These women had been doing the job for decades and skilled enough not to need a tape measure

Like others I’ve had a fab experience not being measured - at selfridges in London (free). I also went post-bf.

Had been wearing 34C all my adult life but ended up for the first time with properly fitting bras that ranged from 30DD to 30E depending on the brand (recommend Wacoal and Simone Perelle, which id never tried before). It was honestly transformational. M&S don’t stock these sizes afaik so it’s unsurprising they don’t measure people to fit them!

The tape measure is irrelevant - many a good fitter can work by eye and in conjunction with what you currently have and the tape measure only helps so much anyway

the utter incompetence and ignorance displayed is an issue - good grief I’d be fuming

Another Rigby and Peller fan here

Avoid bra fittings at M&S as the are awful. I didn't know that before I had one there and they suggested a ridiculously badly fitting bra. I now go to a local independent bra shop, and they are brilliant.

So why did you set out in your second paragraph the need to use a tape measure?

Agree M&S are crap at bra measuring . I went for one when I was pregnant and came home with the most uncomfortable bra of all time. I measured myself and got a different size that was comfy . They go by the old method which is a terrible method in my experience. I bet there is no way in hell you are a 42c.

I didn't say that the bra fitter did that. I gave advice that Boob and Bust provide. It is a good rough guide if you can't find somewhere that offers professional bra fittings.

Perhaps you should re-read my post

So then it’s fine that the OP didn’t get measured by a bra fitter?

Yes.

I worked at Ann summers about 12 years ago. We stopped using tape measures then. Sometimes did for the band. But that’s it.

Bra cup shapes make a huge difference in cup size. You might be a D in a plunge and a DD in a balconette but need a C in a full cup.

Different shop bras also fit differently.

What I always found is that most people do not wear the correct size band. Either way too small or way too big.