So, I'm tweeting about bras with M&S. Who wants to tell me which stores have given incorrect measurements?

[WeAreSix]

They have asked which store fitted incorrectly. Apparently they've invested a lot into their Bra fitting and would like to know which stores have incorrectly measured / fitted.

Shall we give them a list?!

I was just curious about Richmond as I had such a good experience there. I would say not measuring and doing it by eye is OK, actually - that's how they do it at Rigby and Peller and if it's good enough for them....

Doing it by eye is definitely ok - if the fitter knows what a good bra looks like. The fitter I saw measured my back, put me in a 36 and then fitted the cups by eye. But the bra just didn't fit at all. I wasn't spilling out but she didn't tell me to scoop so I had armpit tits, the back was riding way up, I could pull it miles away at the front etc. But she said the back/armpit fat meant I couldn't possibly go down in the back. She just didn't really know what she was looking for.

Bravissimo fit by eye too - not a problem there!

Surely fitting by eye (at least as a final check) is far far far more reliable and important than fittig by measurement.

haven't used M&S for years since they refused to actually measure me. they said they don't measure, just make sure you have the right "fit" in any particular style. was also laughed at while heavily pregnant.

IME the best fitters fit only by eye - but if I was retraining an entire sales force the size of M&S's I'd probably let them use a tape measure (with new measuring guidelines) as a baseline but then teach them how a good bra should look too. The difference between how they fit now and how they should fit is pretty significant and I think many fitters who had been there for a while might struggle to adapt.

But eyes should always be used - a tape measure is never as good as seeing the person in the bra

Latest Tweets:

@marksandspencer: @Vickilovespink thanks, I'll make sure our Lingerie team see this and review what's happening in stores.

@Vickilovespink: @marksandspencer I think you're missing the point tbh, it's the training that's the problem & the available sizes stocked not the fitters

The Willows, Torquay.
Measured me as a 36D, currently wearing (a very comfortable thanks to Statistically) 32F

Cambridge (while breastfeeding) - fitted me a 38C when I'm a 32 GG
Leeds Briggate - fitted me a 36C instead of a 30E

But what is the point of naming the stores? It's the fitting system they're trained to use that is wrong. The stores are doing it "correctly" according to their measuring system.

To sort this out they would need to:

• change the measuring system
• retrain the staff
• stock larger cup sizes
• stock smaller band sizes

which sounds like a fairly major overhaul.

WeAreSix did you tweet them a link to this thread?

JacquesiePeacock when I first tweeted M&S about it they asked me to name the store where I was incorrectly fitted. The point of giving them this thread is to prove that it's not the fitters in store but their training. They have, so far, failed to see that bras being fitted by adding 4/5" is a problem with training. Only as an 'isolated incident'.

FoxPass yes, I have. They haven't acknowledged it though...

I tweeted it too think I got a thanks we will send to the lingerie team message in response

I see. just an isolated incident. about 200 isolated incidents at least according to this thread alone. maybe we are all really unlucky and get fitters in bad days

Let's hope they listen, then!

I must say that I can't see the rationale for adding 4-5 inches to the band measurement at all. It would be a bit like measuring your legs for jeans and then adding 5 inches - you'd have the trouser legs flapping along the street (similar to my breasts in an M&S-fitted bra!).

"fitted" at Edinburgh Princes St and the bra was so uncomfortable that the underwire dug in at the side. So I took it back and complained. They were really rude and said I should have been fitted. When I said I had been, they didn't believe me until I told them my name and they looked back at the fitting records for the day I bought it... Eventually they swapped the bra for another but wouldn't give me a refund. The new one fitted as well appallingly as all other M&S bras I've ever had so I thought that was fine til reading the bra intervention threads here.
Sadly my quest continues because despite making the journey into town with a small baby to Bravissimo, they also fitted me wrongly (acc to the lovely ladies on here). But the wrong Bravissimo fit is still a MAJOR improvement on the wrong M&S one plus I didn't manage to get back into town until I figured I'd had the bra too long and it wouldn't get exchanged. So I'm just sticking with this one til I finish breastfeeding and then will get Bravissimo to fit me (and be armed with bra guru knowledge so I don't leave unless I also think it fits!).

It is such a shame though. M&S should be the 'go to' place for bras; easy to find anywhere in the UK, reliable-ish quality etc. But everyone knows that they don't know how to fit bras properly so they lose out. Isn't there some statistic like 80% of british women are wearing M&S knickers? It should logically be the same for their bras but the sizing thing really lets them down.

I haven't shopped there for bras for over 15 years - always go somewhere like john lewis now. If M&S could only really invest a bit in proper fitting and make this an area of specialty, then they would surely get women in droves picking up their bras there. (Although I guess it would take a bit of time to turn peoples' opinions back after years of awful fittings.)

I wish they would sort it out.

Plymouth Drake Circus. I wear a 36 GG and they fitted me as a 44 E saggy

Here is their sizing chart:

www.marksandspencer.com/Bras-Womens-Size-Guides-Product-Information-Help/b/47648031

If you are a 46C you have negative breasts :)

And according to that I am a 36G.

But at least that chart shows that their staff are following instructions :)

What a peculiar chart. I've never been measured in M&S but according to their chart I would be a 34B (I'm actually a 28E-30DD).

It's weird that they don't even have the larger bust/smaller back sizes on the chart when they stock bras in those sizes. They definitely stock 30Es. In fact, I think they go up to 30G but they don't have anything bigger than a 30C on their chart

That chart makes me a 34E. I'm actually a 28 / 30 F-G. And yet staff told me I was an A cup...

Who is the new woman that's been brought in by M&S - maybe tweet her direct. HQ don't seem to be getting the message!

Belinda Earl

I can't find her on twitter. Hmmmmmm. Maybe an email and link to this will suffice? She's quoted as saying she listened to customer feedback.

Go for it - it certainly can't hurt