Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

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

443 replies

WeAreSix · 18/07/2013 14:31

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?!

OP posts:
SpottyTeacakes · 18/07/2013 21:27

You really, really, really need to get thee to the bra thread now! A 28E will have a much smaller cup than a 36E and you need to scoop and lots of other things. You can measure yourself, they can tell you how to do it properly, and then get the right size...only had one true A cup on all the threads I think

SorrelForbes · 18/07/2013 21:28

Not in M&S, they usually just measure over your top which is pointless! Have a look at the guidance here

CaptainJamesTKirk · 18/07/2013 21:30

Well I never... You live and learn. I'm not going topless for an M&S assistant, although you lot seen to be suggesting M&S is not the place to go.

GreenEggsAndNaiceHam · 18/07/2013 21:30

M&s bras are made of horrid scratchy material and they don't have the side bone bit that helps the bra sit against your rib cage. I went to a talk on underwear a few years back at the V & A. M and S where there with video of models wearing their bras. not a single one fitted properly, lots of bands riding up the back.

CaptainJamesTKirk · 18/07/2013 21:34

Thank you sorrel I'll but a tape measure tomorrow and try to do this myself.

CaptainJamesTKirk · 18/07/2013 21:34

Buy not but!

StarfishEnterprise · 18/07/2013 21:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

OohMrDarcy · 18/07/2013 21:40

Someone mentioned breastfeeding above, so here's my input there too:

When feeding DS (circa 3 years ago) I was in my m&s fitted feeding bra ... 34F if I remember correctly.... remember it not feeling as comfortable as I'd hoped but ploughed on through the haze of exhaustion - ended up with an AWFUL bout of mastitits, which took 3 different types of ABs and 4 trips to the doctor over about 9 days I think to clear - doc for the last two visits was female and when she was examining me made it clear she thought it was caused by ill fitting bra (which she could obviously tell having just taken it off) but in my naivity I just said it had just been fitted for me at m&s!

madamginger · 18/07/2013 21:46

Bury fitted me as a 36dd I'm a 32f

Fluffycloudland77 · 18/07/2013 22:03

They don't do my size unless its a teen bra.

I need a 28 back, I'm a size 8 on top so not freakishly small.

Betty5313 · 18/07/2013 22:14

yes, when I asked if they had any in a 28 band I was told only in the children section. I don't want a child's bra! They must sell plenty of clothes in a size 8, so where are all the 28 back bras for the size 6/8 women?!

justabigdisco · 18/07/2013 22:23

Manchester city centre
Manchester Trafford centre
Bury

All measured me at 34DD for years - I'm a 30F.

MotionCity · 18/07/2013 22:24

I'm a 28/30 back and I'm not even particularly tiny! 5'11/size 10 but with narrow ribs and just a very small frame! Makes me wonder what all the actually petite women do...

louise2011 · 18/07/2013 22:37

Edinburgh m&s refused to fit me for a nursing bra at 36wks even though I told them I was having a section at 38wks & would probably be housebound for a few wks after I had the baby- rubbish! Lovely lady in j Lewis sorted me out!

After my 2nd baby I went back after finished feeding (I know- there was a sale on). They couldn't find a bra to fit me! Said I was maybe a 34b/c.

Been wearing a 34c for a few yrs now but because recently fitted elsewhere & am now wearing a 30D- 1st time I have felt properly supported in years & years. I really looked like an old woman with saggy boobs. Now I feel so good wearing the correct size. Lady in debenhams sorted me out in minutes I tell you. Can't recommend them enough.

CelticPromise · 18/07/2013 22:47

Motion I'm a size 16 and I wear a 30 back. There is definitely not enough around in small back sizes, there are plenty of women who need a 26 and they are nowhere.

nowahousewife · 18/07/2013 22:54

Would never go there myself after an awful fitting at Ealing branch back in the 90's.

Took DD for her first bra fitting again at Ealing store a couple of years ago hoping things might have changed and the woman said she was a 34A. Now I knew that was wrong as I'm a 34HH and my daughter is much narrower across the back.

Marched her across the road to the lovely ladies in Bravissimo who just chuckled when I said we'd been to m&s. They then fitted her properly as a 28d but refused to sell me any of their bra's as they are nearly all underwired and they won't sell these to under 16's. They told me to take her to John Lewis and be firm about what size we needed.

Please do tweet this thread OP, for the sake of the nation's boobs!

TheSkiingGardener · 18/07/2013 23:24

M&S bras fit beautifully, if you like them falling out when you run and sagging about by your knees by the time you are in your 50's

KnittedC · 18/07/2013 23:36

Oxford-fitted me in a 40C, when I'm actually a 32FF as confirmed by the brilliant Bravissimo.

ShatnersBassoon · 18/07/2013 23:42

Nottingham fitted me with a 36B which made me look and feel ridiculous. I'm wearing a lovely comfy 34E, not from M&S.

Arkady · 18/07/2013 23:52

Clapham Junction
but Kingston were actually right.

choceyes · 19/07/2013 00:01

I need a 26 back. Can never find one. I'm a size 8, sometimes a 6, so not unusually small. Make do with a 28 back.
M&s have messured me to be a 32d in the past. Im more a 28f.

auntpetunia · 19/07/2013 06:30

Aintree retail park Liverpool ?after 40 minutes I was told I was a funny size and a 36A was probably best!!! Am actually a 32ff.

SpanielFace · 19/07/2013 06:37

Lincoln branch measured me as a 40B post-breastfeeding! I grabbed 2 bras (not much choice in that size) & tried them on very quickly as I had a crying baby with me, thought "they'll do". They were a shocking fit & gave me no support, but I wasn't able to return them as I'd removed the tags before I realised. Re-measured elsewhere and I'm actually a 36 E!

D0oinMeCleanin · 19/07/2013 06:48

So when I get measured it's going to be worth me spending my only day off in 3 whole weeks (my job sharer is on holiday) getting the train an hour away to Bravissimo?

It will be the Newcastle store of that makes a difference.

MS always put me in a 44D, which I am not convinced on, when I look at other people who are a D cup my breasts are much much larger than theirs. Once they've measured me, they tell me they don't stock this size in our store and have me trying on 40DDs.

Dolphinnoises · 19/07/2013 06:56

St Albans - while breastfeeding. I wanted new BF bras and it was clear the woman who did the fitting didn't know anything about breastfeeding and bras. I was told the bra I was wearing (a BF bra, they had no BF bras in stock) was clearly too big because of "those bits at the sides" which she seemed quite nonplussed about. On her advice I ordered some bras a cup size smaller. She brought in some ordinary bras to check my size.

I wasn't confident though so went in to John Lewis. The lady there immediately put me at my ease by asking the obvious question "how long's it been since your last feed?" After fitting me and concluding I was in quite the right size (although the bras I had were knackered as they were the ones I'd worn for my last pregnancy) I asked about the bits at the sides and said the M&S woman had said that showed they were too big. The JL woman looked as though she was making a real effort not to say anything rude about my previous fitting - she was obviously very well trained - and explained this was the way BF bras are made.