M&S bra fittings will be ‘by eye’ instead of tape measure

[IwantToRetire]

Retailer denies that new hands-off approach is connected to row over transgender sales assistant

M&S said the decision brought it into line with others in the market, such as specialist bra firms Rigby and Peller, and Bravissimo. A spokesman said: “The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive.”

The company is adopting the policy after a successful trial in 23 stores. M&S launched its first bra 100 years ago and, in 1947, offered its first bra fittings to customers. Sales assistants were trained in measuring customers’ girdles, bras and corsets under customers’ coats.

Full story https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/04/marks-and-spencer-bra-fitters-told-to-use-eyes-not-tape/

and at https://archive.is/klXRO

Aside from the whole debate you are raising, I always go to Bravissimo exactly because the fitting by tape measure etc. and sizing when you get fitted in M&S is always notoriously rubbish and not accurate to reflect (at least for me) my body and shape (relatively small / petite band, big cup!). So that’s good to me that they are scrapping the tape measure aspect 🤷‍♀️

I can report that Bravissimo and R&P are absolutely not “hands off”. It’s a very up close and personal sort of fitting. And very good as a result. M&S shouldn’t pretend that they can fit bras with or without a tape

Well it's the usual thing; men make women's stuff complicated, and so rather than face saying no to men, the women's stuff is just removed. Thanks guys.

But no, I wouldn't touch any underwear at M&S without a hazmat suit on having read their reviews, particularly the ones about the chaps who like to leave semen on undies and on the floor hoping to get some poor woman to touch it.

haven't been for a while but R&P fitted me using a body scanner (and it was spot on) and didn't touch me at all.

I go to Victoria’s Secrets. The bra fitters in my local one are brilliant. They don’t use tape measures for me but they do have them.

It does seem rather strange to state that if you measure something, it leads to a worse fit than having a guess. Maybe squinting one eye leads to even better results. What about both eyes closed?

That old adage ‘measure twice, cut once’ must be less precise than ‘don’t measure at all, and guess where to cut’.

I never found M&S very good at fitting. That is aside from the prospect of some man doing it. I can only hazard a guess at the motive for a man wanting to measure women’s breasts. Not in any way innocent, and I wouldn’t be getting fitted/ or measured/ or eye sized by any such dude.

A good old family department store in a small rural Irish town gave me the best fitting ever.

Maybe they should abandon bra fittings altogether as they seem to be shit at it.

I had a bra fitting at bravissimo a few weeks ago and there was no tape measure. My daughter also got fitted there about 6 years ago and same thing.

Second this. M&S bra fitters must be trained using grapefruits or something every experience I’ve had has been dire.

Well it's not really a fitting at all, then, is it? Is it going to be anything more expert than 'Here try this one, it looks about right'? Deskilling😠

I remember as a teenager screwing up my courage to go for a fitting at M&S, only to be told by the shop assistant "you're a strange shape"...which as you can imagine did loads for my confidence...

I have never been back, and when I can afford it I go to R&P who definitely used to measure by eye (I've not been for a few years so it may well be more high tech now!) and it was always spot on.

Yup, that’s me too and agree that fitting by bra not by tape measure is far, far better. You can spot the people on this thread who can just buy the same
size from anyway / any style and crack on. Bra privilege is real 🤣

The woman i had was being shadowed by another, more experienced i guess, staff member and they went off together to whisper about my possible size...ha ha.

It really is a fitting and much more skilled. It’s checking the fit in an actual bra rather than reading the figures off a tape measure.

I stopped going to M& S for bra fittings were since they told me they were trained to fit to the second row of hooks, not the first.

Bra fitting 101 is that you fit to the first set of hooks, then, as the bra stretches you use the second and third rows.

When I asked, ‘what is the point of the first row of hooks if they just ignore it?’ I got a curt shrug and was told ‘this is how we’re trained’

I have a feeling M&S bra fitters are
sent on a day course to learn about bra fitting. it’s actually quite an art to be able to fit a bra by sight and proper bra fitters need much more training than M& S would have you believe.

Oooh this is getting spicy😁 Are you suggesting that generations of women who were trained not just in lingerie but in one specialised area of it were just 'reading the figures off a tape measure'?

I've no idea why I've leapt to the defence of bra fitters🤔

• maybe it's because several of my elders worked in clothes shops, and had to serve a full apprenticeship, and then specialised in areas like 'mantles' or 'millinery', before they were fully trained up.

I'm guessing bra fitters also have to undergo specialised training?

Bravissimo did a good job by sight, I have to say .

Oh all right I give in - fitting by sight is grand, and I admit I actually know nothing about bra fitting, never had it done, so I don't know what I'm talking about here😁

I got 'fitted' by eye in a small ladies shop last week.. the first bra she handed me fitted like a second skin... Don't even feel it on..
Had to order a second in another colour and she will check fitting when I go in to collect.
Lovely lady who absolutely knows her trade!

It’s because different styles of bras even though the same size will fit differently. Like if you are a size 10 in one pair of jeans the same size in a different style might not fit you. It is bra specific. It’s far better to have an experienced eye assess the fit.

before I went to bravissimo I was wearing completely the wrong size. After being fitted properly I looked like I’d lost a stone in weight as my breasts were properly supported finally. Most people are wearing far too big a back size and too small cup size.

I’m suggesting nothing about generations of anything but plenty about high street fitters who do literally read off a tape measure 🤣

I’ve been to both lately. Neither used a tape and the bras I bought fitted perfectly. Three from each shop.

You have 6 bras!!!....That's bank loan level of spending....

The right way to decide whether a bra fits is to examine the bra on the wearer. No tape measure is required for this.

Surely part of the fitter’s diagnostic approach is “what size are you currently wearing?” so they’re not going in entirely cold. If you’re in a 36C but spilling out of the cups and the band looks OK, go up a cup size or two. If the band is riding up, drop the band size and go up a cup. The skill comes in finding a cup/shape that supports the woman’s shape AND meets her preferences.