Bra Fitting – Horrors, Laughs, and Highs

Well I have been on a serious note of late, but after working last night I decided I had to share a part of my job that I have to laugh about.............sometimes it is really funny and other times I just have to laugh to keep from screaming!

I have been working part time at a national chain retail store for seven years now. It started when my daughter and I moved to Amarillo in 2005. We took a day to go shopping and it was in this store that she found the majority of clothes that she liked. I knew that the big department stores allowed their employees to purchase merchandise at a discount so I applied as Christmas help..............yes I know that was 7 years ago, but they keep putting me on the schedule so I keep showing up!

At my interview I was hired and the Women's manager said that she would like to put me in the Lingerie Department if that was okay.............I said fine, as long as I didn't have to model anything! I thought, bras and panties? Heck yeah, I have been a girl a long time – I got this! Little did I know!

Let me start with the fact that the company I work for has spent a TON of money to develop a perfect Bra Fit training/guide..........heck first rattle out of the box I had to do EIGHT hours of training! I also got really lucky to work with a wonderful lady – Nancy Bennett, who had been doing this for years! Heck she didn't even have to measure, she could look at a woman and tell her what size and style of bra she needed!

I cannot help but smile when I think of Nancy, a little short, white headed, feisty gal who LOVED football! I remember one night in the break room there was a game on the television, one of the kids hollered at a player for making a bad play............Nancy informed him that it was not a bad play, he was making the play he should have made. The innocent young man smarted off and said “and what makes YOU think that was a good play”? Oh man...........Nancy laid into to him with the EXACT reason the play was called, the duties of that player, and who actually screwed up the play. I had to laugh on both her lecture and the look of shock on the kids face! I walked over to him and said “Son, never mess with the daughter of a high school and college football coach and the mother of a college football player!” I so miss that little bantam rooster!

Now I have digressed (again)! Let's talk about bra fittings! As I said earlier, I had a LOT of training both official and from Nancy and with experience I have learned even more. This blog is about some of the EXPERT ADVICE I have gotten from customers and some of the HIGHS from a great bra fitting!

 

Let's begin with some REAL Bra Fitting Knowledge!

For a Bra to fit properly it MUST fit in THREE categories!

BAND – yep, that is the “number” part of the size: 32, 34, 36, 38, and so on...........NO we do not have bra bands in size 37 and if that is what you measure we are just going to have to try a 36 and a 38 band size to see which works BEST for your body type!

If the Band is too tight then it is going to be uncomfortable and in some cases actually rub blisters or rub you raw!

If the Band is too loose then one of two things is going to happen – Either the back will ride up and the front will “sag” - aka NO SUPPORT! OR your boobs will actually fall out of the bottom of the bra in front – again NO SUPPORT!

CUP – yep, that is the “letter” part of the size: A, B, C, D, and so on..........YES some companies do have ½ cup size but not very many and we do not carry them. And NO you are not weird or deformed if one of your breast is larger than the other one, 95% of women do NOT have two breasts that are the EXACT same size!

A little known fact, if you are Right Handed, the odds are that your right Breast will be larger! The fact is that the Breast is a Muscle!

Why does the cup need to fit? Well it needs to Support the breast AND the Breast needs to be in the cup! If the cup is to small then you end up looking like you have FOUR Breast because of the pillowing affect on the top.................if it is to large then your Breast is NOT supported!

STRAPS – no numbers - no letters, this is just something that you have to work with.............HINT there is a REASON they are adjustable, it is because women's breasts are ALL over their chest! True! Some women are high breasted, some are low breasted, and others are in the middle............ADJUST! And remember the fact that the LAST woman who tried it on may have done some adjusting of their own!

When adjusting you must find the right fit! If the straps are to tight they are going to hurt and rub.........if they are to loose then they are going to slip off your shoulders and/or your Breast are going to sag!

 

SOME of the EXPERT CUSTOMER ADVICE that I have received:

• ADVICE:  “It doesn't matter if the bra fits or not, or if it is comfortable or not as long as you change Styles and Sizes every six months your breast will stay firm and perky”
  # UH, WRONG! Wearing the wrong size/ill fitting bra is NOT going to help them stay Perky, it is just going to make you miserable! Changing styles has NO effect! You are a moron!
• ADVICE:  “A push up bra gives you better support” (advice from one 15 year old to another – sad part was the Mom was believing it!)
  #HINT MOM – A push up does give some added support, particularly if you are wearing a Wire Free bra...........otherwise it is just there to make the BOYS notice your boobs!
• ADVICE:  “If the cup of the bra only covers the BOTTOM part of your Breast you will get better support, if it covers the top it will push your Breast down!”
  # UH, WRONG – you might as well sling a rag under the bottom of your Breast and tie it around your neck! In order to support with the cup it really needs to cover at least ¾ of the Breasts.
• ADVICE:  “Wearing a wire bra will give you cancer because it places metal too close to your heart”
  #I really didn't have an answer for this one, nor did I want to give one after listening to her tales of the expert natural healer she was seeing............btw, she had four stones that she had to place in each bra before she tried them on.
• ADVICE:  “Wearing wire in a bra will help put iron in your system because the metal is close to your heart”
  #Thank goodness I didn't have these two women in the dressing room at the same time, there might have been a war! OH, and I don't really believe you can get added Iron from wearing a Wire bra.
• ADVICE:  “For firm support you should wear two bras at once”
  #UH, WRONG! Find a bra that REALLY fits and you don't need to wear two bras!
• ADVICE:  “A sports bra is better for young girls, it helps hold their Breasts in place so they stay firmer”
  #UH, WRONG! The Breast is a muscle, keeping it SMASHED against your chest is NOT going to make it firmer, it is just going to BREAK down the muscles! Case in point – women of my grandmothers age grew up basically “binding” their breast to their chest (JUST like a sports bra)............at 50 my Granny's breasts hung to her waist! We have a whole generation of young girls that are going to be Saggin and Draggin in just a few years!
• ADVICE:  “You only need one or two bras, when they wear out you buy new ones then”
  #UH, WRONG! Bra's are made with ELASTIC, and elastic needs time to “rest”, you should have SEVEN bras so that each one gets a few days without wear. If you wear the same bra day after day it is going to lose its stretch (and support) quickly!

TO BE CONTINUED.........