A Bra To Change Your Life

Hey, you! Are you wearing a bra right now? How does it feel? How do you feel about the bra? Are you someone who takes it off the second you get home? Someone who agrees with all those memes about how taking off your bra at the end of the day is the best feeling in the world?

Well, that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. Bras are supposed to bring you support, comfort, even joy. You’re not supposed to feel them, or even notice them at all. What you should notice is the disappearance of your neck and back pain and an improvement in your posture and confidence.

I’ve worked many jobs over the years but, without a doubt, the most important was my five years as a bra-fitter. That might sound flippant, but if so then you are very much underestimating the life-changing effect of a well-fitting bra.

From the age of around 11 (some earlier, some later), most women will start wearing a bra. Most women will wear one every day for the rest of their lives. Seeing as the current female life expectancy in the UK is 81 years, that’s 70 years of wearing a bra. Imagine wearing something every day for 70 years that is uncomfortable, painful, annoying, and that you can’t wait to take off.

An often-quoted statistic is that 80% of women are wearing the wrong bra size. This is the reason for your discomfort. And this is where I come in.

Did you know that there is no industry standard for bra sizes? Both cup and band sizes can vary considerably between manufacturers, meaning a 34C at one company could be totally different from a 34C at another. Also, the different styles of a bra (push up, plunge, balconette, bralette, strapless, half-cup, etc.) can significantly affect how the bra fits and therefore what size you should be wearing. It is a minefield, and it can be overwhelming.

An experienced fitter is well aware of this. They know your pain. They know how difficult it is to find the right size. But they know their stock inside and out. They know the brands they work with and how they fit and how different styles will mean a different size, even within the same company. And they know boobs. They’ve seen them all.

I’ve seen more breasts than Casanova. I’ve seen all sizes, shapes, colours and ages. I’ve seen boobs that are scarred from surgeries, stretched by pregnancy, even removed because of cancer. The shop I work in is a special place. It’s a safe place with no judgement, no opinion, no negativity. It’s a space for women to help and support other women. Oh sure, there’s always a few men who turn up looking for a last-minute gift on Christmas Eve and Valentine’s Day Eve (I guess that’s what you’d call it), but it’s not really that kind of place. This is a women’s space.

The owner of the shop, a fabulous former accountant with a “larger than average bust” opened the store 15 years ago when she became fed up with poor-quality fittings, a lack of bigger sizes in the usual retailers, and the difficulty of finding beautiful bras for larger chests. She’s now a true expert, having scoured Europe and all the industry trade shows for the best manufacturers. You name it, she’s tried it. Her main focus is value for money: the bras may not be the cheapest, but they are well worth the price for the fit, comfort and quality they provide.

The reality is that traditional fitting methods don’t work for most people, but especially those with larger breasts. Put the tape measure down! What you really need is time, patience, and lots of bras to hand. After five years, I can pretty much get a rough estimate of your size just from looking at you. From there, it’s just a matter of trying, observing, and adjusting until you get the right bra for you as an individual. Everybody is different. Everybody is unique. And everybody deserves the time and attention to get the bra that fits them well.

I love this job because it allows me to really help another person in a tangible way. It’s hard to describe the feeling when a lady pops into the store weeks later just to update you on how much she loves her new bra and how her back and neck pain has gone away. There is nothing like the smile on a woman’s face and the change in her posture when she finally finds a bra that fits well, is comfortable and looks good under a T-shirt (a common complaint). There’s nothing better than the thanks you get after a woman who’s had a mastectomy finds some lingerie that makes her feel pretty and feminine again. Nothing greater than the gratitude of a new mum who’s found a beautiful (but practical) maternity bra instead of the usual beige flap-and-hook horrors.

A bra is not just a bra. It supports one of the most delicate areas of our body. It can be the difference between pain and comfort. It can actually improve your health. It changes our posture, our confidence, the way we wear our clothes and the way we feel about ourselves. It changes the way a woman moves through the world every day.

So go down to your local lingerie store, especially if it’s an independent. Set aside an hour or two, accept a cup of tea or coffee, and get ready to try on lots of bras. It might just change your life.