Before I ever had a bra-fitting, I never knew quite what to expect. I'd heard women tell all kinds of different stories, some who said it was life-changing and gave them a huge boost in body confidence, and others who couldn't forget the horror fast enough. Some friends had such horrible experiences with nasty sales assistants making fun of their bodies or humiliating them that they left in tears. Others were showered in compliments and amazing service and left feeling like goddesses. I've come to believe that getting your boobs measured is a lot like going to the hairdresser; brand means nothing, and it just depends on what member of staff you get.
For my most recent fitting I went to the Cardiff branch of Boux Avenue. I hadn't meant to go in for a fitting, and was just hovering around admiring things when the manager came over and asked if I needed help. I realised I had no idea what size I was any more, and told her as much. I walked in wearing a 32C, but when I took my jacket off so she could see my shape, she told me I'd got it all wrong, and was definitely no bigger than a 30 or even a 28, and that I needed a bigger cup. Less back, more rack.
As I was wearing a dress, an assistant asked me my trouser size and kindly picked me up some pyjama bottoms to change into for my fitting. I was left to change and told to keep my bra on. When she came back she took two measurements; the circumference of my back whilst taking a deep breath, and another when I let all the air out. She took a good look at my chest, then asked what cup size I was currently wearing, and brought two Isabella bras to try on, in a D and a DD. What a lot of women still don't know is that cup size is all about proportion, not mass. Cup size increases as the back size increases, so the cup in a 32D will be bigger than that in a 30D. If you were wearing a 32C, as I was, but you needed a tighter back and for the cup to stay the same, the size you would try would be a 30D. One thing I had gotten right was the style of bra I was wearing. I've always gone for plunge bras to create cleavage and make my shape look great under lycra-mix t-shirts, which I wear almost every day. I'm also drawn to longline bras and bralets (like this Emily set above) when I fancy something more romantic.
The whole thing took about ten minutes, and my tits look immeasurably better now. I left wearing a 30DD (A DOUBLE D, PEOPLE) and I plan on showing you a few of the sets I got in later posts, which is probably the closest I'll ever come to being a VS Angel. Sob.
