An undercover investigation by consumer champion Which? revealed that bra fitting services in many high street shops are simply flat busted. In fact, less than one out of three were found to actually measure up, but researchers could not find even one service that they considered good enough to be recommended to consumers.
Which? sent a team of eleven undercover female researchers ranging in age from 25 years to 75 years and with a cup size of DD or larger, to buy everyday bras from a total of 70 high street and specialist stores. Plus-size women were chosen in particular because most of Which?’s female readers indicated that they were interested in finding out how these stores coped with fitting large busted women. However, when two smaller-busted researchers were also sent into the stores, the results were similar.
The results were shocking. One-quarter of all of the fittings were downright appalling, leaving Which? experts to suggest that the researchers would have been better off if they had chosen their bras from a market stall.
Some of the researchers were sold vastly different sizes from different stores. In one case the size difference was astounding – it differed a whopping seven sizes, between 34FF and 40D. Another woman was sold an identical bra from two separate House of Fraser branches, in 34C and 34F, each of which fit terribly. One of the bras bought by a researcher was so large that there was actually enough space to put a pair of socks inside the cups!
In spite of a vast difference in their ages and their requirements, two researchers aged 30 and 75 were sold an identical bra at La Senza – a Wonderbra style of bra that did not fit either woman.
The best fits were found at Bravissimo and John Lewis, but even these were still not good enough for experts to recommend them.
Poorly fitted bras not only look terrible, they are also uncomfortable and can cause poor posture as well as shoulder, neck and back pain.
Women want to look and feel good, regardless of their bra size or age. A fitting from a high street shop may seem like a good solution, but the results may be disappointing. If shops are going to offer services like this to their customers, vast improvements are definitely needed.
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