Emma Booth

This week’s guest post is from a lady I’ve seen twice at the Women’s Business Network Group Lancashire (WBNL). I was asked to do a talk last Monday about bra fitting, and here’s Emma’s post about what went on.

When you think you know everything about being a woman, there are still some things you don’t get right. I’m not talking about the next fad diet or how to control those horrible things called hormones but this week I learnt just how important one of our everyday items of clothing is!

My surname is Booth so I’ve been called ‘Emma Boobies’ since the age of 13 and have been wearing an average-sized bra for years. However, that didn’t mean it was right for me, in fact specialist bra-fitter T-J Hughes, from bras4mums & bras4all, showed me just how wrong my size was!!

The WBNL monthly meeting which took place at Haighton Manor, Preston, was led by T-J who gave a group of businesswomen of a variety of ages and sizes a wealth of information about, yep you’ve guessed it… the importance of the right bra size!

I discovered that your size changes regularly for a number of reasons; pregnancy, medication, illness to name a few, plus that dreaded time of the month makes you generally bloated and increases your breast size.

Wearing the wrong size bra can cause problems when we encounter these changes such as neck and shoulder tension due to inadequate support, stretching or sagging of the tissue and more commonly discomfort from under wires, unadjusted straps and back panels that dig in.

In addition, I was shocked to learn that on occasions ill-fitting bras can cause further damages such as IBS, breast cancer and scarring.

So, there’s the background… what we then witnessed was a type of Gok Wan-type show.

One of T-J’s customers showed us her normal bra under a plain top and then revealed what she looked like with the correct bra. It was like a new woman, new confidence, shoulders back and an altogether slimmer figure… yes eat your heart out Gok, TJ is in town! But on a serious note, this displayed the complete change a different cup or fitting can make and we all wanted in!

Like a bunch of… well giddy women, we immediately made our way to the front to look at the beautiful range of bra’s, gadgets for different fashions and of course to get ourselves measured.

I’m assuming you are now dying to know, so I will divulge that I thought I was a 34C and in actual fact I’m a 30DD. So, in essence I was giving myself a bigger back and squashing myself into a smaller cup, my poor cleavage!

The traditional measuring tape method is now proving outdated and professionals like T-J explain why getting the right fit of bra established is best, in other words she does it by sight!!! For example, the fastener, the cup, the thickness of straps, the chest band and the centre of the bra should all be right for you. We are all different and so styles and shapes will look and feel differently on each individual. I now know which is best for me and what style fit’s my shape.

In summary, making yourself look good on the inside makes you look good on the outside. There’s no point buying the prettiest dress in the world and then not making the most of it by wearing the wrong bra. The only problem I now face is getting a new bra fund together!

Emma B, @Emzybooth

Senior PR Account Manager, Stage9 Marketing

I’m amazed and delighted that Emma learnt so much from a 1 hour session. If anyone wants me to talk to their woman’s network group, just get in touch! Happy to share the knowledge.

Not about the election, although it is the first time ever I haven’t known how to vote. Had thought about doing a post on “Do you vote for a good trustworthy MP, or do you vote for the party politics you agree with most?”. Which I may do, although I think my Friday guest blogger is going to blow us away with her thoughts on party politics.

No, I’m excited that the first bra fitting agent for bras4mums is now trained and ready to go.

Tracy with T-J during her bra fitting training

This seemed a dream just a few weeks ago, but now I’ve done it! I’ve trained someone else. Passed on my knowledge so that she can share her new knowledge with women in her area and get them wearing comfy, suitable bras during pregnancy and when breastfeeding, whatever their shape or size.

When I first started bras4mums my ambition was to have bra fitters across the UK to be able to offer a home fitting service to pregnant women and new mums. Why? Well, the business started when I had a toddler and a new born baby, and I really couldn’t figure out how to go to a shop to get a bra fitting with a toddler and a pram. I was also horrified with the bra fitting advice and information that I was given during my pregnancies – virtually nothing, and some of it totally wrong.

So, you can see that I’m excited. I’m over the moon that Tracy Jones in Wrexham, Mum of 2, who also works as a Hypnotherapist, wants to offer women in Wrexham, Chester and Nantwich the opportunity of getting great bra fitting, in their own homes. Tracy was a fantastic trainee yesterday, and I know she learnt an awful lot about bras and bra fitting. Her head was buzzing most of the day. She was amazed that soft cup bras can be so comfy and give such good shape (we did bra fittings with all bras4mums stock, so she’s got a pretty good idea of the different shapes and fits of the bras now).

I’m also excited with the fact that I’ve stuck with my dream, and even though I’m 6 years down the road, and lots has happened to knock me off course, I’m now able to focus on this important task. With so many women telling us that they’re not getting what they want from the High Street (choice of bras in their sizes, or good bra fitting advice), with it being backed up by a recent Which? report, it is even more important to recruit bra fitters across the UK.

Tracy (@tracyej), is the first, but not the last. All agents will be fully supported throughout their time as an agent, and will certainly have an impact on women’s health in their local communities. So, if you like the sound of this excitement, please get in touch and get involved. bras4mums needs passionate women to make a difference to women in their local communities.

Don’t just vote for a new Government tomorrow, come and join a revolution in the way bras are fitted! (No, I haven’t been drinking tonight, just feeling very passionate and excited about what we can achieve through a network of like minded women. Think this is a THEME for the week!)

Just when I thought I knew what I was doing, something has knocked me off my simple straight road and sent me off on a new track. Am I ready for it? No idea, but I’m going to give it my best shot and see what happens

Can you see all the paths on your journey yet?

“If you have a clear picture in your mind of what it will be like when you’ve won the fight, you won’t feel the pain”, Mohammed Ali

After all the customer feedback and juggling I’ve been doing, I thought I was moving down one track with the bras4mums business. Slow and steady. Then out of the blue I asked a question on Facebook about our home bra fitting service, and a new path has shown itself to me. I really wasn’t expecting it, even though I’ve mulled it over since I started the business. But, I’m now pursuing it as a real option for expanding the business and offering a home bra fitting service to women across the UK.

My colleagues on LEAD are being extremely helpful, and when I meet with my business coach tomorrow I’m hoping to pursue some of my thoughts to progress the idea. So am I open to new ideas? Can I really change the way I do things? Can I allow others to do what I’ve only allowed myself to do in the past?

To achieve my VISION for bras4mums I have to. I have to DELEGATE to others. And, as long as I TRAIN them well, then why shouldn’t other people be able to do what I do? Maybe they’ll do it better? Am I afraid of that? Am I afraid of growing the business?

It’s not going to be easy, that’s all I know, but why shouldn’t I give it a go? What’s stopping me? What are the barriers to changing plans? Well, mainly ME! So, if I can change the way I look at things, and PLAN well enough, having THOUGHT things through and TEST them out, then, why not?

Changing direction, as long as it’s part of your overall vision should enhance your business, not challenge it. It may challenge you, but isn’t that what life is about? And we shouldn’t ‘feel the pain’ if we can see the outcome we’re working towards. My coach asked me last time what it would feel like if she took my barriers away. How would I feel about what I had to do? I said it wouldn’t be challenging! Ha! Little did I know 2 weeks later I was going to be changing direction and opening doors in the wall I didn’t know existed!

Wish me luck on my new path. I’ll reveal all soon enough – going to need your help and guidance along the way!

I really enjoyed my weekend at the London Baby Show this weekend with bras4mums. It was great to meet new and returning customers on the stand, and offer a free bra fitting service to pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Overall, I probably did about 200 bra fittings over the weekend, which is quite amazing really. Everyone is a different shape and needs different shape bras for support. Plus we all have different tastes and budgets.

It was also good to hear people’s feedback on our range and service so that we can grow and develop our range to suit women of all bra sizes. bras4mums currently offer the widest range of maternity and nursing bra styles and sizes in the UK, but as we were told at the weekend, there is still room for improvement!

We’ve recently asked for feedback through a short survey, which is making  interesting reading! I’m asking more people to complete the survey so that we can ensure that women who are both existing customers, and also those who have never used our online bra fitting service can let us know what we can do better for them.

I’m also getting a lot of helpful feedback through our facebook fan page, and via conversations on twitter. I take account of everything that’s said, even if I can’t change things straight away. Please do join in the conversations.

Tomorrow I’m heading to MODA, a trade fair for lingerie and fashion. I have a long list of styles and shapes that I’m looking for for existing customers. Some are for ladies who’ve had a mastectomy or lumpectomy, others are for smaller backed, and /or bigger busted ladies, some pregnant or breastfeeding, others who use our bras4all range. I’m hoping to find a lot of what I need. Otherwise I’ll have to rethink.

Feedback in a business and personally is so important. But, we must use what we learn. Not just tuck it away, or tick the box that we had on our list. Feedback from customers helps to inform the direction of the business, and develop excellent customer service to potentially loyal customers.

I’m in business to help women. But, I need to know what they’re struggling with bra wise to be able to help them more. Please let me know your feedback about bras, bra fitting, styles, sizes so that I can help you and others like you in the future.

I’ve just returned from training 7 bra fitters in the wider issues of bra fitting for maternity and nursing bras, using the RCM accredited Bra Fitting Awareness Course. During my long drive home it’s really struck me that, even though all these women have been bra fitters in the shops they work in, they still had very little understanding of how important bra fitting is to women’s health and well being, especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The exact point made by last week’s Which report I talked about previously.

I’m not saying that I have all the answers. However, during one of the sessions one of the ladies requested that I measure her to confirm her own bra size. She was surprised with my answer. She was even more surprised when I adjusted the bra she was wearing and she found that she could breathe and her bra didn’t hurt! Yes, it was simple enough for me to do as I know what I’m looking for. But I would have expected that someone who has been carrying out bra fittings on other ladies would have known that if her own bra was not comfortable, (and she shared with us that she’s been to the doctor as she’s had pains in her breasts), would have been able to do these simple adjustments herself.

Out of the 7 women who attended today’s course, only 1 of them said that they’d had a good bra fitting themselves. The others had all had awful experiences, and now tended not to have bra fittings as they didn’t trust the bra fitters, or felt that they had more idea than those that were serving them.

So how can we improve this situation? Obviously more training is needed of sales assistants in all stores selling bras, even if they’re not offering a fitting service, they need to be able to give advice. We need our health professionals to have more understanding of bra fitting so that they can help us to get it right and not damage our breast tissue. And wouldn’t it be good if we taught our young women how to fit and wear bras in school? And we, ladies, need to demand better service and tell the shops we go to that we’re not happy with what they’re telling us if they are recommending bras that feel uncomfortable. They will never learn otherwise.

I guess my training services are even more vital in training others, but, I know there are other good bra fitters out there. We need to shout out about what we do and the importance of good fitting bras to women’s health, well being, self esteem and confidence.

Please ladies, don’t put up with uncomfortable bras. Try different styles, sizes and make a visit to an expert, specialist bra fitter, or ask advice from an online bra fitting service like bras4mums and bras4all. The business started when I got bad advice, and I don’t want it perpetuating! Tell me what I can do to make it better, and I’ll do my best, with your support.

A Which report published this week could not recommend any

A measure is only a guide

High Street bra fitting service, stating, “Fewer than 1 in 3 shops measured up and no service was good enough to recommend.” Just style reported that even though the report focused on larger busted women (DD+), smaller busted women also got a poor service

I have to say I’m disappointed, but not surprised. My business was set up almost 6 years ago after I got awful advice from a ‘trained bra fitter’ running an independent business. But I still see women who tell us of their awful experiences in High Street Shops.

I’ve always based the bra fitting service we offer at bras4mums and bras4all on good fitting advice. We will not let a woman buy a bra we believe is ill fitting. If she insists, we make a note on her fitting record, in case she has cause to complain.

We allow up to an hour for each fitting at our shop and with our home fitting service. This allows time to educate the customer as well as try on a variety of styles and sizes to ensure good fit. At the shows we attend, this isn’t possible, but our fitters do their best in a very busy environment, and will spend as much time with a customer as required to ensure good fit and comfort.

One of our main frustrations as bra fitters, are the sizes available from suppliers. Even though bras4mums offers the widest range of maternity and nursing bras in the UK, we don’t feel there is enough for a lot of the women we see. We need more 28-30 back sizes, more F+ cups, and particularly more HH – J – L cups. Despite our good communications with our suppliers, they are still not listening as we’re only a small part of their income. For example, HOTmilk have decided to no longer manufacture 30 band sizes. It turns out that we’re one of the very few stockists of this size, and not big enough for them to manufacture just for us.

Yes, bra fitting services should be better and more consistent. But so should bra manufacturing! You can even buy a bra from the same manufacturer in a different size to normal due to the fabric being more/less stretchy. It’s frustrating!

So, if in doubt, give us a call. Our bra fitters are trained to offer advice by phone and by email. We may use a tape measure as a guide, but not as the final ’size answer’, as all bras fit differently. See how we size you up for an initial guesstimate and starting point.

Recent training sessions we’ve run have surprised the attendees, and disappointed sales assistants. During the day they’ve not only realised that they are uncomfortable in their current bra, but that the range that they are stocking will not fit most of the women who shop there! Stores need to start asking women what they want, not relying on suppliers who want to sell bra patterns they already have.

Don’t let anyone tell you it’s the right fit if it’s uncomfortable to wear. But please do remember, that you may not be wearing your bra right. Do listen to advice on this – an ill fitting bra really can affect your health.

Related article – Why aren’t we taught how to wear a bra at school?

If you’re anything like me, my Mum took me to M&S when my breasts started to grow and then I wore the same size bras for ever.

It was only when I got pregnant that I really started to become more aware of

Nursing bra by Bravado

my breasts and my bras. My breasts grew massive in the first few weeks of pregnancy, and was told by an M&S fitter that this was unusual, (I’ve since discovered that this is normal!). She put me in a sports bra, which wasn’t that comfy, but I thought they were the experts, so I wore it during pregnancy.

I discovered NCT bras for breastfeeding, which were OK. But looking back, I probably wasn’t wearing the right size.

When no.2 came along, I bought a nursing bra set that fitted one week but not the next – it was at 12 weeks, when your breasts settle down and I dropped a cup size. I wasn’t best pleased to have a lovely bra that didn’t fit right!

So it’s only 5 1/2 years ago that I started to question about bras and bra fitting. I went on a 2 day bra fitting course at De Montfort University (leaders in contour design) and discovered a whole new world. Almost a hidden and undercover (excuse the pun!) world that as a consumer I had no idea about.

Did you know:

1. We all have one breast bigger than the other?
2. Our breast size changes during our monthly cycle?
3. All bra manufacturers use different measurements for their bras, so all bras fit quite differently?
4. That an ill fitting bra can cause damage to breasts, and is a known factor in increasing incidence of breast disease and cancer?
5. When you have a breast increase or reduction, breast surgeons don’t understand how bras are made, so the size you ask for may not match the bras you’d like to buy?

I started bras4mums, not to sell bras (but there was and still is a need for a specialist shop), but to educate women about bra fitting particularly during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Midwives aren’t bra fitters, and I’m not a midwife or breastfeeding counsellor. But we all want the best for women, their health, and their baby’s health. And as we’re not taught about bra fitting at school, how do we know what’s right? How do our Mum’s know what’s right if they haven’t been ‘taught’ how to fit a bra?

The Royal College of Midwives have agreed that their members need to be more aware of bra fitting, as women sometimes cause more problems during pregnancy and breastfeeding with ill fitting bras, and their initial point of contact is their midwife. So, they have given Professional Accreditation to the bras4mums “Bra Fitting Awareness” one day course. It aims to give an insight into general bra fitting, and the specific areas to consider during pregnancy and nursing.

bras4mums are running this course throughout the year around the UK, and also for groups and companies. We’re delighted that Mamas & Papas are using the course for their sales advisors to become more aware of bra fitting when they introduce a range of lingerie into their larger stores this month.

But, wouldn’t it be so much easier if we had a basic grounding in bra fitting at school? If we had the basic knowledge about how bras affect our health we wouldn’t put up with uncomfy bras for the sake of fashion for as long.

Maybe I should write a course for delivery in PSHE classes and submit to the Department of Education & Health. What do you think?

This week is the week many people will be starting their new fitness regime to get a new shape / lose weight / feel better at the start of 2010.

Don’t forget that a new bra can get you a new shape without the need to lose weight! You can surprise your partner and friends by getting the right size, bra shape and correctly fitted bra. Sometimes you need to reduce your t-shirt size as a good bra can make all the difference to how you look.

We have surprised women all the time in the shop, exclaiming, “I can’t believe the difference the bra has made”. It’s a great feeling to help women look and feel better. It’s the part of the job I love most.

So, how do we do this for ourselves? The most important thing is how you fit the bra. Think down or low for the bra band. This should be firm and sit in the smallest part of your back. This is often a lot lower than where you usually wear your bra, but you will benefit from the support and shape it gives you – it shapes your natural contours, and lifts your breasts naturally from a firm base. It will bring your shoulders back and help improve your posture.

How not to wear a bra

If you’re worried about the overhang, then get a bra that is deeper than usual. A lot of fashion bras have very narrow bands. Older ladies that wear longline bras don’t have this problem, as everything is held in by the length of the bra.

The shape of the bra cup is also important, and what suits you may not suit your sister or best friend. Try a few styles out and see what you like and what looks good. Always, always, always, try your top on over the bra that you try as this is the only way of testing what it looks like. There are very few people that see you without your top on, so the with top on look is the one that concerns you most.

Make it a new year’s resolution to go for a proper bra fitting, or try some new bra styles and check they are fitting correctly.

If you don’t want to go for a bra fitting, or it’s difficult to find somewhere with

How to wear your bra

your size bra, or you have children, then there are a lot of internet shops, like mine, that can help. Our bra fitters can help advise by phone or email before and after you purchase. You can also exchange as many times are you need to so we can get it right with you. Sometimes it’s the shape of the bra we need to change, not just the size. bras4all is a specialist plus size, sports and post surgery bra shop, but we also stock and sell Anita Rosa Faia, Fantasie and Freya bras. We don’t currently list all on the website. bras4mums is a specialist maternity and nursing bra shop. So, you can see, we can advise about most aspect of bra fitting, and supply most types of bra to most women.

Happy New Year, and we look forward to helping more women wear bras that are comfortable and supportive. If you have any queries, please ask. That’s what we’re here for!

I often get asked by partners buying lingerie for their women what should they do. They want to get it right, and maybe have bought stuff in the past that hasn’t been worn a lot, if at all! They don’t want to waste money, especially when times are tough, but they want to buy you something and treat you both.

Sexy nursing bras available suitable for all women

Here’s my advice:

1. Find out the current size of the bra you’re wearing, and look at the shape of it.
2. Is this bra an old favourite? Has it been worn and worn, so the size on the label is likely to have no relation to your current size? If so, find a bra that hasn’t been worn quite so much that fits OK, and use that one as the guide
3. When looking at bras he likes, and thinks you will like, can he find a similar shape bra? The shape of the bra is really important as this is what suits your body and breast shape best.
4. If the make is the same as your current bra, then buy your current size (as long as that fits OK still!). If it is a new make, then ask the shop how it compares to the style he’s got the details of
5. Ensure with the shop (online or high street) that you can exchange the lingerie if it’s not right
6. If he’s really uncertain, why not get you a gift voucher? You can always search online together to choose the styles you both like.
7. Signpost him to your favourite shops. Some online shops have wishlists, which you can send to him for ideas. That shop is likely to have your size if you’ve used them before.

bras4mums (online wishlist available) and bras4all (wishlist can be logged with office), have bra fitters at the end of the phone, or email if he doesn’t want to ring, to help him out. Nightwear is sometimes seen as a safer option, but he may still need guidance. We offer full UK free returns, and unlimited exchanges. We also offer gift vouchers, so hopefully we can help out if he chooses to purchase from us.

If you, or he, needs help, please contact me. I’m not familiar with all brands of lingerie, but can comment and support and advise on most of the major styles and ranges in the UK.