Talk Back Thursday

Thank you so much to Carla, Rachel, Stitchy Witch, Alison, Mary, Mamafitz, Angela, Elaina, Claire, Shannon, Summerset and Brenda for talking back to my confession last week! I confessed that I only recently had my first ever professional bra fitting and asked about other people's experiences with this.


Of the 13 people who responded, all but one have been professionally fit at least once in their lives, and the 1 who hasn't used to work at Victoria's Secret and so has enough experience fitting others that she knows how to fit herself! ;)

While pretty much everyone has been fit professionally at least once, there was some variability in how often people get fit. Some folks have only been fit once or twice in their lives - for example, Mary as a young teenager first beginning to buy bras and Angela when she was shopping for her wedding dress. Some have been fit several times throughout their lives, and others are fit annually - sometimes (presumably) to make sure that their size hasn't changed and others, like Shannon, mostly for the help in rummaging around the displays to find the options in the right size! ;)

When people try to fit themselves, how well do they do? Stitchy Witch found that she had been buying the right size all along, but most people who commented said that the professional fitting yielded a different size. With regard to the circumference, the responses were mixed - one person had been routinely buying too small and another had been routinely buying too big. When it comes to cup size, everyone who answered had been buying a cup size that was too small - and Mamafitz said that she found this to be generally true when she used to fit for VS.

Mary reported that she has been successful in fitting herself by systematically trying on all different sizes of each brand of bra. Elaina seconded the importance of going brand-by-brand, because apparently US bra manufacturers have not standardized cup sizes as well as their European counterparts.

As usual, I got some interesting miscellaneous tips. Two people pointed out that, just because a bra fits well in the store, doesn't mean that you're going to like it once you get home and wear it for a whole day, so save your receipts! Also, putting bras in the dryer weakens the elastic and wears them out sooner.

Finally, a few people mentioned making their own bras. Summerset does it, Carla would like to try it someday, and Mamafitz has done it and prefers the type of cups that she can get in commercial bras.



Speaking of making your own, Summerset didn't say anything about this in her comment, but I know that she sells hand dyed kits to make your own bras in her Etsy shop and she has lots of great information about bra making on her second blog, Hooks and Wires. I don't have first hand experience with her kits, but it's pretty obvious from her main blog, Pins and Needles, that everything she does is amazing! :)


Finally, Brenda asked for recommendations for the Bay area (CA), and said that she hasn't been happy with her fitting experiences at her local Victoria's Secret. I'm in Florida and so I can't give specific help. Personally, I'd just try some of the local major department stores until I found someone I liked. But if anyone reading this has a suggestion, leave a comment and I'll pass it on. :)



Thanks again to everyone who took the time to comment! You guys make this series worthwhile! :)