Bras! Important things. Well, if you’re a girl they are. If you’re a boy…um…bras are still very important, but you’re unlikely to need one as much.
My best friend (you probably know her as the Wife) is an advocate of getting measured and of Bravissimo. I gave in to the measuring demands, but because of the location, I avoided Bravissimo. The nearest store to Bristol is over in Cardiff, and it wasn’t until recently that I made the trek over there (rather stupidly, on Grand Slam day) and went to get measured.
Bravissimo doesn’t do measuring like most shops with a tape measure, but instead look at how something will fit. The store was quite quiet when Sarah and I went in, and they could see me straight away. I went into a cubicle and undid my dress so I was in just my bra (stupidly I wore a dress that day, but at least it was one that buttoned down the front!) and the lady came in and looked over the bra I was wearing. (This sounds really wrong. It wasn’t.)
She asked what sort of bra I preferred (lacy, plain, padded, etc) and came back with some bras for me to try. The one I chose in the end was the Freya Deco bra – she then brought in the matching pants as well which I thought was a nice touch (cynically, I would think this was a way to upsell to me, but I would have bought them anyway)
Compared to my last measuring at House of Fraser, this was the complete opposite – the service was great, and I actually feel like I have the right size now. In the post where I talked about being measured at House of Fraser, I mentioned that I thought that the sizing they measured me at was a bit odd – and now I know it was! I suspect that I was measured to that as it was more likely that there were items in that size in stock. Very annoying.
Another thing that I liked is that Bravissimo have a guarantee on their products that as long as they are handwashed, if anything goes wrong (wires popping through, broken straps, whatever!) then they’ll replace it. They keep all the details on their system as well under your own account, so you don’t have to try and hunt out that receipt. All these little things just add to how great a service they provide (well, in my opinion!)
Now I’m going to have to build up my bra collection…any suggestions for stores that deal with the larger sized bras well?
Disclaimer: Not needed, not even an affiliate link to be found. I was so impressed with the service that I had to talk it up!
I got measured at Bravissimo a couple of years ago and it made me appalled at all the terrible fittings I had suffered at M&S and Debenhams over the years! I’d always been told I was a 34DD or E, but no! I’m actually a 28G! (I didn’t even know that size existed). Despite know knowing that I am a freakish size at least bras fit me know and clothes fit better too :-) I buy most of my bras on eBay as there are some really good sellers who have last season’s Freya, Panache and my favourite, Curvy Kate for bargainous prices :-D
Bravissimo are awesome – once you get measured there, you never go anywhere else! My top tip is to find styles there that suit you (I’m a Tango Plunge addict, have it in multiple colours & it works with nearly everything) and then find out where else stocks them. Debenhams stock a lot of the same brands, and they’re often reduced during Blue Cross sales etc, so you can get them a bit cheaper.
Having said that, I love the Bravissimo service so it’s worth buying full price there. Their sales are also good for getting more exotic colours!
Being ‘curvy’ myself, I do force being measured correctly upon people….primarily because when you wear a properly fitting bra it makes such a difference to your shape, posture etc.
I love bravissimo because for many years it was the only place I could find a bra that fitted properly and that also looked pretty / sexy and something that everyone else could pick up from most stores. I used to hate bra shopping mainly becuase aged 18-19 sales people in other stores would suggest a minimiser that reminded me of something my nan would wear.
LOVE BRAVISSIMO!