Gastpost: Warum es so schwierig ist, DEN RICHTIGEN zu finden.

Today I'm happy to provide a guest post from a friend and my go-to expert for the larger sizing range: Anne-Luise from BH-lounge, please step up!


I'm Anne-Luise from BH LOUNGE. After I met my first bra it took me fourteen years to get to know „Mr. Right“. That was, when I joined and as soon as I get to know the good feeling of comfort and confidence a well fitting bra can provide, I wanted to tell all the other women about it. At the end of 2012 I founded BH LOUNGE, a mobile brafitting-service. Now I accompany women when buying lingerie, offer brafitting-parties and personal fittings.

Why is it so intricrate to find a well fitting bra.

Most women are wearing a bra every day. They have gone through the offers of a vast number of lingerie stores, warehouses and online shops and tried on dozens of models. Every morning they're trying to find the right bra for their clothing, wether it's a white blouse or they want to wear a low neckline, if their outfit is more elegant, sporty or casual. The average woman therefor can choose between 15 sets. The brassiere is a piece of clothing, that accompanied most women over years and years, every day. Why is it still so tricky to find one that fits properly?

When buying Jeans and T-Shirts, women know after some time which labels offer fahion that suits them best. Body shapes differ, so does the tailoring of the manufacturers. Concerning bras, it's similar but there are way more details to look after. So you cannot determine your bra-size by only considering the size chart. It can vary according to producer, model and even within different colours of the same model.

Fitting width of the underwire? Straplength comfortable? Cups with an open or closed cut? You need more space in the uppercup or the undercup? Volume near the center gore? Distance between the straps? How about the band? Wires too high or too low? And what about the shape? Is it flattering? Do I like it? Maybe only with this or that garment...


So there are a couple of questions on the upcomming„Mr. Right“ that cannot be answered by a combination of numbers and letters. In addition the common size charts cannot consider the consistency of the bust influenced by your age, weight fluctuations, pregnancy and nursing, breast surgery and individual genetic predispositions. The breast changes during lifetime. That is why your bra size should be checked once a year by a brafitter.


Nevertheless many women dread an individual fitting. Nearly three out of four women questioned by Vogue and Liaison Dangereux admitted to determine their bra size by testing and prefer to go bra-shopping without the advice of a brafitter or a friend. Why is that?

Unfortunately the lingerie market in german speaking countries is determined by a limited size range and styles that suit few women. Outdated charts are used in many lingerie stores. Quite often lingerie vendors aren't wearing a properly fitting (fitted?) bra themselves which leads to recommendations in styles and sizes that aren't suitable for their customers. It is convinient to tell the customer in this cases that the bad fit is common with many women and it's not possible to improve it. This is upsetting for the customer and evolves the impression to have a rare and difficult breast shape. This feeling follows her to the changing room where it's validated by a lacking offer of flattering cuts. That you seldomly see a well fitting bra – in advertisements as in real life – increases the problem and the myth of the alphabet á la A = small, B = medium, C = large, D = extra large makes it even worse.

That's not how it should be! Buying lingerie is a delicate issue but it should be fun instead of beeing accompanied by shame and frustration. With a well fitting bra we make ourself and our everyday life a present. If you leave 34B behind – which is the most bought bra size although it fits very few women – things are not getting easier but much more comfortable. The breast shapes aren't the problem. They are so various and individual as every woman is. If distributors and manufacturars reorient themselves concerning these issues, the bra purchase will become less difficult.


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