Welcome to Bravissimo
Assistant: Hi, It's Zoe isn't it?
Customer: Yeah…
Assistant (Jackie): Hi Zoe, I'm Jackie and I'm going to be doing your fitting today. Have you had a fitting with Bravissimo before?
Customer (Zoe); I haven't had a fitting for a long time to be honest. A friend of mine, she's got quite big boobs and she recommended me to come and see you guys…
Jackie: OK well, no need to be nervous! Obviously we are big boob specialists so we fit women all the time and that's what I'm here for!
Zoe: Okay
Jackie: Well if I just talk you through what we're going to do today. Basically we won't use a tape measure, so you might be used to being measured and having a formula and trying to calculate what bra size you are, but we don't work that way. What I'm going to do is get you, in a moment, to slip your top off and what we'll do is start with the bra you're wearing…
Zoe: It's quite old really. It's not really very good I don't think!
Jackie: I'm sure I've seen far worse, don't panic! And then what we'll do from there is I'll point out to you in the mirror all of the things that might be wrong with the fit of the bra that you're wearing. Very often people are in the wrong size, so we'll look at the back of the bra, we'll look at the cup of the bra and see how that should fit. And then what I'll do is bring some bras in for you to try that will remedy any of the problems that we do find with that. So by the end of the fitting today, you'll be able to go out bra shopping and recognise what a well fitting bra look and feels like.
Zoe: Yeah, that's fine…
Jackie: Ok, so if I can get you to slip your top off then, so we can take a look at the one you're wearing today…
Zoe: Ok.
Problem Areas
Jackie: So do you know what size the bra is that you're wearing today?
Zoe: It's a 36 double D I think…
Jackie: Okay, well we'll take a look at that one first of all. The first thing we're going to have a look at is the back of the bra and see how that's fitting you. So if I get you to turn to the mirror so you can see yourself. At the back I can see straightway that you've got it fastened on the tightest hook? Do you normally put your bras on the tightest hook straightaway?
Zoe: Yeah…
Jackie: Okay, with a new bra, what we would say is that generally it should be comfortable on the loosest hook. The reason for that is obviously there is elastic content in the back of your bra, so as you wash and wear it, it is likely to give. And if you put it on the loosest hook and it's still firm, snug and supportive when you first get it, then you can tighten it up and that will prolong the life of the bra. I'm just going to have a look at the back of the bra here as well, can you just see how far I can pull that back from your body at the back?
Zoe: Yeah…
Jackie: Now what that means is you've got so much space in the back of the bra that actually it's not firm enough against you to support your boobs, so it's not doing the job it was designed to do. And the other thing I can see straightaway is that your shoulder straps here are quite loose; do you keep those quite loose all the time?
Zoe: Yeah, well they tend to fall down quite a lot, so I'm forever having to pull them back to where they should be.
Jackie: Okay, well that again is a sign, do you loosen them because they tend to dig in if they're tighter, is that why?
Zoe: Yeah, they hurt my shoulders sometimes, yeah…
Jackie: Yeah, so very often again, that's a sign that actually the bra isn't fitting you properly in the back. Because what's happening is the weight of your bust at the front is pulling on the bra. If you just lift your arm to the side there, can you just see that this bra is actually not horizontal? It's coming up towards the back of your body…
Zoe: Yeah…
Jackie: So what we're going to aim for, with a bra that's fitting you properly, is something that will sit horizontally around here. Then this bit of the bra will be doing the work so you won't need to loosen off your shoulder straps and then they won't be falling off. It's quite difficult to tell in terms of cup size what we need to do, because the bra at the minute isn't sitting properly on you. But one thing I can see straightaway; you see just here the wires poking away from your body? The wires on the bra should sit flat against you. Now once we've got a bra that's tighter, that will hold the bra against you properly and we can get these sitting firm and flat against you, once we've done that then we'll be able to tell better how the cup size is fitting you.
Zoe: Okay…
Jackie: Okay, so what I'm going to do is get you a bra that's going to be smaller in the back. Because of that, if it were the same letter/cup size, then it would actually be a smaller cup, so we're going to adjust that so that we're getting the equivalent cup size for you but just with the bra tighter around the back for you to try, and then we can take a judgement and see how the cup is actually fitting you, okay?
Zoe: Yeah…
Trying a Different Size
Jackie: So this is a bra that is a bit tighter in the back than the one that you were wearing, so I'll just do that one up for you, how does that feel?
Zoe:It feels tighter than the one I was wearing, but it feels ok…
Jackie: Ok, if I could just get you to adjust yourself into it; if you can just pull the wires right up underneath your boobs..
Zoe: Like that?
Jackie: That's it, yeah, just like that; that's lovely, ok. And then let's just see how that one's fitting for you. If I could just get you to lift your arm up again to the mirror; so can you see now that that one is sat horizontally around where as the other one was coming up at that angle towards the back?
Zoe: Yeah…
Jackie: I can still pull that out slightly and with my fingers flat I can get them all the way around, so that's not too tight. If my fingers were getting stuck there that would be too tight because it would get really restrictive during the day. So as long as you're happy with that, that's nice and firm, so I'm comfortable that that's the right back size for you.
Zoe: Yeah…
Jackie:So if we just have a look at your shoulder straps…If you just turn face on, I'm just going to adjust these so they sit comfortably, so they're the right length for you and then we'll have a look at how the cup is fitting because we couldn't tell that properly with the previous one. So if you remember we were looking at the wires on the bra before and they were sitting further away from you in the centre there, so you can see now that you've got a firmer back this is sitting flat and back against your boobs in the middle. So that's sitting up against you, but what you can see, if you look down, is that actually now with the cups, this is cutting in. Can you see that? If I just get you to turn side on, you can probably see that better in the mirror there...
Zoe: Yeah…
Jackie: So what we need is a bra that is this size in the back for you, but we just need a bit more space in the cup. So I'm going to go and grab one that's just a cup size bigger for you and we'll see how that is for you, ok?
Zoe: Ok…
Jackie: Be back in second!
The Perfect Fit
Jackie: So this is the same style, but just in a bigger cup size. So what I'm going to do first of all is just get you to adjust yourself into the cups on this one. The easiest way is just to take hold of the wires underneath your boobs and just lean forward ever so slightly and just move those from one side to the other to settle yourself into the cup. That's lovely. And then at the top of the cup, just lift yourself in from the side just to make sure that you're fully encased within the cup. Lovely, ok. So let's turn you towards the mirror…
Zoe: That's much better isn't it?
Jackie: You can see the difference straight away, can't you? Let me just sort that there…
Zoe: So what size is that one then?
Jackie: This is a 32 double F.
Zoe: That's a lot different from a 36 double D isn't it?
Jackie: It is isn't it, it's completely different! So what we've got here is a bra that's tighter in the back, so the back is nice and firm and snug as it was on the previous one. Your shoulder straps are adjusted just the same. Your wires are sitting…they need to sit just back from your breast tissue so you're fully encased within the cup, but no wire is sitting against your boobs. And then it follows underneath the line of your boobs and finishes flat in the centre just here. And then with that, you've got your cups; having gone up a cup size so the material just sits flush against you and you're not bulging out, but neither have you got any excess material or any wrinkling in the cup.
Zoe: It's just feels so much better than the bra I had on before, it's really comfortable and really nice.
Jackie: Brilliant! Well one of the best ways to tell is, if you pop your top back on you'll be able to see the shape it gives you under clothes as well, so I'll just go and grab the top you came in wearing!
The Clothing Test
Jackie: So I've brought a few different styles for you to try on, now that we have an idea of what size you are. But first of all, how does that look now that you've got your top on?
Zoe: It looks really nice. It feels so much better, it's really comfortable…
Jackie: It looks really good on you. You've got a very different shape now that you've got that style on, so I'm really pleased with that.
Zoe: You can just sort of slightly see it through my t-shirt, but I do really like it though…
Jackie: Ok. Well we can solve that problem! One of the styles that I've brought with me is this one, which is a moulded t-shirt bra. And what this is, it's a style that's a match to your natural skin tone and there are no seams on it as you can see. So what happens is, when you wear this under clothes you actually can't even see that you're wearing a bar, it really is invisible. So did you want to pop that one on?
Zoe: Yeah, that would be great…
Jackie: Ok!
Right Bra, True Size, Fabulous Curves!
Jackie: So this is the skin coloured t-shirt bra…
Zoe: That feels so much better; it looks really good, I'm really pleased with it!
Jackie: Because it's a good match to your natural skin tone, it's actually completely invisible, you can't see it. So it's not just the fact of the seams and the embroidery that were on the other one. Although it's a white top, the fact that this is a skin colour underneath is what makes it invisible.
Happy to Help
Jackie: Ok Zoe, so that's the end of your fitting, how do you feel now?
Zoe: Just amazing, it feels so different. It's just made such a difference to my shape, I'm really pleased with it, thank you!
Jackie: You're welcome, you look absolutely great! Obviously it's been quite a shock to the system because you thought you were a 36 double D and you're actually more like a 32 double F. Hopefully from the fitting you've got a good understanding now of how a bra should look and feel when it fits you properly, so that should make life a bit easier when you're shopping in the future. If you do need any help then please either just pop back into the shop any time or if you need to, just give us a call.
Zoe: Thank you!
Jackie:OK!
Zoe: Yeah, that's lovely, thanks!
