The Ahh Bra...The Marmite of bras?

*Firstly, I'd like to say that I was sent the following items to review by the company in question. I blog honestly and will not lie about a product just because it was sent free of charge.*

We've all seen those late night shopping channels advertising miracle products that you simply can't live without, right? Sometimes they can grab your attention...

"Tired of hooks, wires straps and underwires?" Sounds interesting, go on..."Say goodbye to the barbaric torture of traditional bras and hello to technology made perfect!" Riiiiight...."The Ahh Bra...." Oh, that thing...

Like I said in the title, to me the Ahh Bra (affectionately know as the Argh Bra by some bloggers!) is like Marmite; you either love it or hate it. I'm a firm believer in the need for wires, hooks, straps and a solid band to support the breasts, so I'm in the 'hate it' camp. So when a representative of Rhonda Shear contacted me to see if if I'd like to review the Ahh Bra, I was reluctant but in the interests of my blog, thought it would be an ideal product to try.

Rhonda Shear, the designer of the Ahh Bra is undoubtedly a passionate and inspirational businesswoman, having won numerous entrepreneurial awards since the launch of the Ahh Bra 2002. Rhonda was an all-American beauty pageant kind of girl, later posing for Playboy, then moving onto TV, movies and stand-up comedy. Wanting a new project, Rhonda decided to embark upon designing a revolutionary new bra; and the Ahh Bra was born! Rhonda's range has since expanded to include nightwear, outerwear such as leggings and secret support vests, dresses and shapewear, which I was hoping I'd get to try out.

The ever glamorous Rhonda Shear (photo courtesy of Up All Night)

The Ahh Bra has no hooks, wires or adjustable straps and comes in sizes XS-2XL without the 'need' for cup sizes. It's supposedly guaranteed to fit perfectly. We'll see about that...!

Beautifully presented. But never judge a book by it's cover...

I was sent four items from Rhonda's 2012 collection; the original Ahh Bra, an Ahh Bra with removable pads, the 'Sweet Tart' butterknit gown and the 'Pin Up' bra.

The Original Ahh Bra: 

I received this in the Raspberry colour, in a size medium, based on my overbust measurement of 36" (I think). The underbust measurement isn't taken into account therefore I found it a little loose in the band.. The other major problem is that the straps aren't adjustable, and needed to be about 4 inches shorter. You can see in the picture below how the fit of the Ahh Bra is improved simply by shortening the straps, which also encased the 'armpit boobs' I was experiencing, an issue the Ahh Bra boasts to eliminate. Even then it's not something I'd be comfortable wearing outside the house.

I can't argue that the construction of the Ahh Bra isn't well designed, with it's tight knit in place of traditional wires, and looser knit to accommodate the bust. This is not an exclusive design though, as there are other bras on the market that sport a similar construction. 

The Original Ahh Bra is unsuitable or use as a functional  bra in my opinion, as it does not support the bust in a way that a wired and adjustable bra can. I'd only suggest the Ahh Bra to be worn as a sleep bra or for slobbing out on the sofa.

The Ahh Generation Bra (with removable pads):

This one is virtually the same (looks and fit) as the Original Ahh Bra, except it has removable pads and is in the Blush colour. The fit in this one was...interesting, the pads far too small for my GG cups. However much I tried, I couldn't get my boobs NOT to look wonky, so I don't really have much to say on this one that I haven't said already. Er....enjoy? 

The Pin-Up lace metallic leisure bra:

I so badly wanted this to work as I hadn't had much luck with the first two. But the only positive thing I can find to say about this non-wired, soft cup bra is that it has LOADS of hooks and eyes, see? I wish other bra makers would follow suit, although they were quite fiddly to fasten, so maybe not.

This bra was a Small yet the band stretched right up to 40". Yes, the fabric is that stretchy. Bearing in mind my underbust measurement is 28", you can see why this particular style doesn't work for me. Again, the straps were far too long and coupled with the very loose band, the bra offered no support whatsoever. Yes, that's my natural shape in the first picture. Also, check out the HUGE arm holes! 

The Sweet Tart butterknit shelf gown:

Possibly the most disappointing of them all. I was hoping to at least salvage this to sleep in, and on unwrapping it, it was instantly my favourite of the package. The nylon/spandex mix is beautifully soft and stretchy, and the black lace over nude is a nice touch. Although the straps are adjustable, I didn't find this helped at all, since they are very thin and flimsy, completely unsuitable for supporting GG cup boobs!

Again, this is a small and again the band was extremely stretchy, offering no support, so my boobs sit as though I'm not wearing a bra at all. I think the pictures speak for themselves:

All in all, I wouldn't recommend any of the products I've reviewed if you have a fuller bust. They might work okay for a woman with a smaller bust than myself I guess, but since you're reading fuller bust blog, then I can't say I'd be able to guess. Apparently, the Ahh Bra is hugely popular and has sold millions of units, so I guess a lot of women have had success with them. What works for one might not work for another, so who am I to argue?!

Have you tried an Ahh Bra? What did you think?

Boux Avenue. A boob of a bra fitting.

So it seems the latest initiation to the world of lingerie blogging is to go for a fitting in either Victoria's Secret or Boux Avenue. Today I opted for the latter due to a lack of the former.

The Boux Avenue store in question is the Trafford Centre store which opened a little over a year ago. The store itself is beautifully laid out, with drawers under each rack of bras containing each back size and multiple cup sizes. Boux Avenue stock bras from a 30 band and cups up to H, sizing me and my 28GG's out from the offset. But me being me, I thought I'd play devil's advocate and go for a fitting so see what they came up with. 

I went in wearing my 30G Freya Deco that rides up at the back and just about encases my boobs and made sure it looked worse by jiggling my boobs to the point of being close to spillage. I grabbed a 30G red gingham bra I liked from one of the drawers and ask for a fitting. The girl who fitted me was as lovely as fitters always are, but I didn't hold out much hope for her from reading the experiences of Cheryl and Becky from investinyourchest and Georgina from Fullerfigurefullerbust. She came armed with a tape measure, whcih she wrapped around me VERY tightly and told me I'm measuring up at a 30 back. Now I know this not to be true because I'd measured myself a few nights before and came up at 27" meaning I should be in a 28 band. She told me that the G cup I was wearing was clearly too small and that I should be wearing a 30GG. After a few fails, the fitter suggested I try a 32G to get the correct cup size. A 32 band is a massive 5 inches larger than my actual band size!

Here is the first bra I tried, a red gingham number in a 30G. I'm a sucker for red gingham! As you can see, it's too big in the band. The fitter agreed that it didn't fit, but didn't seem to notice how big the band was.

The next two are both 30GG's and both fitted much better than the last, but still were too big on the band. When I fastened them I used the loosest hooks and then adjusted the straps to fit. The fitter told me this is wrong and that I need to create a 'perfect circle' around my back. She then apologised for using training talk and explained that the band should sit parallel around your back and not ride up. Correct. She told me the way to do this is to fasten the bra on the tightest hook and THEN adjust the straps. This way the band won't ride up. Erm...what? 

In this coral 'Poppy' bra, there was a little extra fabric above the top seam which made it not sit flat, and he correctly said this is because my boobs are bottom heavy, but she didn't suggest I try a smaller cup. The fit in this was isn't too far off, but the gore didn't sit flat and the band was too big when I pulled it away from my body.

In this floral 'Taliah' bra, the shape was all wrong, and didn't completely encase all my breast tissue like it should have, so she fetched a 30H for me to try, which was of course, far too big. The band wasn't sitting parallel as you can see, so I wasn't getting the support I needed.

Finally, the fitters' stab in the dark. Two 32G's. The fitter said that the central gore was sitting away from my chest because the cup isn't big enough. Now this interested me, as I was told the same thing by a customer service representative when I rang Bravissimo once. I'm almost certain this is not the case, and it's all down to band size as normal.  Check out the length of the fully adjusted straps in this electric blue 'Chloe' bra!

The fitter said that I need a wider central gore to prevent spillage, and chose the 'Loretta', a black silk bra for me to try, saying it runs smaller in the band than their normal range as it doesn't have a lot of stretch. This was not the case...

As lovely as the fitter was, I expected more from a self-proclaimed 'Fitting Ambassador'. After she realised none of the bras weren't going to be suitable for me, she asked if I'd heard of Curvy Kate. This made me pretty happy because it's nice to know they're becoming well known. She also suggested Caprice's range, available from Littlewoods, but again, my real size of 28GG is not catered for.

While Boux Avenue have some really pretty bras and a store interior to die for, I wouldn't suggest you go to them for an accurate fitting. I still haven't found a decent fitting outside Bravissimo sadly! 

Have you had a fitting at Boux Avenue? How did they do?

A win for crappy fitting bras! The M&S fail...tut

Just a quickie about Marks And Spencer's absolutely awful fitting bras. And I mean AWFUL. Firstly, there were 3 styles in my size, which  30G. Yes 3! So I tried them all...

This is a style I've battled with before, so I thought I'd try it again for the purpose of this blog. It's a very pretty padded plunge bra, withpeach polka dot lining inside the cups, and I really wanted it to work. The back band is fine, however, the cups are tiny, more like an F, giving me 4 boobs and even the dreaded side boob! Not good! However, if you're an F 

cup, remember to size up and you might be on to a winner!

I love the vintage look of this bra, but again the cups are too small, particularly on my bigger boob, as you can see. The band again was nice and snug, so stick with your usual back size but size up by one cup I'd estimate.

My third and final fail! Supposedly this is a push up for enhanced cleavage. Um....

As usual for me, the straps are far too long, and are not fully adjustable, which in turn makes the cups appear much too big. The back band is also very loose, so if this is a style you're keen on, try a back size down.

While I was trying these on, there was a teenage girl being fitting in the next cubicle. She measured up as a 28" underbust, and the fitter recommended a 28 or 30 back, in a D cup which is fine, and then went on to say that they didn't have anything in stock in that, so perhaps she ought to try a 32 back. Anything to get a sale. If I wasn't pushed for time, I would have waited around and handed her my magazine from Brastop! Speaking of Brastop, my next blog will be all about my massive £140 order from them!

When I handed the bras back to the lady at the desk, I mentioned to her that the fit on each one was different and subsequently awful! She went on to tell me that the inconsistency is due to the bras coming from different manufacturers. Where is the quality control? Where are the product testers? Where's the LOGIC in this?!

TTFN, thanks for reading :)

Fitting Faux Pas and Bikini Bloopers!

There is a rather infamous battle of bra fitting that has constantly been raging for quite a few years now, so I thought I'd give it a quick mention, as it is linked to the bikini half of my blog. The old school method is to add 4-5 inches to the actualy underbust measurement, which I'm sure is where all this 'blah blah % of all women are wearing the wrong bra size' thing comes from. I've only recently (in the past 3 months maybe) discovered that instead of the 32G I was wearing, my 'real' size is 30G. 

For my fitting I went to Bravissimo, who fit you by eye based on the bra you're wearing. To be honest, even I don't practise what I preach entirely, as my underbust measurement is pretty much 28", so I should really be trying 28 backs. The 30 backs I have seem nice and snug, so I'll stick with them for now. I'm aware that this may just be a manufacturer issue... 

It was clear from my Star In A Bra entry photos (32G) that I was wearing the wrong size, even a MAN commented on this! Surely this is proof enough that the old method is wrong?! Here's a photo of me wearing a 32 back size.Not the best picture to demonstrate this, but you just about see that the bra sits away from my chest at the gore (the centre of the bra, between the cups). This means that all the support comes from the straps, causing pain, red marks and cutting in on the shoulder muscles.

So, according to some online calculators I come up as anything from a 32E to a 34E, and many sizes besides. With this in mind, I decided to try on  a few bikinis from New Look's range by Kelly Brook.

Firstly, a very cute black and white gingham number in a 32E. I don't really need to say much about this, I think the photos say it all...The only plus side is that the cups are big enough. Stringy straps=ouch!

Next I tried a 34E swimsuit. Unflattering, badly fitting. I am NOT a 34! Maybe if I tied the 'bra strap' back instead of using the fastener....?

Lastly, I adore the fabric and ruffles on this last one, again a 34E. Cups on the large side, same with the back.

My biggest point to make with these bikinis is WHY do they have shoestring straps??? Fine for smaller cup sizes but I'm thinking cheesewire for heavier boobs....

Thanks for reading, as always x