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?
