My adventures with Curvy Kate’s hugely popular Showgirl range continue with Thrill Me. Is it as tempting as Tempt Me?

Er, no. This doesn’t happen very often, but I just don’t really like this bra at all. In terms of fit it’s fine, although it is HUGE in the back so size down there and size up in the cup. I can find balconette styles tricky (a bony and slightly flared rib cage can be a nightmare in this style), and in spite of that it seems comfortable enough. But could I see myself choosing this over my other bras, ever? I doubt it.

I’m all for frivolity, but Thrill Me goes beyond thrilling and verges on the hysterical. It feels like a bra trying way too hard. There’s so much going on – satin shine, ribbon, ruffles, bows, spidery lace – all of which render this bra utterly useless for me to wear under clothes. And that’s before you consider the cleavage. I like making an impact once in a while, but my boobs haven’t looked so huge – or broad – since rescuing them from E-cups. Sure, the cleavage is effective if you need to stop traffic – but it’s so distracting that I feel reduced to a pair of tits on legs. Not the best feeling.

There’s been a lot of love for Thrill Me in the past, but it just leaves me cold. Interestingly enough it has not made a reappearance in 2012 either, although Tease Me (below) is remarkable similar (fussy, frilly, though marginally less shiny), and supposedly with similar sizing idiosyncrasies. I’ll have to try that to see if Curvy Kate can convert me to their hardcore Showgirl fanclub yet…

Thrill Me is still available from outlets like Brastop in a variety of sizes.

But for some reason, in spite of its inexorable popularity in the wider blogging community, I’d never managed to try it myself. Disgraced, I used my recent Brastop splurge to rectify this absurd oversight.

Tempt Me is definitely more, erm, bordello-y than I usually wear every day, but it is precisely the bright colours, extravagant details, and boudoir finish that make it such a popular style. There’s a huge amount of detailing involved for such an inexpensive bra: Tempt Me has satin button details, detailed patterned lace overlaying the satin cups, and bows all vying for attention. Not that once on any onlookers would stand a chance of noticing – because it really does give an astonishing cleavage.

The cups are slightly wide set, though with such a narrow center gore this didn’t pose as many problems as a balconette style might. The back is nice and snug, although judging by my slight quadraboob and side-spill it runs slightly small in the cup. It might be worth sizing up there – I definitely need a 30GG to avoid any escapage.

It’s an extremely dramatic bra and a very deep plunge – and there’s no doubt that Tempt Me is not a bra for wallflowers or people standing near others operating heavy machinery. This is a bra designed to be noticed. But it’s also designed to be comfortable and supported, and – most importantly - fun. It is bordello, but its sexiness is sincere and not cliche (or itchy) in the way some other *cough, Ann Summers, cough* high street attempts at ‘sexiness’ can be. A cracking litte bra for the brave.

Oh, and on another note I love silly high waisted pants. A girl can never have too many high waisted pants. More of those, please.

Tempt Me is available in a wide range of sizes, from 28-38 D-J (with some exceptions). But more exciting is this new midnight colourway for Autumn (available September 12) – which simply by not being red is less bordello and more oo helloooo. One to watch.

Lepel’s bestselling Fiore has been on my radar for a while now – not least because of the pretty colours (helloooo mint green and strawberry!) – but for some reason it was only a review request from a reader that prompted me to actually order.

I wonder if my bradar was warning me off, because this bra and I did not become fast friends. Though I love how it looks on smaller busted models, when confronted with a G-cup the bra is slightly raggedy and cumbersome. It comes with light padding, plus an extra removable padding in a sling at in the lower cup – somewhat gratuitous when you’re already packing a G-unit, but not something that presents too much of a challenge if you don’t fancy the extra oomph… assuming, of course, that there’s enough room in the cup to start with.

But the cups are tiny. And the band is big. I so wanted to love this bra, but this bra just didn’t want to love me back. With padding the quadraboob is cataclysmic, without it’s not too bad up top if I’m still, although the underwire simply cannot tack to my chest and the centre gore never gets closer than a centimetre away from my sternum. In many respects, this bra fits me like a 34D – to the point that I checked every single tag twice for a labelling mistake. I know 30G is my ‘starting point’ size - but I’d need more than a Tom Tom to point me in the direction with this bra. I have never known a bra fit quite so disastrously – or fit so small whilst looking so damned big!

Has anyone else experienced this with Lepel?

If you’d like B4J to check something out for you (hopefully with a happy ending!), feel free to drop by on Facebook or Twitter and send in a request.

Fortunately I managed my expectations.

Playtex have not changed. This is a company who – in spite of their acceptance that their fitting advice was flawed – sticks by the appalling guidance of boob mangler ‘fit expert’ Alison Deyette (above) – champion of the +5/6″ method and the face of awful marketing campaigns based on taking women with terribly fitting bras and refitting them in to… other terribly fitting bras.

The bra calculator has gone, but the +5/6″ advice remains with some truly appalling examples of fit. This is a company who makes money selling “bra problem solutions” that would be rendered totally obsolete if their long suffering customers were helped in to perfectly fitting sizes. This is also a company that doesn’t acknowledge the alphabet beyond D. Call me cynical, but although their customers would be more comfortable, more supported, more confident and more empowered by a better fit – Playtex are more concerned about protecting their status quo than by the welfare of their women.

Proof of this is how quick they are to thank praise on their Facebook… and how steadfastly they ignore the pleas of suffering customers struggling with bra hate caused by symptoms of poor fit – symptoms perpetuated by the fitting tools promoted on Playtex’s website.

It won’t do. These cries must not go unanswered. Busts 4 Justice will make like Batman in a bra – and answer them in Playtex’s place*. All of these complaints have been taken from the Playtex Facebook wall. Feel free to head over there and submit helpful comments/have some fun with the page moderators if you have five minutes…

1. Dear Playtex… My bras are uncomfortable:

Playtex receive posts from women complaining about uncomfortable bras all the time. The answers are often simple, but strangely Playtex never have the time to answer them…

Dear Rachel,

I am so sorry you’re having such trouble finding a comfy bra, and also so sorry you turned to a company too careless to help advise you out of your predicament. Let me reassure you that comfy bras (that stay comfy all day!) do exist – we just need to find it for you in the right size.

You say that the chief cause of your discomfort is your band riding up. This is a common symptom of a bra band that is too loose for your body – a problem often caused by companies like Playtex advising women to automatically add 4-6″ to their underbust measurement. A bra band should anchor your whole bra in place and stay horizontal to the floor at all times, and to do so needs to be firm. I would suggest sizing down 1-2 back sizes and seeing if that improves your comfort and support. But remember – cup size is relative to the back size – so to keep the same volume in the cup you will need to size up in the cup for every back size you size down.

Love from Busts 4 Justice

2: Dear Playtex… My bras are causing me pain:

Reading Playtex’s Facebook page is not for the faint-hearted. I find it heartbreaking to read the stories – and worse see Playtex ignore them: especially when their customers are complaining not just of discomfort, but of pain.

Dear Angelia,

I am so sorry to hear about your symptoms. The pain you describe must be worrying but I’m hoping I have a solution to help you. I’m only sorry that the lingerie company you put your trust in doesn’t seem to share my concern enough to reply.

From your description of your straps, it sounds as if they are taking way more than their share of the weight of your breasts than they should, and that this is causing you pain and possibly even trapping a nerve. I’m guessing from your given size and your symptoms that you’re a busty lady, so it’s especially important you get this back band right. As a starting point, try wearing a bra band that closely matches the true measurement of your underbust. As you go down in the back sizes, you will need to go up in cup sizes to keep the same volume. For this, you will need to explore the alphabet beyond DDD to ensure your bra gives you the support you need – but don’t be afraid to embrace these letters!  The good news is there are lots of brands that cater for these sizes – even if Playtex isn’t one of them.

I am hoping that redistributing the weight of your breasts like this will help your comfort. If you need further help finding your size, please stay in touch – and if your shooting pains persist, make sur you speak to your doctor.

Love from Busts 4 Justice.

3. Dear Playtex… I don’t want to look like a cow!

Can’t blame the poor woman. When will bra companies just explain the who bra band/cup size thing in layman’s terms?

Dear Doris,

Cow I’m sure is unfair, but you’re not wrong in your suspicions that going up from a 38DD to a 40DDDD might make you look bigger.

It’s a common misconception that your back band size has anything to do with the overall size of your bust. Your back band size is just your back band size – and should be somewhere around your true underbust measurement depending on your body type. Playtex ask you to automatically +5/6″, which doesn’t help you get this right – especially if you’re a D+. It’s often helpful to ignore Playtex on all fitting matters.

No, if you’re spilling out and experiencing symptoms of a too small cup, it is only the cup that needs to increase. You want the cup to perfectly encase all of the breast tissue, and for the wire to tack very closely to where your breast meets your chest. Only increase your back size if the circumference of your chest actually increases.

But while band size has nothing to do with cup size, cup size is related closely to band size. This is because the letter is proportional to the number – so 32D=34C=36B=38A. Remember to size up in the cup when you’re going down a back size to keep the same volume.

Finding the right size – even if it means going in a ‘large’ cup size – inevitably makes you look slimmer and helps your clothes fit better too. It can take some trial and error, but it’s worth it. I know for myself because I dropped a dress size and gained tonnes of confidence when I realised I was not a 34E (or a 36DD, as Playtex say) but actually a 30G. I’d never known such support was possible, but I know that it’s out there for you too.

Good luck!

Love from Busts 4 Justice.

Shame on you Playtex. This entire post took me 20 minutes. And I wasn’t paid to do it!

*If you or anyone you know needs boob advice, Busts 4 Justice is always on hand to help as much as it can. For private help, e-mail me using the contact form here – or to use the hivemind of the wonderful women of Facebook you can publish to my wall here xx

I am certain that bad fitting advice issued by irresponsible bra brands is responsible for every single ill fitting bra and every minute of bra-wearing misery known to women. Which is why from Playtex to Gossard to (now) Curvy Kate on New Look – I spend so much time and energy battling against misleading, incomplete and downright bad fitting advice from lingerie websites. Of course, there is no substitute for a good fit from a good fitter – but in a reality where many women prefer or can only get their fitting advice online instead of in a respectable fitting room, and where sadly some fitters aren’t totally reliable themselves, what can a brand do to ensure women have the tools they need to find a bra they can actually love? Somewhere between terrible bra size calculators and boutqiue lingerie fitting services, is there a third way?

In an ideal world, of course, we’d have the technology to turn your webcam on right now (hello!) and map your exact shape and measurements before issuing you with a bra size guide you could trust. But sadly, along with my teleport and robot companion, this doesn’t exist yet. So we must make the best of what we have: brains, the internet, and lingerie brand websites. Dear bra bands the world over: here’s how to do it better (until the future arrives).

1: First things first: get it right!

I am staggered that certain lingerie companies don’t seem to give a damn about showing what their bras look like properly fitted. All too often, bra merchandisers seem only too happy to sign off on absurdly squished boobs, rogue wires or other fit faux pas, or try and mask the problem by airbrushing the poor women two dimensional.

It’s simple. Get the fit right in the pictures, and not only does your product look more desirable and less like something used to torture confessions from witches, but it helps women understand what they’re aspiring to and find that fit that they will love, tell people about, and buy again and again. If you care about your customers loving your product, lead by example.

2: Now let’s get to business: the visual guide

This is essential – and if you’ve been showing off your wares on poorly fitted models for years you owe it to your customers (and future brand ambassadors if you get this right) to show them how it should be done.

By calling out common bra bugbears like the dreaded quadraboob, shoulder-slicing straps, sagging cups, poking wires or wriggling back bands, you have the opportunity to help women discover how to correct their fit and understand why it’s not working in the first place. Bravissimo (above) have one of the best examples of this around: read it and be inspired.

FREE TOP TIP! Certain fit barbarians won’t even have to pay for new “wrong” photos – just use the horrendous examples you’ve been modelling for years! Huzzah!

3: Give them a starting point.

This is the most controversial part of the guide, but one I know many brands – especially ones selling online – feel is needed. To clarify: this shouldn’t exist if point two isn’t in place and if the number and letter it provides doesn’t scream STARTING POINT! before sending them back to point two to work out the details.

I (and science!) believe that most women are not best served by the +4/5/6″ fitting method. What your ideal bra band size will be depends on everything from your physique, your shape, your age, and even the brand or style of bra you’re trying. However, in the interests of neutrality if you’re going to give women a starting point, it should just be that – the underbust measurement +0 inches. One woman may need to +4, another may even need to -4 – the key allowing that journey to start at a starting point – not halfway down a road that may be the wrong direction.

This is not [nor has it ever been - check out the manifesto here] about replacing one arbitrary calculator with another, but about enabling women to start their fitting journey in a more helpful place. A numerical guide should only exist in tandem with the visual – and with clear instructions to take this starting point and apply the checks rigorously to find that perfect fit.

A perfect fitting bra can be life changing, and all lingerie brands owe it to the women who support their businesses to help them find that perfect match. Getting the advice you give right isn’t a huge investment, and it’s one worth making. Women who love their fit love their lingerie – and are loyal to the brands that make it. This isn’t just about doing right by your customers. This is investing in your brand for the future. 

Remember my recent Freya Jolie heartbreak? Mid-mope, my fears were confirmed by a Freya spokesperson, who said:

“As far as I am aware we aren’t bringing Jolie back in any new colours.  We would strongly recommend you try the Gem range from Freya coming soon.  This lace collection, is a fresh (Jolie like collection) which looks gorgeous on the body and comes in a gorgeous shade of China blue and black.  Gem offers the perfect amount of feminine yet seductive style.”

Despair! Well, thank bra heavens for the treasure trove that is Brastop.com: because thanks to their catalogue of out-of-season treats I found and am now the proud owner of a brand new replacement pink Jolie to tide me over until something else (perhaps Gem, perhaps something else) comes to steal my heart.

It’s mostly old, out-of-season stuff so you can’t guarantee it’ll have everything in your size, but the helpful size search function will mean you’re not trawling through mountains of irrelevant options only to find yourself disappointed. Everything is at a discount – sometimes substantially – so it’s a great place to grab a bargain, especially if you’re hunting to replace a loved bra now discontinued. And to top it all off, they deliver worldwide – so it’s perfect for all stranded in neglected corners of the bra world to find reasonably priced D+ swimwear and lingerie.

Hurrah for Brastop! 

Sometimes, I do things that are bad for me. Crisp sandwiches, for example. An episode of Made in Chelsea, watched mouth agape from behind a cushion. And, on occasion, faux vintage looking stuff with frills and buttons.

Freya’s Lacey was made for that final indulgence. It is so pretty and dainty – Downton-era elegance for the DDs, all cafe latte hues, cute polka dot detail and lacey loveliness.

Or at least, it was until I put it on. Sadly, Lacey (30G, my usual Freya size) does not transform me in to the stylish waif-like flapper I’ve always dreamed of being. There is a touch of Downton – but I am as a matron, not as a lady. Like most faux vintage looking stuff with fills and buttons, it just doesn’t work on me. My boobs appear wide and frumpy, and the peak of each cup remains unfilled although in every other respect (top of cup included) the fit seems fine. I didn’t have a 30FF on hand to try sizing down, but looking at the fit of the wire I’m not sure I could have afforded a smaller cup anyway. Lacey is just not for me.

Conversely, Invest in your Chest went BANANAS for this bra – so at least some ladies are feeling the Lacey love. It was sprawling and imperfect on me – but on the right shape, this baby could be a real treat. It’s almost worth persevering with for the awesome button detailing on the knickers alone…

Lacey is available in a whopping range of sizes between 28-38 C-K.

Lingerie legends Panache have teamed up with boob superstars at team CoppaFeel! to help more women get to grips with their own, very precious chesticles.

Reworking their extremely popular new sports bra in to CoppaFeel!’s signature hot pink, Panache have promised all profits from the new colourway to go straight to the charity. Which means more ‘Boobettes’ in more places, helping more women understand the importance of checking their boobs on a regular basis. Nice.

When was the last time you copped a feel? Ready… set… GO! [See how to check your boobs for breast cancer...]

Source: the Lingerie Buyer

It’s true I have a swimwear obsession better suited to someone living on a Miami beach than in the broadly damp flats of Holland, but that’s a minor detail. Now that bikinis come in G-cups, and now finding one that fits doesn’t end in tears and frequent boob-escapings on the beach, I’m hooked.

I love Freya Swim. Each year they make dozens of gorgeous styles (I am often paralysed by the choice), and do a cracking line of cup-size sports swimwear for those of us who like our fitness wet. The only downside is that they don’t often venture beyond a G-cup: something that hundreds of women have written to me desperate to find. Maybe next season?

I digress. I was talking about my New Favourite Bikini. Or at least, my new Equal Favourite Bikini To My Old Favourite Bikini the Freya Bardot, which I will forever love for its incredible but soft support in the face of some rather unpleasant sunburn.

Freya Lindy Hop is one of many beautiful styles created by Freya this season. Of all of them, it’s probably one of the least remarkable styles on the hanger – monochrome gingham isn’t anything new – but there’s good reason not to pass it by for one of the more vibrant options.

On, Lindy Hop is transformed from ‘another bikini’ in to one of the most beautiful creations I’ve ever wrapped around G-Unit. The gingham is gorgeous, and the balconette top and matching bottoms are both supportive and extremely flattering. Fit wise, it’s textbook Freya so try your usual (non-Deco) size. To top it all, the cute bow details give it a 50s flair perfect for lolling about by the pool in with wayfarers and a gin sling. If this isn’t love, I don’t know what is. Hello sunny weekend in Madrid!

Freya Lindy Hop is available in sizes 30-36 D-GG and 38D-G. And if you do fancy a flash of colour, it mix-and-matches perfectly with the Jitterbug too. Loving your work, Freya.

Thanks to the lovely (and with FREE international delivery. FREE! *uh oh*) Large Cup Lingerie for introducing me to my new best friend. Keep up the awesome work! x

I’m extra pleased because Sophie was also my personal number one choice. All the ladies in the top ten were stunning, but specifically it was this in her interview that made me click for her:

“I do believe that I have the passion, the confidence and the brains not just to model Curvy Kate, but to live and breathe everything that it stands for. [...] Because of the competition, people have been listening to what I have to say, reading the things I write and actually acknowledging that we NEED society to present more varied body types to women and young girls. We need this shift in social mindset so that we can bring forth a generation of strong, confident women, with the guts to take the power back from the media and the fashion industry who have made us feel so unworthy, and stand up and be counted!

“Having experienced really low times because of my self-image in the past, coming out of it to find myself here, in my pants, laughing and smiling and showing off my body to the world, has been one of the most positive things I have ever done…I just want the opportunity to be involved in anything that can make other women and young girls like me feel the same way, and realise that beauty is all about how you feel..not how you look!”

In her winners’ speech she added:

‘I believe it is vital for our society to make a shift in the way we view women and the way women are portrayed in the media and fashion industry. Now more than ever we need brands like Curvy Kate to acknowledge that we want  to see more varied portrayals of the female body, so that girls no longer grow up comparing themselves to such a narrow ideal of what beauty can be.’

Brains, passion, and a cracking attitude to boot. I love her. Congratulations Sophie!