Playtex responded to our war on plus four today, with an e-mail that failed to address both our criticism of the plus-four method within the app, and hiding from any sense of responsibility by excusing it as ‘a rough guide.’

Playtex write:

Dear Beckie

We at Playtex are sorry to hear that some of you have experienced problems with our Find Your Fit online tool.

Our online fitting tool is intended as a guide only. While we believe that in most cases it gives the best possible online fitting, it cannot and is not meant to replace a one-to-one fitting, which we would always recommend over an online fitting.

The good news is that our in-house fitter Emma provides training on how to fit Playtex bras to leading department stores throughout the UK, so you can be sure you’re in trusted hands when you go for a fitting. We would always encourage you to do a one-to-one fitting.

In the meantime we’ve taken on board all your comments regarding our online fitting tool, and have arranged to speak to our fitting and website teams to discuss how we can address these issues and make it clearer that the online tool is meant as a guide only. We will be sure to keep you updated on any improvements and changes we decide to make as a result, and in the meantime please let us know if you have any further questions or comments.

Thank you for getting in touch. We always appreciate receiving feedback from our customers, it shows you feel as passionately about our brand and bras as we do.

Kind regards

Claire at Playtex

“While we believe that in most cases it gives the best possible online fitting…” Really? Has anyone got within spitting distance of their actual bra size with the app? Suffice to say, I’m not convinced they properly read our challenge, nor indeed grasp just how dreadful a ‘guide’ the app is.  I’ve shot back immediately with this:

Dear Claire,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me, but I’m afraid I must press a couple of points.

Making it clearer that the tool is ‘just a guide’ will not address the problem. In using the plus-four method, you give wildly inaccurate results that ‘guide’ women in completely the wrong direction. If I were to use my 34D ‘guide’ as a basis to purchase any lingerie from Playtex, I would suffer from sore shoulders, ill-fitting cups, uncomfortable breasts and digging in wires – as indeed I did in my M&S issued 34E bras before I was correctly fitted as a 30G. This is because the plus-four method is a relic from a time when bras were made from different material. It should have no place today on any website professing to care about the welfare of its customers.

I’m glad to hear you have an in-house fitter, though if she’s using these guidelines then I fear for her accuracy – but for some women, fitting is not an option. Indeed, it was a stream of apps and ‘guides’ like yours assuring me that I was a 34E that kept me from actively seeking out a proper fit, even though I felt uncomfortable and absolutely hated my breasts as a result of the way they looked and felt in that size. When I finally found the fit I needed – only after I’d met some senior lingerie technicians whilst campaigning against Marks and Spencer – it was nothing short of an epiphany. My blog post (please do revisit it for clarification of what we’re asking, and the recent Simply Yours posts linked there for very many comments about why women feel let down by the method: https://busts4justice.com/2011/06/20/look-out-platex-we-declare-war-on-plus-four/) describes how I went from being totally sedentary to extremely active, simply because my curves were properly supported. Believe me when I say my passion is not for Playtex, or indeed any other lingerie brand: it is for sharing this liberating and empowering experience with the very many other women out there who feel restricted by their own bodies and resentful of their own shape. We’re very aware that fitting is a complex and involved process, but this fitting and complex process is much easier when one starts with the raw underbust measurement. It is not enough to excuse these results as a ‘guide’. They are a ‘guide’ in the wrong direction, and point to a path that repeatedly fails women trusting brands like Playtex with their most intimate apparel.

I would be grateful if when your teams are addressing the shortcomings of the app they could also address the shortcomings of the plus-four method, and question its place on the website of any modern, forward thinking lingerie company. 85% of women are thought to be in the wrong sized bra. Addressing that figure starts with high-profile lingerie retailers like Playtex committing to their customers, and confining this relic of a method to the past.

 I look forward to hearing from you.

 Beckie.

If you would like to tell Playtex just how careless and irresponsible promoting the ‘plus-four’ method to its customers (disclaimer or no disclaimer) is, then you can e-mail Playtex here. Let me know how you get on….