My bra size has been Googleable for at least three years now, so it’s easy for me to forget that some people are sensitive about strangers being intimate about their intimates. For me 30G is just a matter of fact, and if anything sharing that fact with everyone has only been a positive thing. The conversation almost always goes the same way:
Q: So what size are you, if you don’t mind me asking?
A: 30G. 28GG sometimes.
Q: That’s massive! Wait… you don’t really look that big…
A: I’m not that big. I’m a only a 30G, and I’m in the right sized bra.
Q: Oh. Oh I see. I wonder if…
A: *whips out tape measure* Let’s see…
Without me even trying, my magic number regularly helps persuade +4 victims reconsider their own sizing. Even if I felt embarrassed by people knowing it, I wouldn’t do anything to hide it because I care about women getting the enhancing and empowering benefits of finding the right fit. I’m sure any DD+ blogger or business would say the same thing: it’s personal for us because it’s personal to everyone.
Which is why I was surprised to read that employees of Scandinavian lingerie brand Change were threatening to sue their employers for introducing name tags with their bra sizes on. Employees claim that the measure, which is designed to be a fitting reference for shoppers, has been embarrassing, and their union has suggested it is even illegal.
I don’t get it. For me, it seems impossible to be in this industry without being affected by the personal stories of women with body issues and even health issues directly linked – or at the very least amplified – by poor fitting lingerie. As an assistant in a store that boasts one of the very few to-a-J-cup ranges in the European market, you’d think fit would be a point of passion. How could a policy – indeed, a voluntary policy – designed to help the women you are working to help upset you so much?
Embarrassment, lechery and misogyny are all manageable with good friends, a sense of humour, and a neat line in sharp comebacks: but nothing helps persuade a nervous +4-er to try a proper fitting like identifying with other women’s bodies. The only reservation I have is whether or not the sizes they’re wearing are accurate… Is anyone near a store to have a look? And furthermore, how cute is the Tania?
Busts 4 Justice 
Hi, I went to a Change store just last week (we have them in Canada) :). The type of bras I tried on were unpadded balconette styles, and I tried on 5+ bras. I don’t find the sizing to be that accurate, at least in that style. I generally wear a 30F in Panache/Cleo and 28FF in Freya bras and a 30F in that style was way too small in the cup. I had problems with the tops of the cups cutting into me, the cups are pretty shallow. The best fitting size I found was a 30H, the cup volume was fine, but the wires were still too wide for me. I wrote a long review of the bra I tried on at the Bratabase here: http://bratabase.com/browse/change-lingerie/balconette-11255040312/30H/ if you want to read more about it. 🙂
Anyway, about the topic at hand. I can kind of understand that for some a bra size is considered a personal thing that they want to keep private. But on the other hand, in order to properly fit a customer, you have to see them without their shirt on and for a lot of women it’s pretty difficult to stand in front of someone they just met without their shirt on. It’s a lot more difficult than wearing a number and a letter (or two).
I think that if you’re embarrassed by your bra size you really shouldn’t be working in that kind of store. If your customer is embarrassed of her new proper size, what will you tell her?
I’m not surprised that a 30F was too small for you with Change. Panache produces bra in the inch-system, Change uses the European 2-cm-system with DD in between. To make this even more complicated the cups of Change are very shallow and thus run small. To get the necessary cup depth you need to go up in cupsize which then results in too wide wires. In the larger band-cupsize-combos however they seem to operate on “just make it big”. I normally wear 40H with Panache, the Florence Fullcup fits me in 90i, which in other brands is 2-4 cupsizes too small. Short: I’ve found that sizes at Change can be capricious.
Seems almost more important for a brand that sizes erratically to be able to demonstrate fit and sizing issues in such an easy way – I never buy a bra without checking online first to see how it compares against familiar sizes and fits… But do you know if they’re good at fitting people in to their idiosyncratic sizes? Are the girls in store likely to be wearing accurate badges? x
I’m surprised that they consider that intrusive in a lingerie store, of all places. My friend and I were in Bravissimo last week where they have a board with the fitters’ names, photos, bra sizes, and other information proudly displayed. I think this is an excellent idea as it helps people going in there for the first time to realise that just because they’re an F or G cup doesn’t mean they’re enormous or imbalanced.
I’m pretty open about my bra size, though; when we were browsing through the bras my friend looked at the tag on one and said ‘It’s a 30FF, that’s your size.’
I agree totally – any woman (especially D+) knows the huge difference that proper fitting makes: all I want to do is spread the word so more people can enjoy the benefits too. So what if people know my bra size? It’s just a bra size! If you’re embarrassed about that, then what good are you going to be reassuring a nervous, body conscious and fit-illiterate woman in the changing room? Grrr.
I only recommend Change for women who are not small or thin, with large breasts. If you’re narrow, they just don’t fit. The cups are totally shallow and the back sizes are inflated. I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who feels this way!
BTW, on the topic of the SAs being required to wear their bra size info – I don’t think the sales associates should be in any way shy to discuss that topic with clients (if they are, they shouldn’t work in that environment), but I do think it’s a violation of personal rights to mandate that they wear a sign advising anyone of anything personal.