Nine in 10 women in wrong sized bra!

A survey carried out by lingerie boutique Aphrodisia Ltd. in Tunbridge Wells has established that the majority of women are wearing the wrong size of bra. Commonly, the back size is too broad while the cup size is too small.

A correctly fitting bra is essential in providing the support required to prevent droop. It also improves poise and posture, improving the hang of outerwear. Wearing too small an underwire has been linked with health risks, including mastitis, and a handful of studies have proposed links with breast cancer.

Aphrodisia lingerie boutique's survey was prompted by a report in a national newspaper a few years ago claiming that most fitters were inadequately trained. The journalist said that while many of us were familiar with the notion that more than 80 per cent of women are in the wrong bra, she had visited lingerie stores for fittings in and around London with variously sized customers and had established that more than 80 per cent of fitters were selling those customers bras in incorrect sizes.

Aphrodisia has been carrying out its own survey over the past 18 months and the results are even more dramatic than expected. Only a handful of the 1,500 plus customers fitted during this period were found to be in the right size. Invariably, ladies needed to reduce the backsize of their bras and increase the cupsize.

Not infrequently, the actual bra size needed differed widely from the bra being worn. In one instance, for instance, a lady who had been wearing a 40B turned out to need a 32F.
"Many of our customers are really delighted to find a well fitting bra after so many years of making do with the wrong one, as it improves their look so much," said owner of Aphrodisia, Ghislaine Hubbard. "A lot of these customers have been fitted elsewhere and simply taken the fitter's word as gospel. It's important to find out whether the fitter has been professionally trained, rather than simply wielding a tape measure as instructed by a supervisor and doing some sums in her head." A correctly fitting bra sits flat between the breasts and the underwire sits where the breast joins the ribcage, tracing the outer edge of the breast. The band of the bra should not pull out more than one or two inches.

Author: Ghislaine Hubbard