Hello lovelies,
Today's blog is a little different. I wanted to talk about my recent experience of going to my first bra fitting & why it is so important.
Now I know what you're thinking. "Cat, you're 26 & you've never been to a have your bra fitted?" The answer is no, no I haven't. You might ask me why. Well, there are a number of reasons.
Firstly, it's embarrassing.
I'm not one of those people who feels extremely comfortable with a complete stranger seeing me in my underwear & as I have zero body confidence. The idea of someone watching me take off my clothes & measure me while I stand there changing into different bras filled me with dread.
Secondly, the judgement.
This one sounds silly even to me as I know that hundreds of women go to fittings & are told they are wearing the wrong size. But I was so paranoid that I was wearing something completely wrong & they would look at me like I'm an idiot.
& thirdly, I didn't know what to expect.
As I had never been to a fitting before, like most things, I had no idea what to expect. This scared me, like most things in life that I've never done before!
So anyway, despite all this, I decided after talking to my best friend, to go to my first fitting. I've noticed over the last year, I've had a few back problems (not sure what is causing them) but I also have really bad posture. I notice when I'm standing I'll hunch over a bit & I'm also guilty of not sitting straight in a chair. I know sometimes this can relate to wearing the wrong sized bra (I know it could be many other things) but thought I might as well go & see if getting fitted with the correct bra would help.
So, onto my actual experience.
I decided to book an appointment at my local
M&S as my friend had been there before. It's a free consultation & the allocated slot is 20 minutes. I arrived about 5 minutes before my appointment & waited a few minutes for a lady to come round who took me into a fitting room. It was slightly different to a normal fitting room as it had 2 sections with a curtain hanging across the middle. As I was quite nervous, I did manage to tell her it was my first fitting so she proceeded to tell me what she was going to do. That helped a lot, so I had a clear plan in my head. She asked me to remove my jumper & top but keep my bra on, which actually wasn't too awkward & she used a tape measure to measure under my boobs. After she'd taken the measurement, she went to find some bras in my size in a few different styles for me to try.
While I was waiting I noticed that the fitting room like most fitting rooms had tons of mirrors in it, showing every different angle on my body & there I was standing in my bra & jeans. Until I caught sight of myself, I was feeling ok, but I quickly sat down & started looking through my phone as a distraction until the lady returned. She wasn't long & came back with about seven different bras for me to try.
Ok, so onto the most awkward bit. She handed me the first bra to try & just looked back at me so I took it this was my queue to change into it. I turned around & thought she was going to pull the curtain but she didn't. I know this is totally my fault as I should have asked her too, or done it myself, but I just carried on & got changed in front of her, but it was the most awkward thing ever. This is going to sound weird as well, but I put my bra on a completely different way to how people usually do it, so that was extremely embarrassing as I'm sure I could feel her watching me. I had to do this for all seven bras & each time she would ask how they fitted & had a look at how my boobs were in the bra. I didn't mind that as she was pointing out different parts that I'd never noticed before, but I was equally quite flustered as all I could think about was this woman judging me.
So after trying on what felt like hundreds on the damn things, we selected two sets of two that fitted me best & she left the fitting room, leaving me to change back into my clothes.
So there I was. Standing in the fitting room, feeling extremely hot & bothered with a few bras clutched in my hand. I did really like the ones she'd picked out & we went for a balcony style which I don't tend to even glance at in shops, but actually, I loved how my boobs looked in the them. I decided to purchase
a set of two in a light pink & black lace & felt extremely excited when I left the store.
So, overall I'm extremely proud of myself for going. I can't say I enjoyed it but I'm going to make myself go regularly (they recommend every six months) but it's on my list to do at least once a year. I would encourage you to go if you've never been, just to give you a rough idea of the size you should be wearing & to learn about all the different bras that are available now, because there are just so many! How is a girl to choose?!
When I came home from the fitting & tried on my new bras in the comfort of my own home, I felt like a new woman. So even if you don't enjoy the experience of going, remember the end result is worth it. I literally felt up-lifted.. ;D
Oh & the most exciting part of the fitting that I forgot to mention, I was actually wearing the right size all along! Just not the right style of bra for my boobs, so overall, a success in itself.
I would love to hear your experiences with bra fittings & how often you go to get measured. Have you had an experience similar to mine?
