Wealden Times | WT200 | October 2018 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

32B or not 32B?
that is the question
Whether your cup runneth over or there’s room for more in there, you’re probably
wearing the wrong bra size. Expert fitter and Triumph consultant Carol Wales, of Fenwick,
Tunbridge Wells, explains why you need professional guidance
What Carol Wales doesn’t
know about bras isn’t worth
knowing. She’s been a
consultant for Triumph for over 30 years
and was an experienced fitter before that,
having trained at a specialised lingerie
fitting school in London.
But what may surprise you is that
there is one thing she never uses while
fitting bras for grateful customers (many
of whom come to see on her word-ofmouth
recommendation) at Fenwick,
Tunbridge Wells: a tape measure.
“You do it by eye,” she says.
And there’s something else surprising,
that you may be relieved to hear – you
don’t even need to take all your clothes
off for Carol to fit you.
“Once you’re trained, you can get a
rough idea of the frame just by looking
at a woman. You can’t measure with any
accuracy with a tape, it’s much better to
do it by eye. I look at a woman in her
own bra and I can see what’s going right,
wrong, or otherwise.”
Once Carol has assessed the basic size,
she has to call on another area of her
expert knowledge, being familiar with
multiple ranges and styles of bra.
“Just like clothing, sizes vary a lot
between brands and even within a brand,
depending on the style, some come up a
bit tighter, so you have to allow for that.”
But even with all that knowledge, the
only way to be sure a bra is the right fit
is to try it on and have it checked on you
by an expert fitter. “I can’t look at a bra
and know if it will fit me – I have to try
it on. This is why it’s very difficult to buy
them online.”
One of the reasons so many of us wear
the wrong size, Carol says, is because
we’ve got stuck on the idea that 34B is
the ‘average’ size and work from that as
a starting point.
“Women’s perception of bra sizes
is wrong. If they haven’t been
professionally measured mostly
they get the back too big and the
cup too small. They come in
wearing a 38 or 40 B cup and
once we’ve fitted them, they
might be in a 34DD or E.”
And with that new bra
size comes a whole new,
neater, slimmer look,
says Carol.
“Once you get your
Above: Triumph Amourette bra and briefs in teal. Bra £36, briefs £22
breasts in the right place it changes the
length of your body and makes your
figure look completely different. We have
that all the time in the changing room.
You see how it changes a client’s figure
and gives their confidence such a boost.
I’ve had women cry because they are so
grateful I’ve sorted them out.”
Trained bra fitters are always available
in the lingerie department at Fenwick
Tunbridge Wells, no appointment
necessary.
Breast cancer
awareness
Breast Cancer Awareness month is here, and
charities around the world are on a mission to
highlight the importance of breast awareness,
education and research. Whether you choose to
dress up with Wear it Pink, have a pink party,
buy some charity products or even go skydiving,
there is something you can do to show your
support and spread awareness. You can find
out more about the event and what you can do
online at breastcancernow.org