Bra fitting

The Little Bra Company

June 3, 2008 by Kelly

Rare bra sizes are always difficult to find. What’s a petite lady to do? Emily Lau, a 34B, faced this same problem a couple years ago. She loved lingerie and wanted cleavage, but the search for a sexy, well-fitting bra in the United States home was pretty hopeless. She told California Apparel News, “I’ve always been small-busted, so I was always looking for ways to give myself some cleavage, and I never felt like all the bras I found here fit.” With her friends’ push, she introduced The Little Bra Company with Amy Huang just over a year ago. The goal was to fill out their figures without dangerous and invasive surgery, and these pretty pieces do just the trick:

So what differentiates The Little Bra Company’s bras from any other bras in the same size? Lau says that the cups don’t gap, which is often a problem in smaller sizes. The back cut is smaller, and the cups are closer together than most bras to enhance cleavage. The bras are available in sizes 32A-36B. I have to admit, I’m surprised that the band only goes down to a 32. It seems that a company dedicated to “little bras” would make a point to serve even the daintiest of our readers! If you do fall into the size range, you can find The Little Bra Company’s bras all across the US or on the company website. There are matching panties available for some styles as well (like my favorite, Bijou).

Bali Intimates – Bali Concealers

May 24, 2008 by Brenda

Bali bras, panties and shapewear have always been and remain a leader in the foundation garment industry. From humble beginnings, the story starts back in 1927 when ladies’ undergarments were made to produce a flat figure. Sara Stein worked for one of these manufacturers and she decided that she could sew something better. So in her spare time, she constructed different designs that she felt would be more functional and more comfortable than what was being sold. Her husband Sam who was a sales clerk sold the bras to stores in their neighborhood.

Labeled “Fay-Miss”, a play on the word “famous”, the first year was hugely successful with sales of ten thousand dollars. In 1935, the name was changed to Bali Brassiere Company. Innovators of the foundation industry, the Steins were more concerned with good quality, good fit and comfort more so than profit. This fact alone propelled the company to massive growth and in 1969, when the Steins retired, controlling interest was sold. Ownership has changed over the years but the brand has not. It is still a well sought after label.

Bali Concealers Collection, “a flawless finish under everything”, is a line of bras that holds a secret in keeping the body smooth. The secret is in the Concealing Smoothing Petals™, an innovative patent pending technology that prevents show-through while remaining ultra thin and non-bulky. These bras are the only ones to use concealing petals so that women may feel confident and assured in the knowledge that their bras provide complete modesty.

Bali Concealers

And aside from the smooth design and concealing petals, there is one more aspect that makes the Bali bras very comfortable. They are tagless. Three styles of bras are available in underwire, wirefree and minimizer in five colors of black, bronze, suntan, soft sand and white. They are made of nylon, spandex and polyester and come in sizes 34-44 B, 32-44 C, 32-44 D, and 32-44 DD. The cup pads are polyurethane foam. Dare to wear your tightest fitting top or dress with this bra and you will look marvelous with no show-through!

Even the website is detail oriented as one can click on a color and see that actual bra on the model. This helps when choosing colors, as most times it is difficult to really get the feel of a color with just a small square patch. It also provides the washing instructions for each style.

Directly involved with women and the community, the company holds regular “Fit Events” where women can find out their correct bra sizing and as a socially responsible company, Bali supports The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Confused with Lingerie Sizing? You may be!

May 14, 2008 by Gill Fernandez

Getting the size right when buying lingerie can be a major issue whether you are buying lingerie for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

On the high street shoppers mostly buy off the rack with a glance at the sizing label before they head to the check out. Online is really no different except that there is often more sizing information available if the customer wants to read it.

Here at www.ever-so-sexy.com we give comprehensive sizing information to avoid the need to return items. Even so we do still receive a few returns for the reason of wrong size, so we are in the process of reviewing all our sizing information to make it easier for our customers to access and understand.

It is nearly two years since we last reviewed our sizing guides and I was relieved to find that it is still all valid. But I had forgotten just how confusing the different sizing methods can be.

The US and UK use a similar system based on imperial measurements (inches) and US inch and an UK inch is exactly the same but the systems diverge when they get to the bigger cup sizes. Europe has a standard system based on the metric system, except for France who still use metric but different numbers and Italy who do their own 1,2,3 thing and in Australia they base bra sizes on dress sizes. Confused? You would be forgiven for being completely befuddled.

If you then add in the factor that certain styles and manufacturers cut on the small side then you realise just how hit or miss the whole business of lingerie sizing can be.

So what to do?

We in the industry have a responsibility to supply as much information in a clear and understandable way to our customers as is possible. But customers have a responsibility too, which goes beyond reading the information we provide.

We did a poll here at www.ever-so-sexy.com to check just how many of us really know our size. Armed with a tape measure we stalked the office and stores asking our team to tell us their size and then challenged them to a check with the tape measure. 20% of us gave the wrong size information and I wonder just how well our customers know their size.

So customers – get that tape measure out and check. Here’s how to be sure you know your real bra size:

With a tape measure take the measurement of your rib cage just below the bra band. Then add five inches to that measurement to get the band width. For instance if your rib cage measures 29 inches + 5 inches gives you a UK/USA bra size 34 (75 Europe, 90 France, 2 Italy, 12 Australia) If the calculation results in an odd number then round it up by one. Now for the cup size; take the measurement again but this time measure the fullest part of the bust. The difference between this measurement and the band width gives you the bra cup size as follows:
1 inch = cup size A
2 inch = cup size B
3 inch = cup size C
4 inch = cup size D
5 inch = cup size DD (USA E or DD. Italy DD, Australia DD. Europe E)
6 inch = cup size E (USA F or DDD. Italy E. Australia E. Europe F)
7 inch = cup size F (USA G. Australia G)

Starting off with the right size information will definitely avoid disappointment and the need to return a purchase whether it was bought on the high street or online.

Gill Fernandez of Ever So Sexy Gill Fernandez – Ever So Sexy
A background in finance and sales but a deep desire to do something more feminine brought Gill into the world of lingerie when she decided to form her own company Crysalis Ltd which trades on line under the name www.ever-so-sexy.com and specialises in the glamorous, pretty and down right sexy stuff..

Read all posts by Gill Fernandez right here!

Exciting News from Le Mystere!

September 30, 2007 by Krista

Le Mystere, the CILA award winning company that is “all about fit,” announces Brigitte Razet, International Fit Specialist, as the newest addition to their certified Fit Specialist team. The talented experts from this well known luxury line, recommend a one-on-one consultation every six months. Well, as we have been mentioning a lot lately, with 80% (or so) of women wearing the wrong size bra, we need these experts to help us find our best fit! Want a consultation appointment with one of the experts? Find the location closest to you on the website. Already confident in your sizing? Find Le Mystere at a variety of locations worldwide as well as sites like freshpair.com.In the meantime, see this video for more commentary about the many fits and styles offered on different sized models so you can find what’s best for you. Very informative!

Half-cup Sizes from Playtex

September 28, 2007 by Kelly

You lucky UK girls! Here in the US, we’ve had half-cup sized bras available for a couple years now. These are certainly a life-saver for the many women stuck in the no-man’s land between cup sizes, and one step closer to personally tailored underpinnings. Even better, they were created by discount brand Playtex. But there was one fatal flaw in this plan: these bras aren’t really sexy. Playtex’s American line of half-cup bras, Half Sizes Too, has a good variety of seamless bras in three different colors- but not a whole lot else. The new UK line, MySize, was recently launched with three styles and four colors. One is a utilitarian seamless bra (we do all need those) but there are also two pretty lacy varieties.

It’s small, but it’s a start. Hopefully even prettier ones will be available soon. The UK line looks a bit more expensive, but it’s nothing so bad. Especially if it ends the heartache of many hard-to-fit women! MySize is available in whole and half sizes from A-D cups. Buy them at Figleaves, or search for a vendor at the Playtex UK website. We’ll soon have them in our shopping backend too, by the way!