If you’ve ever spent the day tugging at your straps, readjusting your band, or quietly counting down the hours until you can take your bra off, you’re not alone.
In fact, after ten months of professional bra fittings here in East Sussex, I can say this with confidence:
Most women have never experienced a bra that truly fits.
Not because they’ve done anything wrong but because the system around bra sizing and selling makes it incredibly hard to get right.
This is something I hear all the time.
Many women arrive for fittings telling me they have been measured. Often more than once. Usually in a high-street store.
And yet, when we look at what they’re actually wearing, the same patterns appear again and again: bands that are too loose, cups that are too small, straps doing far more work than they should.
The truth is, being measured doesn’t always mean being fitted, especially when sizing systems are inconsistent and ranges are limited.
One of the most surprising things I’ve learned from fitting women is just how much discomfort they’ve learned to tolerate.
But a well-fitted bra doesn’t demand attention. You shouldn’t be thinking about it all day.
Another common misconception is that bra fitting is simply about finding the right number and letter.
In reality, fit is influenced by so much more:
Fabric quality and stretch
Band construction
Wire shape and strength
Strap placement
And even the style of the bra itself
Two bras in the same size can feel completely different, which is why shopping can feel so frustrating and inconsistent.
This is also why specialist bra brands invest heavily in fit and engineering, while many high-street clothing brands simply can’t prioritise it in the same way.
Here’s something I only learned recently myself: many bra marketing photos are shot using sample sizes.
That means the bra isn’t always the correct size for the model wearing it.
Over time, this has quietly shaped our idea of what a “good” fit looks like, even when the bra in the image isn’t actually doing its job properly.
If you’ve never been shown what proper support looks like, how would you know what to look for?
What often gets overlooked is the mental side of discomfort.
When your bra doesn’t fit, it creates a low-level distraction that follows you through the day. You adjust. You fidget. You avoid certain clothes. You feel vaguely uncomfortable without always knowing why.
When a bra fits properly, that mental noise disappears.
And that, more than anything, is what women tend to notice first after a good fitting.
After seeing the same patterns over and over, I decided to analyse the data from my fittings and turn it into a report: The Great Bra Sizing Mismatch.
It looks at why so many women are wearing the wrong bra size, how poor fit has become normalised, and what changes when bras are designed — and fitted — with proper support in mind.
If any of this feels familiar, the report might help you make sense of your own experience.
👉 You can read the full report here
And if you ever want to explore what a well-fitted bra actually feels like for you, professional bra fitting is simply education put into practice.
No pressure. Just clarity.