Thursday, November 18, 2010

Review of Bravissimo Clothing: The Biggest Company is not Necessarily the Best.

 Bravissimo is the business for large breasted gals. If you do a search for clothing or bras for large chested women, they are going to be one of the only results. They are, by far, the largest, best promoted, most well known business for large chested women.

In many ways, I love Bravissimo- I love what they stand for, I love them for spreading proper bra fitting throughout the UK. I love that they help promote the idea that big breasted girls can be thin, too. Their website is nice, easy to use, and professional. They offer a large variety of products that are up to date with clothing trends while keeping to styles that will look good on a large chested woman. Oh, and might I mention how lovely their models are? It's refreshing to see thin, but hourglass-shaped women portrayed in this way. It was wonderful for me to see what my body type looks like on professional models- it made me feel normal, and, dare I say it, pretty?

However, I have to say, my actual experience with their products was extremely hit or miss. Mostly miss.

The first thing I bought was a purple jersey dress in 8 Super Curvy (8SC). I don't have a picture of myself in it, because I returned it. It was... extremely clingy. In that makes-my-hips-look-lumpier-than-they-actually-are way. It sort of dipped inwards at the crotch level, as well, making me look like I had a bit of a belly. SO not flattering. I had envisioned the dress with a much more flowing skirt. It did fit well at the top, so I decided to try again.

I ordered two shirts on sale, and one for a good price on ebay. At the time, Bravissimo did not have a size chart on their website. They said to go by standard UK sizing, and then pick by cup size. This seemed a bit confusing to me, but I looked up a standard sizing chart online and found that a UK 8 was supposed to be equivalent to a US 4. Well, I'm sometimes a 4, and sometimes a 6, but since it would be cut with extra room at the bust, I figured their 8 should be good. Cup size... Well, I really need a 24/26 HH/J. But I went with around GG in a 28 back to estimate that I would need a Super Curvy. I found this whole process pretty confusing.

The two shirts I ordered were MUCH too big. They even bagged at the bust, which, I will grant you, is not something I'm used to! My mother suggested that I try a curviness size down... but really, that would defeat the purpose as they were too big everywhere. I think if I could have scaled all of the seams down a few inches, it would've been great.




But then, the third shirt... WTF? It was on the loose side in the waist area... but at the boob level I couldn't zip it up. I'm talking like zipper 4 inches apart couldn't zip it up. And even if I could have, the line that was supposed to fall under my breasts would have bisected them. So basically, it fit just like any other shirt from any other store that makes clothes for a B cup. Just to prove it to myself, I had my 30C little sister try it on. It fit with only a little bit of extra room!

The only thing that fit acceptably was this jacket, although it still is slightly weird at the armpits and is a bit big, especially at my waist:



So, basically, I found their sizing really inconsistent. I think, overall, that most things tended towards too big for me, and I have read a lot of complaints on Bravissimo's Facebook fan page about this. Although they claim to use UK sizing, I think that their sizes tended to fit more like smallish US sizes.

If they are going to stick with such overinflated sizes, they ought to at the very least keep them consistent, and introduce a size 6! Seriously, they advertise themselves as being for women with big breasts and small waists... and they sell band sizes down to 28... but your typical 28-band-size-wearing woman probably would need a Bravissimo 6. Also, I feel like they don't know quite what body shape (other than large breasted which is just one element of your shape) that they are designing for. They claim to design for a 5'5” woman... and I definitely can tell that their clothes are designed for somebody shorter than me because the boob area always seems a little too high for me... as though for somebody with breasts higher up on their ribcage (like a more petite woman.) But petite women complain about weird fit issues, too. In addition, the hip area tends to be rather slender by all accounts, (what I experienced with the jersey dress!) even though most of their customers tend to be hourglasses or pears.

So, to sum up the issues:
    • They really need more consistent sizing
    • They need smaller sizes
    • Correspondingly, they need an extra super curvy or some such.
    • More hip room for hourglass-shaped ladies
    • For me, the clothes are too short- for petite ladies, they are too tall.
    • The clothes are very expensive for the quality

Until they fix these problems, I end up feeling like their brand is a bit of a lie, honestly. They were started for women with large breasts but not large bodies... but they don't carry smaller sizes that so many women need! The whole, entire reason for buying clothing from a specialized company like Bravissimo is to get a perfect fit. If their sizing is inconsistent, random, and doesn't come in the range their customers need, what's the point? Not to mention, returning things is a hassle and very expensive if you don't live in the UK.

I would encourage you to contact Bravissimo and ask for what you want. Eventually, they do listen to what customers want- for example, it is because of Bravissimo that there is a 28 band size! I hope that soon, they can get these issues with their clothing line worked out. But until they do, there ARE alternative companies out there. They may not be as well known, but that just means that they might be more willing to respond to customers' needs! And even if Bravissimo does get their act together, it's important to have options.

(edited to add: for good alternatives, click here or here)

29 comments:

  1. They do run large, unfortunately, and their website doesn't make this at all clear. I think they actually have a size chart with measurements in centimetres now, but their sizes have always fit larger than standard UK sizes, and the size chart only confirms this. It's particularly annoying when they claim their clothes are the solution for people who have to buy bigger sizes to accommodate their busts. Their band sizes do cater for a larger range than their clothing does; the biggest dress size they carry is UK 18, but most people wearing their largest band size (40) will probably be more like a 22 or 24.

    Generally speaking, those online conversions tend to be way off... a standard UK 8 is closer to US 2 than 4, and in some brands it's more like 0. As you found out, this doesn't apply to Bravissimo.

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  2. Thanks for commenting, Frankincensy! Yeah, when I ordered from them, they didn't even have a size chart which was super frustrating. According to the size chart they put up now, a 6SC would probably fit me pretty well. (If they were to make such a size.)

    But the inconsistency of their sizing was a pretty big issue, too. When I can I'm going to update this post with more pictures, like of the shirt that was way too small, just to show how extremely inconsistent it was.

    That's interesting about it being more like a 2. I really wish Bravissimo actually carried down to that size! (Like for real!) Size inflation is so annoying... I always think it's crazy I get sized out of everything, because I'm a pretty healthy weight but I'm 5'9"... so what about more average to petite women with the same BMI as me??

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  4. Aww, thanks, MJ! That was my intent with this post, I'm glad you liked it. :-)

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  5. Bravissimo clothing is just like ready to wear. I feel like they played an awful joke on us. ♥

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  6. MJ- Exactly! If their entire business model is based on having the clothes fit better than ready to wear, then they need to actually fit better!

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  7. Totally agree with this review - I've been buying from Bravissimo since 2007 but I've been getting really fed up with them lately. Over the past year I have lost weight and find that their size 8s are sometimes too big on me now and often gape in the waist area - and I'm really not even that small (5'3", 28F bra size, around a US size 6).

    Also since discovering Trashy Diva I've realised that the fabrics Bravissimo uses are very poor quality for the price. For instance their Stitch Jersey Top (available in the current sale) is made from cotton voile but it's a very flimsy, easily-creased and insubstantial fabric. The cotton voile used by TD on the other hand is of much higher quality - still lightweight but with a much better drape and more substantial feel - and really the prices aren't that much different.

    I've had to send so many things back recently due to inconsistent sizing and weird designs that I've pretty much given up. I do like the Kimono dress that came out a few months back but that's been my only recent purchase that I've been entirely happy with.

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  9. I don't agree that inconsistent sizing is a bad thing. The sizing for most clothing stores is inconsistent - how many of us can say that we are a size 6 or 8 in every item from a particular store we buy from?! I have many favourite stores, and I'm not often the same size in all the things I buy from them. It all depends on the make, material and style of the clothing you are buying. That's why it is inconsistent. And in terms of bra sizes, I can wear 4 different cup sizes or back sizes from the same brand, depending on the make of the bra.

    Having said that, I think Bravissimo should do a sizing chart for each clothing item, so we can determine which size we would be for each of them. I am a size 8, with a bigger bust than you, but often even I still find Super Curvy too big (and sometimes too small) - it just depends on the style.

    If I buy an 8SC and find it baggy in the bust, that doesn't mean Bravissimo is bad (if anything, it means those with breasts much bigger than a J would be able to fit into it, which is a good thing, and means more of their customers can fit into their clothes). It just means that, until they design sizing charts for each item, I just need to ask around on the Facebook page, or look at the review section on the website, to gauge what size I should buy, as just like bras, clothing sizing is also inconsistent. I suppose these were your first purchases, so you probably weren't aware that going from the sizing chart to determine your cup size, etc, isn't necessarily accurate (but I'm not surprised that the SC was too big for you). However, I think the white shirt - other than the bust - looks fine (as does the jacket).

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  11. Anonymous, I think you missed my point a little bit. I understand that many brands have inconsistencies in sizing, and that that can be because of materials or style. I actually do wish that brands would try to keep their sizing more consistent as well. But Bravissimo's inconsistencies go well beyond what I consider normal or acceptable. I really need to edit this post with photos showing some of the things that were teeny at the chest, to show just how inconsistent. But since I'd already given them away when I wrote this post, I need to borrow them back to do that. However, I feel that their inconsistencies went beyond normal and into the realm of quality control problems.

    I think a size chart for each item would probably be overkill. I've seen a lot of companies just have a note along the lines of, "due to the material, this runs a little bit big" or some such. But if individual size charts is what it took, then I guess that would work, too.

    I totally agree that Bravissimo isn't bad for making a bust size that's too big for me! In fact, I mentioned in my post that a extra super curvy size or some such would be a good idea. After all, if Bravissimo has demand for bras up to an L cup, then those women must need special clothes even worse than I do! I would certainly never want to imply that I think J+ cup women should be excluded. However, I found their size advice confusing and innacurate, and according to it I should have been a SC, which is all I was trying to point out.

    Maybe this is not as clear as I would like in the photos, but the white shirt is huge everywhere and actually is worse in the waist than anywhere else. I think the first photo shows most accurately what it looked like in person. The coat is the only thing out of maybe 10 items I tried that fit me. I think I would need a 6SC and their size chart confirms this.

    If doing extensive research about each item works for you, then that's great for you. But I would rather spend my money at companies that have consistent sizes and make clothes small enough for me. In the future, if Bravissimo were to improve some of these issues, I would be perfectly willing to try them again. But until them, my opinion of them stands.

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  12. No I do understand where you're coming from, and I can imagine that it was a frustration to find that many of the items you bought didn't fit properly. I've had issues with some of their clothing items too, and have found that some clothes on their website which look fitted on the models are much bigger on me (the pink and purple top that you've included at the beginning of this blog entry is a perfect example - there's about 5 inches of extra material at each side of my hips). I've had to alter a few of their things because of gaping problems as well. I know you weren't implying that women bigger than a J cup should be excluded, but I meant that they seem to make many of their items so big in the bust that the SC would only fit women bigger than a JJ or so. That's great, but that's why Bravissimo need to do something in regards to their sizing chart so that this is indicated... Because many women wearing H or J cups have found their recommended curvy size was too big. Because I'm aware of this, I've been generally able to find the right size for each item for me (I wouldn't call checking out their review section extensive research though, as it doesn't take too long and I don't mind doing it :) ). I don't think this inconsistency will be such a bad thing if the sizing chart is fixed. I personally don't really think their level of inconsistency is particularly unacceptable though, as they are fitting to different bust sizes and that will pose different issues for each kind of material used - and as I said, the same level of high inconsistency happens with bras. The fact I'm a GG in one Freya bra, but a J in another is a reflection of this.

    I could be wrong, but I do remember reading that their clothing is made by a few different manufacturers, which could explain the inconsistency in sizing. Trashy Diva have a size chart for each item, which is what I do think Bravissimo should do, if the bust size for each item is going to differ.

    Can I ask which items you bought that were too small in the bust and that you had other problems with, that you didn't list here? My biggest problems with the bust being too small was the black cotton stitch top. But on a whole, I do have a lot of Bravissimo clothes that fit brilliantly, and they always attract the most compliments :)

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  13. I completely disagree with your closing comments that Bravissimo are unwilling to listen and respond to customers' needs! I've been with Bravissimo since the beginning (1995!) and if you look back to the first catalogue it is incredible to see the progress.
    I remember writing to Bravissimo to ask for soft cup bras sewn into PJ tops somehow, now I have a drawer full of comfortable supportive PJ tops and *gasp* sexy satin nightdresses!
    Strappy tops - another one, I have never EVER seen underwired inbuilt bra sized strappy tops, people moaned that they were having to wear big bra straps under delicate strappy tops and Bravissimo invented the strappy top!
    The 28 back was not sold ANYWHERE until Bravissimo put pressure on Panache and Fantasie Freya to do so. Panache and Freya refused to believe that there was a market for above a G cup, until Bravissimo asked customers to write in and presented all our letters to them. When customers asked for a K, KK and now L cup, Panache and Freya would not make one, so Bravissimo made their own.

    Bravissimo's clothing is a relatively new thing for them, and every new venture is going to have teething problems, however I think it is fantastic that they are doing what they are doing and that they DO listen. Each new venture and invention is the result of extensive research and it is a huge risk to plough money and effort into a new project when you don't know how well it will do, so i have the greatest of respect and gratitue for Bravissimo for having the courage to provide what their customers need.

    PS - I was in a shop the other day and they were talking about having a Super Duper Curvy size in the shirts which is trialling, so they have listened to that as well!

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  14. Anonymous #1- You are totally right, I had even mentioned in my Trashy Diva review that they have size charts for each item! I will admit that I don't tend to look at them each time, because I have so far found Trashy Diva's clothes to be extremely consistent, and they generally put a note about if it runs big, or small, or stretchy, and I just follow that advice.

    I think you are right about the different manufacturers. Maybe a different size chart per manufacturer would be a good idea, at the very least! I honestly just want to be able to order from them and know an item will fit. I am more than happy to read reviews, what I was more thinking about with the doing research comment was buying items used, or on ebay, or on sale or something.

    I really want to post a photo of this, but the shirt that was WAY too small at the bust was black and sleeveless, with black lace over cream fabric at the top. It was really pretty and honestly the thing I was the most excited about from Bravissimo. I was really upset to see my sister, who has no trouble finding clothes that fit her bust, slip into it and have it fit nearly perfectly! It was then that I decided I was done with Bravissimo. Remember, at the time they didn't even have the size chart or reviews.

    I definitely do think they need to be a lot more consistent with the sizing- I think that having one item be HUGE at the bust and the next be completely unzippable, with both items the same size, is a pretty big issue. I wonder if maybe it was a fluke? I did see similar complaints about the last season's strapless dresses. But I do agree there will always be some inconsistency with sizing in any brand.

    I would gladly try Bravissimo again, if they introduces 6's, though. Most everything tended to be too big for me, so I think that I would probably have better luck with 6's. I honestly do want to like Bravissimo! Every time they come out with new stuff I drool over it and then remember it won't fit. :-(

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  15. Anonymous #2- What I really meant by my closing comments was that, until they listened to these issues, (meaning the very very inconsistent sizes, confusing size selection process and the fact that the 8 is overinflated/there is no size 6) I will be buying elsewhere. I do believe that some competition is good for ANY company, including Bravissimo. I have felt much more listened to by companies like Biubiu and Trashy Diva, and I prefer many of their styles- Bravissimo leans a little too office-ey for my taste.

    It hasn't been my experience that Bravissimo has listened to their customers about these particular issues. I saw many, many complaints on their Facebook page that the strapless dresses were much too small to zip up- barely better than high street dresses. And Bravissimo's response was some excuse about the dresses needing to be snug to stay up. That would be one thing if they were snug, but zippable, but if the whole point is having things fit our breasts...

    That being said, you have known about Bravissimo for longer than I have even known anything about bra sizing! I forget how recent they actually are as a company, since they were already hailed as THE company for all things large-breasted when I first started researching bra fitting. (late 2007)

    I am really encouraged hearing about your experiences. I do think the sleepwear was ingenious- it's one of the only things I've had work from Bravissimo. I do believe that they will listen eventually. I think maybe they have grown a little too fast for the good of their customer service. And I actually think that's great! Like you said, they are having teething problems. But that means that there is a lot of demand for things for big breasted women, and that we can find things to fit more easily now. I cannot wait until their influence reaches other countries, like the US.

    I want to emphasize this again: I really, really love what Bravissimo has done, especially for bra sizing. I love what they stand for. I will happily give them another try as soon as they introduce a size that will fit me! I really do want them to work for me, and the other women who are my size and shape. I have big hopes for their new line.

    I think that I am going to edit the closing of this post somewhat, to reflect what I meant better. Thanks for pointing that out.

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  16. Just a minor note, I think we need to make a distinction between their customer service (i.e. what you get when you phone their customer service hotline or send an email) and the responses posted on their Facebook page in response to demands that they can't realistically address in the short term.

    The customer service I've had from Bravissimo over the past three years has always been exemplary - the girls who answer the phone and reply to emails are polite and lovely, and they go out of their way to help you when other companies wouldn't. For example, I once ordered an item and then a few days later it was reduced considerably in the sale - Bravissimo refunded me the difference! How many companies would do that? They also recently phoned me back from the UK on my Australian mobile number about an order query I had - to me that's really going above and beyond.

    But I really feel sorry for whatever PR person on their staff has the job of responding to comments on their Facebook page, because it's always full of silly demands ("open a store in South Africa!") and requests for things that can't be changed overnight and/or things which they probably have no plans of changing. I think they are always as tactful & reasonable as they can be, but they can't address everyone's concerns all at once and overnight and in some cases all they can say is "we've taken your comments on board & will pass them on". Obviously this isn't satisfactory for a lot of people, but I really do think they do as well as they can under the circumstances!

    If you email them directly about anything they always come back with a much more detailed response too.

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  17. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but the loose waist issue is probably due to the clothes being cut for Brits. The average waist-to-hip ratio is currently a lot bigger for Brits than for Americans, though they are on average slimmer than Americans. Not sure why.

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  18. I recently purchased my first two dresses from Bravissimo.
    I live all the way in New Zealand, it is impossible to find anywhere that caters for women who a petite, small yet have a large chest.

    There is not a single brand or company I could name.
    I came across Bravissimo only a couple months ago when I starting having issues finding any garments to find. I am fashion design and want to start a label for large chest women and want to know what was out there already this was one of few labels I can across that showed an understanding to us the large chested women.

    Anyways I order two dresses going off there size chart, I thought they would fit!! Wrong the chest was alright yet my waist and hips are far too small. I need a whole size smaller! I am 5"2, with 38.5 inch bust, 27.5 inch waist and about 37 inch hips.

    I really like the idea of Bravissimo, the designs, dresses I just wish they would carter a little bit more for the slim women with a larger chest.

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    1. Hey Kate,

      Just wondering what size you tried to order? I know this was several years ago, but I want to try to get the fit right on the first try and you have very similar measurements to me.

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  19. I read this with interest as I also have been a Bravissimo customer since it started back in the mid 90's, and don't know where I'd have been without it. As one previous reviewer mentioned, it is amazing to see how far this company has come. I remember being excited when bras in my (then) size of 32FF were available in not only white, but skintone and (sharp intake of breath) black!! How times have moved on.

    The only real problem I have had with the clothing has been that as soon as I hit J cup the SC size was no longer big enough. However a Super Duper size has recently been introduced. It is hoped that more items will feature in this size in future collections if the demand is there.

    I'm currently a 36HH, with a preference for Freya styles (they seem to fit better, the wires on Panache just don't sit right on me)and take size 16 skirts and jeans. I have recently bought a whole raft of dresses from Bravissimo (or Pepperberry as the clothing branch is now known) in a 16SC and the vast majority fitted beautifully. I'm 5'4" tall so guess I'm pretty close to the average person they design for height wise.

    The only quibbles I sometimes have are:
    - SC is sometimes a tad too small so SD is needed (and is on it's way as a result of customer requests).
    - I find the hips on the dresses can sometimes be too wide rather than too narrow. That is more down to my personal body shape than badly designed dresses however, as I do have narrow hips compared to waist/chest). Therefore, I am prepared to take the skirts on the dresses in where necessary, if the rest fits.

    As for generous sizing, such inconsistency is rife on the high street. Monsoon, Oasis, Marks and Spencer (and New Look for jeans) are well known for their vanity sizing, and conversely Top Shop, Miss Sixty etc are known to be a much smaller fit. C'est la vie. Also, different styles of dress suit different body shapes better or worse than others. It is really up to the individual customer to discover which styles suit their particular shape and work round that.

    I have always found the customer service from Bravissimo to be beyond exemplary, they absolutely do listen to their customers and actively seek out their opinions, just look at the Facebook page. Long may it continue :-)

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  20. I also find their clothes much too big over the waist and hips, but as I have a 26" waist and 33" hips, I'm used to things not fitting there. A size 6 would help, though.

    I think the quality was better a few years ago, when they started doing clothes--not sure why it's changed.

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  21. I have been buying from Bravissimo since they opened. My own thoughts, which I keep meaning to make into a blog...First off, I am an experienced seamstress and have bought clothes worldwide, so some of my comments may be more global.

    I am a quite curvy size 18, however my waist is only 32in. Yes I know many are smaller. My niece also shops at Bravissimo, and she is a size 6-8. I wear a 36H, she wears a 30G. The tops generally are a fairly good fit at the size 18 -- usually I have to get a UK size 20 - 22 in order for the bust to fit. In the US, I get a 20.

    The sizing from the UK to the US is not at all what the charts say. I find that the waist/hip drop in the UK is about 8 - 10 inches. In the US it is usually 7 to 8 inches. That said, the UK puts the waist about an inch higher on average, and Bravissimo is no exception. Take this into account when measuring. The UK also generally has the high hip measurement smaller (i.e. about 2 inches below the waist), again, take this into account when measuring.

    The Bravissimo tops tend to be quite low cut. This can be disconcerting if you are short. Also, the bust tends to be quite high. This is consistent with the model of where the bust should fall in a well fitting bra, but differs quite a bit from the US.

    Most folks say either that a UK 18 is a US 14 or 16, however due to the major variations in the SHAPE that is extant, I don't think we can say that. It is going to end up being far more individual than that. (the latest stuff I looked at in patterns has the UK 18 40.5- 33 - 43, which is a US 14 in the chest, 16 in the waist and hip, though the measurements also fall in the range for a 14.

    Years ago, we used to have actual differences based on body type - -Junior sizes, Misses and Womens. From the Jcpenny catalogue 1980, a waist size 30 for jrs would have a 35 in hip, 37 in hip for misses, and 38 for women's. The size ranges had considerable crossover (i.e. jrs was not just smallish, misses in the middle, women's larger -- it was about body shape.) Jrs was for younger women, Misses for older, possibly having had one or two kids, and women's for those that had had several kids.

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  22. I realise this is an older blog post but I just wanted to add my experiences with Bravissimo/Pepperberry clothing. Now, just to say, I've had bra fittings with them which were awesome and vastly better over anywhere else I've been. So, when I needed an interview shirt I though Bravissimo would be a good place to start...

    Well, I bought one of their shirts, mostly because it was the best option on the high street and didn't gap. And, yes, it fit better than any shirt I've ever tried before. BUT, having now worn it a couple of times I can tell you it is far from perfect. The major problem is size: I got the 8SC (SC is the largest of their bust sizes, yes?). Now, in "official" dress sizes I'm averaging out as being a 10/12, so that was kinda flattering. However, really, even on the 8SC the waist is still enormous. More damningly, the waist looks even worse because the hips ride up slightly. It seems to me that the clothes are designed for someone whose waist and hip measurements come out at the same dress size, it is just their breasts that are larger. However, most people I know who have breasts that are "unusually" large for their waist size do not have tiny hips - they either have hips proportional to their breasts (like me) or they actually have hips that are proportionally even bigger than their breasts.

    This problem was confirmed when I went back to Bravissimo some months later to try to find a nice summer dress. Now, the first problem there was that there were not really any nice summer dresses. Then, there was the size problem again - nothing under an 8, which is daft considering that if they are trying to market properly fitted off the rack clothes the only way to really do that is to have an extra-large selection of sizes. Then, the bust:waist:hip ratio issue again. With dresses this was far, far more of a problem than it had been with shirts. Previously, I went home with a slightly-better-than-usual fitting shirt. This time, I went home frustrated and annoyed having found that, due to my hourglass shape (hips proportional to bust, waist skinnier) I actually only fitted into a 12/14. Yes, LARGER than I normally am in high street clothing. I can only imagine how upset a pear-shaped woman might have felt - how abnormal she might feel, if even clothes designed for her shape wouldn't fit her. *gah*

    So, yes, Bravissimo clothing is pretty much a write-off for me. Bras, lovely. Clothes ... a waste of time. Also, it kinda annoys me that though they spend all that time helping you fit bras, they never bother to help you fit clothes.

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  23. I sew clothing as a hobby (and wear a 30GG) and sewing has taught me that regardless of your boob volume - small or large - a shirt should fit around the armsythe.

    The jacket pleats from your bust apex (where it lies flat and fine) to extra fabric up near your underarm. Usually this is a sign that the overall size of the chest/back is too big.

    Drop a size - if this was an 8, you need a 6.

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  24. A very interesting review, thanks. I love your blog!

    Here follows a bit of a novel but please stick with me ;)

    I truly believe a Pepperberry size 6 would be helpful to women who are a UK 8/10 with larger breasts. I'm hoping other thin but curvy women reading your blog will 'get on their case' having read this.

    Having read your blog avidly I was inspired to be fitted correctly as my recent fitting experience in my local UK M&S resulted in me being fitted a 32E/F which, having bought a 32E moulded T-shirt bra, found was too loose around the middle and I had four boobs again! So, off I went to Bravissimo/Pepperberry.

    At Bravissimo my fitter put me into a 30F/FF bra, it's nice and comfy but I really think I need a 28G as I'm wearing it on the 1st or 2nd hooks rather than the loosest and if I 'scoop' my underarm flesh into the cup I can clearly see the 4 boob effect again.

    For the record, I measure 37/38 inches over bust (38 when leaning forward) My under bust measures 27.5-28 and I have a 28 inch waist and 38 hips. I wear UK size 8/10 and I have slender arms which would possibly need a UK 6. I don't buy button ups as I'd need a UK 12 to go over my boobs :-o I've sat in store changing rooms sobbing with frustration at my, in my opinion, odd shape.

    So, duly fitted in my 30F Freya Deco I ventured to the Pepperberry department. I tried on several size 8 C/RC jersey tops which were lovely around the boobs but baggy in some odd places, the shoulders were too big, the arms looked 'empty' as my arms are so slim and the small of my back had baggyness to it too.

    I also tried on the button up white blouse which just about did up over my girls but had a rather odd looking pouffe of spare fabric over my back... I fleetingly wondered whether I had it on the wrong way around? The next size up and the 10 C/RC were far too big but did button up ok ish. I think if they had a size 6 I'd have fitted it. Their 8's come up like a UK 10+ to my mind. I wrote to Pepperberry pretty much saying I enjoyed the bra fitting but their 8's come up large and requesting a UK size 6. I have posted their very prompt and polite reply below. If anybody else thinks a UK size 6 would be needed can they let them know please? We need a lobby here!

    "Hi Lynda

    Thank you for your email.

    I am delighted to hear how pleased you were with your fitting experience
    at our Reading store recently. However, I am sorry to hear of your
    disappointment that we do not currently sell size 6 clothing within our
    range.

    We do receive requests from some customers asking us to expand our size range, either to include larger or smaller sizes. This has led to us
    including size 18, which has proved to be very popular, however this has
    been a long and complicated process.

    When developing clothing in a new size the structure and appearance
    changes, and it has therefore taken a lot of time and work to find the
    perfect fit. Unfortunately this is also the case with size 6 clothing,
    and we have not received many requests at the moment to feature this
    size. Should we receive more of a demand though, this may be something that our Product Team would consider designing in the future.

    I am truly sorry that I could not offer more positive news at the
    moment. I would like to thank you for taking the time to contact us, as
    we really do appreciate all feedback from our customers, which will be
    passed onto our Product clothing Team

    Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to
    contact me.



    Kind regards

    Nicki Ford
    Customer Services Team"

    Here endeth... Lynda x

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  25. I know this is an older post, but I figured I'd comment, anyway.

    I ordered a dress from Pepperberry after using their sizing process to figure out what size dress I should be. I'm usually a 32G, so I was really excited to take the hassle out of trying to find a dress that fit me on the top and flattered me... but the dress was much too big in the waist and much too small in the bust. Since I live in the US and needed the dress sooner, I just returned it instead of continually exchanging it to find the right size.

    I'm sure one of their sizes would have fit me, but it's kind of frustrating to specifically use their measurement system and get such a poor fit. The dress itself was beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I've been buying from Bravissimo since they first started out. I've seldom been disappointed. I've gone up in size of late but still look like Hattie Jacques if I buy dresses from the high street. The Pepperberry range has proved to be wonderful for me as they do classic shift dresses that I can wear for work that actually fit and slim down my figure and play to my strengths - my boobs.

    I cannot rate them highly enough.

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  27. There's a lot written here about the clothes. I'm interested in trying their bras. Are they true to size??

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  28. Just received a strappy top of theirs and was very disappointed with the fit. I got it in my regular bra size, 34F, but the body part/waist was loose and short (I'm tall and a slender hourglass) while the bust part was small and squeezed in an unflattering way. Half of my bust was showing. It sat low on me and even the front of the top was too narrow leaving the upper sides of my bust exposed several inches below my armpit. This fit looks no different to some tops I bought from regular stores. I like the idea of a built-in bra in strappy tops but Urkye clothes are a much better fit on me.

    ReplyDelete

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