Courtney here and today we're talking where not to shop for bras. I'm sure most of you have shopped at Victoria's Secret. Around 70% of women in the US shop there. Did you know they generated about $6.6 billion dollars last year? Before I worked as a bra fitter at Nordstrom, I used to shop there for all of my bras while I was in college and high school because that’s where you go for bras, right? I’m here to tell you that Victoria’s Secret is actually one of the worst places to go to buy your bras. In this post, I’m going to give you the four reasons why you should never buy a bra from them again.
Victoria’s Secret is known for their sexy bras and lingerie. I mean, they have a very alluring mission, marketing, and advertising to make women feel sexy and feminine, and for men to buy their stuff for their girlfriends and wives.
I have no problem with feeling sexy and attractive, but I have a problem feeling sexy when I feel like I’m falling out of my bra, my underwires are digging into my breasts, and I feel uncomfortable all the time. How is that sexy?
If you flip through a VS catalog it becomes very apparent that their models don’t even wear their bras correctly. VS makes it clear that they care more about feeling sexy than getting a properly fitting bra. I’m a firm believer to feel sexy or attractive wearing a proper fitting bra is one of the first steps.
Let me share some of the examples of ill-fitting bras I found on their site.
1. The breasts are completely coming out of the bra at the sides of the cup.
2. The underwire is laying on top of her breast tissue.
3. The middle part of the bra or the “gore” isn’t lying flat in between her breasts, so therefore there’s a gap between the bra and her skin.
1. If you have that much cleavage, there’s something really wrong with the fit of your bra. Yes, I understand there’s such a thing as a push up bra, but when the bra completely pushes you out of the bra, that defies the point of wearing a bra. A bra is suppose to provide support and coverage. A correct fitting bra shouldn’t have any cleavage like this.
2. The center part or gore (what little there is of it) isn't sitting against her skin. That makes the underwire poke out from the breast. When this happens it makes the bra really uncomfortable as the bra can shift on your body.
1. This sports bra is way too small for this model. Her breasts are coming out of it at the top.
2. The bra doesn’t cover her side breast enough.
3. The bra isn't adjustable. Once it stretches out, there aren't hooks to adjust to maintain a good fit.
1. This bra has trouble written all over it. See how the middle of the band is riding up the back? This means the band is too big. The more snug your band, the more support you’re going to get. You want the front of the bra to the back of the bra to create a straight line. If you see the back curving up, then that means it’s not snug enough.
Here are some beautiful examples of how bras should fit.
You can tell from all of these bras that the middle part or “gore” is lying flat against the middle, the cups are covering the breasts, and these bras actually fit the models! These bras look 100% more comfortable than the VS ones.
Here are some of the reasons why I would avoid buying my bras from Victoria’s Secret.
1. They don’t carry a wide range of sizes in store. They carry band sizes from 30-44 and cup sizes from a A-D depending on the band size. This might sound a lot, but it’s not. Did you know that cup sizes go up to a KK? That means there’s 10 cup sizes missing! You may be thinking, "who are these women who wear a J or KK?" It’s very common for women to have larger cup sizes like this. They now have more inclusive options on their website, but without knowing how the bra will fit your body, shopping that way is a gamble.
Because VS doesn’t carry a wide range of sizes in their stores, they try to fit you into one of their bras, even if it’s not the correct bra size. This has happened to me personally and to many people I’ve helped with their bras. They kept on trying to get me to buy the sister size of 32C which is 34B, even though the band size was big on me. From my experience they don’t have their focus on trying to help women find correct fitting bras, they’re a large company trying to sell sexy bras.
2. Their bra fitters aren’t certified and a lot of times don’t know what they’re doing. I recently traveled to my closest VS and got fitted. To sum it up the bra fitter measured me over my clothing which isn’t an accurate way of measuring because clothing adds about two inches. After measuring me she put me in a 34 band size. After trying on some bras, she told me I was a 34A. I’m not a 34A. I’m a 32C and there’s two cup size difference between these two sizes. Maybe the girl who fitted me was new. I understand. I once was new working in the lingerie department and it’s hard work, but I wasn’t impressed with their knowledge about bras and how they should fit. It’s a lot more intensive than just showing up at work throwing a measuring tape around your neck and helping women find bras. You have to remember which bras and brands certain breast shapes and there’s hundreds of bras and a handful of different breast shapes.
Fit is the most important thing when it comes to bras, even more than what it looks like. A well fitting bra will change your life, literally. You wear your bra everyday, it’s one of the most important things you wear.
3. I don’t find the quality of their bras to be that great. They’re cheaply made and I know for a fact they don’t last that long. I remember buying a bra from them and a month later felt like it was stretched out already. The problem I have with VS is most women think that VS is the ultimate place to buy their bras and I’m here to demystify that. You can get a lot better quality bras that fit, that are pretty, feminine, sexy, and come in a wide range of sizes for the same price. There are a plethora of bras I find to be much better quality than Victoria’s Secret.
4. This last reason is more of a personal reason. I don’t like how VS objectives women and teenage girls in an overtly sexual way I don’t want to spend my money somewhere where they sell sex to teenagers. Read this really great article from More Than a Body about it, it’s really interesting.
Conclusion: I don’t like to be a Debbie Downer or negative, so I hope you don’t get that feeling from reading this post. I don’t hate VS, I moreso dislike them. I’m not trying to make women feel bad for shopping there, or who have smaller busts that like push up bras. I’m also not against feeling attractive and pretty in your bra. I think the prettier the bra the better!
Bras serve a purpose and function, to lift, separate, support, and shape breasts. They’re not just something to look at (I know some men might disagree with me on this). My intention is to simply educate you on what to avoid when it comes to bra shopping and give you a perspective from someone who has worked in the lingerie industry for several years.
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