May is Debenhams bra fit month!

Hi guys,
May is Debenhams bra fit month - to celebrate this, on Thursday some brave souls will be having their bra fits live in the window of Debenhams on Oxford Street! Rather them than me, but it does seem like a great idea to highlight the need to get your bra fitted regularly.

In honour of bra fit month, Debenhams invited me down to have a refit of my own, and to check out some of their gorgeous ranges. Debenhams always give me a great fit: its a service I couldn't recommend enough, and along with Bravissimo, I think its one of the best bra fit services on the highstreet (take note M&S!) Armed with a tape measure and magic eyes my fitter chose my size quickly (and got it right first time!) before helping to fit me into several of their pretty new season bras.

Here are the gorgeous bras I picked out:


The blue set is from Fantasie, the candy set is from Freya.

Things I learnt from my fitting that might interest busty girls:

1. If you like your boobs to stay in front of you, rather than hanging about near your armpits, look for a bra with a side panel: these subtle panels (which i've never even noticed before!) really do make a difference in helping keep your boobs front and together, and creating cleavage.

2. The Debenhams own brand range of underwear for busty gals (Its called 'Gorgeous') is well, erm...gorgeous! The last time I looked at the gorgeous range (admittedly years ago) there were only 3 or 4 basic designs....now there is everything you would expect from a normal bra range - great cuts, colours, cute patterns - but for bigger busts. Definitely on my radar now!

3. Debenhams now carry sizes up to a J cup: so there's no excuse to do what I used to do in La Senza: up the band size until you can make their biggest cup fit. Get fitted properly, and you'll be amazed at how much better your clothes look - I was!

Love, Tor xx

Brilliant Bravissimo: A review

Hi guys,

Last week I was invited to Bravissimo for a bra fitting. I've always hated having my bra fitted: it's usually an uncomfortable experience, especially the fitting I had at La Senza, where when they realised they didn't do a cup big enough the woman insisted on putting me up 2 band sizes to get cup to fit and told me that was my correct bra size. I wore my bras like that for months, until I had a lovely fitting at Debenhams, where they put my in a proper sized bra. But the best fitting i've ever had was last week, at Bravissimo.

I think a lot of that was down to Michelle, my fitter, who was lovely and put me completely at ease, whilst chatting about anything and everything whilst we tried on hundreds of bras. Bravissimo fitters don't use tape measures, they fit by eye, and Michelle was amazing at choosing my size and finding something I would be comfortable with. I think that I was completely at ease whilst standing topless in front of a stranger says everything.

Because I have a large cup size but a comparatively narrow back width, it is usually really difficult to buy pretty underwear: my choice is usually "do I buy the black set or the white set". But not in Bravissimo. The range and amount of choice was a revelation! There were even padded bras available in my cup size! (Although I didn't get one, that's still a big wow!)

I opted for a very pretty set in black with a 1920s-style art deco pattern on it, in purple and mustard. More so than the pattern though, I love the fit: my boobs are lifted and separated whilst being supported better than they ever have before, and the extra lift means my clothes look and fit better too: since I got this new bra, putting on any of my old ones has felt like a disappointment. I'm going to make a big investment in the New Year and replace all my old badly fitting underwear with new Bravissimo stuff: the new bra makes it look like i've lost inches off my waist, and that's got to be worth a few quid on new underwear!! (That's how i'm justifying it to myself, anyway!)

I wished i'd taken some photos of the process, and better ones of the lovely relaxing changing rooms, but when your standing around wearing nothing but your knickers and tights, it's hard to remember to get your camera out as well! Still, if you're bigger busted and you want a bra that fits properly and looks amazing, it's definitely worth heading down to find out how great Bravissimo is for yourself.

Love, Tor xx

M&S underwear: Like an old faithful friend

The Marks and Spencer sale started today, and within minutes, all of the underwear on the website was out of stock. This was two things: 1) Irritating because it meant I would have to pop to the store to pick up some cheap knickers and 2) A testiment to Marks and Spencers reputation as an underwear retailer that women would go so crazy so quickly to pick up some discounted goodies. Not that it's expensive in the first place: a bra and knicker set for around £20-25 is a bargain as far as i'm concerned!

If I can help it, I always wear Marks and Spencer underwear. It fits well, it washes well, it's good quality and it looks great. You can't really ask for more than that! It has a reputation for being a bit old fashioned (a lot of people use the phrase "granny bras") but I don't think that's true at all: some of it is pretty/sexy - it's just functional too! I went through a phase of wearing La Senza bras, but found they don't cut so well for a larger bust, and within a wash or two the wire was poking through and ready to pierce my chest. Not a good look!

So this morning I sprinted to the Oxford Street M&S, hoping that there would still me the pieces I had spotted on the website available in my size. There was still a mixed bag of sizes available but I couldn't get all five of the sets I wanted: I contented myself with these two from the sale, and a further two at full price. I had mentioned earlier in the week that I needed to buy new underwear anyway, so really this was a case of right place, right time:

There were about 8 stands of the size above containing "pretty" everyday, and slightly fancy underwear, and all but two of the bras had a large selection of sizes in the matching briefs or thongs. The bras started at £4, the briefs at £3. There was also a large stand at the other side of the lingerie section containing more practical underwear such as functional strapless bras and a massive selection of sports bras in all sizes starting at around £7.

Of course the Marks and Spencer sale has lots of other things going on: fashion, mens and childrenswear, and home wear too. But for me, it's all about the pants!

Love, Tor x

PS - If you're still waiting to get your sale fix then you'll be pleased to know that the Selfridges sale starts at 8am on Monday morning, both instore and online. Elbows sharpened ladies, and i'll race you to the shoes!

National bra fit week: Are you wearing the right bra?

Until yesterday, I hadn't thought that much about bras - they were the slightly irritating things that I put on underneath my dresses. Sometimes you want pretty ones, sometimes you want sexy ones, but most of the time you just want one you can't see under your clothes!

However yesterday, in honour of National Bra Fit Week (19th April - 9th May) I was invited to Debenhams to find out more about the structure of bras: how they're made, how the designs are chosen, and ultimately I was fitted by a wonderful professional who showed me how you can tell if your bra is fitting right or not.

It was a revelation! I didn't realise how many components a bra is made up of (more than twenty, and some much more!) and I didn't realise how wrong my bra size was: i've gone down two back sizes and up three cup sizes. To be honest, I had no idea how much thought went into making bras at all: the lead time for a collection is over 18 months and the mood boards that lead to the design creation are beautiful!

The gorgeous prints above are the patterns for the next drop of Floozie by FrostFrench, based on the theme of the "staycation" (Who knew my home town of Skegness would provide inspiration!). I wish they came in bigger cup sizes because i'm obsessed with the carousel pony pattern! I also saw an incredible Wonderbra strapless bra that is shaped like hands to lift you up: such a great idea and it looked really cool too: if anyone has this i'd love to know if it works or not!

Because next week is National bra fit week, and because 80% of women are wearing the wrong sized bras, i'm going to be tell everyone I know (including you guys!) to go down and get fitted: it makes such a difference! I have constant deep red marks on my shoulders from the weight of my boobs, but it turns out this is simply because my back size wasn't tight enough: your shoulders shouldn't be taking the weight of your breasts, it should be dispersed evenly around your back etc too: we all have little niggly bra issues, and most of them can be fixd by wearing the right size or shape! I know it can be really embarrassing getting fitted but it does make a difference: and you have to remember that the fitters see about a hundred pairs of boobs everyday - so they won't think there's anything special about yours!

I'm a convert: I think i'm going to spend most of my weekend underwear shopping!

Love, Tor xx

Fabfrocks reviews: Shock Absorber running bra

When I think about bras I think about pretty lacey thinks with bows and ruffles and matching knickers. I don't think about this:But as I increase my exercise regime from a couple of times a week to everyday (just about!) in my well documented bid to shed a few pounds, this could become the most important bra in my wardrobe.
.

Buying a sports bra is as boring as buying a pair of trainers: but just as essential. I don't think I realised this until I did my work out in the shock absorber bra this morning and for the first time ever when exercising, didn't spend 20 minutes thinking about the dull pain in my breasts! Not that I didn't have a sports bra: but believe me once you've tried the Shock Absorber, you'll never turn back to the one from Primark for a fiver again!

.

The bra is from the new sports specific range: this one has been designed for running, but there are two others designed for racket sports and ball games. The fit is snug and it has a slight flattening affect on the bust. And the white lines around the cups aren't go faster stripes (sadly!): they're strategically placed reflective strips, meaning you'll be seen more easily if you're running at dusk or dawn. It fits really comfortably with no rubbing or chaffing (even when I was jumping vigorously on my trampoline!) and although I can't attest to the blurb specific 78% bounce reduction, I can say that the amount of bounce was significantly reduced. Oh, and despite all the scary looking catches and fasteners, it is really easy to get on!

.

The new bra is available from Debenhams (http://www.debenhams.com/) and the only down side to it (from my point of view) is that it only goes up to an F cup: I wear a FF. But I tried upping the band size and trying the F, and the fit is pretty good.

.

I think now that my wobble is under control, I could even be encouraged to get outside and start running. But i'll probably stay in here on my cross trainer, watching Eastenders!

.

Love, Tor xx

The pants of a glamour model.......

This afternoon I popped over to Asda to buy a packet of rocket (just more insight into my oh-so-glamourous life for you, dear reader) and naturally I just happened to have a glance at George. There sale is pretty much over now, and they already have alot of their new season stock instore. Which is nice. But today, believe it or not, i'm not going to write about clothes. Because today I wandered down a section of the george department i've never bothered with before: I looked at the underwear.

Now as a lady 'blessed' (or cursed depending on how you look at it) with an ample busom and a slender back, buying highstreet underwear is rarely something I get the chance to do: I buy alot of my underwear from specialist online stores and they invariably come in 3 designs: plain black, plain white, plain grey. Not what you;d call inspiring or sexy. But today I realised those clever folks at Geoge at Asda had a solution for ladies just like me: and that solution comes in the form of the infamous glamour model, Jordan (aka Katie Price)

Kate Price Basic bra, £12 (Copyrighted images stolen from Asda website, oops!)

Katie Price has a range of self-named, very reasonably priced underwear available at George which comes in sizes 32-38 D-G. And not only are the prices reasonable and the sizes ample enough, the designs are also that rarest of things for us larger bosomed ladies: very pretty.

Katie Price bra, £16. Katie Price shorts, £10

The fabric of the range is lovely, and feels really nice quality, the cut is genourous and the stitching on the fancier designs is beautiful. I left Asdas this afternoon with a packet of rocket, a bra, a basque, and 2 pairs of fancy shorts, all from the Katie Price range (except the rocket, which was asda's own brand)

Who'd have thought i'd be taking style advice from the most cliched glamour model of them all!?But Katie has got this range of lingerie spot on, and it really fills a gap in the market. I have to say, just this once: Mrs Andre, I salute you!