Hugs for Your Jugs

Back when I was 14 and just learning about how bras should really fit, I measured myself at home by /r/ABraThatFits ' guide at a 26FF, then was fitted by a friendly in-store fitter into a 28G/26GG . I remember thinking during the fitting that the Cleo Maddie fit very well, and left the store happy in my Bravissimo Satine - having just come from a 32D!  But then as the weeks progressed, I became confused. The bras I was trying in 28G - and even 28FF - were... too big. For my next bra, I settled in a Freya Piper Plunge Balcony in 28FF, my breast tissue sinking to the bottom, convinced I was very full on bottom because why else would these bras have so much space at the top? I had unknowingly become a victim of "sizing up for depth", and it took me years to actually figure out what had happened - and that I actually have tall roots that make me functionally full on top.

If you've ever looked up bra fitting information online, you'll be presented with a page of google results by lingerie companies and retailers, most of which give you the same (basic) advice: "if your band rides up, it's too large!" "the gore should tack" "if the cups are visibly too small, they're too small" "if the cups are visibly too big, they're too big" Thanks a bunch, Boux Avenue

This is a follow-up post to my previous post "The Gender Pay Gap - how do large British lingerie companies compare? ". Now that we know that these companies do have gender wage gaps, let's see what they had to say about them. All of the companies gave some explanation, and most of them stated how they planned to fix it. But will these plans have any effect? Are they ambitious enough? How will we know as consumers if these plans are working and to what extent? Let's dive into it, company by company, as I paraphrase all of the reports (publicly available on the Gender Pay Gap Service ). Warning: this post is super long so if you just want an overview, scroll to the end. I will probably end up publishing an abridged ranking at some point in the future if this is just too many words to read (understandable).

What is the gender pay gap? "The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage of all men and women across a workforce. If women do more of the less well paid jobs within an organisation than men, the gender pay gap is usually bigger. The gender pay gap is not the same as unequal pay which is paying men and women differently for performing the same (or similar) work. Unequal pay has been unlawful since 1970" - Gender Pay Gap Service Due to recent legislation, all employers with 250 or more employees must calculate and publish (among other things), their mean and median gender pay gaps. This has recently come into effect with April 2018 being the first time private companies have been forced to publish this data. I have taken the opportunity to go through the reports of lingerie companies and compare them by category so you can find out what these gender pay gaps are, how they compare across companies, and what each individual company has to say about it.

I've realised that while there are titbits (pun intended) of information about how rib Cages can affect bra fit floating around, it's never been collated into one easy to access article. So I've tried to do that: most of the information in this post is credited to other hardworking bloggers, please check out the credits at the end to support their work! Also big thanks to my sister for the lovely diagrams. 1. Rib Cage Shapes (horizontally) There are two basic types of rib cross-sections to consider in relation to bra fitting, disregarding the sternum (we'll get onto the breastbone later): Flat vs Barrel Shaped Ribs   Flat ribs (left) - the most common rib cage shape   Barrel shaped ribs (right) - more rounded than the average rib cage shape Most bras are designed to fit best on flat ribs.

We all know that it's important to scoop all tissue  from the outside of the bra *into* the cups, as well as positioning the wires correctly , but recently I have been thinking about an extension of the manoeuvre: The Outwards Scoop You may be thinking that this is just a way to make a too small cup look like it fits correctly , but I promise you it's more than that. What is the purpose of the scoop and swoop? To make sure that all tissue that was outside the wires is now inside the wires - of course, provided that the bra isn't too narrow overall. For those with soft tissue (and particuarly those with pendulous breasts and loose skin as well), or just a very projected shape simply scooping the traditional way can force tissue into the gore space *past* the root of your breast. This causes tissue to sit under the gore, either pushing it away or having the gore sit on breast tissue - not ideal!