Over the years of having my lingerie store, I've been interviewed by numerous people. One of my all time favorite interviewers and all-around people is Candace Rose, Interviewer Extraordinaire. Take a look at her interview with me below as we discuss bra fittings and my new Custom Bra Consultation in which over 1,600 people have taken in two months!
Enjoy yourselves, my dear, Lingeristas!
XO,
~ Eve
*
Interview: Custom Bra Consultation 101 with Founder "Eve" of Eve's Lingerie
By Candace Rose
I was recently joined by "Eve" of Eve's Apples Lingerie who stopped by to discuss her new Custom Bra Consultation fit tool, which helps petite and small busted women find their true bra size in the comfort of their own home!
I was recently joined by "Eve" of Eve's Apples Lingerie who stopped by to discuss her new Custom Bra Consultation fit tool, which helps petite and small busted women find their true bra size in the comfort of their own home!
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "Sure. It's called the Custom Bra Consultation. I started it because I was finding that even though Oprah had done a whole special (on bra fitting)…supposedly all these women in the United States were finding their correct bra sizes, but the more that I got into learning about small and petite breasted women the actual traditional bra measuring method does not work on small busted women.
And so I had to come up with a different method that would work. What the Custom Bra Consultation does is take all the different (bra fitting) methods. I take about five different methods to fit a person online when I do a personalized fitting. So I took several of those methods and I put them into my own consultation. That way people could get their fitting and results immediately.
What I take into account additionally that other bra fitting methods don't take into account is the breast tissue amount, the breast placement and the body type and how that works in relation to the measurements. That's really important for small busted women and petite busted women."
Candace Rose: What would you say are some of the most common complaints you hear from women who are petite or have small breasts?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "A lot of complaints that I get are that the bra top is puckering away from their breasts, and so what a lot of women think is that the cup size is too big for them and that's why it's puckering away from their breasts. And in reality what's happening is their breasts are wider than they think they are. The underwire is not going completely around the width of their breast, and so it's hitting their breast, causing the cup to pucker. The result is women, without getting professionally fitted, are self-correcting by going down cup sizes. When in reality, what they need to do is go up cup sizes to get a good fit."
Candace Rose: What inspired you to create and launch your new Custom Bra Consultation?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "I launched the 'Size Up The Web' campaign in 2010, and my goal was to fit as many women online as possible. I didn't realize how many women would be contacting me within a couple months of launching. Within a couple of months, the amount of requests were simply beyond what I could personally handle. It became apparent to me that I needed to create something so that I could reach as many women as possible and give them information. I thought about doing a book or something like that, I know that a lot of people go that route, but I wanted people to be able to have this for free.
I really think it's about empowering women and helping them understand what's going on with their bodies and their breasts so that they could make good choices. A lot of women feel bad about themselves. And I wanted them to be empowered."
Candace Rose: Why do you think women are (sometimes) hesitant to be fitted properly?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "A lot of my smaller busted women friends have told me they haven't gone in to get fitted properly because frankly they're just too embarrassed to go in. They've been ridiculed for most of their lives, and it's sad to say that we really live in a society that's very body conscious and breast conscious. I think unfortunately women internalize it.
I like the idea of giving them a private consultation online. They have the privacy of doing this in their own home and being able to find good answers and results that can help empower them without having to go some place outside their home to get it.
I had a friend who went in to get breast implants and she specifically asked the plastic surgeon for a size B cup. He said 'no problem, you'll have a B cup'. She got out, I looked at her and I said 'you are not a B cup, you're a 32D or DD'. She went, we got her fitted and she's a 32D/DD depending on the brand that she wears. She was like 'what'? And it's permanent now, and she can't do anything about it, because now she has these breast implants. I'm like 'you probably were a B cup before you even got the implants'. And here's the thing- it's people’s perception of what small breasts are is completely distorted because of society and the media.
In my experience a lot of women think that they're smaller breasted than they actually are. It's really perception. Unfortunately, a lot of it is that society tells them that a 32C looks a certain way, when in reality a 32C looks many different ways based upon body and breast shape.
A lot of women are really surprised to find out their true bra size. And I think a lot of it is due to that main issue that I mentioned about the bra cup puckering because a lot of women are self-correcting in the opposite way- they're going down a cup size instead of up a cup size. They think they're a lot smaller than they really are. They're surprised when they find out their true size."
Candace Rose: If I was looking to be fitted online, what tools would I need?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "You would need a measuring tape, your computer, access to the internet and you just basically need to follow the directions. I think the most challenging aspect is just getting the band width size and the individual breast measurements. If you follow the instructions it's pretty simple and basic; you get between one to five pages worth of information based upon your breast size, your measurements; it'll give you your bra size or bra sizes- if you have two different breast sizes and things like that."
Candace Rose: How do you measure yourself when doing the band measurements and individual breast measurements?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "If you're doing the band measurement, what you want to do is get the measuring tape in the back and you want to be standing up straight, and you want it very, very level. You want to be looking in the mirror when you're doing it and bring (the tape) around - you want it tight. But you don't want it so tight that obviously it's bulging into the skin. But you don't want it so loose either. You need it to have a little snug fit.
Then get the individual breast measurement. You need to actually look at your breast tissue and you use your hands because sometimes if you just look at it you may be missing some of the breast tissue, especially side tissue. As women get older they get more side breast tissue, so you want to make sure you get all the breast tissue in when you're measuring. You want to go from the inside of the breast, go across the nipple and go all the way around to the side of the breast until you end with the breast tissue. All of that needs to get into the cup. Otherwise, you're going to have that puckering effect that we talked about earlier and it's going to make the cup pucker away from the breast."
Candace Rose: In our previous interview you mentioned being properly bra fitted in England, and how it changed your life. Do you mind touching base on that again?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "Sure. Absolutely. When I first started Eve's Apples I started as a blog, and I was looking to do my own brand- which actually I'm in the process of designing my own brand right now and launching that- so that will be coming out in 2013. But what I was initially going to do - the styles that I was going to do are different because the research I've found having my website and women are buying something different from initially what I was going to do and so I'm happy about that.
When I went to Rigby & Peller over in London -that's where the Queen gets fitted, and I figured if it's good enough for the Queen, it's good enough for me! So I went and I got fitted there, and what they do is they don't do any measuring tapes. They put you in a dressing room, and they have you unrobe to your waist. And they just look at you. They look at your breast placement, your breast tissue.
That's really where I was inspired to come up with using that along with the measurements for the smaller busted women for the online tool. When I first went in to Rigby & Peller, I thought that I was a 36A, and the woman came back and told me I was a 32C. I thought it was a joke. I thought that I was on Candid Camera. The only thing that gave me peace about that was that I was sitting there with nothing on top and bare breasted.
That was actually the best fit that I had ever had in a bra. When she came back with the 32C bras- they fit like no other bras had ever fit me. They fit just perfectly. I could not understand how I could be small busted and wear a 32C. That completely rattled my world and changed everything that I was going to do and all the styles that I had created. That's where the whole journey began, that moment."
Candace Rose: As you mentioned in our previous interview- a lot of women with small breasts have wide set breasts. What would you say are the best bras for wide set breasts?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "It depends on what you want to do with your breasts. If you want cleavage, I would recommend a plunge bra, they really bring them together. The plunge bra has padding on the sides so it's going to push your breasts together. If you want more of a lift I would recommend a push up bra. A lot of small busted women also don't want any padding, so there's some great Timpa bras that don't have any padding in them and they're sexy and beautiful and feminine without having any padding there."
Candace Rose: Are there any styles that you would say women are petite or with small breasts should avoid?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "I would recommend being very weary of contour bras for small breasted women or petite busted women because what happens is, is the cups are cut pretty high on the top of the breasts and so I recommend looking at the styles and making sure that the cut is low enough on the top of the breast so that the breast isn't getting lost in the material because that will really affect the fit."
Candace Rose: What are some of your favorite styles for those with small breasts?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "Some of my favorite styles- I love the plunge for cleavage. I love Balconettes for something sexy. I love push ups for something sexy as well and also for everyday use. And then I have to admit I am utterly in love with bralettes because they're just so comfortable and they can be sexy, they can be sweet, you can wear them to bed, you can wear them out. They're very versatile."
Candace Rose: Can you tell us a little bit about some of the bras that you feature on your website, Eve's Apples Lingerie?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "The Little Bra Company 'Lucia' bra gives great cleavage and is really sexy with lace and it's a plunge bra- I absolutely love that. When I want a little vavavoom, I go to the Little Bra Company, and I look to see what I have in stock there. I also love the Timpa bras because they have a great fit on a petite figure or a small bust, and they're very, very comfortable. And then Eberjey- I just love Eberjey's name because it means to wear something close to your heart. And their products are just so comfortable. They're well made, they're sweet- I just love Eberjey. I wear Eberjey bralettes all the time, and I have them in almost every color.
Candace Rose: With swimsuit season right around the corner, do you have any tips on picking out a bathing suit top? It can be difficult.
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "It can be very difficult. Before you pick out a bathing suit top decide what you want that bathing suit top to do. I recommend that for bras as well. Think about what function you want it to have. Do you want it just for fun? Are you going to be exercising in it? Are you going to be doing laps or is this something that you're going to wear to the beach? Do you want it to be sexy? Do you want it to be flirty? And then go for that.
There's some really cute Voda swimwear on my website that gives amazing cleavage in your swimsuit. And then there's also the traditional triangle bra which is really fun and great for the beach as well. It's always been recommended (traditionally) for smaller busted women. And then there's bandeaus, they're always recommended with a little bit of a ruffle to give you some volume at the bust line."
Candace Rose: Do you have any additional tips or information you'd like to share?
"Eve" of Eve's Lingerie: "When you go bra shopping just think about what you want the bra to do. The nice thing is that manufacturers are starting to make more bras so you have more options than you did before. Think about what you want it to do. Think about the function of the bra that you want it to be, because you can have a very plain functional bra now. You can have a very beautiful non-functional bra or you can get something that has a combination of function and beauty.
It really just depends on what you want. So get very, very clear about what you want and then don't get frustrated when you measure. Just know that it might take you a little bit of time. If you have to - lay down flat on the ground when you do the breast measurement or the band measurement--that helps as well (if you feel like you're not getting the right fit)…I don't think some women are reading how to actually do the measurement(s), and I think what's happened is they're getting the wrong results. So make sure that you get all that breast tissue in when you measure around for the individual breast measurements to get the correct answer."
For more information and to be fitted by Eve's Custom Bra Consultation go to:
Facebook: EvesApplesLingerie
Twitter: @EvesLingerie
No comments:
Post a Comment