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!
"Eve" of Eve's Apples Lingerie
Candace Rose: You recently launched your new online bra fit tool- can you tell us about it?
"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:
