Ms Pomelo Bras - How To Choose The Right Size Bra Every Time!

Disclaimer:  I was lucky enough to be awarded a fabulous Ms Pomelo bra recently at a webinar but I have not been paid to write this post, the opinions expressed in this post are my own.  I just want to let everyone know about my terrific experience with this terrific company.

Hi Honeys
Would it be OK if we chatted about something a little personal?  Do you know your bra size?  Are you sure?

I thought I knew my bra size but it turns out I didn't at all.  Now,  I'm a mature lady who has spent years buying my own undies and probably almost as long complaining and wishing I had much (really much) smaller breasts because of the near constant pain in my shoulders and in my spine.

Who knew that the design of your bra could have such an impact on your health? I certainly didn't honeys..... This really is a life skill we should all have, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

OK, this is going to be a long blog post, I'll wait, go fetch yourself a coffee and maybe a cookie, and we'll settle down and talk lady bumps....

Back again? Cool, let's begin shall we? 😊

Rosie and The Arrival of The Fleshy Intruders!

In the spirit of openness I'll share my own (often unhappy) relationship with my breasts. I developed early, becoming the not so proud owner of my first bras (in those days they were referred to as brassieres) just a few short months before my 12th birthday.  This shopping trip, taken with my beloved Gramma, was in fact the only time in my whole life I've ever been properly measured.

The store I was taken to seemed like a different world to me.  The ladies who worked there were so glamourous I thought.  They were all wearing high necked blouses with a large bow tied at the neck with black skirts and all had their hair pinned up.  I know it must have been a uniform (it was the early 1970s) but to little me I thought they looked as if they’d walked out of a magazine.

I was measured in a changing room in my vest and then we went back out onto the main floor.  The cabinets on the shop floor had glass fronts with items displayed, neatly folded, in drawers inside. The lady who served us put on white gloves before she took out several white bras from a drawer to allow us to choose.

Only plain white was allowed, no embellishments, not even lace.  My new undergarments would be worn to school after all and anyway, according to my sweet Gramma, “nice girls” wore white and never drew attention to their "private areas."  The chosen “brassieres” were wrapped in tissue paper and then placed into a pretty paper bag with handles which I was allowed to carry home.  Those brassieres had cost my sweet Gramma a lot, she wanted the best for me but they were not pretty! They had big broad shoulder straps, an actual band that went across in an X between the cups... just ugh.

From the moment they appeared I really didn't want my breasts.  Try being 11 years old, still at primary school, being the only girl in class with breasts and wearing a bra.  The ordeal of having your bra strap at the back grabbed and snapped by anyone (boys <rolls eyes>) who sat behind in class is enough to make any young girl wish them away.

Throughout my Secondary school years, and for years afterwards, I had two (very toxic) friends whose favourite hobby was to repeatedly point out that my breasts were "monster sized" that I'd been very greedy and when breasts were handed out I had "gone back for seconds & thirds"

I was called names and made fun of almost constantly.  Whenever I complained I was told I was being too sensitive or to "stop playing the victim."  As a result I spent years thinking pretty bras were not for me, hiding the fleshy monsters under layers of clothing and hoping no one would comment on them.

The grass is always greener I suppose honeys.  Girls who want a larger bust are rarely blessed with them by nature and girls like myself who have spent their entire lives trying to avoid being noticed at all tend to be blessed with too much "up top" and spend years secretly envious of friends who wear A cups... even when they're mean to us.  My breasts have always felt like a burden to me to be honest. One (or two) more thing(s) to put up with.

Knowing Your Real Bra Size Can Rock Your World! 

I had what I thought was a sort of idea on how to measure myself for a bra.  A combination of knowledge half remembered from an article many years ago in a woman's magazine and by muddling along trying on bras (over the one I had on of course!) till I got one that sort of, kind of, kept "the girls" as out of the way as it seemed possible to achieve.  Oh dear....

Then, recently, I noticed a tweet from a lovely blogger friend, Leah (if you haven't visited Leah's blog honeys, do go say hello.  She's the sweetest, loveliest person and a fabulous blogger too.)  Leah announced that she'd be hosting a live webinar with Ilona Sharigo, the founder of Ms Pomelo Bras and Retha Welding, Physiotherapist of SE1 Physio.  The webinar was to discuss how to accurately measure in order to find the right bra size and to "brainstorm" (love that word) ideas for any problems anyone had.

While waiting for the webinar I checked out the links from Leah's post and noticed while browsing on the Ms Pomelo site there is a page which asked readers to signup and have a "fit kit" sent to them. I filled this out thinking maybe I could use it at the webinar, in conjunction with any tips & hints discovered then.

The quite fabulous Fit Kit arrived a few days later (with many thanks & hugs to Ms Pomelo) and looks like this...

It includes a tape measure, an entirely fabulous measurement guide and several fabric samples to show the quality of the materials used in Ms Pomelo's products.  They all arrived in the prettiest little "pillow" shaped gift box.   I did have problems initially trying to measure because my tiny brain doesn't do centimetres. I'm an inches, yards and feet girl but once I got my head around it, it was fine 😊

Rosie and The Life Changing Webinar!

I did attend the webinar but unfortunately had audio problems.  I'm not the most technically minded person honeys. In fact technology doesn't seem to like me. It bullies me, I tell you! 😊  Luckily, the webinar was recorded and went online next day (thank you ladies) so I was able to watch again and this time able to hear what was being said too!

I scribbled down notes while watching and I learned so much I didn't know.  How did I ever reach my age without knowing this stuff! I then watched a video on Ms Pomelo's site (I'll include all of the links at the end honeys) showing exactly how to measure, exactly where to hold the tape, to keep the tape measure snug when measuring the underbust, stand with my back straight with the tape parallel to the floor and many other useful tips.

The morning after the Webinar I received a lovely email from Ilona, founder of Ms Pomelo, because at the end of the webinar she had awarded some of her lovely bras and I'd been lucky enough to be gifted with one.  I don't win things so this was such a lovely surprise.

Kindness and Going The Extra Mile

Ilona's been so helpful in her lovely emails (thank you Ilona) offering help and suggestions and instead of mailing me a single bra, she sent three in different sizes and two different styles so that I had a selection to try. There were two sizes in the non underwired style, called Pola Negri, in the most luscious lilac shade called Lilac dawn and also the prettiest under wired bra, called Etta, in a perfect nude shade called Peony too in a size smaller than I'd measured myself.  I was to keep the one which fit me best and return the others, which I duly did (Hubby mailed them back safely today, thank you sweetheart.)

The gorgeous Pola Negri non-under wired bra from Ms Pomelo in Lilac Dawn

I tried two of them, the gorgeous lilac non-under wired and the beautiful nude under wired in a size smaller than I thought I was.  I've never had any luck with underwired bras.  I've never managed to find one I could wear for longer than half an hour or so without wanting to tear it off.

In my experience underwired bras are the most painful devices of torture ever created to torment little Rosies!  I'd learned that bending or indeed moving in any direction runs the risk of a sharp intake of breath as my torture device tried desperately to stab me 😩

I tell you this to help you understand my surprise (shock actually) when I tried the underwired bra Ilona had suggested only to find that it doesn't feel even a little bit like an underwired bra.  At least not one I've ever tried!

There is support under my chest, causing my lady bits to be sitting...well....up where they belong instead of trying to head for my feet!  The straps sit easily on my shoulders without gouging a channel into them and the back sits perfectly where it belongs... and stays there instead of heading up towards the back of my neck!

This was all a revelation to me honeys.  Did you know that underwired bras could be comfortable? Who knew? Not me, that's for sure 😊

The beautiful Etta underwired bra from Ms Pomelo in Peony

I decided to keep the beautiful underwired bra suggested by Ilona (thank you dear Ilona) and have decided it's my new work bra.  Why work?  Well, unless I'm at the hospital or at the Doctor's office, work is literally the only time I'm out of the house.

At work I have to be able to move, a job in retail is, despite what people say, a very manual position. The pain of arthritis does not need any help from a painful bra dear ones.  Also, when you have to wear a uniform at work, who doesn't want to feel fabulous underneath it? Now that is confidence honeys 😊

Remember I said at the top of this post that, even though I'd been gifted a beautiful free bra at the webinar, that all of the opinions in this post were mine?  They absolutely are.  For what it's worth, here are my observations on the bras very kindly sent by Ilona:

• Materials used are very soft, they're simply lovely to the touch.
• The back band is wide enough to support the weight of my breasts without looking like the supports of the Forth Road Bridge as some larger bras do
• The straps seem more than strong enough to do their job and yet they're so pretty!   
• Everything about these bras shouts feminine, not the ugly shapes sometimes reserved for ladies with larger busts.
• They're made from a breathable fabric, and have a cotton lining for comfort.
• According to the website, they can be machine washed on a gentle cycle at 30C which makes them a breeze to care for.  
• Best of all though, for every bra sold, Ms Pomelo donate £1 to the Pink Ribbon Foundation to help fight Breast Cancer.  You can read more about the Pink Ribbon Foundation and their work here honeys.

Also, can I just share the packaging Ms Pomelo uses?  I thought the fit kit, packaged as it is in the prettiest little gift box, was lovely but look at how Ms Pomelo's bras are packaged...

So pretty!  There is such attention to detail, all the way to making the packaging itself look like a beautiful gift.  This speaks to me of a company who want to make their customers feel special. 

It might well be an age thing but I have gotten more protective of my breasts these past couple of years.  Where before they were tolerated I've begun to give thought to their well being.  I even did something I never thought I'd do since being naked is just the worst thing to me, I have zero body confidence.

I had my very first mamogram around 18 months ago and wrote a post on what to expect during this vital test for anyone who was as scared as I was.  There is also a follow up post which has useful links to downloadable PDF documents concerning breast health.  

So honeys, do you know your bra size?  Are you sure?  Would you like to check?  Luckily, I have some links to help...

Links, Links, Links....   

Our lovely Leah's blog can be found here.

The webinar itself can be viewed here on Ms Pomelo's YouTube channel

Ilona's Ms Pomelo site: can be found here

A wonderful, practical "How to" video guide to measuring, also on Ms Pomelo's Youtube channel

You'll find the fabulous Ms Pomelo size chart here honeys to make sense of your newly found measurements.

The Ms Pomelo Bra School, with information on how to find your exact bra size, guidance on converting international bra sizes, a care guide to keeping your bra in perfect condition and a 3 step guide to the perfect fit can be found here.

The Ms Pomelo blog, with lots of interesting articles can be found here.

 Retha Welding of SE1 Physio, was also at the webinar.  Retha can give advice on  work place ergonomics, such as making sure your working area is suitable and isn't causing back problems, and her site can be found here.

Thank you for keeping me company honeys, I hope that your week is off to a wonderful start.  It's so beautiful here today.  The sun is back and we even have blue skies and the fluffiest clouds too 😊

Till next time dear ones, smile lots and hug even more, huggles always xx