Rigby and Peller

I might add that most, if not ALL of the bras sold under the Prima Donna, Bravissimo, Fantasie and M&S labels (and probably a great many more) are manufactured in Sri Lanka.

I always wanted to go there to be fitted but when it opened in Harrogate and I went in, it was very frightening, especially the prices! £150 etc. You can be measured at M&S.

Hi Wilma - good question. I suppose the answer is fit and comfort which I haven't found elsewhere. I can only speak for Prima Donna bras (and I have no connections!) and find that they are 'constructed' and not simply bits of lace and fabric sewn together.

With so many bras, even when properly fitted, I can't wait to shed them at the first opportunity as they are so uncomfortable. With my first PD bra, I couldn't believe that I wasn't pulling and tugging and itching to take it off.

I never buy the matching pants and always have John Lewis plain ones in colours to match the bras so save cash there.

I have few 'must haves' in life these days but decent wine, coffee, soap and bras are my indulgences.

Couple of years ago I tried the M&S fitting service, it was rubbish. The assistant said I might be a 36c or a 38B brought both for me to try on and neither was right, so now I buy what I think I need M&S have a terrible habit of discontinuing every bra that I have been happy with.

Bravissimo do an excellent fitting service, also by eye. I can't compare it to R&P as I've never been there but I can't believe they provide anything that's worth three or four times Bravissimo prices.

M & S are not true to size on sizing and measurement from store to store. Measured in my home town a few years ago at one size, I went into another M & S in another town in the sales 6 months later having lost 2 & a half stone to be told my bra size had gone up. I looked at her daft as i knew it wasnt true. She wasn't having it. Tried to tell me I couldn't have been as measured at an M & S. I told her where to go politely in the end, got dressed and walked out. Bought new bras from M & S in my home store and was measured by the woman who had measured me last in my home town. The sizing was a size smaller not a size bigger

Don't know about the others but Prima Donna bras are designed in Belgium and made in Tunisia.

Materials £1, expertise £304.

I am a 32H, have used Rigby & Peller for several years, pay between £80/£100 per bra. They last for years if looked after. I know that this is expensive, but as I wear a bra for 16+ hours a day, every day, they are worth every penny. They are extremely comfortable and because the fit is perfect your clothes look better. I actually see it as an economy because I do not have a drawer full of badly fitting uncomfortable bras bought on the off chance that they just might fit!!

I went to RP for a fitting a few years ago when I had received a bonus. I bought 2 bras and matching knickers, I think I paid about £270. Tbh I have since gone back to M&S, albeit using the size advised by RP. One of the bras was not actually very comfortable and I don’t wear either of them as much as my M&S.

Never ever thought about her majesty wearing a bra.
Being realistic I suppose she must. What next ?provider of the royal panty banished to the 'tower'?

Any decent fitter can fit by looking! They can also tell you which style of bra is best suited to your particular shape ?
Believe it or not I was with my daughter in an Anne Summers shop (don’t ask) in the underwear department. My daughter assured me they did good bras.
The lady who served us was amazing, I was educated and no mistake.
It really is all in the style as well as the size and I will always make certain now after that experience to go to a proper fitter, no matter where.
So from ‘Full Cups’ to ’Balconette’ we are all different and need to know even that bit first.

I took my DDiL to R&P to be fitted for a bra to go under the wedding dress I was making for her. It was done by eye and fitted perfectly. I was looking at the portrait of HM and said I reckon she's a 36F, the assistant looked at me and said you can have a job here anytime! Apparently it's a state secret and only one person knows, but all the others concurred with my guess.

I once worked for an Italian lingerie company, and when you are doing it all the time you get to be able to guess a size. I was invariably correct.

I have quite a few friends with awkward sizes, big and small, and swear by R&P.

I cannot understand the objection to paying a lot of money for a bra that fits and is comfortable and worn every day. I am fortunate that although a 95E I have found a bra in French supermarkets that fits me perfectly and is usually 22€ or less, with lovely matching knickers. I have loads of them. I do believe in having a bra that matches every outfit. Why not? And pretty, it's the feel good factor. If necessary I wouldn't hesitate to go to R&P - just have less of them!

The two bras I have which have outlasted all and any others are from Asda: 2 for £5!
Its been around ten years I've had them now, and they're still as good as new.

I paid £70 for my one about 10 years ago - it was really nice.

I've got a couple of Asda's T-shirt bras, MissAdventure. and they're very comfortable. I'm a pretty standard size and shape so don't suffer from bras digging in, etc. The only time I have trouble is when one of the feathers from our duvet worms its way into my bra - that's happened at least three times!

Mine are the tee shirt bras too, Maggie. What a bargain they've turned out to be!

M & S do a very good fitting service! I go there every couple of years and have always found them extremely helpful etc. and no pressure to buy anything either

I buy all my bras from R&B. They are expensive (nothing like £305), usually about £75, but they wash and wash, and last much longer than any other make. M&S just can't compete with the quality of product or the fitting service.

gillybob a made to measure bra starts from £305


The same response as gillybob - and including hat and gloves!

Going to R&P is one of those treats I've always thought of doing but not done. I buy my bras from M&S in the DD+ range. Without being measured a few years ago I wouldn't have realised that my cup size had gone up a lot despite not weighing more. It seems this is all part of the shape change with ageing. I can't wear cheap supermarket bras as they don't usually do big cup sizes and they're not supportive.
My DS' girlfriend works in a lingerie dept. of a department store and can also judge sizes without measuring.

We had a talk and demonstration by an expert fitter from a local shop (no Royal warrant!) who showed us one German made bra which contained so many pieces - it was a real construction but very pretty - but really made a difference to the model who demonstrated it. However, I can't remember the make, it was not well-known though.

Don’t think mine are worth upholstering at £150 each! Bravissimo are also excellent at fitting and generally about £30. Go once a year and they fit by looking at you too.

I have been to R and P several times and it's a very different experience. Not so much glamorous, as you might imagine, as technical perfection. My assistant was a motherly lady who had dressed many famous opera singers apparently. She went to endless trouble to find the right bra for me. The bras (about £80 each) were works of art, beautiful, comfortable and fitted perfectly. Not only that, they made a huge difference to how my clothes looked and lasted for years. Worth every penny.

My favourite and best fitting bras are from Anne Summers too dogsmother . I was persuaded in by my DD when they had a sale on. The assistant was very helpful and took one look at the bra I was wearing and declared it was far too big and doing nothing for me. She returned with a selection of lovely bras a cup size bigger and a size smaller, they fit perfectly.

I had a little bowse in the toy department while I was in there.