Can YOU guess my bra size? M&S fitter got it with one look across the changing room… I was stunned by what she said next

STANDING half-dressed in a cramped changing room, I slowly turned in circles as the fitter silently sized me up from across the room. Then she said something about my boobs that completely threw me – and made me question every bra I’ve bought for years. Georgette Culley is determined to find out whether bra fitters can REALLY get her bra size right with just one look Credit: Olivia West M&S hit the headlines recently after announcing their bra fitters are ditching the measuring tape Credit: Getty An E cup? Me? For years, I’d bounced between C and D bras depending on the shop, so hearing multiple fitters confidently put me in totally different sizes left me genuinely stunned. But there was no tape measure, no awkward prodding and no calculating – just one quick glance before multiple fitters confidently put me in sizes I’d never have picked for myself. High street giant Marks and Spencer is leading the charge in ditching the trusty tape measure in favour of an eyeball estimate. No more cold tape snapping round your ribs while someone mutters ‘32C…no wait, D.’ Instead, fitters simply size you up from across the changing room like a cup size clairvoyant. The retailer, which helps more than a million women a year into the right bra, has rolled out its new ‘no-touch’ fitting service after successful trials in dozens of UK stores. M&S says the new approach offers a more ‘comfortable’ and ‘personalised’ experience, helping customers feel styled with confidence. But they aren’t alone in ditching the measuring tape. Bravissimo has long relied on visual fittings – so have we been doing it wrong the whole time? As a 39-year-old mum-of-two whose bra size has ricocheted from a 30C to a 32E over the years, I haven’t got a clue what size I actually am anymore. And neither, it seems, does the lingerie industry. Depending on where you shop, I can apparently be anything from ‘petite and perky’ to ‘voluptuous’. So perhaps there is a method in the madness. Maybe these expert fitters aren’t trying to guess your size universally – maybe they’re just trying to work out what size you are in THEIR shop. Armed with this theory, I headed to the high street to find out if these lingerie mind-readers could really size me up with just one look… M&S’ fitter looked at Georgie carefully… before returning with a small armful of bras that fit like an absolute dream Credit: Supplied YOU would think that by ditching the tape measure the appointments would be a bit quicker – but nope. Marks & Spencer tells me the fitting still takes a full half hour to find your ‘perfect size.’ My fitter admits she misses her trusty measuring tape, but says she’s been shocked by how accurate the new eyeballing technique has turned out to be. I’m ushered into the changing room and asked to remove my top but keep my bra on. I slowly rotate on the spot like a rotisserie chicken while she studies me from every angle with the concentration of a detective examining a crime scene. “Hmmm,” she says thoughtfully. “Your back is quite small but your cup size is bigger…I’d say around a 30 or 32D.” Moments later she returns carrying a small armful of bras and I immediately gravitate towards a baby pink balconette number – a 30D – and annoyingly, it fits like an absolute dream. No digging. No gaping. No weird side-boob escape situation. I stare at myself in the mirror, very impressed. Maybe these bra whisperers are onto something after all. So far, so good… Bravissimo Bravissimo also use the eyeball method – and came back with a bra that actually felt supportive Credit: Supplied The fitter starts by having a quick chat with me to find out what I’m after. She tells me how they’ve been using the eyeball method for a while and asks me to take off my top so she can see how my current bra fits. “How old is this bra?” she winces, sticking her finger under the back strap and pulling it out. “Hmm, about six months,” I fib. In reality, it’s been knocking around, ahem, for a few years. “The elasticity is pretty much gone in the back, you’re getting zero support. I imagine this size (32D) was okay at the start but now it’s way too big for you, bras stretch the more you wear them.” She tells me I’m between a 28DD or a 30D and plucks a gorgeous blue lacey number from an aisle for me to try. The DD feels a bit loose around the cup but the 30D fits perfectly. And for the first time in years, I actually feel supported. If only Bravissimo made boyfriends… Lounge Lounge also didn’t attempt to measure Georgie… who says her boobs looked better than they have in years Credit: Supplied The whole shop feels far more boudoir than basic – pretty displays and mannequins showing exactly what each bra looks like on an actual body, rather than a limp hanger. My fitter tells me to pick a few bras I like and she’ll come in to assess the fit afterwards. Interestingly, she doesn’t even attempt to measure me and says this approach actually works better. At this point I’m starting to wonder if tape measures are basically the appendix of the lingerie world – once useful, now largely decorative. I tell her I fancy trying one of their famous push-up bras, so she disappears and returns with a few sizes based purely on the bra I’m already wearing. “Lounge bras come up a little smaller,” she explains, handing me a 30E. “Are our boobs getting bigger?” I ask her, stunned at the label. “The last time I bought an E cup I was breastfeeding my daughter four years ago.”But then I put it on and she’s absolutely right. Comfy, sexy and somehow supportive without feeling like scaffolding. My boobs looked perkier, fuller and better than they have in years. Boux Avenue Georgie loved the flattering changing-room lighting at Boux Avenue Credit: Supplied Like Lounge, Boux Avenue has a similar approach to their expert fittings. They tell me to pick a few bras I like and then they’ll come in and check them. Out of all the stores I visited, Boux Avenue was the only one to crack what may actually be the biggest challenge facing women’s underwear. Shopping – flattering changing-room lighting! Instead of awful spotlights they had three different lighting options – and ‘dusk’ was lovely and soft. I go for a gorgeous dark red, by now I’m selecting bras in DD and 30/32 E. The winner is the 32E. The shop assistant comes in and looks at me, she agrees it is the perfect fit. John Lewis John Lewis’ fitter says she thought M&S ditching the old-fashioned tape measure was ‘madness’ Credit: Supplied The John Lewis fitter tells me how she’s been there for 20 years and they still use the old-fashioned tape measure. I ask her if she’s heard about M&S’s new approach. “I have and I think it’s madness! I think customers want a more accurate approach,” she tells me, whipping out her tape measure. I ask the fitter what she’d guess just by looking at me and she says: “Probably a 30 or 32D.” At this point I’m deeply invested in the breast-based detective work, so I ask her to measure me the old-fashioned way too – tape measure and all.Turns out my back measures 29 inches. “Generally a 30 back is around a size eight,” she explains. “A 32 is usually more of a size 10.” She hands me a pale blue lacy bra and I prepare myself for the usual fitting-room chaos – straps cutting in, rogue spillage, one boob trying to escape down the side. But somehow it fits beautifully and there’s no double boob! Conclusion I have to admit, I went into this whole experiment fully expecting it to be complete nonsense. Surely nobody can accurately guess your bra size just by looking at you fully clothed like some kind of boob-based Mystic Meg? And yet… the more stores I visited, the more consistent the results became. Almost every fitter put me around the same size. But my biggest shock? Not one of them thought I was a C cup. For years, I’ve floated between a C and a D, depending on the shop – and my time of the month. So hearing multiple women confidently place me in E-cup territory felt crazy. In my mind, that category was reserved for the likes of curvy queens Kim Kardashian or Kelly Brook – women whose boobs enter a room before they do. Incredibly, the no-measurement method actually worked. And, incredibly, the experts sizing me up with a single glance seemed to know my boobs better than I did!