Wednesday 26 February 2014

A Conversion Guide for Ordering Bras From Simply Be's US Site

A while back, I posted a guide to navigating ASOS’s confusing bra size conversionon their US site. I’ll never know why these UK websites invent new sizing systems for their US buyers, but ASOS is not the only one to do it. Today we’ll look into Simply Be’s bra size conversion on their US site. Simply Be has a small, but well-curated selection of Panache, Cleo, Freya, and Curvy Kate. They also have really good offers quite frequently, which is what originally tempted me to tackle their size conversion. They stock mostly 34 bands and above, but they do have a decent amount of bras starting at 30 or 32.

Simply Be, unlike ASOS, actually presents us with a size chart:



Please note that by this size chart, Simply Be’s US site does NOT sell bras in FF cup—they just skip the size for some reason. Knowing this throws off my original conversion, since I had assumed they had a FF. I can’t think of any reasonable explanation for why they do this, but I’m not totally shocked, since ASOS had a particularly odd conversion for FF as well.

Simply Be has included band sizes in their chart, which, in my opinion, makes it quite confusing visually, so I have created a simplistic cup size conversion chart as I did for ASOS. The band sizes, as with ASOS, are the same.



In my travels around the Simply Be website, I’ve noticed there is an occasional glitch that causes the size conversion to alter in 36 bands and above. This happened last night while I was preparing my post, and has corrected by this morning. If you ever see a changed cup size listing in 36 bands or above, I would recommend just waiting to order until it is fixed. If you can’t wait, I present my best attempt at a conversion for these glitchy times:



The UK D=US DD and UK C= US D issue irks me especially because ALL of these (C, D, and DD) are proper UK sizes, and they are NOT interchangeable. I’m guessing Simply Be has alienated more than a few D or DD-wearing customers who found they didn’t get what they bargained for. Furthermore, the true irony is that these UK brands are shoe-horned into a nonexistent “US Size System” to appeal to US buyers, but this invariably means the cup sizes look even BIGGER than they really are (K becomes P) which makes them more likely to alienate uneducated US buyers.

Now, despite this annoyance, I do actually have experience ordering from Simply Be and can vouch for certain size conversions…
I ordered a Tutti Rouge Liliana in 34L, which turned out to be a UK 34H.
I ordered a Freya Deco in 30K, which turned out to be a UK 30GG.
I ordered a Curvy Kate Lola and a Cleo Lucy in 32L, both of which turned out to be UK 32H.
Finally, I ordered a Tutti Rouge Betty in 32M, which is a UK 32HH.

I was correct in guessing at all of these sizes, and due to the 30% and 40% off promotions that Simply Be often offers, I was glad I took the risk. In addition to their amazing offers, they also often have exclusive colors. So I hope this post offers some guidance for those willing to step outside the safe land of Figleaves and Bravissimo. (And no—Simply Be’s UK site won’t ship to the USA, as far as I can tell.)

5 comments:

  1. I ordered a Panache Jasmine six months ago or so in 32J and got a 32FF, when I was expecting a 32G. Simply Be told me that 'different manufacturers size differently.' I said, 'uh what.' Unfortunately they didn't have the size up to offer me...

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  2. I literally have the worst luck with bras. I have no clue what size to order. can you give me some tips on finding out my true bra size? My breast aren't full on top either, which seems to make it worse.

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  3. I really have the worst luck with bras. I'm really struggling to find my correct bra size. Could you give me some tips? My breast aren't full on top either which seems to make it even harder to find one.

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  4. I recently ordered 8 bras in a 36G (US sz) from the Simply Be US site on their lingerie SALE page. Two of them were the next size down...and of course the 'cut' of each bra was different - some fit perfectly, others did not! I go back to order the next size up (36H) and NOTHING! The sale page doesn't even have lingerie anymore...and I refuse to pay over $20 per bra. :-(

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  5. What a stupid system. Why not just give a conversion chart like a herroom does? Lying about sizing helps no one. There are American sellers that sell UK bras so I don't understand this one. Thank you for the very useful post though!

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