She’s worked for iconic lingerie brands Gossard and Panache, but Joanna van Blommestein has gone it alone and is now bossing the bra game in Kent, writes Marijke Hall

“Bras get a tough time out there.”

That’s not something we ever thought we’d hear. Honestly? It’s not something we’ve actually ever thought about.

But spare a few minutes to consider how long we spend deliberating over an outfit compared with the short length of time we take choosing a bra. Still a 34B – like the past 10 years – *grabs one off the rack*. Done.

Underwire popping through? Just pull it out. Digging in a bit? It looks so pretty, we’ll live with the pain.

These are all things we imagine leave Joanna van Blommestein – or The Bra Boss of Kent (@the.bra.boss.of.kent) – despairing.

The 33-year-old from Faversham says it’s common for women to underestimate the importance of bras and therefore a vast number are wearing the wrong size.

“They tend to grab one and off they go, and it’s not fitted right,” says van Blommestein.

“Lots of ladies come to me with their straps falling off their shoulders, or it’s rubbing them – they can’t wait to take their bra off at the end of the day.

“But in theory, if you have the right size on, it should feel comfortable – you shouldn’t have to adjust it, you shouldn’t be desperate to take it off.”

Perhaps if it was more widely known that a properly-fitted bra can improve your posture, make clothes look better and leave you feeling infinitely more comfortable – and confident – it might be a different story.

And there’s more.

For those women who have experienced significant life and body changes, such as a mastectomy, it can be truly empowering to take back their body and celebrate it for the wondrous thing it is with a beautiful bra.

Van Blommestein is passionate about supporting women in Kent – one fitting at a time.

She’s worked for leading lingerie brands, but in 2019, after years on the road working with independent stores across the south of the UK, she decided to go it alone.

“I would go into these lovely lingerie boutiques and think ‘I would love to do that myself’,” she says.

“I’ve always been a fitter, but to go back to that more one-to-one service helping ladies was really appealing.

“So I gave up my job with nothing to go to – I thought ‘If I don’t do it now, I never will’.”

Going on a course through what is now the Rebel Business School, she was inspired to start her company at her Faversham home and looked to the summerhouse at the end of her garden.

“It wasn’t exactly a bra-fitting boutique, so I renovated it,” she says.

“No one would know it’s there and a lot of people say it’s really tranquil.

“It’s in its own little area, with rear access, and compared with standing in a department store in a changing room with your top off, hearing people outside and not sure when the fitter is coming back, it’s much more private.”

Van Blommestein – who has just completed a 100km trek for breast cancer charity CoppaFeel – specialises in post-surgery fittings, such as for women who have had a mastectomy.

She also helps mothers whose bodies have changed through pregnancy and who might be breastfeeding.

“If you’ve had breast cancer, or you’ve had a baby and you’re nursing, it’s all things that are quite new and you need a bit of help, so to have it in a smaller and more private stress-free place works really well”

— The Bra Boss

“It’s those life-changing experiences that make people want to have a bit more one-to-one when being fitted,” she explains.

“If you’ve had breast cancer, or you’ve had a baby and you’re nursing, it’s all things that are quite new and you need a bit of help, so to have it in a smaller and more private stress-free place works really well.”

She says women often just grab something from the rack in shops because they’re not fussed about getting fitted.

“I think a lot of ladies wear the wrong size because bras get a tough time out there – they tend to pick what they think they are rather than what they are,” she says.

“People think a DD is massive and an F cup is huge when they’re not at all.

“It’s social media, the media and TV a lot of the time. Some campaigns out there, they look good, but they use models where the bras don’t actually fit them.

“But people see that every day and think that’s how their bra should fit.”

She says people make a big deal over sizes, too, and get focused on the letter and number. “I have people come in and I fit them in a size and they say ‘I can’t be that’.

“You’re never the same size in everything anyway, it’s like when you go clothes-shopping. Bras are made by different brands, with different fabrics, but people just over time grab what they think is OK.”

Van Blommestein says there is a vast number of reasons wearing the right size is so important.

From posture – a good bra can make you stand properly, eliminating pain in the neck and back – to comfort and confidence.

“I do quite a lot of before-and-after transformations on my Instagram where you can actually see how different it looks with a good-fitting bra on,” she says.

“Even though some people might go up a cup size or two, they actually look smaller when they’ve got a new bra on that fits. Their clothes look better.”

She says it’s important to get fitted every six to 12 months because of changes such as weight loss or gain.

Van Blommestein believes women get a better fit and more bespoke service with an independent fitter.

“We’re highly trained, we work closely with the brands, we know how the product works – it’s not just the sizing, it’s the shape of the breast tissue.

“Two ladies might be the same bra size, but they might not suit the same bra shape.

“I talk through everything and explain how a good bra can fit. They can try products on, I’ve got all sorts of bras, from sports to everyday styles.”

However, it’s not just what you’re wearing that can make the difference – but how you wear it: “There’s actually a knack to how you put your bra on – there’s scooping, adjusting, lots of different things you do when you first put it on.”

Our minds are a little blown if we’re honest.

But then, you wouldn’t wear a pair of shoes that don’t fit, so why should it be any different with your breasts?

You know what you need to do.