A look into this seasons lingerie trends :)

As you may know, I ran a questionnaire for a couple of weeks to have a look at the lingerie consumer market this season.
A surprising number of people helped me out; I wasn't expecting such a great response!

So, the first thing is a quick breakdown of my audience. This is actually a reflection on the blog too, so I thought it was kinda interesting...
Anyway, a whole 91% of the people who answered my questionnaire were aged between 20 and 29 years, and the rest were in the 10 to 19 years category!

...I'm a little sad...I like using excel for everything! ;)

I also found that only 54% of the people asked had been professionally fitted into a bra. This really surprised me, because I thought that most people would have been. Those that had, had gone (most commonly) to Marks and Spencers, with the next most popular being Debenhams. M&S did have mixed reviews however - which is exactly what I have heard from people I know who have been fitted there. The fitting is described by some as "rushed" with "no advice or recommendations given", whereas others swear by M&S fitters who "always seem to know what they're doing, and make finding the right bra easier".
Having never been fitted in M&S (only Debenhams) this discrepancy has given me the incentive to go and try out a few stores, to see where is actually the best place to go for a fitting. Cue, the store fitting challenge!

The Freya Deco, up to 38G

The After Eden Multiway, up to 38D

The most popular styles of bra amongst consumers at the moment seem to be multiways and strapless, t-shirt and push-up underwired bra's. With the arrival of summer (or what we foolishly call 'summer' here in the UK) the multiway and strapless bra's are out in full force, with the arrival of strapless and strappy dresses to our wardrobes!
Of course the best multiway bra's don't focus primarily on how many ways they can be worn, but on the quality of the fit to begin with.
Whenever I try a multiway, I always begin by removing the straps and wearing it as a strapless bra. If it doesn't hold you up well enough without the straps, chances are it won't perform brilliantly, for example, as a halterneck.
As multiways offer less support than a classic bra, if it's not holding you up without the straps, chances are it won't be a whole lot better with them either.
It's generally easier to get t-shirt and push-up bra's to fit, as they're the kind of bra most people are used to, even from buying your first bra - I know mine was a plain black, underwired t-shirt bra, so I'm well used to them!

To provide a little more detail, I looked into what designs consumers prefer to see this season on their lingerie.
Since floral prints are very fashionable this season, I expected to see a lot of responses related to floral patterns on our underwear. I was quite surprised to see, however, that the reaction to floral printed undies wasn't quite as positive as I had imagined.
A lot of responses suggested a certain 'tiredness' for floral underwear.
Lace being the timeless classic that it is, was very popular, as were pastel colours and 'frills' (I can't see these EVER going out of fashion!).
Tying together the most popular styles of bra with design, plain block colours are also quite popular, and this is understandable. T-shirt bra's are popular all year round, as are the classic block colours that go hand-in-hand with them!

The fabric of a bra is important too, with many consumers preferring cotton and silky underwear, as opposed to man-made mixes of fabrics.

Of course, these can be quite costly materials, and since 72% of people would be willing to spend only between £0 and £20 on a new bra, it seems we can't always have what we want!

Haych xx

Silk image from aveniabridal.com