Hands off the merchandise: M&S cuts out touchy-feely bra fittings
MARKS & SPENCER staff have stopped using tape measures for bra fittings and will carry out all consultations by eye.
Fitters will estimate cup and band sizes and then give customers a range of bras to try to find the right fit.
The company said physical contact may still be necessary if staff needed to make adjustments to ensure comfort.
In August, JK Rowling told women to boycott M&S after a customer complained that a transgender staff member had asked her daughter, 14, whether she needed any help in the bra section. In a post on X, the author said it was wrong that the store had “prioritised the wishes of men”.
The staff member was polite, but the mother said she felt it was “completely inappropriate” for her daughter to be approached by a “biological male” in the lingerie section. M&S later apologised.
The company insisted the change had nothing to do with the trans row, and said the decision brought it into line with others in the market, such as specialist bra firms Rigby and Pellar, and Bravissimo.
A spokesman said: “The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive.” The company is adopting the policy after a successful trial in 23 stores.
M&S launched its first bra 100 years ago and, in 1947, began offering fittings to customers. Sales assistants were trained in measuring customers’ girdles, bras and corsets under customers’ coats.
In April 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that the word sex in the Equality Act 2010 meant biological sex, not self-identified gender.
As a result, services such as lavaories and changing rooms should be segregated by biological sex, and trans women should be excluded from women’s facilities.
After the incident involving the 14-year-old girl, M&S clarified that fittings were for “female customers and all our bra fitters are female”.