Why must I pay for a bigger bra?

3:03pm Friday 18th July 2008

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A Brighton resident is waging war against a high street giant after it started charging more for bigger bras.

Beckie Williams, 25, who lives in Preston Circus, started a group on Facebook after Marks & Spencer began charging an extra £2 for bra sizes from 30DD to 42G.

After just a few weeks Busts 4 Justice already has more than 5,000 members. Miss Williams, who wears a size 34E bra, said: “It all started after a friend and I noticed we were being charged more for bigger bras.

“I’d been whingeing about it for months and in October I wrote to Marks & Spencer about it and it wrote back to say bigger bras cost more to make.

“I wrote again, asking why it didn’t apply the same policy to knickers.

“I’m a size 8 to 10, so if it is going to charge me for being big in one respect, was I going to get a reduced price for being smaller in another respect?

“I didn’t get a reply and in the end I decided to set up a Facebook group and do something about it.”

The freelance children’s writer said: “We definitely didn’t expect it to take off in the way it did. “It’s now become much more than just being about Marks & Spencer.

“Now women are talking about something they have never been able to talk about and share experiences of before.

They have all got stories but the thing that comes out of it all is what a misery bra shopping is for us.”

Now Miss Williams wants to talk to retailers about some of the issues raised by the group.

She said: “There is a massive market out there for bigger bras, which is perhaps not being fully realised. I think there should be one price for all.”

A spokeswoman for Marks and Spencer said: “There are 30 different components in a bra.

“The extra charge is more to do with the engineering than material. The collection has proved incredibly popular with the majority of customers.

“They have told us they are happy to pay a small premium (between £1.50 and £2) for the specialist work to ensure suitable level of support, innovation and technology that goes into the bras.

“Our bras are much less expensive than many other specialist larger cup size lingerie retailers, where they could cost around £60 or more.”

You can see the facebook campaign if you are a memeber. Go to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18589103563