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The Gender Pay Gap in British lingerie - why, and what are companies going to do about it?

This is a follow-up post to my previous post "The Gender Pay Gap - how do large British lingerie companies compare? ". Now that we know that these companies do have gender wage gaps, let's see what they had to say about them. All of the companies gave some explanation, and most of them stated how they planned to fix it. But will these plans have any effect? Are they ambitious enough? How will we know as consumers if these plans are working and to what extent? Let's dive into it, company by company, as I paraphrase all of the reports (publicly available on the Gender Pay Gap Service ). Warning: this post is super long so if you just want an overview, scroll to the end. I will probably end up publishing an abridged ranking at some point in the future if this is just too many words to read (understandable). Department Stores     Debenhams: Mean gap: 19.9%, Median gap: 0.3% "There is a negligible gap between male and female pay and this is significantly lower ...
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The Gender Pay Gap - how do large British lingerie companies compare?

What is the gender pay gap? "The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage of all men and women across a workforce. If women do more of the less well paid jobs within an organisation than men, the gender pay gap is usually bigger. The gender pay gap is not the same as unequal pay which is paying men and women differently for performing the same (or similar) work. Unequal pay has been unlawful since 1970" - Gender Pay Gap Service Due to recent legislation, all employers with 250 or more employees must calculate and publish (among other things), their mean and median gender pay gaps. This has recently come into effect with April 2018 being the first time private companies have been forced to publish this data. I have taken the opportunity to go through the reports of lingerie companies and compare them by category so you can find out what these gender pay gaps are, how they compare across companies, and what each individual company has to say about it. That...

Rib Cages and Bra Fitting - a Masterpost

I've realised that while there are titbits (pun intended) of information about how rib Cages can affect bra fit floating around, it's never been collated into one easy to access article. So I've tried to do that: most of the information in this post is credited to other hardworking bloggers, please check out the credits at the end to support their work! Also big thanks to my sister for the lovely diagrams. 1. Rib Cage Shapes (horizontally) There are two basic types of rib cross-sections to consider in relation to bra fitting, disregarding the sternum (we'll get onto the breastbone later): Flat vs Barrel Shaped Ribs   Flat ribs (left) - the most common rib cage shape   Barrel shaped ribs (right) - more rounded than the average rib cage shape Most bras are designed to fit best on flat ribs. If you have barrel shaped ribs , the cups of a bra may tilt outwards, meaning that you need more depth in the centre than fullness tests suggest. Wires may dig in at any point (the g...

The Outwards Scoop

We all know that it's important to scoop all tissue  from the outside of the bra *into* the cups, as well as positioning the wires correctly , but recently I have been thinking about an extension of the manoeuvre: The Outwards Scoop You may be thinking that this is just a way to make a too small cup look like it fits correctly , but I promise you it's more than that. What is the purpose of the scoop and swoop? To make sure that all tissue that was outside the wires is now inside the wires - of course, provided that the bra isn't too narrow overall. For those with soft tissue (and particuarly those with pendulous breasts and loose skin as well), or just a very projected shape simply scooping the traditional way can force tissue into the gore space *past* the root of your breast. This causes tissue to sit under the gore, either pushing it away or having the gore sit on breast tissue - not ideal! A strong "regular" scoop and swoop makes the gore float on this bra. Th...

Bra Shopping in Melbourne - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

A quick lowdown of three places to buy bras in Melbourne - if you're one of the two thirds of people who don't fit in the sizes most bra shops sell, or you just want somewhere to give you a good fitting, this is the post to read. Apologies for the lack of photos of the fittings, my phone was broken.   The Good - Brava   Brava's exterior Shop: When I walked into Brava, it had a chill atmosphere - clean white walls with lots of bras on. The shop was smaller than the others I visited but they used the space wisely to show an extensive range, generally grouped by brand. The fitting room was large, tidy and well-lit, with a large, clean mirror. Something that stood out to me was that the wall in the fitting room had a sign on it that said something along the lines of "take your bras home and wear them for a few hours - you can return them if they're uncomfortable", which I found very reassuring and shows how understanding the business is. Brava's interior Range...