Don’t believe the hype about your so-called bra size
Friends of EB:
I've heard from many of you that you'd like to hear more regularly about developments with Evelyn & Bobbie. For that reason, I'll be sending out a founder letter every 2 weeks.
Fall is settling in and, as we look back, we’ve learned a lot this last year at Evelyn & Bobbie. Many of you have been generous enough to follow our story since our killer Kickstarter in 2017. We've been mentioned by Forbes, Fast Company, New York Times, InStyle, Essence and more. It's been an exciting – and challenging time – to put it mildly.
In January, we launched our first products: the Everyday Bustier, three styles of Knickers, and our first fit-matching algorithm: EB Match™. We introduced incremental sizing based on real bodies, also taking stated bra size into account. But the truth is, our first algorithm worked great for some women, but not very well at all for others.
Here's why:
1. Based on the data we have collected, 77% of our customers are wearing a bra size that doesn't correlate with their actual body measurements.
2. Bra size variation across and even within brands continues to get worse. If you have worn multiple bras from the same manufacturer with totally different results, you're not alone. The old way of bra manufacturing is made for the convenience of corporations, not the benefit of your unique body.
Evidence continues to show that as much as we may appear to be similar to each other, our bodies are so individually unique. And focusing on the size you think you are doesn't do much good at all.
In our early days, our CTO hacked together four X-boxes to scan real customers bodies. If I selected only so-called "36C's" and spread thirty of those body scans in front of you right now, you wouldn't believe your eyes: in 3-dimensional terms, we are all shaped so differently from one another, even within a short measurement range. Nuances like posture and the way you experience elastic will impact your best fit, too.
That's why we are introducing a new algorithm that supports At-Home Try-on, launching in early October. We'll send you up to three bras, and you select your best fit.
No, we are not sending you "sister sizes” (here they say a 36C is the same as a 34D, but not really). We're sending you the set of bras that is statistically most likely to match to your specifications, based on your actual measurements. You get to try them on at home in order to nail down your EB Match. And the bra you keep is kept on file so re-ordering is easy.
There are some really exciting campaigns coming through holiday and next year that you're going to want to get involved in. Watch for the big announcement related to this new exciting launch in a few weeks.
Next week, don't miss an article on our fierce CTO who has been writing the code behind our algorithms and working to develop new technologies—innovation you can feel. Jenna Fizel has a masters from MIT in 3D computer-generated architecture. She might be the only woman on the planet who can make a leather handbag and write an app for auto-scaling dress patterns all in the same day.
With care,
-Bree McKeen, Founder & CEO
P.S. Also, a shout-out to ZoZo who is doing some really cool things for personalized fit. We are cheering for you, ZoZo! (There still might be time to get in on their FREE personalized tshirt and jeans here.) No, they didn't pay me to mention them, we are just sincerely happy to see other companies working toward our same goal: the end of sizing. You are not an XS or a 38DDD, you're just you-sized. We're doing the math so you don't have to.
