My First Bra - The Story That Started It All

People often ask me where my love of lingerie began.

Was it at university? Was it my first design job? Was it when I started working in the lingerie industry?

The truth is, it started much earlier than that.

Long before I became a designer, before Tutti Rouge, before I ever imagined I'd spend my career creating bras for women around the world, I was simply a teenage girl trying on her very first proper bra. Looking back now, I don't think I realised just how important that moment would become, but it has stayed with me ever since. In many ways, I genuinely believe it shaped the direction of my entire career.

Like so many girls growing up in the 1980s, my first bra shopping trip was organised by my mum. There was no internet, no social media and certainly no online bra fitting calculators telling you what size you should be. You couldn't order ten bras online to try at home or watch YouTube videos explaining sister sizing. If you needed a bra, you went to your local specialist lingerie shop and trusted the expert behind the measuring tape.

That's exactly what we did.

I still remember walking into the boutique feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Everything felt so grown up. There were rows of beautiful bras in colours and fabrics I'd never really noticed before, and I suddenly realised that underwear wasn't just something practical. It could actually be beautiful.

After a quick fitting, I was confidently told I was a 36C.

Now, every time I tell this story, I have to smile.

After more than three decades designing lingerie, fitting thousands of women and spending my entire career understanding bra construction and fit, I can safely say there is absolutely no chance I was a 36C. If I fitted that same teenage girl today, she'd almost certainly walk away in a 32E, or perhaps even a 30FF.

Thankfully, bra fitting has improved enormously since then. Today, there's far more understanding around band fit, cup volume and breast shape, which means women have a much better chance of finding bras that genuinely support them. Back then, though, we simply accepted what we were told.

Before that shopping trip, I'd spent years wearing what we'd probably call crop tops today. They weren't really marketed as bralettes back then, although that's essentially what they were. Most of mine came from Marks & Spencer because, if I'm honest, there weren't many alternatives. Specialist lingerie shops weren't on every high street, and choice was nowhere near what it is today.

But this bra felt completely different.

It wasn't just another piece of underwear.

It felt like something special.

Falling in Love with Lingerie

The brand was Rosy, a French lingerie company founded back in 1947.

What struck me wasn't the name on the label, though. It was how vividly I can still picture that bra after all these years.

I can still see the soft mink-coloured silk. I remember the delicate mesh panels that framed the neckline of the cups and the beautiful embroidery scattered across the fabric in shades of blush pink, soft green and cream. It wasn't loud or overly decorative. It was elegant, feminine and beautifully balanced. Every element felt considered.

The bra itself was non-wired, something that probably explains why I've always had such a soft spot for designing beautiful non-wired collections. Even today, I can see echoes of that Rosy bra in some of the pieces we've created at Tutti Rouge over the years. Not because I've consciously copied it, but because the feeling it gave me has stayed with me throughout my career.

At the time, I couldn't have explained why I loved it so much.

Looking back now, I know it wasn't simply the colours or the embroidery that fascinated me.

It was the craftsmanship.

Looking back with the eyes of a designer, I realise I was appreciating construction before I even knew what construction was. Somebody had carefully chosen those fabrics, selected those thread colours, designed that embroidery and thought about exactly how the bra would feel when someone wore it. Every decision had been made for a reason.

Without realising it, I was admiring another designer's work.

I often say that lingerie is one of the most technical areas of fashion because beauty alone isn't enough. A dress can simply look lovely, but a bra has a job to do. It has to support, lift, shape, move with the body and remain comfortable for hours at a time, all while looking beautiful. That's an incredible balancing act, and I genuinely think my fascination with that challenge began much earlier than I ever recognised.

More Than Just a Bra

What I remember more than anything, though, is how I felt when I put that bra on.

For the first time, my bust felt properly supported. Everything felt comfortably in place, and there was none of the self-consciousness I'd experienced before. It wasn't about trying to impress anyone else. I was simply delighted that something could fit so beautifully and feel so comfortable at the same time.

That feeling has stayed with me all my life.

It wasn't the loud, dramatic kind of confidence people often talk about today. It was much quieter than that. It was the confidence that comes from feeling comfortable in your own skin and not having to think about what you're wearing underneath your clothes.

Looking back, I think that's something we've forgotten a little over the years. Lingerie isn't always about creating a dramatic moment or saving something beautiful for a special occasion. Sometimes it's simply about starting your day feeling comfortable, supported and ready for whatever lies ahead.

That philosophy has followed me throughout my career.

The Inspiration Behind Tutti Rouge

People often ask where inspiration comes from when we design a new collection for Tutti Rouge. They expect me to talk about fashion weeks, catwalk trends or colour forecasting. Of course those things have their place, but the truth is that inspiration often comes from memories and emotions. It comes from remembering how a piece of lingerie made you feel rather than simply how it looked.

Whenever we're developing a new collection, I'm always asking myself the same questions.

• Will someone feel excited to put this on in the morning?
• Will they still feel comfortable wearing it eight hours later?
• Will they forget they're wearing it because it fits so well?
• Will they catch sight of themselves in the mirror and smile?

Because if the answer is yes, then we've done our job.

I've never believed women should have to choose between comfort and beauty. For years, fuller bust lingerie often seemed to sit at one extreme or the other. You could have practical support that wasn't particularly inspiring, or beautiful lingerie that simply wasn't designed to work for larger busts.

I wanted to prove those two things could exist together.

That's been one of the driving forces behind Tutti Rouge from the very beginning. Supportive lingerie can still be feminine. Comfortable bras can still feel exciting. Non-wired styles can still be beautiful. Women shouldn't have to compromise simply because they need a little more support.

When I think back to that Rosy bra, that's exactly what it represented. It wasn't trying to make a statement or follow a trend. It was simply beautifully designed and incredibly comfortable, and it made me feel wonderful.

I honestly believe that moment helped shape the designer I've become.

Still Hanging in My Bedroom

Here's the part of the story that usually surprises people.

I still have it.

After all these years, that bra still hangs in my bedroom. Every now and then I'll catch sight of it and stop for a moment. I'll admire the embroidery, notice details I'd somehow forgotten and smile at how timeless it still feels.

Most people probably wouldn't keep their first bra for decades, but to me it's much more than an old piece of lingerie.

It's a reminder of where everything began.

It's a reminder of the first time I truly understood that lingerie could make someone feel confident, comfortable and beautiful all at once.

And it's a reminder of why, after all these years, I still absolutely love designing bras.

People often assume your career is shaped by one defining moment, but I think it's usually the little experiences that quietly change the course of your life. For me, that experience happened in a small lingerie boutique, wearing a beautifully embroidered French bra that was several cup sizes away from the one I'd almost certainly be fitted into today.

I may not have realised it at the time, but that first bra sparked a fascination that has never left me.

Nearly forty years later, I still believe exactly what I discovered as a teenager.

Beautiful lingerie isn't just about how it looks.

It's about how it makes you feel.

And if every woman who wears Tutti Rouge feels even a little of what I felt putting on that first Rosy bra all those years ago, then I know we've achieved exactly what we set out to do.

- Jessica P