If you are female and reading this there's a high chance you are wearing the wrong bra size.

A recent Wacoal America company survey found that eight out of ten women wear the wrong bra size.

That is why Gibbons Company recently brought in Dawn Kenney, Wacoal Senior Regional Consultant Manager.

She was on the island for a couple of days to give bra fittings to Gibbons company customers and to train staff.

"The Wacoal brand has been at Gibbons Company for four years," she said. "We have a great buyer here. During the event over the last couple of days, we have been able to spend time talking to customers to find out what their needs are."

Mrs. Kenney has worked for Wacoal for 15 years. Out of the 60 nationwide Wacoal bra-fitters, twenty work under her.

"It was just one of those things I lucked into," she said. "I always did personal service working one on one with customers."

Mrs. Kenney said a common mistake women make is choosing a bra with the band size too big and the cup size too small.

"A lot of women seem to think that if their bra doesn't fit, they move up in the band and don't move their cup size," said Mrs. Kenney. "They are getting the wrong proportions. By taking them up in their band and up in their cup a lot of times they can find the right fit.

"If your band is too big and your cup is too small, the band will ride up in the back, and the front will ride down. All the breast tissue will put pressure on the wires, and it will make you feel like you can't breathe."

She said the first measurement usually taken is the rib cage.

"It has to be so tight that you feel like you can't breathe for a second, because later we are adding inches too it.

"Our bodies are like accordions. We stand up and we are tall and we sit down we are compressed. We need that little bit of movement built in.

"If you are taking a loose measurement, which a lot of people do. Then they go too big in the band."

She said the cup measure builds off the band size, and if the band is too big everything is thrown out of whack.

If you are constantly pulling on the back of your bra, if your straps are falling off your shoulders, if your cup feels like it is pooching out, it is the wrong size, she said.

"I would say the majority of the people who were in yesterday were too big in their band and too small in their cup," said Mrs. Kenney. "I just had a lady in who was wearing a 38B and she was a 32DDD. She just didn't want to feel uncomfortable.

"When everything is in the right proportion you won't feel pain in your neck," she said. "It makes all the difference in the world.

"When you get the right size, it takes the pressure off the body because the band is set where it needs to be.

Mrs. Kenney said the bra should be in the smallest part of the back.

"With an underwire bra, ninety-five percent of the support should come from the band of the bra," she said. "If you are wearing the wrong size, then your straps are starting to take over."

Many of the women she saw at Gibbons Company over a three day period had never before had a bra fitting. Others hadn't had one in five to ten years.

"Your body changes," Mrs. Kenney said. "Women have babies or put on weight or lose weight. Women go through menopause or start taking birth control pills. With all of that the breast tissue changes and the back might change also."

She said in fifteen years in the business she has seen it all. She said bras range from a 32 A to a 48 G for a reason; there are a wide range of body types out there.

"While I have been here we have managed to find the right bra size for everyone we fitted," she said. "That is a real testament to the store, considering this is not a huge department store compared to what is in the United States."

In one day, Gibbons company sold 120 Wacoal bras.

"Wacoal is a great line," she said. "It is one of the most comfortable bras you will put on your body."

Because there are so many body shapes she said it is not only important to find the right fit, but also the right style.

"When I go in to work with a customer, I am not just using the tape measure to try and determine her size, I am also looking at her body and thinking what is the best style that is going to fit her," said Mrs. Kenney.

For example, she said a push up bra will not necessarily be flattering to someone who is already full on top, but might help someone who is looking for a little extra punch or a bit of cleavage.

In terms of colour she said it is important to wear a bra that matches your body tone, when wearing a white shirt.

"You want to create a single sillhouette on the body," she said. "If you wear a white shirt, you don't want to wear a white bra, because that will show through.

"Not every bra suits everybody even though it might be the right size."

After so long in the business Mrs. Kenney said she tends to notice women's bras wherever she goes, and even while watching her favourite soap operas.

"Not only am I aware of other womens bras, but my husband is, and so are my friends," she said with a laugh. "I was at breakfast this morning and my husband pointed to another woman in the room and said: you need to give her your card.

"I said: 'you can't just walk up to people like that. They are going to look at you funny'.

"I am not ogling, but I have done it too long to not think, 'you need to follow me into the fitting room'.

"Some people respond well and others don't. During some fittings you don't tell them what size you are going to put on them, because they don't want to hear that."

She said you can be wearing a $3,000 suit, but with the wrong bra, the entire outfit is ruined.

"A good bra gives you a good waistline," she said. "With the right bra you are in the lines of your clothes and not in your midriff."