Ex-Royal bra stylist June Kenton joins Bust in Britain judging panel and says Princess Diana was ‘amazing’ to work with

SHE is the lingerie legend who has helped support royals and reality queens for decades.

Now June Kenton, the former owner of luxury bra firm Rigby & Peller, has joined our Bust In Britain judging panel.

She will help Kelly Brook in crowning this year’s cleavage queen, who will win £5,000 and a professional photoshoot in Ibiza.

June said: “I’m very excited to be a judge.

"I’ll be looking for great cleavage but not someone who’s falling out of their bra because it’s too small for them.”

June, 82, spent 30 years fitting bras for the rich and famous.

Rigby & Peller has kitted out Kim Kardashian, comedian Dawn French and Prime Minister Theresa May.

But it was her royal customers who gave June some of her fondest memories — especially Princess Diana.

She said: “Diana was amazing.

"We found bras that actually fitted her and she picked different shapes for different reasons and different outfits.

“For her, it was all about the fit.

"She wanted a bra that wouldn’t show underneath her clothes — it had to fit her beautifully — so they really, really fitted her.

“You didn’t necessarily know she was wearing a certain type of bra.”

Rigby & Peller was founded in 1939 as a single shop by Gita Peller, a Jewish refugee who fled Hungary, and Bertha Rigby, who took her in when she arrived in Britain.

June and husband Harold bought it in 1982 and, along with children Jill and David, turned it into one of the world’s leading lingerie firms.

The year June bought it, Rigby & Peller received the royal warrant, meaning the Queen and Queen Mother would be among her customers.

June said: “I was always daunted when I had to fit the Queen but that’s just one of those things.

“Of course, it’s pressure fitting any celebrity.

"That’s what it’s all about and I love it.”

Over the years, Rigby & Peller has been at the forefront of changing styles and tastes when it comes to bras and boobs.

June says underwear has improved almost beyond recognition in the time she has been working.

In the Thirties, before Rigby & Peller was established, things were dire for women when it came to bras.

June said: “There was no selection.

"You just had to wear whatever was in the drawer.

“When I went to school, I wore a bra that was elastic round the back and had a button in the front.

"I used to come home with just the cups — the elastic had fallen off, the cups had fallen off.

“The style then was quite flat- making.

"Nobody wanted to have great big bosoms in those days.”
By the Forties, women’s chests had shrunk, as “food just wasn’t plentiful” during the war.

June added: “Everything was rationed.

"If you wanted to buy a bra you’d have to use coupons.

"You’d have to keep your bras as long as you could because you’d want to buy other stuff.

"It was very difficult.

“Bras were nothing to do with the war effort, so they were all neglected.”

Then came the Fifties, with style icon Marilyn Monroe and the rise of the pointy bra.

June said: “Things got a bit better but there still wasn’t a huge selection.

"Women favoured a pointy style but these days they go for a more rounded look.”

When June first started working with lingerie in the Seventies, so-called nipple bras had replaced the sheer styles of the Sixties.

They had nipples built in so they could, as one ad put it at the time, give women the “sensual, cold-weather look all the time”.

If you were any bigger than a C-cup, though, you had to get your bras shipped in.

June recalled: “We were really challenged to find bras that could fit people.

“We used to get them in D and DD from America but there would be oceans of fabric at the back so we’d have to take it in.

“People couldn’t choose to have a cleavage or not.

"In the Eighties, Nineties and certainly these past two decades, people can look however they like.

"There’s been the most amazing change in retailing.

“You can wear a sweater bra, something that is lacy, something that isn’t lacy — all in your own cup fitting.”

June added that people are much more experimental today, playing with their look.

She said: “Every year there’s countless colours.

"You would never have imagined that 50 years ago, when everything was black or white.

“You can look a million dollars underneath, there’s no need to be looking a mess.

"The selection today is just mind-blowing.”

One woman who always looks a million dollars underneath is reality TV favourite Kim, so it is no surprise that she has been a customer of Rigby & Peller.

June, who sold the business in 2011 to Belgian firm Van de Velde but maintains her passion for all things lingerie, said: “Kim’s a big girl in that department.

“She can’t afford to be falling out of a bra.

"The fitters found some absolutely fabulous bras for her, so she’ll be keeping in, not just keeping up!”

According to June, Rigby & Peller will soon also be fitting Theresa May, saying: “It’s very important to be wearing the right thing underneath so you don’t have to worry what you look like on top.

“The Prime Minister’s got an important job to do, so she needs to know she’s in safe hands.”

For all its new customers, Rigby & Peller has since lost its royal clients.

It was stripped of its royal warrant in January after June published a memoir, Storm In A D-Cup, which detailed fittings with the Queen, Princess Diana and Princess Margaret.

Over her many years in the business, June knows there is one thing that never goes out of fashion — good cleavage.

She said: “It’s always been fashionable and always will be.

"Whatever the decade, cleavage has been one of the major things people choose, because who can resist?”

Despite no longer being involved in the business day-to-day, June reckons she can judge a woman’s bust size just by looking at her — and knows what she is looking for from our Bust In Britain hopefuls.

So what advice would our expert give to our entrants?

She said: “Wear the right size bra.

"That’s so important.

"Everyone should be wearing the right size but 85 per cent of women are not.

“Women look their best when they’ve got a bra that fits and are feeling amazing.”

We're up for the cup

NICOLA McGEOCH, 32, is a bank manager from Glasgow.

She says: “My boobs are 32FF and they have always been big.

"When I was a bit younger I used to wear a lot of low-cut tops but I cover them up a bit more now.

“My husband put me in for the competition and thinks I deserve to win.

"It would be nice to. It’s a bit of fun.”

NATASHA RUSSELL, a 27-year-old graphic designer from Cardiff, is a 34D.

She says: “Mine are fake so they’re very pert and sit upright.

"I don’t really need to wear a bra.

“My mum told me to enter and really wants me to win.

“I’ve always wanted to have a photoshoot and go to Ibiza.

"It’d be a massive achievement to be crowned the Bust In Britain.”

MUM-of-four STACIE LYTTLE, 27, of Essex, is 32D.

She says: “Considering I’ve had four kids, my boobs are quite pert.

"They’ve got a nice round shape.

“I entered Bust In Britain because I feel quite proud of them and I’ve recently lost eight stone.

“It would mean a lot to win. It would be a confidence boost for me and other mums.”

CHEF manager ALICIA POYNTER, 27, is from Kent.

She says: “My 34DDs are big and perky.

"Depending on what I wear I get comments about them but my job isn’t very glamorous so they’re not out a lot.

“It’d be great to win.

"I used to do a bit of modelling but then became a chef, so it would be nice to know I’ve still got it.”

STAY-at-home Essex mum ZOE BONNER, 36, is a 32E.

She says: “I get a lot of compliments on my bust, so this year I thought why not enter Bust In Britain.

“People always tell me I’ve got great boobs and it would be a great confidence booster to be crowned your cleavage queen.

"It’d be lovely and really feelgood.”