Retaining formatting of a chart produced from a pivot table

Hello,

I create a piviot table from my data, then produce a chart.  I
re-order the columns (they are already moved around by Excel so do not
appear in the order they are recorded in the baseline data).  If I
change the chart by manipulating pivot table options my formatting is
lost - i.e. the chart reverts to the formatting Excel has already
imposed.  Any ideas how to stop this?

Appreciatively,
              John.