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AIBU?

Following on from all the bra threads...AIBU in thinking the media skews our image of bra sizes?

129 replies

ScarletLady02 · 28/03/2013 11:30

I'm a recent convert to a properly fitting bra. I was wearing a 38C, but was measured and found out I'm actually a 34DD/E.

At first I thought there is no way that's right, but it is...I'm so much more comfortable now.

I was reading that story yesterday about the woman who had a boob job on the NHS (easy to find a link) and apparently she has 36DD boobs. I look at that now and think NO WAY ON EARTH are they 36DD. She's much slimmer than me so haw can she have a bigger back size? Plus the volume of boob is about twice that of mine!

AIBU in thinking no wonder so many women are surprised at their correct size, and will put up with bras that fit so badly because they think "How can I possibly be an E cup?? Look at Jordan, Pammy etc"?

Oh and thanks again to all the lovely bra women on here...the campaign is great Grin

OP posts:
ScarletLady02 · 28/03/2013 11:32

Excuse typos

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CocacolaMum · 28/03/2013 11:34

YANBU at all.. I ought to go get measured

Seeline · 28/03/2013 11:39

YANBU. I measure much bigger than Jordan, but don't look anything like as big. Probably because mine are very saggy (but natural) rather than sticky-outy and false) Blush Wink

trikken · 28/03/2013 11:44

Yep I was the same as you wearing thecwrong sized bra and thought thid way until I got the right sized bra. I used to think d would b massive, but actually its fairly average.

ScarletLady02 · 28/03/2013 11:44

I commented on this to my bra-fitter, who'd been fitting bras for over 20 years (she guessed my size just by looking at me and was spot on), she said that from her experience glamour models always get their size wrong.

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BreconBeBuggered · 28/03/2013 11:48

No, YANBU. I weep for my teens and twenties when I had a tiny 22'' waist and blinding tits, but disguised them in a 36C because that was the size usually attributed to the glamour models in the papers and cups only seemed to go up as far as a D for the proper busty matrons. I'm a bit of a busty matron myself now, and the tiny waist has long gone, but I still only measure 34 under the bust. I wonder if it's still the same writers blithering about DD cups as though they're a freak of nature/surgery.

mummybare · 28/03/2013 11:49

Yanbu. Turns out I am a G/GG cup these days, but to look at me, the idea that I have to seek out the few companies that make bras for my particularly large breasts is completely laughable.

StatisticallyChallenged · 28/03/2013 11:49

I think glamour models can be extended to cover the stated size of almost every woman ever discussed in the press. when you read that halle berry is supposedly a 36 c it makes me want to throw things!

ScarletLady02 · 28/03/2013 11:51

It is madness...I always thought a DD was HUGE...but I'm that now, and I don't think I have big boobs. They OK, but they're not massive. I still struggle to believe I have to shop in the "fuller busted" section....oh and I can't buy cheap bras any more

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ScarletLady02 · 28/03/2013 11:52

You're probably right StatisticallyChallenged - its not just glamour models...it's just you tend to hear their bra size before they tell you anything else about themselves Grin

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Eskino · 28/03/2013 11:55

Well glamour models don't exactly look comfortable in their bras, all that orange flesh flomping out.

Morloth · 28/03/2013 12:02

I wear a 32H.

My boobs are big, but not huuuge which is the impression you would get from the size. There isno way Halle Berry has a bigger back size than me.

I likes my boobs, they are just right.

ScarletLady02 · 28/03/2013 12:10

I'm perfectly happy with mine too Grin I must admit to being a bit MORE happy knowing they're a DD/E! I know that sounds silly though...but I had NO boobs until I was in my 20s

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EasterBunnyLebowski · 28/03/2013 12:14

YANBU. A recent example which made me seriously Hmm was the story about Jennifer Love Hewitt considering insuring her 36C breasts. Linky

So going by that info, this tiny woman is wider under the bust than size 14 me. Seems a wee bit unlikely.

Also, your hair is incredible Envy

MooMooSkit · 28/03/2013 12:17

YANBU! Are you talking about the girl who had the op on the NHS? No way is she a 36 back size! It's def the media 100%. For years I wore a 34E (I'm a size 8 ffs with a 27 inch waist!!) and now wear a 30H but I always compared my size to other people like Lucy Pinder is meant to be a 32F but I def think her back size must be 30 as she's quite small!

ScarletLady02 · 28/03/2013 12:22

Thank-you Lebowski Grin

I agree too - I'm a size 14 and a 34 back. I can't see how she can be larger round the ribcage than me...it baffles me.

But I had no clue until I found out about proper measuring!

It reminds me of that bit on Gok Wan's show where he gets someone to put themselves in a line up where women are arranged due to size. They ALWAYS think they're a lot bigger (as in clothes size, not bra size) than they actually are.

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DuckworthLewis · 28/03/2013 13:46

You are supposed to add 4" if your underbust measurement is an even number, 5" if it is odd.

Your underbust measurement by itself isn't your back size, no wonder everyone is so confused if that is the way you have been measuring!

EasterBunnyLebowski · 28/03/2013 13:52

Not true Duckworth.

All that adding inches is complete bollocks and is the reason why

  1. most women in the UK are wearing the wrong size bras and


  1. Why most shops are so shit as measuring people.


Your measurement in inches under your bust is your band size.
LRDtheFeministDragon · 28/03/2013 13:54

I thought that was out of date, they don't do it any more?

I think part of it is that there's so much variation in shape and position, the same sizes can look totally different on different people.

DuckworthLewis · 28/03/2013 13:54

Easter The following retailers beg to differ...

La Senza

Myla

M&S

Where did you get your info from?

DuckworthLewis · 28/03/2013 13:55

No, you are still supposed to add on the 4 or 5". Perhaps you shop somewhere else that has different rules? Confused

SuffolkNWhat · 28/03/2013 13:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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EasterBunnyLebowski · 28/03/2013 13:59

You must be new round these parts Smile

There is a bra revolution going on here on MN. Here you go

And all those guides are wrong. No question about it.

And precisely why I was wearing shockingly uncomfortable 38B bras until the MN bra mavens diagnosed me as a 34E (34 being my underbust measurement) and changed my entire relationship with my underwear drawer.

ScarletLady02 · 28/03/2013 14:00

According to my bra fitter the measurement around your underbust IS your bust size. My 34DD (I measure 34" under my boobs) fits perfectly. If I added 4 or 5 inches it wouldn't fit at all - I used to wear a 38" band size and it was totally wrong.

80% of women don't wear the right bra, so I would say that most places don't know how to measure properly.

I've M&S are one of the worst at fitting properly.

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ScarletLady02 · 28/03/2013 14:01

Band size not bust size, sorry.

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