Help me find a bra please?

[NiffStipplesHauntsLaSenza]

My DM just informed me that she wants some new bras for her birthday, she wants decent underwire ones but hates the hard bit between the breasts and wants ones with hardly anything in the middle, I can't seem to find any in her size 34DD, TIA

[SorrelForbes]

OK, if she doesn't want a large centre gore then we're looking a plunge style. Firstly, is 34DD definitely her correct size?

[StatisticallyChallenged]

Sorrel, do you have some sort of bra-thread claxon?!?!

[StatisticallyChallenged]

OP does she want padded, moulded or unpadded?

[SorrelForbes]

He he. I'm very bored today! Between contracts at the moment and desperately launching myself onto any new 'project' . Off to watch Jewish mum of the year (says soooo much about me!)

[StatisticallyChallenged]

He he only jesting, I'm doing anything except study!

[SorrelForbes]

I'd love to be studying again. A thesis on bra fitting maybe...

[StatisticallyChallenged]

That would be sooo much more fun than my current topic - Markov Chains..... (yawn)

[SorrelForbes]

Maths?!

[NiffStipplesHauntsLaSenza]

Sorry phone died and then I forgot I'd posted

I don't have a clue if that is her right size, I don't know when she was last measured, I'm just going by the size she told me.
I also have no clue which type she would prefer although she has made comments about wishing her bust was fuller so maybe padded

[StatisticallyChallenged]

If she wants a fuller bust I would definitely start by encouraging some refitting action at somewhere like Bravissimo (NOT M&S!!) as most women wear too big a back and too small a cup. If you can, persuade her to measure firmly under her bust in inches. That measurement is basically your band size - most people tend to go down to the even number below if they are an odd number IME (so if she measures 31, most likely needs a 30 back but possibly a 32). For her cup size, a rough approximation is that for every inch difference between her band size and her measurement (wearing a bra) around the widest part of her bust, you go up one cup - so
1" difference = a
2" - B
3"-C
4"-D
5"-DD
6"-E
7"-F
8"-FF
9"-G etc etc etc

If her bra size is wrong this will make a huge difference to how full and perky she feels (honestly!)

But, for plunge styles with a bit of padding the Freya Deco is excellent, as is the Bravissimo Satine There is also the Wonderbra Everyday Tshirt bra, which I found on ebay (new!) for £10 the other day and which I have worn before. These all exist in her size.

[SorrelForbes]

Ok, maybe a moulded plunge like the Freya Deco which comes in different colours (I think).

Do you think you could get her to measure herself (see the other bra threads running for guidance but in short, measure tightly underneath for her band size and then loosely across the bust and the difference is the cup size, 1 inch equals a cup) or maybe you could take her for a fitting/girly day out? A great fitting new bra would definitely make her perkier and improve her shape and fullness.

[SorrelForbes]

Ha ha SC, x post

[StatisticallyChallenged]

I'm beginning to think we should start a blog with the words "M&S BRA FITTING SUCKS" embedded on every single page. in multiple languages.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

(sorry meant to put that last post on a different thread OP. Too many tabs open!)

[NiffStipplesHauntsLaSenza]

They are nice bras but they both still have too much in the middle, she's alternating between 2 bras at the moment and all they have in the middle are like 2 bits of material looped around each other, they are a bit hard to explain

[SorrelForbes]

I think I know what you mean but can't think of any names of styles at the moment. TBH though, without a fitting, it's going to be hard to know if this style will suit her and give her the fullness she wants.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

I have a sneaking suspicion that if she is having that hard a time with the centres, it's a fitting issue. I say that because I used to have the same issue myself and it was down to bad fit - I still have to be slightly cautious but not to anything like the same extent.

However - this was one I wore in those days!