Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wish anything above D cups were not treat like lepers ...

293 replies

YerMaw1989 · 08/10/2012 14:04

by catalogues...

No I do not want a triumph doreen my mother doesn't even wear those, I would like my boobs to look like boobs not weird triangles , not be in white or beige (I don't mind beige if its plunge) Why do manufacturers thing women with bigger chests do not want cleavage in any way shape of form !!! I'm not asking for a lot

sigh

OP posts:
RedBlanket · 09/10/2012 22:15

I'm going to have to measure myself tomorrow. Mine are a bit loose and I'm not sure whether it's because they'rewashed too much or ifI'm wearing the wrong size again.

SorrelForbes · 09/10/2012 22:21

Holly. I can't advise about the BF stuff but if the 30FF is too then I think you should try a 30G/GG. I am a 30G but would struggle to do up a 30F.

HollyHopDrive · 09/10/2012 22:28

Ah brill, thanks Sorrel, I think I may hover between a 30 and 32 but then when my 30 didn't do up I was confused! Will try a few on next time I go shopping

SorrelForbes · 09/10/2012 22:41

Sorry, meant to say that I would try balcony styles as they tend to be better for those who have the fullness on the bottom of their boobs.

TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 09/10/2012 22:51

Holly I am 35.5in underneath pulling really tight and have gone for a 34 on the loosest setting. I can do them up and get two fingers in (just) and will have a tiny bit more room after the first wash, I'm sure.

unsurealways · 09/10/2012 22:55

So excited about this thread. It has answered so many of my old bra annoyances. I am currently PG so no point in me doing any pretty bra shopping, but I know now for future what to be doing.

Based on what i've seen in this thread pre-pregnancy my 40.5 underbust and 47 overbust puts me into a 40F ... is that about right Sorrel and Statistic?

That's mental. I don't own a single 40F bra. My bra box is full of sizes from 40DD, 40E, 42D and I have had problems with all of them for various reasons. I shall definitely be re-measuring and shopping once this pg and breastfeeding is done.

It makes me cringe now thinking of my bad-fitting bras in highschool. My grandma used to buy them for me, and refused to consider that I was a bit chesty. I spent about five years squeezing into non-padded, ugly 34B and 34C's when I was most probably more like a 36E at the time!

My poor breasts.

StatisticallyChallenged · 09/10/2012 22:58

That's certainly where I would start unsurealways!

ouryve · 09/10/2012 23:00

Triumph Doreen may be vile (though I found that style of bra great in early pregnancy when I needed firm scaffolding with no hard bits) but their underwired bras are lush - I have a lot of their Amourette 300, which is pretty and lacy and soft

ouryve · 09/10/2012 23:25

There's no wonder women are wearing such poorly fitting bras - I'm 33" under bust and 39" around and this site has me at a 38A. I wear a 34DD.

www.femalefirst.co.uk/catalog/sizing-chart.php

StatisticallyChallenged · 09/10/2012 23:32

I'm loathe to link to it, but have a look at the M&S one. It would have you at a 38DD

Their chart has no logic to it whatsoever. They have someone with a 23.5" underbust and 29 inch overbust, in a 28AA (ok I know you can't really get 24s but...) yet they have a 33.5" under, 34" over, as a 38AA.....has nobody told them that cup size is about the relationship between your measurements!

Kormachameleon · 09/10/2012 23:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Spermysextowel · 10/10/2012 00:22

Last week I spent an hour & an absolute fortune in Rigby & Peller. Used to go to them years ago when I had a full-time & a part-time job & no kids. I figured that the money I'd saved by alternating just 2 bras for the last 3 years gave me a decent excuse - that the fact that several attempts at trying on a swathe that I guessed were right had left me hot, bothered & tearful. Was convinced that I'd put on so much weight that I'd need some bespoke article! A broken wire finally made me do something; it stabbed into me so much that I had to escape to the office loo to stuff a wodge of loo roll twixt self & sharp end. Yep, as you can guess when I was doing customary bra-hoik on way to copier it fell out, leaving an unpleasant blood-spotted bundle on the floor.
I'm a 38f. 38 was what I'd been trying, but in way too small a cup size. New bra felt tight round the band at first, but as the bra gurus on here have mentioned it leaves far less of a mark than the saggy old ones as it sits where it's supposed to. In the fitting room you could see the vivid red line of the old one about 2 inches below the band of the new one. I no longer have to surreptitiously 'scoop' in the office as my goods don't fall out of the bottom anymore.
I came away with 3 lovely bras (tho they insisted in writing 'not recommended' against 1 of them on the receipt as they weren't happy with the cup fit but it's for fancy evening wear only so can't do too much damage & is now known as the naughty bra) & also the confidence to hold my own against assistants who try to persuade me that I'm a size in which I know I don't feel comfortable.

And I promise I'll hand-wash them. For at least a month. Bras, not difficult assistants.
Oh, & apparently black will always come up slightly tighter than identical in white/skin tone because of the dyeing process.

A good-fitting bra makes such a difference; all I need to do now is: make the children stick to the cleaning rota; remember which days they need they need PE kit; try not to forget degu food; clear the house as the builders are starting mid-Dec....Does anyone have thermal underwear recommendations???

Bunbaker · 10/10/2012 07:34

"Bun, what statistically said. Try a 30C. Not only will it fit better, you will go from A to C in 5 minutes, no surgery required"

Since I find a 34 band very tight, how on earth am I going to get a 30 on without constricting my breathing? I will try other sizes because this thread has been very illuminating, but I am not convinced that I can get a better fit than I do already.

SorrelForbes · 10/10/2012 08:08

Morning Bun

Basically because at present your boobs are taking up all the back stretchiness. Bras are weird things! I am a 30G (measure 30.5 under bust and 38.5 across) but there is no way I can get a 30 done up in a smaller back.

The best way I've found to check back size is to measure under bust (I think in your case 30?) and then put a bra on in that size, back to front (so just the hooks done up on the loosest hooks and the straps hanging down). If it feels tight but bearable (I.e. you can still breath) then that is the correct band size for you. You shouldn't be able to strategy the band a long way from your body or get more than a couple of fingers under it at the front. If its really too tight (and remember it will feel tighter than you're accustomed to) then go up a band. If you can fit more than two fingers under the band and/or the strap is rising up, turns it too big and you need to go down a band.

Once you've got the correct band on, turn it around the right way, lean forward and scoop all your breast tissue from under our arms and around our back into the cup. Put the shoulder straps on, tighten as required and then stand up. Any bulging or quadraboob means you need to go up another cup (or more). As SC suggests, start the above process with a 30C and take it from there.

You may be pleasantly surprised.

StatisticallyChallenged · 10/10/2012 08:09

If the cup is too small then it can massively distort how tight the back of the bra feels. The cup kind of borrows fabric from the back. Also, if the back is loose then the cup falls forward slightly which pulls on the back and makes it feel tight.

It might also be that the back is sitting higher than it should- a well fitting bra starts surprisingly low down

SorrelForbes · 10/10/2012 08:09

Oops, sorry that should have said 'smaller cup'!

SorrelForbes · 10/10/2012 08:10

Sigh. So many typos. It's early...

Bunbaker · 10/10/2012 08:43

" lean forward and scoop all your breast tissue from under your arms and around your back into the cup"

I had to smile at that. I don't have much breast tissue. The hospital struggles when I have mammograms to fit anything at all on the pates

SorrelForbes · 10/10/2012 08:44

Smile. I made my niece 'scoop' her little
bumps. She was HmmBlush but it took her from a 32c to a 28DD.

MarchelineWhatNot · 10/10/2012 09:07

Has anybody mentioned Elle MacPherson? Her bras go up to a G cup and are beautiful.

HazleNutt · 10/10/2012 09:15

Ah come on Bun, try.
let me tell you, I was a 36DD myself and my bras were tight enough, leaving marks and everything. I certainly didn't think I needed a smaller band, because I'd always been a 36DD and was used to the feeling.

I'm a 32FF/G really.

Sure you can do it gradually as well, try a 32B and see how that feels.

SorrelForbes · 10/10/2012 09:17

The Elle McP bras are lovely. However, I've never managed to find a 30G in JL or HoF to try on. Maybe I should order some on-line.

MarchelineWhatNot · 10/10/2012 09:29

Hi Sorrel, try Figleaves.

Latara · 10/10/2012 11:36

Not been on Mumsnet since yesterday A.M. i think? Thanks for suggestions Sorrel, will look them up when i get chance definitely; also will look at other links in this thread.
I'm wary of spending a lot of money as i'm losing weight; although it seems to be the band size that is reducing while the cupsize remains the same.

My current bra is 38'' & it's now too big.

But local M&S only sells max G cup in the bras i like & i'm still GG. I will check out other dept stores locally as well as looking on those links.

SorrelForbes · 10/10/2012 11:38

No problem Latara. I wouldn't bother with M&S if I were you. I've just thrown out the only M&S bra I owned (a 32G) as it a) didn't fit and b) looked awful!

Swipe left for the next trending thread