to ask about your 34C boobs?

[SnoozyGiraffe]

So I'm considering a breast reduction and surgeons generally recommend a C cup size. I haven't been a C cup since puberty and I can't imagine it at all! Anyone who's a 34C - I'd really appreciate some info :-)

For example....
Do you feel completely secure in a strapless bra, or can you even go braless occasionally? (on holiday or if a special outfit demands?)
Is it easy to find flattering swimwear?
Can you wear shrug-type cardigans and do they look nice?

I'm pretty tall, no hips but a bit of a muffin-top - is my tummy suddenly going to be bigger than my boobs? I'm used to being voluptuous, but part of me wants the novelty of a boyish figure. Is this a nice compromise or a neither-here-nor-there middle ground?

All advice gratefully received!

I'm a 32C and while I obviously don't have massive boobs, I don't feel boyish at all. I can go braless in a baggy top if I needed to but prefer not to as I don't feel secure enough. I can also get a good amount of cleavage going if I need to too

Swimwear's not an issue, on holiday I opt for a halterneck as I'm very pear shaped (if you were to split my upper and lower half you'd think they were two different women!)

If you're definitely going for the reduction, a 34C is a good, easy to "manage" size. Good luck!

Oh, hmm, that's weird. But makes sense. The 65s do seem much tighter on me than a UK 30, though. But perhaps I'm imagining things (or, I've got fatter. That's likely.)

And just to add the reminder, for perspective that I measure DH and he is a 34C :o

I don't know where you are shopping ouvre unless because you are big they are what fills clothes maybe?

36c here, (well when they come up small) size 12....

I need a bra as much as the big breasted woman to fill a top/ improve shape. They are a bit pathetic without tbh... It probably depends on your build. That said I like them being small I'd hate to have big ones.

Brettgirl2 - a size 12 cannot be a 36! Please please re-measure (tight under bust and loose across bust whilst bending over at 90 degrees to floor). Under bust measurement is your band size. Difference between inches is your cup size.

1" = A cup
2" = B cup
3" = C cup
4" = D cup
5" = DD cup

And so on.

Brettgirl - just measured properly. M&S have me at a 36DD, currently. I am wearing a 36DD at the moment, but it's a soft cup that I'm wearing to hold them steady, rather than up and it gives me no shape, whatsoever. Just stops me from tripping over them.

And for measurements, last time I checked I was something like 31.5" under and 40" over. I'm not overly busty. Just not a 36DD in a well fitting bra.

Just to add to the chorus- I'm a size 16. I wear a 30 back. If you are an 8-10 your 34 back is too big. If you feel you can't wear a smaller back, you need a bigger cup!

I'm 5'7" and wearing a 36KK right now but I need a new bra because I'm busting out the top again. I'm 30 and they SHOULD have stopped growing but they haven't. Unfortunately I've been unable to find any bigger bras and am going to have to get them made or make them myself... so I've considered a reduction (several times).

I think a C would be too small. I think a D or DD would be what I would go to (essentially half) but, vainly, I really dislike how reduced breasts look (naked of course). But man... it would be SUCH a huge change. I'd be wary also of looking pear shaped instead of hour glass.

Guys just don't understand!

Just wanted to point out, not all rib cages are created equal. According to my bra tag I'm a size AU14KK and a UK36KK back...

34B to B here. I am at the idea this is a boyish figure.

I never go braless. Doesn't feel good imo and after 5 DCs I don't think it's a great look either.

I have never found a strapless bra that I felt really fit me well and would do the job. However, I like a sturdy hold and a bit of lift in a bra. I always wear an underwire bra.

Flattering swimwear -- pretty easy to find a bra element that fits. But it has to work with the rest of my figure too and sometimes a suit that looks good on my rear end does nothing for the boob area.. I tend to wear tankinis or swim separates because I burn and sunscreen sometimes gives me zits.

Shrug cardis look ok on me, but I think to look good you need to have average width shoulders. Wide shoulders or sloping shoulders + shrug = not good. Maybe the fact I have never given boob size a thought when wearing a shrug means smaller boobs are ok in a shrug.

You will notice the muffin top more. However, a decent bra that gives a bit of lift will help.

B to C....

Yes, lots of people in the wrong-sized bras on this thread. I don't think anyone genuinely fits a 34C. Not if they've been measured properly.

I'm another long and lean one, with two tennis ball-sized boobs that are, in fact, DDs.

If you're tall, then you might find a 34C a bit small. I'd push for at least 34D/E.

I'm 5'8", size 10 and a 30D/DD (used to wear a 34B) and my boobs look very modest when clothed, despite the fact that I have plenty of breast tissue.

I am a 34c after a cosmetic lift and reduction. No need for a bra at all except for the novelty of being abler pout one on without having to lift myself into it.

I'm 5'6" and a size 12-14. I would suggest larger than a c cup if you're tummy isn't great. I'm a D or DD depending on how much weight I'm carrying. My bust helps make clothes flattering while hiding the muffin top.

I agree with all those saying 34 is very odd . I'm average height, size 14 and am 34F. And I think I have a very wide back. Can't imagine a size 8 with 34 back.

I found bravissimo to be brilliant, as for years was wearing 36DD until I went there. Cant get over how much better I look with a correctly fitting bra!

I'm another size 12 to 14 30FF/32F. I'm the heaviest I've ever been and my rib cage measures 31. Despite this, both M&S and Debenhams insist I'm a 36D/DD.

Any time that actual measurements have been discussed on here, almost no-one has been smaller than a D cup.

I suspect that the surgeon doesn't know what 34C actually looks like. Has the OP come back with her actual measurements?

If they are going to make the OP an M&S 34C, when she is all healed up and settled down, she will be able to go and be fitted into a 30DD in bravissimo, which will probably be OK?

I think the op is a genuine 34j. But agree that the surgeons often don't understand bra sizes!

Sorry op your thread has been slightly hijacked but it sounds like you saw the proper bra light so hopefully don't mind too much!

In general here are some of the signs of a badly fitted bra
You spill over the cups
The band is not horizontal at the back but rises up
When you lift your arms over your head your bra lifts up. Your boobs can get under your bra
You have back fat
You have armpit fat
Your straps fall down
You have sore or red marks from the shoulder straps
You can never find a good wired bra
You were fitted by m and s, la senza, ,ann summers, debenhams, bhs, most branches of house of fraser. ...

I am a size 20 and wear a 34H, I have never thought I had particularly large breasts. Until I saw the bra threads on here I wore a 42D so please can any of you that haven't had an intervention on here just try it? Most women are a D cup or higher when properly fitted.

Everytime I read a thread like this I feel like bashing m and s and all the archaic bra fitters over the head with a frying pan.

I would love to have a RL intervention. Still not sure I'm exactly fitted right, but hard to tell.

Is it supposed to dig in and stretch the fabric and be hard to breathe when you have the right size? Because that's what happens when I wear the band size which matches me in inches. But then I do have no "padding" at all, so I've heard this means you should go up a size. But then it screws up my cup size. I do have a 70B which fits me but over the day I find I have to re-scoop. It's too much hassle. Much easier not to wear one at all, which is what I mostly do although then I feel like I have no boobs at all.