To object to paying £40 for a new bra?

[PomBearWithAnOFRS]

Just cos I have Norks! (with a capital N )
There is one style and brand of bra that I have ever found, that I can just buy "off the shelf" that I know will fit me -as long as I take the bloody instrument of torture wires out - but the damn thing is at least £40 :(
I have tried others over the years, but they just don't fit, even in supposedly bigger sizes
I tend to have one really tatty one, one with no wires in that is on the road to being tatty, and one newish one for "best".
Last time I bought one I got lucky and found one in my size on eBay for £25, but today I had to fork out forty quid :( and to add insult to injury my new knickers were a ridiculous price as well
£48 for six pairs of giant pants!
I give up, I am becoming a hippy and wandering the streets commando, with my Mighty Norks swinging free in the breeze round my knees from now on!

I'm here mjmooseface

Pom, was it an ebay buy? Do you have it in black already?

Grab the tape measure, we might be able to help

I don't know if this is scientific fact or not, but I've always found Fantasie bras to be much tighter in black than any other colour. Weird, but true.

Ou lot just cost me £114 in new bras. I knew I shouldn't have looked at this thread!

You, not ou!

Black bras are generally tighter due to the dye

Yup, black bras run small in general. Some can be worse than others though, as some fabrics are affected more by the dye.

OP have you thought about making your own? There's some really good books for making your own lingerie on Amazon.

And yes, its fiddly but so worth it to get something that actually fits!

StatisticallyChallenged I've just done a measure and came up with 81cm underneath the boobs and 99cm when I bend over and measure over them.

I currently wear a 34D from M&S and another in the same size from Debenhams. These mostly fit fine except for the one I wore for my wedding being quite tight and suffocate-y and the other one is so old it's lost the will to do much! I also still have a 36E for some bizarre reason from when I was pregnant over 2 years ago which is a bit loose and flappy now and rides up my back. I think I self measured for that one and just went and got it from Asda instead of getting properly fitted! lol

I haven't bought a decent bra for ages and I'm looking to get some this weekend! Any suggestions?!

81cm=31.88", and 99cm=39"

Based on that, I would start with a 32F. Your 34D is designed for someone who measures about 34/38 so the overbust won't be that much smaller but you should see a real difference in uplift.

Oh wow. Okay, thanks. I'll start with that then. Thank you!

Oh no, OP! Get the tape measure out and see if it tells a different story.

I'm reading more of this thread... Trying the bra on back to front to test the size?

A D in an 28 band is different to a D in a 36 band?

You guys are bloody brilliant! Where did you all get this knowledge?! I feel like I've been doing boobs and bras wrong my whole life!!!

I'm a 36FF and find bras for less than £20. I don't understand why people struggle.

pombear Your old one will be worn out. It'll have stretched with you. So the new one will be tighter.

Pom, don't panic just yet. There are a couple of styles from the same group (Wacoal nowadays) with similar shape and styling. Have a look at Elomi Caitlyn (up to 42K) and Rita (40K), which are both fairly easily available.

Has anyone ever adjusted a bra so that it's tighter in the band?

At the moment 32 is too loose in the band, but the underwires in a 30 are not wide enough for me.

ToBeeOrNot, you can alter the bands - but it's possible you just need a different bra as the wires aren't all the same. What type do you tend to wear?

I have tried all sorts of different styles, even the fitters in Bravissimo admitted defeat. I'm fairly broad but with no padding on my ribs at all. I'm really struggling right now as I have Dermatographic urticaria so if the fit isn't right it's unbearable.

I find the shape of the wires does vary between brands/styles but the distance from the outer edge of the left wire to the outer edge of the right wire doesn't vary all that much.

I've found pretty huge variances - the difference between something like me Ewa Michalak bras (which have narrow wires) and a Freya sports bra (where the wires are literally round my back) is enormous.

Have you looked at bratabase? People post precise measurements of different bras which might help you to identify potentials if you know what wire width works for you.

I need a bra intervention I think!
First measurement 29", second 42" ... What do you ladies reckon? I haven't been measured in years

Interesting site, unfortunately I think it just confirms what I was told.

e.g. a panache tango plunge in a 32f fits great in the cups but is too loose, the 30ff is just a touch narrow but if I use explore by measurements and choose wider I don't get any other options.

Fascinating thread (I must get out more....)
M and S standard bras used to fit me OK , but had to buy new non- wired bras 18 m ago, due to ' thickened breast tissue' (had it investigated as it bloody hurt. Also had 3 cysts aspirated, but will always be a bit tender). M and S do v few non- wired so was properly measured in a well know department store and bought one Triumph Fantasie bra (salesperson told me they did only b and w . Not true, bought nude and purple (cheaper) online). They have never been that comfortable and I suspect one at least has shrunk. . I always thought Bravissimo was for quite large ladies and I'm not that well endowed But will get myself there when I have lost the remaining pounds to get to a healthy BMI . Thank you ladies.

nslw try 28J/JJ and 30HH/J. What size are you wearing and what fit issues do you have?

Wow. Ashamed to admit I'm wearing 34DD... My bras at the moment dig in and just do nothing for me. An intervention is long overdue. Is there a shop you'd recommend I go to to get a)properly measured in case I'm doing it wrong... And b) some new bloody bras apparently!!