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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To object to paying £40 for a new bra?

397 replies

PomBearWithAnOFRS · 12/02/2015 03:09

Just cos I have Norks! (with a capital N Grin )
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 Confused
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 Confused
£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!

OP posts:
Original poster
PomBearWithAnOFRS · 18/02/2015 01:42

Evans do larger back sizes in C cups iirc Nodding - they don't do ginormous cups and I have often been in there and lamented that all their pretty bras won't fit me, but they would you Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
PomBearWithAnOFRS · 18/02/2015 01:43

And I found my tape and my underboob is 44inches (I think, will check it again to be sure) but I haven't done the dangly one yet - am waiting until I can lock myself in the bathroom so DH doesn't piss himself laughing at my contortions...

OP posts:
Original poster
PomBearWithAnOFRS · 18/02/2015 04:08

So, I bent over and measured round the dangle as best as I could, and it was about 64 inches ShockBlush - my tape is 63 inches long and there was about an inch left... um, help?

OP posts:
marriednotdead · 18/02/2015 06:19

Pom, have a think- is there any possibility that you've gained a couple of pounds somewhere that your existing bras have stretched to accommodate? The 38JJ Belle that you usually wear is generous in the band so I'd say it's more of a 40, perhaps a tad more with the wires out. Your 'dangle' measurement would give you an approx cup of M which is also a fair bit more than Belle has room for. It wouldn't take much of a combined increase in cup and band to make the whole thing no longer viable in a brand new one.
Anyway, we need to look for solutions that don't involve R&P's bespoke service @£350!
I'd suggest this one for starters, in perhaps the 44N. They skip some of the usual cup sizes so the N equates to a K. A colleague wears it and has found it pretty comfy. We WILL find you a bra Smile

StatisticallyChallenged · 18/02/2015 07:20

Nodding, what is the band like on your 38 if you try it back to front? It's not uncommon for people who have larger band measurements to need a smaller band than they measure which is why I wanted to check. If the band is ok back to front it would also be worth trying a 38d and 38dd too

Feminine · 18/02/2015 09:02

Am l correct in thinking that if l measure 31 under, l shouldn't be wearing a 34 at all?
Maximum 32? Thanks so much. :)

StatisticallyChallenged · 18/02/2015 09:32

In general yes, unless you are super slender with a very bony rib cage!

Noddingdog · 18/02/2015 10:09

On my existing 38b's they've stretched so the band is ok comfort wise but still plenty of overspill at the back and sides. I've just put on a new one I bought but never wore in a 38b and it feels tight and back and underarm fat spills out. I also can never seem to keep the straps up on bras - what would solve that?

StatisticallyChallenged · 18/02/2015 11:20

What's the new one like back to front? Trying to work out if you just need more cup or if it's band too

Noddingdog · 18/02/2015 16:18

It's very tight on the band and digs in Statistics

StatisticallyChallenged · 18/02/2015 16:24

Right, I would try going up to a 40 band. However, it sounds like you might need more than a c cup. That's two up from what you are wearing just now but it sounds like the overspill is quite significant? If so I would suggest also trying a 40d and dd

Noddingdog · 18/02/2015 16:43

I'm heading off to bra shop in the morning - I'll give that a try. Thanks for the advice.

marriednotdead · 18/02/2015 21:44

Noddingdog, see if you can find some full cup styles rather than balconettes- the straps come up from the centre of the top of the cup rather than the outside edge so you've got a better chance of them staying in place.

Original poster
PomBearWithAnOFRS · 19/02/2015 00:57

It would be very easy for me to have put on some weight, I am very overweight anyway, but I can't have put on that much because all my clothes still fit.
My current bras are very old and tatty so could well have stretched a lot more than I thought - hence needing a new one Grin
Will have a look at that link, and thank you for helping.
My pfb is getting married this summer and for once I will have to look posh and luffly and well dressed, and not like something the cat kneaded into shape to nap on... and I have bought a dress to wear, so I do need a new bra desperately...

OP posts:
EponasWildDaughter · 19/02/2015 08:28

Can you do me please? 35 and 50.

I used to work as a bra fitter! But I've lost track of what i need and need to be told :( I am in 36/38 Gs (freya arabella mostly, i like a plunge bra) and they fit ok, bit of overspill. but i'm pretty sure i'm getting too used to the comfy big band. I recon i'm going to come up way over an H with the BI method, but have tried Hs in the past and they seem too big in the cup Confused

Just out of interest: We used to use the ''add 2 or 3 inches to the underbust in anything under a 36. Then count up in cups per inch.'' method. However this was a little independent bra shop and sold loads of different makes. Loads of different shapes within each make. So would measure by eye and then spend up to an hour per customer getting it perfect for them. Arm-fulls of bras sometimes Grin The makes and shapes would vary WILDLY in the same size. It was lovely seeing a newly converted customer in the end, with a waist and rib cage they never knew they had. Especially the larger sizes :)

StatisticallyChallenged · 19/02/2015 11:29

Your measurements would suggest a 34d or thereabouts, but measuring cups does get less accurate at larger sizes. If you're getting overspill in 38g I would expect that you would need at least an hh in a 34 though.

Personally, I find most folk don't need to add inches at all. Those with really slender torsos sometimes need plus two or three, but on the flip side those who are softer often need to go down. it does vary with brand though, Freya tend to the loose end of the band spectrum ime

StatisticallyChallenged · 19/02/2015 12:13

34d should be 34k. ..

marriednotdead · 19/02/2015 14:05

Eponas, it would be wise to do a Bravissimo trip with that kind of size as Freya don't tend to cope very well at that end of the spectrum.
Their own brand plunge Satine goes up to a J and the wires are wide enough to be comfortable on the average Freya customer. The Arabella balconette (GG-J) is such a different fit to the D-G version, it's like a whole other style!

OneDayWhenIGrowUp · 19/02/2015 14:25

Another happy re-self-interventioner here! Received my eye-watering (in terms of £) brastop order yesterday - 7 bras, 4 styles from different makes each in 32FF and 32G (one as out of stock in 32G though. Am currently wearing 32Fs which are too small, I re-measured up to a 32G/GG but just couldn't quite believe it!

Well- Lepel 32G works fine, but the others (Freya, Curvy Kate and Fantasie) I'm really not convinced on the 32 band any more. The 32Gs are okay in the cup, the 32FFs are definitely not right though so I'm sending them back and trying 30GGs instead.

Does Lepel generally come up smaller in the back than Freya and Curvy Kate?

Really am quite Shock to be a G/GG cup! Just a really average curvy size 12, I am quite booby I guess but not ridiculously so. Just goes to show I guess. I desperately want to intervention my friends and co-workers now!

OneDayWhenIGrowUp · 19/02/2015 14:27

I should point out that the main reason that my order was so expensive is that I insist on having 2 matching pairs of pants for each bra- massive indulgence of mine. I won't even order a bra to try if they don't have the right size matching pants in stock. I realise this is a ridiculous luxury.

Smarterthantheaveragebeaver · 19/02/2015 14:31

Thanks Sorrell 36H is the one for me. So pleased now they're not facing south any more Grin

marriednotdead · 19/02/2015 14:37

Oneday, yes! Curvy Kate and Freya definitely bigger, especially in GG upwards with Freya (and Fantasie) once they switch to 3 hooks and inch wide straps. Lepel are firm of band and loose of cup IME. And there's nothing wrong with having matching pants Grin

Feminine · 19/02/2015 15:07

Okay, one more quick question (if anyone knows)
Should l wear my bra on the tightest link?
I always have done?
Thank you... :)

OneDayWhenIGrowUp · 19/02/2015 15:23

Feminine as the band stretches with wear, I think you're supposed to fit a new bra on the loosest link, so you can then move to using the middle and then tightest links as the bra stretches/ages

StatisticallyChallenged · 19/02/2015 15:25

Buy to fit on the loosest as above-unless pregnant then buy to fit on tightest