To be really irritated when someone insists that the Bra Guru method of measuring is wrong?

[cunchofbunts]

On another forum a lady is insisting on adding inches to her band measurement and advises others to do so.

She measures 33 and wears a 36. Says that a 32 or 34 cuts into her but this this must be because she's wearing too small a cup if she's adding inches to her band measurement.

Head desk.

Lapsed what do you measure under your boobs and around your boobs? For reference a lot of size 16 women wear a 34 or around there so while it varies k wouldn't guess you'd be s 40 unless you have a wide rib cage!

Statistically My attempt to be supportive to you and the other bra interventionists ended up with me being called patronising and you being called tossers. Which wasn't my aim at all...

Anyway, I personally find your posts incredibly helpful, and have now found my perfect size and brand. Thanks!

I found some nice half cup, unpadded, styles in cotton from figleaves, but at pushing 60 quid a pop (and would probably have to order lots to try on, even if were to then return), I think I will have to stick with what I have got now, as I am comfortable enough.. Multipacks from m&s and saisbos are more my budget. But to be fair, I spend nothing on bras, really, as Itend to use them as long as they stay in shape(ish), so 10 years at most (if no change in bra size).

Toys try eBay you can often find the last few sizes really cheap

Thanks, although then there's the problem that you can't return stuff? I suppose can always sell on..

Toys depends who you buy it from but yeah selling on is a good plan

That's ok NoParking, you can come sit with us in Tosser's Corner

Lapsed - measure yourself as described on the blog linked near the top of the thread and check. If your underbust measures somewhere between 38 and 40 you've probably got someone who uses the more modern approach to fitting (although there are tonnes of lovely bras in those sizes anyway so you certainly shouldn't be stuck with ugly bras). If you are more like 34 then you've got a +4er...run away!

You can't just gather up fat from other areas and pretend it's boob!

I can understand people being confused when some retailers are so bad at fitting women for bras (yes, you, M&S).

I nearly walked out a store (independent, not Marks) a few weeks ago because the woman steadfastly refused to give me my actual size and insisted she knew best. Tried to give me a 34 back... at a size 10 (and 5' so fairly petite with it).

When I finally shooed her away I walked up with a lovely, perfectly fitted 30G. If there was another Emperiente stockist locally I would've just left!

Incidentally M&S tried to put me in a 36D many years ago and at the time I was a size 6-8! I haven't been back.

To each there own but while I agree it's an art not a science, 'too big in the back / too small in the cup' is something I see so often. My own mother wore her bras that way for years and would only wear soft cup / cotton because she thought underwires were uncomfortable. This changed once she was in the correct size.

Noddy no ones gathering fat and pretending google migrating breast tissue

Migrating breast tissue is not scientifically recognised at all. Merely that if you squish it all forward and into boob bra cups it's likely to stay there eventually (like shoulders with dents from bra straps and tight wedding rings). No evidence at all to suggest it should be either in or out of a bra cup, just that it's possible to squish it in either direction.

I get why you would want to use it to bulk out bra cups though, and smooth the lines of tight clothing. To claim it is necessary is a step too far...

And it doesn't make it right or wrong, either. It's just one way of doing it, to lean forward and scoop. It's just mildly amusing that some people are so evangelical about it.

Noddy, that is one of my thoughts too.. Probably nicer to think (and look like) you have an F cup than flabby sides and a B cup.. Doesn't make scooping wrong, though, if it makes someone more comfy, but calling it all breast tissue is a but off IMO, as tgere is no evidence that it is such a thing.

Madwoman if you've been wearing the wrong sized bra for years with wires pushing your breast tissue outwards it will move. That's how waist training works. I don't see how you can disagree with that

No one is "bulking out cups" as I said earlier if I could be a bigger back and smaller cup it would be great, much easier for me!

thecurveshaveit.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/my-experience-with-migrated-tissue.html?m=1

Shows with pics the difference between migrated tissue and far

Fat

I don't disagree that squishing flesh into different places makes you different shapes, no.
And it isn't the 'wrong' size bra - it's just a different shaped one. If you scoop your fat forwards, ta da, breast tissue. There is no such thing as migrated breast tissue - it's just fat that you can scoop forwards and train to fill bra cups.
There's nothing wrong with that. Really. But it only makes it breast tissue because of where you scoop it and train it to be. And that's fine.
It depends what you wear a bra for - if it is to achieve a more culturally desired shape/ define breasts, all good. If it is to support and prevent backache, it probably doesn't matter. (That isn't to say that ill fitting bras can't cause or exacerbate back or shoulder issues, just that a bit of underarm flab is neither here nor there except for aesthetics).

madwomanbackintheattic I'm with you. In the new 'guru' way, I think many people are going to be unable to wear smooth clothes over the top of their bras because the band will fit so tightly as to make a deep crevice, especially around the back, on anyway with normal + body fat. Anyone with v. low body ft will just not be able to breathe, at all.

I posted a pic further up of me at a size 16 and wearing a 32 band. Tiny bit of bulge but nothing noticeable under clothes

Took me a min to find! Back view of tight dress

Too lazy to read all the thread, but I am VV grateful for the MN bra gurus

I still only have one perfect bra, though. It's a 36FF - my "marks & spencers" size is 38D. I'm a size 18 up top, with a HUGE ribcage. 36FF is what Mumsnet advised.

Unfortunately, none of the other 20 bras I ordered online fitted as well as this one. I ended up with a 34G and a 36E from the same line as the perfect bra and a couple of 36Es from M&S, which pinch round the back but are a bit big in the cup (I do a lot of scooping!)

I think in my case, it's something to do with the position of the cups. When my tits actually pointed anywhere, they used to point outwards at 45°. I probably need wide-spaced ones, but bra descriptions never mention that!

Had my first proper fit about 5 years ago in the now sadly closed down Bramora in Dublin, who used similar methods to Bravissimo. I was wearing a 34DD/E and was put into a 32F or 30FF depending on style. My underbust is 29.5", I favour a relatively tight band, and after some fluctuation up and down over the last few years I have settled back to a 30FF. I live in Panache and Cleo bras, particularly the Envy/Jasmine lines.

+4 methods tend to put me back towards a 34DD. Quadboob everywhere and it will ride up like crazy.

Decaff I measure 33 around the ribs and wear a 32 bra, and in some styles a 30.

They don't dig into my flesh at all or leave unsightly bulges under T shirts or anything like that. And they're not restrictively tight. They're very stretchy

After posting photos of me in the bra I was fitted with in M&S yesterday, I searched through boxes to find an old pre-children bra. The one from M&S is a 32C and obviously doesn't fit well. The old one is a 30D and fits much better (though does feel very tight around the underbust band but I think that's largely because it's one with removable straps so had like rubbery stuff that sticks to the skin). I might post pics of me wearing that later to see what you all think.

DecaffCoffeeAndRollupsPlease IME it's quite the opposite. I have dents, creases and back fat with a 36DD (as fitted by M&S) but a totally smooth outline in my proper size of 30GG/H. It's the same for friends and relatives that I've helped with bra fitting.