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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

419 replies

cunchofbunts · 20/06/2015 21:55

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
SorrelForbes · 21/06/2015 08:12

It's quite usual for someone with a very slim or bony frame to need to size up a little in the band. Those of us who are squidgier of torso can find it better with a tighter band.

If you have a band that's the right size and you've scooped but still have flesh hanging out, then the cup are too small.

Not all styles and brands are the same either. You can just follow the bra guru method and say "oh I'm a 30F but the bra really hurt or didn't fit so I'm going back to my 38B". You have to try lots of similar sizes, brands and shapes. I pretty much only wear Cleo and Ewa Michalak as they're the only ones that work for my shape.

If you've been fitted in Bravissimo and it doesn't fit properly, taken it back. They will always exchange or refund it if they did the fitting.

RachelWatts · 21/06/2015 08:13

M&S measured me as a 36D. Bravissimo put me in a 32FF, but I do need to do a bit of 'scooping' to get all my breast tissue out of my armpits and into the cups.

I was told that I was between back sizes and could either go up or down, depending on how I liked the fit. The fitter mentioned that people without much cushioning over their rib cage tended to be more comfortable going up a back size.

SorrelForbes · 21/06/2015 08:14

30" unstretched? The bigger the band the more it will stretch although 30" to 38" seems very stretchy. My 30" bands are usually about 25" unstretched.

MrsNextDoor · 21/06/2015 08:17

Can anyone advise me please? I seem to be a 36 B but the cups ride up....the straps fit...but the cups literally slide over my boobs. What does that mean?

SuffolkNWhat · 21/06/2015 08:19

I've done the intervention (which I completely agree with) unfortunately it has me at a 32M which just doesn't exist (UK sizing not US)!

lavendersun · 21/06/2015 08:20

Under 30" unstretched, here is a new one I bought yesterday.

BraGuru would have had me in a 32 F or something along those lines - I would have been dead in a Triumph 32 band.

So I think yes YABU OP. It is a bit like prescribing that all size 8 people should wear a size 8 in any brand or type of clothing.

If it works for your size in your chosen bra great.

To be really irritated when someone insists that the Bra Guru method of measuring is wrong?
treaclesoda · 21/06/2015 08:27

Weirdly, I measure 33 round the back and can't fit in a Triumph bra because they are all far too loose in the band, not too tight.

lavendersun · 21/06/2015 08:29

As I said treacle, not remotely an exact science and definitely no need for people to get their knickers in a twist or become evangelical about it.

CrohnicallyAspie · 21/06/2015 08:30

There's something I really don't understand about the bra sizing. Where did adding inches come from? If a size 36 was designed to fit someone with a measurement of 32, why was it called a 36 in the first place? If a size 36 was designed to fit a 36 measurement, then why did people who measure 32 start wearing them?

DrHarleenFrancesQuinzel · 21/06/2015 08:30

Why is nobody answering how to measure this bra guru method? Ive seen it asked a couple of times and no-one has answered yet. Id like to know please.

All one person got was a dig about being lucky and not to call people vain Hmm if you are lucky enough to have small boobs, you can choose to wear a bra with little or no support . Those of us with big boobs don't have that luxury, please don't scoff at us and call us vain bit harsh.

eurochick · 21/06/2015 08:31

By the bra guru method I'm 32D. It is bloody uncomfortable! I can't wait to rip it off. I've worn a 34C or 36B for years and they are great - supportive and comfortable. I don't think a size is "wrong" if it does the job and is comfortable do I will stick with what I prefer.

lavendersun · 21/06/2015 08:31

It is about three posts down in the thread DrHarleen

sleepywombat · 21/06/2015 08:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BoffinMum · 21/06/2015 08:37

I am bloody sick of bras. 90% of them feel awful even if you spend a lot and go to a specialist shop for fitting.

If someone could invent a 3D scanner we could walk into so we could have bras manufactured to measure, life would be a lot easier all round.

One reason to get more of our daughters to go into STEM subjects.

lavendersun · 21/06/2015 08:39

Comfortable is what you need Sleepy, I don't get all this scooping and very tight band business.

What about a day's movement and gravity?

Anyway, fortunately for me I have found something that works, is comfortable and that I am happy with - Triumph Amourette wired.

treaclesoda · 21/06/2015 08:40

DrHarleen the measuring method is linked to at the start of the thread. Smile

But I can't agree that the poster you're referring to got a harsh response - she had compared wearing a well fitting bra with vanity sizing which was quite an unpleasant comment.

DarylDixonsDarlin · 21/06/2015 08:56

Another one here with large ribcage and a broad back, I measure 32 inches underbust and I am perfectly comfortable in my m&s 36dd (well I was until I lost almost a stone in this last month, and now I could do with going down a cup size or maybe two tbh, but my underbust measurement has not changed at all)

Those who are suggesting a smaller underband size is fine as long as you have the right cup size - are you telling us that a 32G is bigger on the band than a 32C? Otherwise I cant get my head around how it can be roomier. I can accept the bit about flesh being puled up into the cups, but some of us just don't have the flesh there to hoik Confused

I've never scoffed at anyone who uses whatever method to get a bra which fits them, if it fits them and they're happy I don't give a fig how they got there. Agree that all bras need to be tried on for fit!

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 08:58

Lavender it's meant to be 30" stretched! If it's 30" unstretched how is it going to offer any support? It'll be like a hair bobble that's got no elastic...

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 09:00

Daryl the band isn't bigger, but if the cup is too small, the boob gets squashed. This squashed boob pushes out and against the band, making it feel tighter.

lavendersun · 21/06/2015 09:03

Well, it suits me and my chest measurement Lashes. Sorry, but I don't want a very very very tight band.

All bras a different. Even a stretched out Amourette, pulled tight on my ironing board, a few months old, measures barely 33 on the smallest hole. My under bust measures 32 from memory and I wouldn't want to wear it as tightly as I can pull.

I don't buy into this 'method' at all I am afraid. There isn't an EU directive, Bras are not prescribed sizes like tyres. Fabrics have different stretch properties, the list of variables is endless.

DarylDixonsDarlin · 21/06/2015 09:05

And my bras are only m and s cos its 10 mins walk from where I live...if I lived next to Tesco, id probably wear Tesco ones instead! I don't get fitted by m&s though, cos I don't want someone who is neither a medical professional nor my family, anywhere near my half naked body Smile

treaclesoda · 21/06/2015 09:06

Daryl the band won't necessarily look bigger if you lay it out flat but there will definitely be more room overall in a 32G than a 32C because of the 3D nature of the measurement, iykwim - the band size is meaningless on its own and the cup size is meaningless on its own, it is only the combination of both of them that gives a size. It is hard to explain but I think if people thought of bras more in terms of volume than inches it would all become clearer.

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 09:07

You're supposed to wear it on the loosest hook

It's also not "very tight". I wear a 30 when I'm not pregnant, and it fits really well. My underbust is 29" and my 30s stretch to 32" normally. It's not tight.

There isn't necessarily a directive, and some of it is personal preference, but a 38" band on a 32" underbust isn't the "right size". Wear it if you want, nothing stops a size 12 wearing a size 18 because they like baggy clothes, but it doesn't mean it fits

lavendersun · 21/06/2015 09:13

Thanks Lashes, but I consider that it does fit, thanks, all of them. My 38" band measures 29" unstretched, 32" stretched. I ignore the label and look at the numbers.

I am very very happy with a band that stretches to the width of my under bust measurement Smile.

Clearly bra 'intervention' is not for me.

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 09:17

Lavender the only explaination I have for that is either your bra is using a weird sizing method (although even by adding inches it should only be 36 so no idea) or you aren't stretching it fully.

If you pick up a 38 by another brand, try stretching it to compare! It will stretch to over 42"

Yes but s normal 32 band will stretch to the width of your underbust. That's the point. So even if your current bra uses a weird sizing system if you change brands you'll have a problem