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.

It is annoying how difficult it is to get cotton bras catkind. I have some which are cotton lined in the cups (ewa michalak), but none which are cotton all over I don't think. I think DKNY do some cotton ones (don't know your size so might not be any good) and Debenhams have a range called "spirit" which seem to be semi cotton. Triumph I think do some too although their sizing seems to be very odd judging by posts upthread

And incidentally Bravissimo fitted me in the most uncomfortable bra I've ever worn - but the same style gets rave reviews online. It's an art not a science.

Really, the most annoying thing about buying bras is not the size of the band or the cup - it's that when you finally find the right one, that fits all bits in, doesn't ride up your back and can deal with the odd pounds fluctuation in weight: it gets discontinued!

OhEmGeee are you the roller derby player?

Not that I'm aware of.

I read somewhere that the funny sizing came from the fact that the ideal hourglass figure should measure 36-24-36, so they took this measurement for a bra size. But of course, as this was measured over bust and not under, and the materials used were without stretch, you would have to deduct inches for it to fit.

Umm, I don't have a quad boob at all. I mean NO spillage at all. It is all compact flesh and sits fairly high and pert on my chest. Look good to me and everyone else who have cared to comment. I measured 33, I think. I wear a 36C. Sits perfectly on my very bony ribs, without being too tight or loose. It doesn't ride anywhere at all, stays where I put it. I think the fact that I don't really NEED need a bra, IYSWIM, helps with not needing a strangulating band. I really do not notice I wear a bra most of the time, which I consider to be the goal. Now my thighs, there you would find lots to scoop..

I can't tell you the joy I felt when I found out I am a 32D/ DD, not a 34B.

I have boobs! My bras fit!!

It all depends doesn't it. I measure about 35/36 under bust but wear a 32/34. But then I need the support as I'm in a K cup. Despite being firm, they're still bloody heavy!

Never worked for me. I went to Bravissimo at Christmas and they did the usual "your boobs are bigger and your back smaller than you think" schtick and then put me in a 34F bra that cut into my back and hardly let me breathe, and had puckered material on the top of the cups where my boobs were plainly failing to fill it up. If that's a correctly fitting bra I'll stick with my "badly fitting" but comfy 38D, thanks.

Yes, mine are smallish and weigh nothing at all, really, but don't think me too lucky - I have tree trunks for legs and am very hairy to compensate..

Toys

A tighter band is uncomfortable at first, but it stretches really quickly (one or two wearings, IMO). But to have the right cup size, and shape makes all the difference.

Sorry, my last post was to toomuchtooold

My sister just got measured today 36c in (using the bra intervention way she's a 32d) and was told by the lady measuring her that "it's ok to have done room in the band"
sje refuses to believe she's a d cup as she's tiny but is quite happy to believe she's s size 10 and a 36 band!!

I find it so hard to understand why women get so worked up about bra sizing. Wear what works for you. Other people can look after their own boobs.

I kept thinking this didn't work for me at all, but I am most definitely a 65B (30B) now. It's just that at smaller sizes, miniscule differences between brands really matter. I have found a couple of brands which work for me and I meticulously try on now, I won't use internet shopping for bras. I went bikini shopping the other day with a friend who looked goggle eyed at me and said "But I'm a 36B, are you REALLY 30B?" I'm certain she's not a 36 anything. But she looked hugely sceptical when I suggested getting a tape measure out, so I left it.

I have also noticed that bra shops tend to display the cup size more prominently than the band measurement, as though that is the important part, when it is not. The problem is that bands are so stretchy, 30 is really the smallest I can actually do up, but anything up to a 34 fits without feeling loose on my body. So I can see why I thought I was a 34 in the past (I have a 34B which I bought after having DS - it's miles too big). It's in part learning how to measure, but also learning what a properly fitted bra actually feels like. Really the 30s are a smidgen too small, even on the loosest hook if I breathe really deeply, I can feel the material reach its full stretch point and stop, but they are much better than 32s for support.

Traditional bra measuring put me in minus cup sizes until I had DC. It didn't make any sense. Now even if I do the swap thing - try a 70 (32)A instead of a 30B for example, my breast tissue doesn't fit the bra properly. It gapes or it has massive empty bits. I'm still too small for Bravissimo, and it took me a year or 18 months of knowing the theory to getting how to apply it properly, but it does properly work.

StatisticallyChallenged, Marriednotdead and I (and others) spend a lot of time on here trying to help other posters. I don't think we deserve to be called tossers.

Theycallmemellowjello, because ifpeople keep wearing the wrong size shops will keep making a very limited number instead of expanding it

Agreed sorrelforbes. There is no excuse for that frankly.

tossers ?

bloody hell, no one has your arm up your (wrongly measured) back, ragged

Bra intervention took me from a M&S 40DD to a 36H. The difference is amazing:

The middle bit of the bra actually sits on my ribcage for the first time ever.

I can buy bras with side support that don't rub my inner arms because my "underarm" boob is now in the right place - in my bra cup.

I don't have the 4 boob look.

My shoulders don't get sore with the weight of the straps as the band is now doing most of the supporting as it should.

Now I am wearing the right size I have found cheaper bras are better, I now have 8 well fitting £20 bras in lovely bright colours, rather than 2 ill fitting £50 bras in nude.

I am just sad it took me until I was 46 to get a correctly fitted bra!!

StatisticallyChallenged, Marriednotdead and SorrelForbes (and others) are not tossers, they gave advice, its still up to you to decide to try on different brands/styles to see if the thing fits you are not!!!! I had over 20 bra's delivered/returned to figleaves in lots of sizes before I choose the brands/styles that fitted me best, some in 36H were an awful fit, others perfect.

Weallhavewings, glad you got some well fitting bras :) I'm baffled by people saying "I tried one 32E And it didn't fit so my 34C MUST be right"

For anyone who's at a loss, more confused than ever after this thread, and thinks they're probably not large enough for Bravissimo or rich enough for Rigby and Peller, I've always found John Lewis very good.

Any advice for someone whose boobs are different sizes?
One cup will be too tight, the other too loose.
What does the bra guru suggest for this?