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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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
keeptothewhiteline · 21/06/2015 16:48

It's all shit.

I have been fitted in Bravissamo, Harvey Nicks, M & S.
The worst was Bravissamo. I am a size 12, tall, slim, with a good D cup.
They fitted me in a 32" G bra. It was so tight I could hardly breath. OK it fitted my boobs, but cut in so tight that it gave me fat overhangs on the back and under my arm. (I weigh 8st 12 and am 5'7" )
I asked if this overhang/spillage was normal and was told in a haughty manner that it was the fault if my body not my bra..
Very uncomfortable .

I prefer to choose me own bras=.

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 16:50

Keep, it takes a while to get used to the right size. Let me guess you're wearing a 36D?

The overhang will be displaced breast tissue from years of wearing a too small cup. Over time of wearing the correct size it will move back

Before you give up on the 32G, I'd advise you to try wearing it gradually. Wear it for a few hours a day and see what you think after a couple of weeks.

goodasitgets · 21/06/2015 16:53

It's not always that it's the wrong size as such. I have been fitted by bravissimo, the size was spot on but bras from the UK generally don't work on me. Hence why I was so glad to find polish brands

keeptothewhiteline · 21/06/2015 16:55

I wear a 34 DD lashes. THe overhang was the tissue cutting into my back and underarm.
I wore the bra for 6 hours a day for 3 days, then gave up because it was tearing a weal under my arm and caused bleeding.

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 16:56

Keep then I'd say the style probably didn't work for you. I'd recommend trying again in a different brand

InMySpareTime · 21/06/2015 17:02

I'm all for people having successful Bra Interventions, and shops being encouraged to stock sizes more representative of their customers' true needs.
I'm around a 26H/28GG depending on style, gluttony level and TOTM. At the moment it's quite difficult to find bras in a 26 back, but I'm not the skinniest lady about, so there should be a market for 26 band bras.
High street sizing often lists size 6 as a waist measurement of 24 or 25 inches. How do they square this with starting bras for the same customer base at a 32 band? Slim women are not so curvy that there's an extra 30% circumference in the few inches from waist to ribcage!

BertieBotts · 21/06/2015 17:03

I have found department stores are great for bras as they tend to have several different brands, and also several fitting rooms rather than having one which is miles away from the actual bra section. So do a first pass where you gather various band sizes and cup sizes relative to your newly measured size. Don't look at colour or style or anything yet, just grab whatever. Go to the fitting room and try them all on backwards. (Cups can be deceiving, or something, I'm not sure how this works, but it does!)

Once you have the band size right, you can try it frontways to check the cups. You'll have to take them off to try them the right way around. You shouldn't be able to scoot the bra around if it fits properly. It shouldn't be moving around on your body, that's how it holds you in place. See what's the smallest you can actually do up, and go for that or one higher, if you're having trouble breathing. You don't want a corset, just a bra! Grin Then try anything you have in this band size on the front to check the cup sizes. Do the scoop and fill thing. Four-boob is too small, any space at all is too big.

You might have to do a second pass to grab more band/cup sizes if none of them are quite right. But hopefully at this point, you have a better idea of what fits and what doesn't. Lastly when you've found the right band and cup size, or range, you can look for different styles and colours in this size. It takes a while, pick a time when you're alone and not in a rush, and it might not happen in the first shop you try - as I said, it took me over a year (but I don't go clothes shopping very often.) Also, if you're a "non standard" size shops might not carry the right size for you, which can be frustrating and make it more difficult to try on different bras. But it is nice when it clicks.

keeptothewhiteline · 21/06/2015 17:03

lash- I disagree- I could see the problems and pointed them out to the fitter- like you she disregarded my concerns.
I tried on 6 or 7 bras- all of them far too small.
She said that comfort was not to be taken into consideration, and I should avoid anything strenuous while wearing a "properly fitted bra".

Sallystyle · 21/06/2015 17:06

Once I have bought a tape measurer I am going to measure my boobs and get you guys to help me.

I have always assumed I'm a 36 AA but bras are so uncomfortable I rarely wear them.

Sallystyle · 21/06/2015 17:10

36 A not AA

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 17:14

Keep that's because your concerns sound like displaced breast tissue. If the 32G fitted in the cup and you're wearing a 34 you should be in a 34FF to get the same volume - the DD won't contain your breast tissue and so it will get pushed to your armpit and back creating "back fat" when really it's breast tissue

keeptothewhiteline · 21/06/2015 17:20

My breast tissue- although large is discreet and isolated.
I don't seen how supposed ill contained breast tissue gives overhang above my shoulder blade.

It is not my 34 DD that is the issue it is the "expertly fitted" 32G that gave the overspill.
The 32 G cup was partly empty.

howabout · 21/06/2015 17:23

I am bemused by people who have the same bra size throughout the month.
Also they hardly ever fit me in the distance from chest to shoulder and at my age they are all uncomfy especially if underwired and not 100% cotton.

YABVU to be so dictatorial about this given my issues Sad

madwomanbackintheattic · 21/06/2015 17:24

Ah, I love a good bra thread. It doesn't matter if you can't breathe, dahlinks - and all of that fat overhang is just misplaced breast tissue! You need to train your body! Just a couple of hours a day! Lots of scooping! More scooping!

Tighter, tighter! The smaller the band and the bigger the cup is much better!

It's like Chinese foot binding in these here parts sometimes. Grin

Seriously, I love you all, but you are totally bonkers.

BertieBotts · 21/06/2015 17:28

U2 - wow! I'm looking forward to hearing what size you end up with Grin

BertieBotts · 21/06/2015 17:34

Thinking about it, I shouldn't have the same bra size throughout the month at all. Hmm. I had this issue with my wedding dress, because it was so last minute. Bought and tried on while on period, when I put it on on my actual wedding day 2 weeks later, it gaped hugely and everyone would have seen my boobs dangling inside when I bent over! I ended up taping them up - I've never found a strapless bra which fits me.

Will have to investigate.

Fitter who said don't do anything strenuous - Confused - she sounds bonkers! What, does she think it's 1873?

CrohnicallyAspie · 21/06/2015 17:36

lashes sorry, I went out and only just saw your reply.

If the adding inches is from the time when the material didn't stretch, why was it labelled that size? If someone that measured 32 had to wear a 36 because it didn't stretch, why was it labelled a 36? It neither stretched to 36 nor measured 36. So why give it that as a label? If it fitted a 32, call it that!

Therefore I think the bra interventionists are slightly wrong. I do think that modern bra materials probably allow for more stretch than originally intended, therefore the old 'add 4 inches' rule is wrong.

however I think it's too 'convenient' that the number on the label, that was used and conceived of long before the new materials came out, supposedly matches your actual measurement. I think it's more likely that it was an arbitrary size or corresponds to European clothes sizes or something like that. I think the real truth is probably add 2 inches to your size, the increased stretch meaning that 4 inches is no longer necessary.

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 17:36

Keep - before you said it fitted in the cup?

Google "migrated breast tissue", it can cause overhang above the band and below. A properly fitted d and dd cup looks like this

Sallystyle · 21/06/2015 17:39

Bertie I shall report back to this thread when I find the answer Grin

Quite tempted to ask my neighbour who doesn't really like me if I can borrow a tape measure to measure my boobs.

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 17:41

Aspie, because the bra measured 36". It just had no stretch at all so obviously wouldn't fit the body of someone who measured 36"

Some people prefer adding 2", particularly if they have very bony ribs. I usually wear a 30 even though I measure 29" because my ribs are bony whereas others would prefer a 28.

However if you add inches to the band before you work out the cups, it messes it up. Example, 34" under 40" over would be a 34E. If the lady prefers a loose band she can wear a 36DD. That has the same volume.

However if you add 2" to the 34 originally making it 36 you get 36D. That's too small in the cup.

Adding no inches is the best method to get a starting size. Obviously you have to go and try them on, and find what works for you, but it's a much better start than the adding inches

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 17:42

Madwoman no ones said the smaller the back the better Hmm. I'd love to be able to wear a bigger back size, it's much easier to find!

ToysRLuv · 21/06/2015 17:46

Erm, I look like that. Nearly took a photo to prove it, but camera ran out of power before I could figure out how to do it so enough, but not too much could be seen. Tbf, I think my bra choices affect the measurement, as I like bras made of soft stretchy cotton like material, underwired, unmoulded and unpadded. I don't undestand how anyone could have all that stiff, scratchy and itchy lace next to their skin all day. I get hives just thinking about it. But then again woth my boob size I don't have to ever think about looking matronly (not that I would care anyway -I wear the biggest stretchy cotton granny pants you will ever see)..

LashesandLipstick · 21/06/2015 17:49

Toys I always wear lacy bras I don't find it irritates. I can't stand moulding/padding - feels like cardboard. But others obviously don't find that. I guess it depends on the person (and boobs)

BabyGanoush · 21/06/2015 17:51

Noddy, me too

HazleNutt · 21/06/2015 17:57

as others have said, I also care because I thought it was normal that bra would not touch the breast bone, normal to pull your bra back down and stuff boobs back into the cups several times per day. And jiggle when I walk. Makes life quite uncomfortable.