To want a bra that fits.

[FoofItHigh]

Used the bra guru site. 30 under bust, 36 hanging. That makes me 30E right?

Went to 2 shopping malls and countless shops and not a single bra in that size. 4 hours and very pissed off I gave up and came home.

Where do I get one?

Dowser if you measure 34 you should wear 34. The reason the band felt right is the cup size is too small. Breast tissue is being squished and it makes the band feel tight.

A 38DD would be a 36E to a 34F. Given it was too small I'd say your real size would be at least a 34FF

Go to Bravissimo

God. If I ever get rich (like vomit inducingly, excessively rich) I'm going to do a nation-wide bra intervention. Prime time adverts on the telly and ads in all the big magazines about how to measure yourself.

Why do we have to cope with this crap from places like m and s?!

I followed a poor woman up the high street the other day whose back of her bra was about 10cm higher than the sides (her dress was a little see-through). She must have been so uncomfy

Don't even get me started on shops that sell proper underwired bikinis in clothes sizes rather than bra sizes!! wtf does a size 14 pair of boobs look like?!? It's nonsensical!!!!!

Sparta I KNOW. Or online sites where you can click the size guide and it says 8-10 A/B 12-14C/D. Or those bra sized ones that say "up to BIG CUPS" like its some sort of achievement and even then it's only up to an E or F in 34 band sizes and over

Sp true re the bikinis NotSparta! I once bought a size 22 underwired bikini, took the clips off the end and wore it tied at the back! (I'm a 30 band)...I was desperate!

It's ridiculous isn't it?! I'm a FF cup but my rib cage is a size 8. Should I buy a bikini to fit to my rib cage or the volume of my boobs?!

I actually can't think about it for too long as it makes me (ir)rationally ragey

And, yes! Why do they assume "big" boobs equals large band size? It's just so lazy of them!

It makes me angry too! I'm around a 30H/28HH so I just avoid bikini rage by going to bravissimo as I know no high street shop will bother doing anything that comes close to fitting. I get really annoyed by the big cups only on larger bands thing - plenty of women have small (even average sized!) backs AND large boobs. We aren't mythical creatures.

Thanks you lashes and lipstick. I will go to Bravissimo and hopefully nail it there!

I only want a nice white bra to wear under my wedding dress.

34FF.....makes my eyes water. I'll be poking everyone in the eye.

It will be very interesting though I must admit. I look at myself in a bra or dress and think they look a bit droopy, very droopy without a bra! I hoik the straps up, I have the indentations on my shoulders to prove it.

Yet there's quite a lot of spare material in the dd cup.

Should you always wear under wired. I always do. I might as well shove them in a pair of old socks if I don't wear under wired!

I will keep you updated

I'll start a new thread. Dowser finds the bra of her dreams....I hope!

Dowser

Strap indents are a big issue! What's happening is the weight of your boobs is not being supported by the bra band as its too loose, so the straps have to do the work putting pressure on your shoulders.

i used to have shoulder indents too, I also couldn't keep the straps from falling down.

Under wired is personal preference, personally I always would but I have big boobs that need support and like you I feel if I'm not wearing under wire i might as well not bother!

The extra space could be a shape issue - not all boobs suit all bras. Plunge bras for example make my boobs break for freedom whatever size I wear.

Bravissimo are great! Hope you find your nice bra :)

I was bra intervened 8 months or so ago - this thread made me realise my shoulder indentations are almost gone. And the girls are more in front than squished into my armpits. I haven't found the perfect bra, but they're so much better

YANBU - I used the bra guru measurements and I'm apparently a 30E, too. I'm yet to find a bra in a shop to try on to see if it fits. I am not large of tit, just a normal size 10 woman with slightly very saggy boobs. It's the band size rather than the cup size that's the problem. The only bras with a 30 band size were training bras and only A or B cup. Grr.

Oh that's good to know (/be reminded of) Lashes. I bought several pretty plunge bras online and they just. do. not. work guess I just don't suit them.

If you are bottom heavy (boobs look like a ski-jump side on) then plunges can be very problematic as the outside of the cups tends to be tall (to push everything in and create cleavage). But bottom heavy people don't have much tissue there so they just gape instead. Yet you can be spilling over at the bottom middle. Proper balconette shapes (wide, square necklines which don't have that much fabric on the top half) can be kinder to that breast shape.

backwardpossum, you should find a 30E in big department stores easily enough.

Brastop is good if you are in Europe, OP - delivery is reasonable and customer service is excellent. (I have yet to find my HG bra, but that's cos I am a strange shape.)

Bravissimo is good for the small band sizes, and on the topic of bikinis asos do a dd+ range and go down to a 30 back (maybe even 28, I can't remember...). I find their bands to be quite tight though, so whereas I'm a 28FF in bravissimo I buy a 30E bikini top from asos. They do free delivery and returns so I usually buy a range of sizes and try them all to get the best fit.

I do normally buy bra sized (I'm one of the crazy bra ladies.) I can't quite remember what the story was behind the size 22 top but there was a reason for it. Short timescales and nothing available locally, most likely!

I tend to go up a band in bikinis too. Appearance issues are a bit different in a bikini!

Hmmm... Just looked on asos at lingerie and they have a fuller bust range but you can also just filter by bra size in the whole lingerie section and see what comes up. It doesn't seem to be a massive selection but worth a look maybe.

The fuller bust filter brought up some ranchier looking bras than I'd usually wear but maybe that's a good thing as larger bras are not always that great looking.

Have a look at Ewa Michalak and Comexim - Comexim have some swimwear too I think - but both do nicer looking bras. EM has just increased its size range too so goes up to really quite large cup sizes.

Thanks for all the tips, I'll be doing more online shopping I think.

Yesterday one of the women in the shop got out her tape measure and said 'you look like a B' and handed me a lot of B cups. I told her I was not a B and after she had done some eye rolling said that they didn't have E cups,

Do Bravisimmo do racer backs?

Foot, I'm the same size a you, I do not lie when I say I tried on 50 bras, not one fit and the shop assistants both said that they cannot find one to fit me

I'm trying boux avenue next. All I want is a plain tshirt bra in black, white and nude, without massive back/shoulder straps.

I want the same as you Pigeons. If you find some like that please let me know.

It is tricky as sometimes the DD+ bras are a bit...industrial for people who are a 30E, whose breasts aren't actually especially large or heavy and don't need inch thick straps. Cleo do the Maddie and Neve (balconette and plunge) t shirt styles which aren't too chunky. What was causing the difficulty when te assistants were trying to fit you, do you know?

Foofithigh I think bravissimo do a couple of multi-way bras, and a lot of sports bras are either racer back or convertible. They also used to sell a clip which let you convert normal bra.

The difficulty was that she had her tape measure out and because I don't have massive norks she wanted me to be a B cup so it fit with her tape measure.

I should get little cards with the Bra Guru how to measure printed on them and hand them out to the bra measurers.

Ah sorry I meant pigeon with her issues - tape measure normally indicates clueless tbh

Panache do nice T-shirt bras in black and nude at least.