To think that the fashion industry discrimates against big boobed women?

[JellyDiamond]

I'm a 34 HH and it's almost impossible for me to find a decent, pretty and most importantly affordable bras on the high street. Most shops now go up to an E cup, but if your cup size is any bigger than that your stuffed. Debenhams do occasionally stock the bigger cup sizes but you have to riffle through the rails to find one of the larger sizes, and then they are always expensive and dowdy looking.

There is Bravissimo, but they don't have one in my town and when I'm able to get to one that does have a branch as lovely as they are, they are extortianetly expensive.

I know this is not just me, I've spoken to so many women in a similar predicament. None of us are overweight, which actually makes things even more difficult as there seems to be this idea that if you have big boobs your fat. Hence they don't seem to cater for the smaller back sizes. It seems to be a real problem that so many women can't get decen bras these days without breaking the bank.

AIBU to think we are being discrimated against?

[CalmYourselfTubbs]

i wear an AAA bra to attempt to give me some shape.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

I'm a 30HH/J, and I have to admit to having a huge collection of really nice bras. But, I don't even attempt to shop in store in anywhere except Bravissimo or my local debenhams ( which has a big DD+ section). I largely buy online.

There are in reality a lot more women who should be wearing these sizes than actually are, because of the dodgy measuring methods many shops like M&S use. I got them to fit me as an experiment and they put me in a 36F. Funnily enough they don't do a 30HH...someone else tried a different store, 30G/GG stuck in a 36/38D. And big boobs doesn't mean overweight either - I admit I am overweight just now but my bust size doesn't fluctuate all that much and even at a healthy weight I'm something like a 28H/HH

[Sallystyle]

At my fattest I was a 36 A. I still wear a 36 A and I'm a size 10.

I need to measure myself properly and I keep meaning to pick up a measurer.

I am very petite but quite broad backed for the rest of me. I rarely wear bras because they are uncomfortable so I need to measure myself properly and get the MN bra experts to help me.

[dontrunwithscissors]

I'm a 30G. I use bravissimo, but they're pricey and Esp if you want matching undies.

Next have just started doing some bras in larger sizes. I've got to collect them still so can't comment on quality yet. They were £18 (I think) so much cheaper than Bravissimo.

[dontrunwithscissors]

I'll add I'm a size 12 and always have been. I'm more or less the same size as I was pre-DCs, except my back measurement is smaller.

[SuffolkNWhat]

I'm a 32L, I find it near impossible to find under wired bras in my size, I still have to wear my nursing bras at times

[RaisingSteam]

TBH I expect the decisions in the industry are made by men and they haven't a clue. Due to reading Page 3, they think anything over a D cup is huge as in "Cheeky J shows off her 32E boobs". So women with average size would much rather buy a 36B bra rather than feel like everyone is staring at them and their abnormally huge boobs.

[WallyBantersJunkBox]

Actually most of the decisions in the retail industry are made by women, like me.

[mysteryfairy]

I just check bra stop from time to time - filter by my size and brands that fits me best (Freya and fauve) - and buy whatever lurid last seasons offerings, if any in at the time, are cheapest, with my mental ceiling around £15. Check the reviews to make sure they don't say bra has a bizarre fit. Once I'd established my size through intervention this has served me fine for years without ever spending a lot.

[Anniesaunt]

Well it does make me look bigger. Maybe not the aim but what happens.

I am completely the wrong shape to wear clothes like normal people. I'm too short, my waist is a whole dress size smaller than my hips my boobs are too big. It's very embarrassing.

[Peshwari]

dontrunwithscissors i'd be interested to know how you get on with the Next ones, I tried on a 32e in the shop and judging by that i think a 30f should fit. They look really comfy too.

[wonkylegs]

I spent years in the wrong sized bras so easily found them in M&S etc
Now I know I'm a 28G, finding a nice bra is a rarity. It's more the small back size rather than the cup size that I find very difficult.
Bravissimo wasn't my saviour despite my friend swearing it was as I found most of the styles they had me try on were either too high under the arm or pinched in the centre. I did far better in my local independent or in Debenhams (our local one seems to have a good range)

[WorktoLive]

I am a 32F and a size 12, 5'7". I am a medium sized woman with medium sized boobs. I know plenty of women with much larger breasts than me. The available bras in cheaper shops is ridiculous.

I looked in Asda today and they had nothing under a back size 34. They sell clothes from size 8, but apparently if you are a 12 or below they aren't interested in selling you a bra.

[EmeraldKitten]

No I don't and I think yabu to throw the word discrimination around about such a trite matter.

Try being an A cup - have a look at various ranges, there are a huge amount that start only from a B cup.

Not 'many' women are at either end of the spectrum and manufacturers just work on a supply and demand basis.

[MamaLazarou]

It's not discrimination, no, but you're right that high street shops don't stock bras in bigger sizes. Primark assume women with F+ cups are all massive: their band sizes for the F cups start at a 38 or so.

If I had AAA boobs I would chuck all my bras away and run around in a little strappy camisole- ah, the freedom!

[MewlingQuim]

Agree with andthen it's not just bras that are a problem. I have spent some time today sewing some tops I bought so that they don't show my boobs. At a size 8/10 most tops seem to expect much more out front than I have (I am 32D). Smaller sizes are much too small across the back.

The fashion industry is shite. Just who do they actually make clothes to fit? I don't know a single woman who is happy with the cut of clothes, regardless of her size.

[dementedpixie]

An AAA cup means there is no difference at all in the measurement under the bust compared to around the fullest part of the bust which is highly unlikely. Anyone who thinks they are an AAA, AA or A cup are likely to be wearing the wrong size

[HelenaDove]

Im a 34HH OP and ive lost ten stone. I would have been big up top anyway as a lot of my family on the Italian side are (apart from my mum) I was a 46G when i was 21 stone. So i tend to lose more off my back Shoulders are small too which causes more of a problem when it comes to support.

A shop assistant at Yours once told me that the reason the (male) chief exec owner of Yours only has the company sell bras in bigger back sizes and smaller cup sizes is because he simply doesnt believe womens breasts can be that big.

[WorktoLive]

Every time there are threads on here where people post their measurements, about 80% are D cup and above and a good proportion of us are 26 to 32 back sizes. It is total bollocks that there is no demand for these sizes. If they aren't there we can't buy them.

[AgentCooper]

It is a bit shit. I'm not skinny but it's a total pain when tops and dresses strain across the bust but fit on the shoulders and waist, or fit on the bust and are loose as fuck everywhere else. I'm a 34FF and I can't get dresses from H&M or Warehouse for this reason. I have to get an XL in Mango (which I know is small made anyway). I bought a beautiful top from ASOS Africa and my boobs almost burst the bloody seams. I gave it to my sister, gutted.

[HelenaDove]

Ive dropped a bit more i think because my 34s are feeling less supportive around the back now. And they have not been machine washed only hand washed.

[elizadolittlechoc]

Teen DDs 30gg (would prefer 28 but can't get)and 32ee. Bravissimo is useful. Back to original post, its not just bras-it's difficult to find nicely fitting tops which have enough cloth at the front, without looking like Babs Windsor!

[MrsMummyPig]

I haven't had chance to read the whole thread yet so don't know if anyone has mentioned it but I have the reverse problem with clothes. I am plus size but i have a small chest. Most of the plus size clothing is cut with a presumption that everyone plus size has huge boobs. I can very rarely find a top with a v neck that sits right and darts are always in the wrong place. Dresses that fit perfectly everywhere else are always baggy and strangely shaped around the front as I just don't fill them out

[Anniesaunt]

People keep mentioning bra size intervention. How do you do it? I fancy checking my size.

[stripytees]

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