To want to shout about my new bras from the rooftops?!

[RedPandaMama]

THANK YOU to whoever it was who told me about the boob or bust method on here a few months ago. For YEARS I've been wearing a 38G as I was told that's what I was in M&S. I knew it wasn't right, my back isn't 38 inches and if I bent over I'd get the hideous double boob

Measured myself using boob or bust and came out as a 32J or 34JJ. Went for 34JJ and ordered a load of Curvy Kate and Flirtelle bras in the brastop sale. They arrived about an hour ago and I've just been prancing around with the mum tum flying in all directions in my new bras. I feel AMAZING. They're comfortable, they manage to lift up my (huge) boobs and not make them look saggy, they look GOOD.

So it turns out I'm two back sizes and FIVE cup sizes (GG, H, I, J, JJ) bigger than I was previously wearing! No wonder I always had bloody back pain.

Just wanted to shout about it for all the women in the back who haven't tried it yet, or still trust in the outdated method M&S and a few other places use.

I AM SO HAPPY

30H 👀👀

Will see when I go shopping.

I did this and have done intermittently over the years. I end up going to Bravissimo or ordering from BraStop and spending a fortune on bras each time expecting some transformative effect only to find them excruciatingly uncomfortable a few weeks later and end up going back to M&S for some more 34Cs.

This image is handy for realising that cup size is different depending on band.

These are all D cups with different bands.
The size difference is obvious to see when laid out together.

be warned guys, that just because its your size, it wont mean that you will def fit into that exact size, because a lot of bra manufacturers are shit.
My BOB size is 30ff/30G and I wear that size in freya and panache and often debenhams bras, but i find debenhams really random with their sizing, and i cant find a marks and spencers bra to be comfortable EVER. In curvy kate I prefer a 32f.

You really do have to try them on, but id hate for people to write off the whole method after trying on a couple of weird fitting bras

I did this a while back. M&S said I was a 38 something, BoB at 34G. Ordered one Molke bra for comfort plus a couple of others from eBay (new!) for a good price and they look waaaaay better.

Interesting! Been wearing a 38DD for years and this says 34HH! Will i even be able to fasten it? Off to M and S this afternoon for a trying on session!

How can the suggested band size be smaller than the “so tight the tape measure will snap” measurement?

Is band size Not actually the same as the Measurement?

I don’t believe for one second I’m a 32” band though.

Also, how is the BoB measurement so different from the Bra Intervention one? They can’t both be right.

Soup - I wear a 32 band at a size 14/16

It's all definitely a starting point! I measure (technically) about a 32HH/J but because of my shape/boobs I'm more of a 32JJ/K
M&S put me in a 40H....

I wear a 34 and it’s snug. I don’t believe 32 is right at all (although I understand it’s a starting point only!)

bra intervention gives me 34 F (which is what I wear) and BoB gives 32H. I guess they are both the same lover bust” measurement? I don’t think I’m going to find many 32H on the highstreet to test this out on but I might look this afternoon.

Ah these threads bring some so much joy! Everyone IRL thinks I’m mad for always going on about bra sizes, but it can be lifechanging getting in the right size. We have such a warped idea of what big is and how bras are meant to fit. Not helped by so many shops starting at 32s so we think that’s small.

SoupDragon that’s why there are multiple measurements on the calculator not just two. They all add together to get the right size when we’re different shapes as well as sizes. Plus bras need a little wearing in, like shoes do, they will be a bit tight to start and then ok in a couple of days. Why do you think you can’t be a 32?

The size of the cup makes a huge difference to whether the band will fit.

The debenhams lady tried to convince me a bra fitted when there were rolls of fat sticking out everywhere. I then tried loads and ended up with a 34G. I've always had 36dd or 38D before.

I tried this measuring method last year and discovered that I had been wearing the wrong sized bras for the last 45 years!

Thanks for the visualisation Queen that certainly helps get my head around the sizes!

Finding a well fitting bra is a fab experience, isn't it. I think it helps you to stand taller, feel slimmer and your clothes to look better.

I've put some weight on over the last year so, after looking at the boob or bust website, I think I will get my hubby to measure me later on, just to check if I am in the right size. Thanks for the tip, MNers.

The bra intervention method doesn't work for me either. I find the band uncomfortably tight and can't wait to rip it off.

Why do you think you can’t be a 32?

Because my brand new 34s fit really snugly!

I’m happy to try a 32H if I can find one to try on this afternoon. Mostly out of curiosity. I’m just surprised the 32 suggested is tighter than the 32.5” “tighter than tight” measurement.

But 34s with too small a cup WILL be too small, that’s the point. A bigger cup gives more space to the band. I’m a 32E, a 34C would be too small in the band for me. It seems illogical until we understand how bra sizing actually works.

I used the Bra Guru, changed my life thebetterbracampaign.blogspot.co.uk/p/fitting-advice.html

I've always suspected that M&S give you bad sizes by the +4 method as it suits them to tell you a size they have a good range of stock in - they told me I was a 36D when they didn't do DD+ ranges. I wore two bras for ages as a teen .

Always makes me rage a bit when anyone describes a 'hot girl' figure as 36D, when the girl is teeny tiny!

Big shout out to Simply Be - outrageously cheap, and pretty patterns, often up to an L cup!

Yeh M&S don’t stock for the sizes people are. I think the +4 method harks back to a time when brasiers had no elastic, so a different fit was needed. These days there’s really no need for it.