To be so emotionally invested in other women’s bras?

[BuffaloCauliflower]

Just that really. (This is lighthearted before I get any ‘haven’t you got any bigger problems’ comments)

I’m just about constantly worried about whether other women are wearing the right size bra. None of them seem to be. In a group I’m in on FB a women was getting annoyed by suggestions she wasn’t a 38D. There was a picture of her whole body, she was a size 8/10 and her boobs were quite clearly bigger than than mine (32FF/G). She just wouldn’t have it despite everyone being quite kind and just wanting to help.

My size 8/10 SIL insists she’s been measured and she’s a 36C. I can see from looking at her that it’s clearly wrong. I asked her how she can be a 36 at size 8/10 and I’m a 32 at 12/14 but she won’t accept she needs to measure differently. Every time bras are mentioned anywhere I feel compelled to leap in with a booborbust link like some crazed bra pixie.

The ridiculous old school add 4 inches or whatever they’re still doing in M&S and Debenhams needs to stop, it’s doing women no favours. How many women must be uncomfortable and bra hating because they’re nowhere near the right size? I feel like there needs to be some mass PR campaign to teach women and the shops that only stock 32A to 44DD how sizes actually work.

OOH !
Just had a read , will try that out later . Thanks @BuffaloCauliflower

I stopped breastfeeding around 5 months ago. I dug out all my old bras and sadly they just don’t fit right anymore even though all of the rest of my old clothes are fine and my weight is back to normal. I wear a size 10 clothes and wear size 32d bra. Would love to get properly measured again but never get around to it. Definitely have some cup spillage at the moment...

@NoAngel1 definitely try the boob or bust link on the previous page, and try and get to a Bravissimo if you can. A correctly fitting bra makes all the difference.

@CharlyAngelic - sane advice to you!

You should get a job in R&P op, they measure on sight!

@BuffaloCauliflower it's an affliction! I was a bra fitter when I was younger and normally can't even read these threads cos I feel I need to give advice that's mostly rejected. I feel exactly the same as you.
We were always taught to measure by eye, the only general rule we used was dress size to back size 10-30, 12-32 14-34, although this was a very loose rule no one of a size 10 should be in a 36/38 sized bra.

I suspect i won't be able to even read the replies cos it irrationally irritates me. Why can't I just cope with the fact that people have different opinions? I'm not like this for anything else!

The bra should fit on the middle one when you first try it on.

No, it should fit on the loosest hook, so you can tighten it when it stretches.

@babysharkah I’d probably just become more insufferable!

@colaCOLAcola I’d say even that rule is pretty outdated tbh. My aunt is a size 16 and wears a 32GG which definitely fits right.

@BuffaloCauliflower the women at Selfridges lingerie department have your superpower! I took off my bra, they had a look at my boobs & announced 34DD. I hadn’t told them I’d been wearing 36C for years. But, I will agree, that a good fit is often uncomfortably tight to start with. But my tits look great all hoiked up & cleavagey.

I discovered Cosabella lace bralettes & Sloggi stretchy bralettes & I live in those. Under wire is a thing of the devil!

And yes, it should in most cases fit on the biggest one when you first try it. The smaller hooks are for as the elastic goes from washing.

Keell I am in your position and have been for some time . Lingerie purchases are sadly a dim and distant memory. Horrible isn't it?

@DustyMcDustbuster ha ha, it’s not quite a superpower but maybe one day! I’m on the hunt for a good soft one at the moment so I’ll have a look at those.

It's quite amazing though how you can think a bra fits fine, if you don't know any different. When I was younger, I used to wear 36DDs, as this is was the closest I could get to a fitting bra. I thought it was normal and inevitable that boobs tended to escape and back was climbing up.

I'm not any smaller, but after proper fitting, I'm actually a 30FF. Even a 32 back is uncomfortably loose and 34 would just flap arounddoing nothing. I can't even imagine how I could walk around in a 36.

@KatharinaRosalie and yet it’s just so common. Anything DD or above is considered huge when it’s actually quite normal.

Oh yes, all the big-boobed glamour models are always size 8 and '34D'. As if.

Exactly!

@BuffaloCauliflower this Sloggi one is great. It has removable pads - not like normal pads as they have an extra bit which helps push boobs up & together. They give great cleavage - unlike other soft bras. And so comfy. www.johnlewis.com/sloggi-zero-feel-bralette/p3431858

I think Bravissimo was the worst place I ever bought bras. They measured me and then sold me things that never fit right.

M&S were the best. I had great fitting bras thanks to their measurements but unfortunately not follow them because at 38 F they had almost nothing in my size.

Then I lost weight and had to get measured again. This time I tried Boux Avenue and Victoria’s Secret Pink. I think they got it right, but I haven’t found the perfect bra from either.

I think bras are generally difficult.

I always hand wash bras.

I had my boobs intervened with by the lovely lady at Fenwicks a few years ago and now have an array of properly fitting bras..... which I only sometimes wear. More often than not, especially when writing at home or under a sweater and coat I don't bother. I'm not tiny or especially perkily boobed, but I also don't really mind going out braless. In fact, it feels nicer.

OP- If I answered the door to you on a working from home day, braless and wearing nothing but my thermal base layers, I fear I could damage you irreparably!

Ladies. Try on in a shop then get online and order the same bra on amazon or eBay. Bargains to be had.

I was added to a Facebook group called fairyboobmother by a friend, she gives the same fit advice as Boob or bust. She explains about different bra shapes needing different sizes though so I found it quite useful. She has a good blog too.

I used to wear a 34b, now I wear a 30e/32dd and it's a million times better.

To a pp who found 32e bras in primark, thank you! This could be a total game changer

@BoogleMcGroogle ha ha! I’m sure you couldn’t I generally don’t wear a bra at home either, though I’m on the hunt for a nice soft bra at the moment that would be comfortable for lounging.

the only general rule we used was dress size to back size 10-30, 12-32 14-34

I don't see how this rule can work at all, as it's my hips that determine my dress size not my upper body! (I'm very 'pear' shaped).

I measured myself recently using that bra intervention method and apparently I'm a 28F

I haven't been able to find such a thing.