To think my fried eggs can't be a 30D

[surelynot30D]

When the great creator was giving out breasts I was stood at the back of the line. I have always had what looks like an A cup (apart from a stint of breastfeeding when I had actual bosoms for a while). They have grown a bit now I am in my early 40s, maybe due to some hormonal changes but nobody in their right mind would call them anything but small. At a push they could be what I would consider a B. I have tended to go for the widest band sizing (up to a 36) with the smallest cup because I find it hard to tolerate the feeling of a tight band around my ribs and can't bear the feel of a wire.
Anyway, being aware that as a petite size 8 I am most likely not truly a 36A I just measured (and remeasured) myself following the accepted instructions online and I have come out as.... a 30D.
AIBU to think WTAF?! Does such a bra even exist and would it not be some kind of freakish looking thing. And how could my small handfuls be anything close to a D?
I know I should go and see one of the nice ladies in marks and spencer and get measured but I've never felt entirely deserving of even being in the bra section if you know what I mean.

I went from a 36B that I often wore extenders on because it felt so tight, to a 32FF.
It has done wonders for my shape!

Boob or Bust are fab

Avoid M&S, their fitting is dreadful and they have a limited range of sizing. Debenhams and Bravissimo have been great for me.

Op when I was 8st and a size 8 I was a 28dd or a 30d and my boobs were tiny, not even a handful. I used to wear push up bras to get the tiniest bit of cleavage going.

Page 3 has really skewed people's perceptions of bra sizes, most women are probably a smaller back and bigger cup than they think

I'm a size 8 and wear a 28F (or 28E depending on the brand). My boobs look tiny when I don't wear a bra.

With regards to the band, 80% of support should come from that so it should feel quite firm when it's new. The bigger cup size will mean all your breast tissue is enclosed in the cup and not being pushed into the band which is why a bigger band but with a smaller cup can feel tight.

Primark now does 30d and e so you can try it out cheaply. I switched from 34a and b to 30 and 28 d, DD and e last year. If only I had years ago!

Im 30f, mostly size ten in tops because of the boobs, there's more than a handful and really I wish they were smaller. I'm short and weigh just under 8 stone.
I buy all my bras from pour moi and never pay more than about 18 quid for a bra. They do free returns, just order a load in one or two sizes.
The highstreet is crap for small bands, even the massive underwear section in the Debenhams in my city only had 2 styles in my size.
Bravissimo were good but out of my budget.

I’m an 18-20 in clothes and I’m a 36. It’s all about the cup size then, honest. Check out boob or bust online. Also Bravissimo. Please avoid M&S like the plague. They size up in the back and down in the cup. They still add 4 to their band measurements as was the need when bras weren’t stretchy. So if you’re a 36 according to M&S, you’ll be more like a 30-32 in reality but with a larger cup.

A well fitting bra is revolutionary.

M&S are awful. I'm a similar size to you OP and I struggled to find any nice bras in a 30 band.

Go to John Lewis or Debenhams. Or even a rummage in the lingerie section at TK Maxx!

When I have tried on smaller bands I feel like they are killing me and they tend to have the cups really close together in the middle

OP you could be a bit like me and have boobs that are set quite wide apart on your ribcage. I find Fantasie is a good brand for me, though some styles work better than others. Bras with the straps coming quite far out to the edge of the shoulder (such as a balconette) with three part cups or two part cups with vertical seams work best. (That probably sounds like a different language right now but you will learn!)

Bras with the cups too close together are extremely painful for me , digging into the area between my boobs where there isn't really much flesh on the ribcage. And I KNOW I'm wearing the right band size.

My BFF actually takes the same bra size as me (30E) but her boobs are quite 'central' on her chest. Mine are wandering off in the direction of my armpit. What works for her is agony for me and vice versa, even though we are definitely both wearing the correct size.

Now, I have only read page 1, but, this blows my mind also! I'm a size 10/12 with what you can only describe as a small bust; I was measured at m&s as a 32 dd... wtaf also!!! When this happened a year ago and I told my mum she also expressed an opinion close to 'wtaf?!?!' But not in such colourful words... (come on mum, be kind!). I always wore a 34 a before that. How many women amongst us have vastly unsupported boobs?!

Ah yes, WhatWouldChristineCagneyDo, i have to wear a plunge (definitely not a full cup) for that reason.

This is making me wonder.. OP - I'm also a size 8-10 with very small boobs and currently wear 36a/b. I've also tried to go down a band size but it's so uncomfortable! I thought i must just be a physical anomaly. I've put it down to broad shoulders despite a fairly petite frame, and ribs that seem. have permanently expanded post dc. Maybe I'll try again..

pastaparadise If you are broad shouldered there's a fair chance you have wide set boobs too.

By the MN method i would be 28 and a bigger cup ....but this way of measurong surely means that noone would be an A or B cup??

I'd say that's probably right. Even a very slim, very flat chested woman is likely to have more than an inch of breast tissue, which is what you'd have if you truly measure an A cup. Even men probably have more than an inch of difference between the narrowest and widest part of their chest.

Terrible bra sizing is probably due to shops like M&S trying to force everyone into a small range of sizes to minimise manufacturing costs. If a shop sells bras in sizes 32 to 34, B to D cups, that's 16 different sizes. A brand like Fantasie would, at the very least, sell maybe 28 to 40 bands and D to HH cup sizes. Which is 63 different sizes. It's not hard to see why M&S are so keen to shoehorn people into ill fitting bras.

I'm size 8, 8.5 stone and have what I consider small boobs.

A couple of years ago I used the bra guru method and it came out 30D. II bought a couple of M & S t-shirt bras to try and they fit like a glove.

My tween dd seems quite busty to me (in trad A cup but probably now d) and was measured in m and s as 30c. If the new method is right she would prob be about 26 f.....where on earth would i get that??

Dd had to get a sister size bra - she measured as 28E but ended up in a 30DD as it's harder to get hold of 28 back bras. (If you go up a back size you go down a cup size and vice versa)

So 26F - 28E - 30DD

Dd is 30 dd. She can only buy them in a specialty lingerie shop. Instead she buys 32 d which fit ok andcanbe bought in asda for £6

I should be a 32D by the new method of measuring but I always feel really constricted so wear a 34C.

Try on loads as style makes a big difference too

I once got measured in Mothercare when I was 38 weeks pregnant and the woman told me I was a 36 D which was absolute bullshit. I bought the bras in the size she had said and they didn’t fit whatsoever, I was more like a 36 FF at the time.

I don’t understand bra fitting and never went to get them sized again. Now I just wear a size that feels big and comfortable because bras suck.

Another ‘no to M&S’ bras’ person. I think Bravissimo are great and you can buy online with excellent returns service.

I measure 32 under but wear a 34 for day to day. I have a 32 for smart but it’s not all day comfortable.
Knowing to go up a cup for each band down means you can try options and find what you are comfy with.
If you measure 30D then do try 32C also. And different cup shapes.

Best way to try the band is with the bra backwards so the cups at the back. Then when the band size is right backwards try a couple of cup sizes till it fits the right way round.

You may have to try many different styles on, you may well have to tweak the size slightly (so up a band, down a cup or vice versa) but there will be a bra out there for you. Whatever you do don’t give up after the first bra. Full cups, balcony, plunge all fit differently and that’s before you even try different brands who use different materials and so some have more or less stretch than others. If you can get a non-stretchy tape measure around you at 30 inches then you will absolutely get a stretchy bra band round you, but cup size and style will alter how it feels when you wear it. Look on boob or bust and follow their advice for fitting once measured- they recommend a “backwards band test” that will give you a good idea of whether that band is the right one and then there’s the technique to get all your breast tissue (yes even that bit under your arms counts!!) into the cups rather than filling the band. Honestly it’s life changing, but don’t expect it to be perfect with the first bra you try on!

I used to be a 36a and now I am a 32dd.

You get used to the tight band quite quickly, I found.

My tiny boobs look much better now.