to say that bras affect my mental health?

[Worried3456789]

I wish I was joking! I truly hate them. When I wear one, it's all I can think about and it honestly puts me in a massive strop!!!!

I hate how they give me back fat, I hate the feel of the straps, the clips, everything about them.

I have done everything I can - been accurately measured (NOT M&S) , tried every bra you can imagine and I can't handle it.

I also hate socks and tights and don't wear them either, so feel like it's a sensory processing issue.

I live in crop tops, those seamless ones. But they severely limit what tops I wear as they don't give enough support.

I am wondering if there is any other bras that people can reccomend? Ones without back clips, that are pull on if possible, but offer support.

My boobs are a 36 C

Have you tried Molke?,

Have you tried not wearing a bra?

Where have you been measured? A lot of stores still use the +4 method.

Molke are meant to be very good but I'd make sure you've sized yourself properly using a good calculator like the Boob or Bust one first.

I'm the same. In my 20s and most of my 30s I hardly ever wore one but sadly now at over 40 I have to I take it off as soon as I walk in the door!

I absolutely detest them. Tried all types/styles. If I need to wear a bra, I am a miserable cow until I can take it off again.

I switched mainly to vest tops with built in support and stretchy bralets along with one sports style crop top bra for really active days. I love it and hate days where outfit choices mean I need to wear a proper bra.

I wear a 34DD in regular bras but boobs are pretty high/sticky-out-forwards, so not sure how it would work with other shapes and sizes? One of my favourite bralets was just £5 from Primark (after years of expensive Bravissimo bras that I hated!) so might be worth a punt though?

I totally sympathise with you. I can’t tell you how extreme my feelings have been in relation to wearing even the MOST accurately (Rigby and Peller) measured bra. It’s been very extreme for years. My boobs and back are soooooooo sensitive.

I have found a style of bra that suits me really well (M&S full cup embroidered) which I adapt - sew the cups in together to cancel the ‘east/west’ boob direction effect; take one side panel in 10mm; remove stupid plastic bits. I can manage really well now. Manage being the choice word. Can’t think of the consequence if the design is changed or worse discontinued. (Kneels down and prays to the Saint of M&S lingerie buyers. Considers sacrificing a goat)

Is there an insert you can use inside the crop top, like they have in t-shirt bras?

You do realise they are optional, right?! They weren’t even invented until the 20th century.
I’m autistic and have sensory issues with straps, some fabrics etc and haven’t worn a bra for the last forty years. It’s never been a problem.

Have you tried strapless bra's, or if you're lucky enough, using toupee tape to give yourself a little bit more support? I've never tried the latter, I'm far too top heavy in the breast department, and don't feel safe without an over the shoulder boulder holder, but I did buy a strapless minimising bra for my wedding day...

I switched to non wired bras because I could NOT stand wearing them anymore. It is better but I find most bras poorly designed to titilate rather than for comfort or support.

I've never worn them...they feel disgusting. I wear elastine vests. Why don't you stop?

36c - I agree. Bras are optional. I’d compromise on tops over wearing a bra any day.

Same here. Hate wearing bras. Try to avoid it as much as possible. I find it ultra irksome that I'm conditioned to think/feel it’s somehow ‘inappropriate’ to go without wearing one (even though I do for the most part). Being small-breasted doesn’t help - the issue seems to be a nipple thing!

PS. If you decide to go down the bralet (bralette?) route I find that, as a 40+ woman of larger breast, the ones with the thick lacy/stretch band underneath are most flattering and comfortable.

This isn’t the one I have but that sort of design.

An added bonus is that my boobs look much smaller and, as a result, I don't end up with that older lady matronly look. I’m not really into fashion, but I have found that looks like short and oversized tops and jumpers now really suit me, whereas they didn’t before.

I haven’t worn a bra in a year (I’m a 34DD) and wear the Sainsbury’s TU seamless croptops for every day wear, and then the Marks and Spencer DD+ lacy bralette with the extra longline lace for when I’m wearing something prettier or sexier. They’re both incredibly comfy and as I always wear a seamless vest on top under everything (especially in winter!) it gives me the support I need. Definitely don’t worry about wearing a bra and focus on getting enough options to cover whatever you need to wear!

Another vote for Molke. Most comfortable bras ever. Never wear a normal bra now.

I'm so ridiculously uncomfortable without a bra that I'm the opposite. I can't bear to be without one, I even wear a bra in bed. Non wired ones are the worst, absolute torture, so uncomfortable I can hardly breathe in them.

But they are not compulsory and if you don't want to wear one, don't wear one.

Not a chance of me going out of the house without a bra. The poached eggs I'm carrying is one thing but the slightest drift makes me display the peanuts which is bloody embarrassing I hate every bra though and take them off as soon as I get home but I need padding and underwire. I don't know how you all do without.

I always wear elastic sports bras now. Will NEVER go back. Changed my life.
Try going a size up so they're loose and won't press in your skin so much.

I wear stretchy sleep bra type bras from Amazon (I'm a chunky 36/38C). They're just crop tops with pads to stop nipple shows basically. I wear a sports bra akin to a straight jacket when I go running.

The type of bra's we're told to wear everyday are actually really bad for your posture and the health of your breast tissue. Hideously so.

36C is a fairly unusual size, despite what the selection in Debenhams tells you, have you measured using this ?

booborbust.com/

Also - Molke! But measuring will help that too!

I've discovered Primark soft sports bras. A halterneck that is no way suitable for exercise (even for my small boobs) but is SO comfy. I even wear them to bed when I have breast pain.

36C is one of the most common sizes I've always been told @BuffaloCauliflower

I never wear underwire anymore I can’t, they are agonising