To think no one in the world is actually a 34C?

[Twodogsonthecouch]

I have read a million threads here about people being in the wrong bra size. At 60 years old after 4 pregnancies, 4 years of breastfeeding, weight gain, weight loss and menopause I decided I needed to get fitted. I was wearing at 38E (I have big boobs) came out a 34H 🤯🤯🤯. If someone said to me before that I was a H cup I would have cried but guess what, my size 14 dress fits perfectly. It’s apparently ok to have H boobs 😲. I’m officially mind blown. Go get yourself measured

Exactly, if you're a 30 or 32 band it’s unlikely you’ll be under a D/DD

I am a 34C
Size 10
And I definitely could not wear smaller than 34.

I always remember when I was young the ideal measurements being 36 24 36! Not sure why you think no one is a 34c? Your title of the post doesn’t make sense?

Adding to this thread, and possibly derailing. I was a 30HH. Didn't look huge in comparison to larger back sizes...but we're huge on me. I had a reduction last year and am now a 30E, but they are still bigger than I'd like. Any suggestions for a comfortable, supportive bra in 30/32E that scoops them to the front rather than up?

I’m a 30F but you’d never know it to look at me. No one has ever called me busty in my life.

Before measuring I was wearing 34B.

34JJ

A standard size 10 top is around 34" bust - and that means the fullest part, so if what you're saying is correct your boobs measure the same as your ribcage. Either that or you wear super stretchy size 10s!

marksandspencer.com/au/sizeguides/?cid=sizeguidewomens-tops

Anything that has a side sling is good or says side support
something like this
https://www.brastop.com/products/curvy-kate-victory-balcony-bra-latte

Depending on style of bra I am either 32D or 34C. My band size measured with a tape measure is 32 inches exactly. My boobs are at the deflated balloon stage of life but they seem to scoop up OK into either of those cup sizes 😆

I would have thought thats saying that they suggest a woman with a 34" bust wears a size 10 top. It won't be the size of the actual clothes which will have varying amounts of ease making the garment much bigger in some cases. Whereas a bra is obviously worn much tighter.

Edited to add - bras will actually have negative ease, so designed to stretch to 34". So the difference in actual fabric between a size 10 top and a 34" bra will be quite large in reality.

I'm similar to @citybroker1234 and can wear size 10 fitted cotton blouses; I'm a size 6 or 8 at waist and hips. 30 years ago at the same size I was always a 12 on top and either 12 or 10 below so assume this is the usual vanity sizing at work. Bust is 36" with bra on, waist 25", hips 32".

I think you're right that it's not the average, when you go to TK Maxx there's just floods of 34B/Cs so there are obviously too many of them! I thought I was a 34B until I got measured and was a 32C. That was pre DCs. My boobs didn't get any bigger after DC so I now wear bra tops/bralettes as the comfort is more important to me than lift.

Yes, I remember well when DD was considered very busty.
I’m 34 DD, and at 5’8” they don’t look massive. Funny thing is, I lost 18lbs of weight over the last year, and this weight loss has not changed the size of my boobs at all.

I like to think I'm 34C, but actually probably a B (post weight loss and also breast cancer shrinkage)

All these numbers and letters are just a red herring, really. Does it matter if you're a size X but wear bra size Y?

Women are perfectly capable of choosing and buying the underwear that's most comfortable for them, without being misled by a sizing system that was invented more than 100 years ago and been altered umpteen times since, probably by men and marketers working for manufacturers who are trying to sell more product.

Just try a lot of sizes and buy what feels best! Trust your body.

All these numbers and letters are just a red herring, really. Does it matter if you're a size X but wear bra size Y?

I agree. Maybe I have been conditioned into thinking this way from reading too many MN bra threads, but when I see a woman wearing an ill fitting bra my first thought is "go and get yourself measured properly".

I went to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show last year, and when Janet appears in her underwear all of us thought independently "that bra is the wrong size" as it was very clear that the band size was so big that the back had ridden up a long way.

I think the issue arises when women routinely buy a bra in a particular size for years, but their size has changed - pregnancy, menopause, weight loss or gain, medication can all affect size. And also assuming that because a 34C fits in an M&S balcony bra it will also fit in an M&S 'total support' bra or a t-shirt bra from Tu etc. As you say, trying on is the only way to be completely sure.

Me-railing a bit does anyone have recommendations for where to go in north HERTS for a bra fitting? I haven’t been properly sorted out for years and it’s all moved about a fair bit. 16 years ago house of Fraser croydon did a great job. But I don’t live there any more and I bet she doesn’t work there either

Ugh this thread is making me very jealous! I’m a completely flat 32A. Even when I was pregnant I stubbornly stayed an A cup 😭

32D had been wearing 34B for years!

The problem is that the donkeys years of poor measuring by places, and the way bra sizes have been portrayed in the media (stating that models with extremely large enhanced breasts are a 36DD, for example) have distorted what bra sizes mean for many people.

I had a friend absolutely horrified when somewhere fitted her as a D cup because that’s “massive”. She genuinely didn’t realise that cup sizes don’t stay the same. A 32D and a 40D are not remotely similar.

And the fact that so many mainstream stores don’t stock anything over a DD or F (and many skip sizes beyond DD) mean that being told they should try a H seems ridiculously huge, when it’s really not.

Plus if you’ve been wearing the wrong size for years it can actually take a bit of time for a better size to feel comfortable.

Yes plenty of companies do them, the issues come when you get to 28 back or smaller with L cups.

I am a 38B - an actual 38B.
Men’s clothes fit me perfectly!

So if it's A, B, C and so on cup size based on the difference between under boob and around boob, what's the story for the DDs, double Ds? Is that for half inches or what 😊

I've spent years trying to find the correct bra for me. I now use 38DD or E. But my measurements (taken from advice here) would have me 36 F. It's all so confusing. But I'll head out today and buy a cheapo 36F and try it for size in the shape I usually wear and will see what the difference is.

I feel that 36 will dig into me and emphasise the back fat! But I'll give it a try.

I'm no spring chicken either, and the girls have gone south and pancaked a bit by now too. Uh oh.

Nope still a full inch for those