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Can anyone who understands bra fittings come and tell me where I'm going wrong.

260 replies

VivaLeBeaver · 18/06/2011 10:44

Quite a few of my bras are past their best. I've also put on a few pounds and think my boobs have got bigger and with some of my bras was getting a bit of a four boob effect which I presume is caused by a too small cup size.

So I went to m&s yesterday, tried some on was told I now needed a 38d rather than usual 38c. Tried some on, they felt fine and looked ok.

But today I've been moving some furniture nd when I bend down my boobs fall out the top. So does that mean the cup size is too big. I tucked them back in and tightened the shoulder straps a bit but then seemed to get a bit of a four boob effect again.

They are a plunge style type bra and the inner, middle sides of my boobs isn't covered up by the cup. So I don't know if I need a bigger cup size or a smaller one. Can your boobs fall out if the cup size is too small? Or might it just be the plunge style which doesn't suit.

OP posts:
Pussinflatboots · 24/06/2011 20:11

Oh don't worry, someone below is the same size. Figleaves, here I come!

Pussinflatboots · 24/06/2011 20:12

X post! Many thanks, am in 36C thanks to m&s...

fayeso · 24/06/2011 20:31

Hi I too am struggling-have tried on many bras from debenhams and the most comfortable is a 34 e but am fed up with people staring at me when I say i am a 34. I have today received some 32g's and my boobs look better but the band is tight....how tight should it be????

my measurements btw are 32.5 underneath and 39 above......should i stick with a comfortable 34e or will the 32g stretch and fit me perfectly after a few washs??

Pussinflatboots · 24/06/2011 20:45

I'm worried that a 34 won't even do up, never mind being tight! But am v excited about my bra buying mission!

Clarence15 · 24/06/2011 21:00

I think I might be around the same size as popbiscuits above. I used to wear a 34b and after hearing some similar advice about going down a band/up a cup I bought some 32c that seem ok. I do tend to buy uplift/gel-type bras for some booby-enhancement so not sure how this affects things? Again most of the other posters seem to have nice big boobies whereas mine are, well smaller.

Anyway my measurements are 30 under (well 29.5 actually) and 35 over which makes me a 30dd? But even my 32c's are sometimes uncomfortably tight, and I did try a 30 once and couldn't fasten it. I also have the gaping at the top issue which has made me wonder if the 32c is too big?

Should I stick to a 32? If I cant fasten a 30dd the model would say go to a 32d which is one cup size up from what I'm wearing now but wouldn't that make the gaping at the top even bigger?

Any advice wd be very much appreciated

JenniL1977 · 24/06/2011 21:08

Hetty can you help me again (from upthread) I finally found a tape measure and I'm 33 under, 37 over. At the moment, I seem to have had a bit of a spurt this week with the pregnancy boobage. So, I should be trying 32e's?!?! But my boobies are so small?! I look at c cups in shops and think I could fit my head in them! I'm so confused again. You don't live in Yorkshire by any chance to you?! Will you come shopping in Leeds with me?! Grin
Someone upthread as well said I should be trying bravado nursing bras, thank you for the tip :)

TimeForMeIsFree · 24/06/2011 21:28

Hetty please could I have your help too (love this thread!) I measure 33 under and 40 around the fullest. I make that a 32EE Shock Have I seriously got that wrong??

Thank you in advance Smile

PssstOverHere · 24/06/2011 23:46

I found this thread this morning and went bra shopping this afternoon. I'd recently been to M&S to be fitted and had come out with a bra I was convinced didn't fit but when I'd said it didn't seem right the woman just said that after feeding my babies my boobs weren't the same as they used to be and now they are a different shape bras will fit me differently Sad. They fitted me as a 40C, using Hetty's guide I measured myself as a 34D. Its no bloody wonder the 40C wasn't doing much for me!!

Anyway, once I had an idea of what size I should be I went into a department store, picked up a Triumph bra in that size and it fit perfectly.
I look better in it, my boobs are back up where they once were. I look slimmer (which is no small achievement) and its comfortable. It's no overstatement to say I bloody love it.

I don't understand the M&S sizes at all. I looked on their online size guide and it makes no sense. I am 35 around the band, so rounded down to 34 and 38 around the cup, so a 34D-ish. If you look at the M&S size guide here then the measurements nearest to me in the table are either 33.5 & 38 which gives 38D or 35.5 & 38 which gives a 40C. Neither of these are anywhere near the 34D that I bought today.

So, are the M&S bras differently sized to all the other shops? Is there some sort of M&S conspiracy?!

HettyAmaretti · 25/06/2011 08:46

Pssst - Damn good work fitting yourself. Bet you feel fab! M&S bras are fine and normally sized, you just need to keep away from their fitters and sizing chart. They are still applying the old +4 rule on the band.

Lazy c&P from down thread: Well, y' see there is logic in the misinformation. It did used to be necessary to add 4 inches to the band measurement, a 34 band used to measure 30. But, the industry standard was changed years ago to 'simplify' fitting. It would have done if it'd been publicised in any way.

It really was yonks ago that it was changed, but the news just doesn't seem to have spread most many fitters still use the old method as do a lot of calculators and instructions of all sorts.

It's damn stupid.


if you follow the chart and then take 4 from the advised band measurement you get the actual size required. Maybe one of the chief execs has a fetish for badly supported breasts Confused

Time - I make that a 32F, which would indeed be a 32EE in some brands. Most don't do an EE and just go straight to F, it's the same size whatever it's called. You could also be a 32G.

JenniL - try 32D and if the band is too tight 34DD, your ribcage will expand significantly very soon. (you were 32 weeks, right?)

Clarence - your official starting size would be a 30DD, if you can't tolerate a 30 band then try a 32D. TBH I think the gaping is to do with the model of bra, not all models suit all breasts and maybe the sort you like to wear just isn't for you. Are they plunge bras? THose are notoriously difficult to fit, try many sorts or maybe just go with balconette or full cup. Gel / padding doesn't effect the size you need to buy.

fayeso - the band should be tight, that's what provides the support and it's well worth getting used to. I make your starting size 32F but it's entirely possible that a 32G would fit better.

PopBiscuits · 25/06/2011 09:19

Well, I've measured.

I think it's 33 underneath and 37 above.

That just sounds too big for me though.

My boobs are really not that big. Even after feeding 2 kids, nipples are still now pointing directly outwards. Grin

I've measured so that the tape measure skims across both nipples as that is the widest point of my breasts, so to speak. There is not however a great deal of fullness in the area in the middle of the 2 nipples Sad.

To give an idea, I would say that each breast fits nicely into 1 hand with not much left over.

That can't be a C or a D cup surely?

Would love to get this sorted......

HettyAmaretti · 25/06/2011 09:22

Did you measure with a bra on? You do need to. My nipples also point south, such is life! Sad

From the measurements above you'd start with a 32DD or a 34D, which really isn't big. Indeed usually a good handful. Do stick with the smallest band you cna tolerate.

HettyAmaretti · 25/06/2011 09:24

If all the weight is at the bottom of your breasts you may well need a 32E / 34DD

PssstOverHere · 25/06/2011 09:27

Hetty I did feel fab fitting myself and actually understanding the system. I just can't tell you how much I wish someone had told me this about 18 years ago!

Can't tell you how much slimmer I feel simply knowing I'm wearing a 34 instead of a 40!

Cattleprod · 25/06/2011 09:51

Hetty please can you help? Smile

The new measuring system doesn't seem to work with me. My measurements are 27 underneath and 35 over.

With the old system, 27 + 5 = 32, +3 = C cup. And a 32C usually fits fairly well. I have a couple of 30 band bras but they are pretty tight.

With this new system I would be a 26H or I (not sure how the DD fits into the sizing system). I don't think I've ever seen a bra this size, and I'm sure it wouldn't fit me!!

Do the bra manufacturers realise the sizing system has changed?

PopBiscuits · 25/06/2011 09:59

So as the cup sizes go up, is it the width of the underwire that increases, or the amount of fabric that the breast has to fill? Or indeed both?

I think I could do with bigger underwires as my breast tissue goes quite far under my arm and I often find the end of the wire digs in by there.

I do not however have a large amount of breast with which to fill a great deal more fabric out front.

Am I making any sense? Grin

HettyAmaretti · 25/06/2011 10:08

Cattleprod - Your measurements make you a 26G, 26s are very hard to find. Realistically 28 is the smallest you'll find, so, 28F. But if you find a 30 tight then probably best to go with a 30E and size down to a 28F once you're used to the 30.

It's impossible for a 32 band to fit well on a 27 inch back, the band must be riding right up. Proportionally the cup you're wearing is equal to a 28DD, so two cups too small. the chances are the whole bra is totally wrong, just try some differnt sizes, I'm sure you'll be amazed.

Pop - the volume of the cups is the same for a 28F, 30E, 32DD, 34D, 38C, 40B, 42A. Also the same wire. Only the band size varies.

Cattleprod · 25/06/2011 10:12

Thanks Hetty. I've seen the F cups, you can almost fit your head inside them! Sadly my norks are nowhere near those proportions!!

HettyAmaretti · 25/06/2011 10:20

yes, hat sized F cups do exist, as do hat sized C cups - that's down to the bigger band sizes. A 28F cup is exactly the same cup and wire as a 30E, 32DD, 34D, 36C, 38B, 40A. So, the cup is just a wee bit bigger than what you now have. Go on, give it a whirl, I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Clarence15 · 25/06/2011 10:28

Hetty you are the most wonderful lady, I want to tell the entire female population about my findings on this thread! Thank you so much, yes I do tend to have the gaping problem in plunge bras and not in balconette so I will bear that in mind. I'm still getting over the shock of measuring a D/DD when I've spent most of my life thinking I have v small boobs Grin just knowing I am wearing a size D will be enough to give me confidence in my body again.

Something that's just struck me though, if the manufacture of bras has changed like this why are there still very few of the small band sizes around? I had a quick look in next the other day and 32 was the smallest they had. I'm measuring a 30 and I'm not particularly skinny (wear size 10 on top normally) but there must be loads of young size 6/8 girls who must measure much smaller round the band. Do anywhere make 26/28 bands on the high st at all? I'm pretty sure New Look or H&M won't (could be wrong I suppose)

How on earth do we get the message out to ladies? Just reading this thread alone tells me that the vast majority of ladies are wearing the wrong size. Maybe we should get Gok involved? Smile

VeraGood · 25/06/2011 10:31

I go to a local shop. The bea was predictable down a back size up a cup. But god it was corset style tight initially. She INSISTED. It was right. And she was. Is my fave

madammecholet · 25/06/2011 10:43

Hetty please help, I'm confused, and I feel useless. I wear a 38d or 40c but i am all wrong, its always going up my back and I have 4 boobs on occassion... I measure 38 under and 44 on the bust, does that make me a 38F?

HettyAmaretti · 25/06/2011 10:44

Clarance - yes it's madness! But, these tiny girls/women often have small breasts that don't need actual support in the way I a lot of women do. So, not knowing the size is wrong and not suffering from the bad sizing as others may the demand doesn't come into existence. Classic catch 22. 30s are hard enough to find, 28s and 26s are like hens teeth, it's crazy.

Peer at the backs of skinny girls next time your out and about, you'll see almost universal band-over-shoulder-blades-syndrome. I remember being fitted for my first bra as a 34B when I was about 12 or 13 and a bit cubby but not fat (it took ages to convince my mother I needed a bra Hmm). In retrospect I was probably more like 30D or 28DD.

vera - corset tight. Good description! Pleased you got a decent fitter, you might not be so lucky next time so remember the feeling of a new properly fitting bra for next time.

HettyAmaretti · 25/06/2011 10:47

madammecholet - officially that makes you a 38E. But a 38 is blatenly too big for you, I have the same problem the band I measure for is way, way, too big. It just is. Confused. Try a 36F and a 34G, the 34G will probably be best.

madammecholet · 25/06/2011 10:50

I think I love you Hetty.

Cattleprod · 25/06/2011 10:52

So Hetty, is it almost impossible to be a AA or A cup these days? Because surely the rib cage will be larger at nipple level than at where you measure the underband, and also the shoulder blades will be included in the 'cup' measurements, so even if you have virtually no breast tissue there will still be at least a couple of inches difference, making you at least a B cup?

Bet you're loving all these technical questions on a saturday morning!! Grin

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