NEW BRA THREAD HERE!

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hello and welcome!

There is a Freya Deco strapless which I think will come in a 28 - and I think Bravissimo have a few others too

Hi everyone I just saw this and wonder if you can help in the nick of time. I am going bra shopping tomorrow with DD (13) she definitely visibly needs a bigger cup, has been wearing 28A or AA, measures 26 and 29. I cannot see a 26 or 28B or C on any high street store website. She needs plain ones for white school blouses but would like a more grown up look than trainer bras.

Also, I have been wearin nursing bras for years and still breastfeeding 2 yo so I don't mind a looser bra, measure 33 and 42 by the bending over method but a 32G or whatever it is sounds just not right! I am used to wearing a 36B which is so comfy and also have a 34DD which is not. I don't even fill it even after scooping. I am quite fat, plenty on the back and armpits. It makes me wonder if the cup size should be a lot smaller if the size of my back is taken out of the equation.

Please help bragurus!

much as it pains me m snd s do the sizes your daughter needs but don't let them fit her

for you, you need to try a 32g, 32gg, 34g and 34ff. you need to scoop like crazy.

Ok thanks!

We are going to Glasgow if you know of any independent shops in that area that come recommended?

For you - go to Bravissimo in the city centre, it's worth it :)

For your DD - there is a large John Lewis which is probably worth a look. I'm in Edinburgh so don't know of any independents through there but have used the Bravissimo and found it very good.

Thank you Stats I will report back hope at least one of us is successful!

Update on the Chicken norks...

Have got the Bravissimo tango plunge 30G on at the mo & so far, so good. With scooping, the cups are full, the underwire is on my ribcage & although the centre wire does dig in a touch due to centre-boob fat/mono-boob, it isn't uncomfortable. I'll let you know if that changes!! The Deco softcup was pretty useless for shape etc - my boobs just smooshed together in the middle, which is fine if you want a cracking cleavage, but not so good for support. And as I've not long fed DS, I can see how after a while, my boobs would become even more 'smooshed'...

So far, I'm tempted to order the tango in the different colours & leave it at that! It's nice to have my boobs up at chest level, not heading towards my navel.

Went to bravissimo and got a strapless bra in 28ff!!! I went in with a 32 dd bra on . I'm afraid I still have overspill under my arms a but but that's loose skin from getting so big in both my pregnancies . It fits and stays up

That's a bit of a change bish! Keep trying to scoop the overspill in to your bras though - some of it may be loose skin but some may be migrated tissue which can be persuaded back in to the main breasts with some tlc!

Chunky - glad you found something. It is difficult with the almost mono-boob issue and most often it is just a case of try, try, try again to find specific bras which don't irritate.

I will

I am truly thankful I found the Bra threads and experts on here! I am still amazed that I have been wearing the wrong size probably all my life, even before kids. I have gone from a 36B to a 32G or thereabouts .

Of course, now I am evangelising to all and sundry. They are skeptics so will just have to find out for themselves.

My shopping trip yesterday didn't work out as planned. Our car broke down so by the time that was sorted I didn't have time to take DD with me and the shops were heaving. Bravissimo fitting room was queued out the door so I had to leave it. I went to M and S which was just as bad, but eventually got a room to try on a dozen bras. None of them were comfy or fitted, but it did confirm to me my band size was 32 unless a very tight made style. For my DD there were no 26s and only 1 28B in the whole dept, which was a white trainer bra style. i got it and a padded 30 B as well as it was pretty and a bit more grown up. I thought perhaps I could take it in.

After all that I was mightily scunnered, but then I dropped in to Tesco on the way home and checked out their Bras in passing. Flung a 32F in the basket, what the hell, only £6. It is amazing! Fits great and is comfy. It suits my quite wide set boobs without digging in at the armpits or leaving gapes at the top. It is an unpadded white cotton "fuller bust" range bra, not sexy but I'm not after that.

My Bra shopping is not over but at least I have something to wear. My DD discovered to her delight that the 28B was too small in the cup. The 30B fit just right although the band was too loose so she is a 28C or 26D and has not stopped grinning all weekend .

Am I right in thinking that leaner ladies and skinny teens might need to go up a band, or at least the band size is not so important when they don't need the support as much? I am asking for DD and also a friend who is wearing a 36B but measures 30/31 under bust but would not believe she needs a bigger cup because of her " spaniels ears" post babies and serious exercising and not eating.

Sorry for the length of this, just excited and grateful.

Very slim ladies who have little to no "padding" might need a single back size bigger for comfort but this is relatively rare - but certainly not a 30/31 wearing a 36. She would be a 30 or 32

Re your DD - unfortunately no UK retailers sell a 26. They literally don't exist unless you have them custom made. The only options are to get a 28 and either use it with a Rixie Clip (ebay) or actually adjust them (remove the clip, snip a small amount of fabric from either end and reattach is easiest way)

Hopefully your 32F will keep you going - given how big your size change is though do try the slightly bigger cups like the G as sometimes you don't realise a cup is a little small until you try the bigger one (especially when you aren't used to it!) Also, re M&S - they don't make a FF, so their G is equal to everyone elses FF

I used to get the cups right then take in the bands for DD when she was younger- you do what you have to do!

It is a little less important when the bust is smaller (about C/D cup or less)
to have a firm band. Your friend may find her 'spaniels ears' will sit better in a firmer band as that's where the 'lift' comes from. It will also stop her winching the shoulder straps up to achieve said lift.

My philosophy is 'the heavier the boobs, the tighter the band needs to be'.

Should have said sorry - yes married is right in that they don't need to be as tight for smaller boobs - but we aren't talking going up multiple sizes. Quite a few bigger boobed ladies actually wear smaller than they measure because the heavier boobs just drag the back strap!

Wow thanks you all really know your stuff. I have an idea of how to take in DDs bra now so she can get the more grown up ones. I will bear in mind tweaking the sizings as I get used to the new shape and for different bra styles, right now I still get a lot of gape in the bigger cups even after scooping. The F probably feels right because it is a very soft and stretchy fabric.

My poor friend. I am new to this but even I could see her bra was awful and looked so uncomfortable. Cups which wriggled around in the middle of her chest trying to squash what she had together, the wire obviously lying close to the nipple line, and nothing staying in place. She didn't want to believe me though. I am also trying to convert my mum who is about a size 10 ( I am a 16) but now I wear a 32 and she wears a 36AA. She is humouring me but won't get measured. It must be so frustrating for you experts to notice this everywhere you go!

That's kinda how the bra threads took off- those of us who knew better came on and confessed to attacking advising total strangers in fitting rooms, stores, at parties and pretty much anywhere!

I think Sorrel may have coined the phrase 'stage an intervention' which we use now to describe our guerrilla tactics

I may have been in a branch of Mothercare recently and told another customer (who was browsing through their pitiful selection of nursing bras) that she wouldn't find anything there to fit her and to go to a department store

I can't believe shops don't make 26 back. I'm a normal size 8-10 admittedly with a small rib cage but came out a 28 ff the other day and it honestly isn't that tight. What about all these skinny teens ? No wonder we are all wearing the wrong size bras .

It is depressing. If she stays very slender then Ewa Michalak custom make 26 backs but they are not returnable and you can probably get away with alterations/Rixie clips just now because her bust is still smallish. However if she stays a 28 but grows to an F/G etc then it's an option worth considering

Sorry Bisch just realised it wasn't your DD who is the 26 - useful information for someone

My poor dds are a 23" ribcage. At the mo they don't need the support from the band so I'm not overly concerned....but they will some day and I doubt they will get to 28" by then :(

I would have thought 23 / 25 was a fairly normal size for a teen / young adult . I'm nearly 40 and normal size.if I lose a stone my back will be around 26. I'm genuinely surprised thy dont make them smaller. Ben bravissimo said they don't keep many 28's in stock when I was trying them on.

Part of the problem is that most of the people who needs a 24 or 26 are youngish/teens and they don't go to places like Bravissimo (who whilst they wouldn't have the bra just now would see that a demand exists) - in most cases they are going to La Senza or M&S or Boux Avenue or similar - who would loosely measure a 24" so they got 25 or 26, add 4 or 5 and plonk her in a 30. And lo, there is no demand for 24s or 26s.....

Ahh , I see , that makes sense .

Wish you could all see my amazing new breasts. Got a 34FF T-shirt bra two-pack from Debenhams. Looks and feels miles better.

I absolutely adore my panache Jasmine still apparently it's coming out in different colours at Bravissimo
Have intervened 4 Facebook friends and fitted 3 people on another forum by PM
I've also blogged about bra fitting