Strapless bra help please!

[FrantasticO]

Need a slightly padded strapless bra. small of boob unfortunately
Probably nude in colour.
Mines is giving odd bumps under clothes.
Not too expensive please cheaper the better!

Measurements are 31 inch around the ribs / chest (tight tape)
36 inch doing the bend(not so tight as a bit wobbly)
Wearing a 36b just now which is comfy.

Ok

First up is sizing I'm afraid. There is no way you should be wearing a 36b - your measurements indicate you are more like a 30DD/E or 32D/DD

Second, strapless - for most people the best bet is the Wonderbra Ultimate strapless, which IME runs a bit small in the back so start by trying the 32D/DD in it.

Others to try would be the Freya Deco strapless, and there is a panache (I think the porcelain but wouldn't swear to it) which is supposedly quite good too

Thanks statically will have a look at wonderbra.

Should be good for extra oomph as there isn't that much in the boob dept!

The D I'm laughing at as I have various 36b and 38as which are a bit flappy so a d I could probably wear as a hat! Have lost a fair bit of wt though so maybe should have addressed the bra issue sooner

Will definitely give it a try

Thanks again off to google wonderbras.

I don't see how a 31 rib can be a 30 bra? I am 26/27 rib and wear a 30. a 31rib should be a 36.

No it shouldn't HellyMelly. A lot of retailers are still using an old system where you add 4 or 5" to the measurements. It's wrong and results in bad bras and even health problems for some women such as mack and neck issues. Some shops (Bravissimo, Rigby and Peller, Leia, some john Lewis branches) are doing it right but many (M&S.......) aren't.

take a look here

Also an E cup is hardly small of nork.Again, I am a 30 F and certainly busty. I was a 30E pre babies and it isn't small breasted. I think you may need a 34 if the 36 is too loose, but a B or C cup.

Don't add 4 or 5 to your measurement. Your "raw measurement" is (roughly) your true measurement.

OP, all D cups are not the same. the cup volume in a 36D is significantly larger than on a 30 or a 32. In fact, a 36d has approximately the same volume as a 32D

blog.butterflycollection.ca/2012/05/bra-school-not-all-d-cups-are-same-size.html useful illustration!

Have had a look online thanks.
Any recommendations for a budget strapless bra?

Anyone used any the cheaper ones that haven't "dented" at the boob?

Might invest in more expensive ones for everyday use but need a strapless one for a dress.

can you tell how rubbish at style and beauty I am

Or what about the stick on things?

Do they stay on or are they a disaster waiting to happen to me

helly I'm a 30F. No one who knows thinks I look that big.

I suspect the sticky cups might not do you much good tbh. I've not heard good things. What sort of budget are you thinking and I will see what I can find - bargain bra hunting is becoming a skill

Just for info (in general not just for op!) this project has some pictures of women wearing (generally) correct bra sizes. It's quite useful for dispelling the D+ is huge myth which the media portrays.

For example, I don't think you would look at this lady and go "whoa, big boobs" but she is an e cup - just a 30 back with it

See what you mean about pics...very interesting!

Will get trying on next week at shops.

Was hoping for something about £15-£20 budget wise.

Thanks for the reply, you certainly know a lot about bras

Well I'm not Chesty Morgan, but I look quite a bit more bosomy than the 30E person in the picture. I am between a 30F and a 30FF though. But anyway the alleged back size change thing makes no sense to me, if I should now buy a bra the same as my rib size I would need a 26 bra, but actually I find 28s too gripping, they don't feel terribly comfortable, I have two, but prefer my 30s. Also I am quite old (49) so I spent years ,literally, badgering retailers and manufacturers to make smaller backed bras in the larger cup sizes as when I first needed a bra you could not buy even a 32 above a b cup. Anyway, times changed, and eventually I could buy a bra without having to cut and re-sew the band. If the system has really changed, and a 31 back is now the right fit for a 30 bra, then I would be back in bra limbo, as a 28 would be the equivalent of the old 32 or 34, the smallest size 30 years ago, leaving me yet again with no bras available in my size. My size 30s of 10 or 15 years ago might be slightly smaller in the back than now I suppose, but not 4" smaller.

I think it's actually been wrong for a very long time - the measuring system goes back to pre lycra days I believe!

The "wear what you measure" is only a starting point but seems to be right on average - and it's a much more accurate base than +4 is. Some people (generally larger ladies) need to wear one which is actually quite a bit smaller (we've had -4 and I think -6 here) in order to get enough support as if the band is just sitting on skin it can't do the job, and longer bands stretch more. But conversely, very slender ladies (I'm guessing that measuring 26" you are quite petite) sometimes need a bit bigger than they measure because they don't have much padding and the bands have less give.

Also, on a 30-ish back an F/FF isn't in massive heavy boobs territory so you can probably get away with looser as long as you are sure it's doing the job. I measure 30, but am closer to a J cup and on me, a 32 goes flying up my back and offers no support. The 36 which M&S tried to fit me in was really very funny, it was between my shoulder blades. It just kind of sat on my boobs, they were in the same place in the bra as they were out of it :)

Realistically we do need 26s to be produced - there are a lot of slender woman and quite busty teens who do genuinely need them and who are now doing what you had to do for years re cutting and sewing bands.

I don't think it was a wrong system, just that women tended to go by their bust measurement rather than rib, to buy bras. I collect vintage lingerie, so I am aware of all the sizing going back to the early 20th century. My mother was tiny round the ribs as a young woman, probably not more than 25. She wore a 32 bra, but sometimes had to have them altered. I do wonder if manufacturers are simply doing a vanity sizing thing, by making the bands bigger, or if it is maybe due, as you say, to more "give" in the bands. So although a 30 rib would fit the 34s of the 70s, the extra give in modern bands means they need to buy a smaller size, but they are still actually a 34. Certainly the modern clothing size 10 is much larger than the 10 of even the 90s. A 50s size 12 was a 25/26 waist, a modern size 6/8.

Ooh vintage lingerie (jealous, I'd never find any to fit!)

I did research the origins a bit and just ended up with a sore head and no definite answers

I would guess that "modern" fabrics are the biggest reason though. If I measure my 30 back bras, unstretched they measure about 25/26" on average which I think would probably be pretty similar if you measured a 30 back (good luck finding one) proper vintage bra and that would roughly tally with your 25" mum needing an altered 32 (which was probably taken in to be the equivalent of a 30?).

My 30 backs, when stretched, will normally go to somewhere around 31/32" with a good tug. So for most women, the old +4/5 thing doesn't work in the modern bras. I think sellers of vintage/repro bras like What Katy Did still advocate the old method for their bras, and openly say they will fit very differently.

Would be interesting to see how your real vintage items compare to modern ones that front.

I'm the same kind of measurements as you OP and I have a couple of Triumph strapless bras, size 32dd. I didn't pay as much as £20 for either of them, found them on sale

The wonderbra ultimate strapless is on sale from wonderbra.eu at the moment - just £24. It's the only strapless that holds boobs up rather than pushes them down. I just wish they did a 28 back.

I bought a Freya Deco from Debenhams 4 days ago in the sale size 30DD for £9. I think with strapless bras you need a decent brand for the engineering needed to lift them up properly. I have wanted it for ages (2 years!) and am glad I waited to get a proper one as I will always need one for occasional use.

If you do need a 30 back...John Lewis always has masses of them in the sale too.

Will try debenhams this week as there is one local to me!
Thanks for all the very uplifting advice!
now if anyone has this weeks winning lottery numbers, I'll be sorted

Buy a stick on one, I love mine. They were a fiver in Matalan (primark sell them too)

Ooh stick on ones sound easy and as I've not much to support surely should be ok?

Will investigate debenhams first as all my bras are loose