Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

A well fitting, smart/sexy and preferably push-up bra size 38A... impossible???

941 replies

justkeeponsmiling · 27/06/2013 22:42

I am sooo fed up with trying to find a well fitting bra, preferably nice looking and adding a bit of "volume" in my size...
I'm starting to feel like a freak!
Am i really the only person in the world with really small breasts and a slightly larger ribcage?
Every bra I find is either too tight around my chest or has gaping cups. I need a wired one as any others leave me looking completely flat-chested.
Any suggestions of shops or online retailers would be greatly appreciated!

OP posts:
StatisticallyChallenged · 28/06/2013 00:06

It takes some persistence! I do have some which slides back, but if you keep doing it (I may have the occasional tit shuffle in the loos at work!) then eventually at least some of it migrates back to where it belongs.

HesterShaw · 28/06/2013 00:08

I think actually it is harder to do if you are smaller. There is less for the bra to grip.

Solo · 28/06/2013 00:18

What is the purpose of 'scooping' SC please?

123rd · 28/06/2013 00:19

Ergh...yeap 4 boobs!! In a bra that I thought fitted me quite nicely Sad I also wear all of my bras on the tightest fitting which I now realise is another sign that its not the correct size.

SorrelForbes · 28/06/2013 08:44

Ah another intervention thread. . Go Stats, go Stats ...

StatisticallyChallenged · 28/06/2013 09:12

solo scooping moves all the breast tissue in to the cups and reduces armpit and back fat

ThoraNomiki · 28/06/2013 09:22

I love these threads. Since I was a teenager I was insistent that measuring systems at m&s and such were wrong. They measured me at a 34 aa. I went to La Senza and sized myself a 30c (still adding 4 inches) but felt like a fraud pretending my small boobs were bigger than they were.
After reading these threads I was probably a 26 (non exsistant in adult size) or 28 with a bigger cup size. My boobs would have been the same size to hold and look at but I would have felt much better about my teenage body if I'd known my true size. Not that there's anything wrong with A and B cups anyway - all boobs are lovely!
Also we are bombarded with images of page 3 girls and slender celebs describing themselves as a 36C and you might think "I couldn't possibly need a smaller band/bigger cup than her".

SorrelForbes · 28/06/2013 09:44

Imodium happiness? WTAF? No idea what happened there but rest assured, bra threads do not have a laxative effect on me!

AntoinetteCosway · 28/06/2013 10:00

Shamelessly place marking so I can see the moment when the OP discovers she's a 32D!

MirandaWest · 28/06/2013 10:05

I was wondering about Imodium happiness Grin.

I wish my mum would read these threads (in think she may lurk on on MN sometimes) as she thinks she is a 32AA. She is a size 6 and is not a 32AA. I am a size 8 at the top and am a 30C. She is smaller than I am but believes she has very small breasts. Not AA though....

WeAreSix · 28/06/2013 10:32

Bra intervention threads are the best MN threads. Ever.

Solo · 28/06/2013 10:33

Thank you SC ... sounds really uncomfortable though.

StatisticallyChallenged · 28/06/2013 10:35

its the opposite solo, once everything is where it belongs and the bra fits right it's more comfortable as there is less digging in going on

ZolaBuddleia · 28/06/2013 10:43

I can second the scooping thing, makes you look thinner, there's much less cutting in (and subsequent poking out), and if the cup is big enough you don't get that awful chafing where the top of the underwiring under your armpit is digging in.

I'm also a fan of the Bend Over Tit Jiggle Manouevre to get the bad boys in there to start with.

Bravo!

Solo · 28/06/2013 13:15

Hmmmmm...might give that a go...I do lean over my cups to get them in properly too :)

TravelinColour · 28/06/2013 15:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ZolaBuddleia · 28/06/2013 19:46

When you say 'train' and that it's 'ended up in the wrong place', is that a biology thing? Has wearing a wrong fitting bra actually relocated breast tissue? Very curious about the whole thing!

justkeeponsmiling · 28/06/2013 22:08

Ok, brilliant! Just got the tape out and I appear to be 30.5 inches underbust measurement (?) and 33.5 inches across when leaning forward...
statistically, any suggestions??

OP posts:
crazzzzycat · 28/06/2013 22:12

30C or 30D I reckon.

You've been wearing a 36 ????!!!!! faints

StatisticallyChallenged · 28/06/2013 22:14

Justkeep - that means you should be trying a 30C and a 30D...no wonder you have been struggling!

Zola - it's a mix. So sometimes you just have wide/far back boobs and the scooping is just making everything look and feel as good as possible. But bad bras can make the tissue migrate. We've had quite a few women where they have literally ended up with a dent in the breast tissue because of bad bras. At lesser extents, cups which are too small push the tissue backwards/outwards making armpit fat and backfat far worse.

AuntPepita · 28/06/2013 22:14

30C. I knew you weren't a 38A!

crazzzzycat · 28/06/2013 22:16

Should say they will feel very tight to begin with but that's only because you aren't used to it.

justkeeponsmiling · 28/06/2013 22:24

Thankyouthankyouthankyou!
I'm well excited now, will go bra-shopping tomorrow and report back! I can't believe I've been this far out all these years!
I'm really grateful for all the support, can't believe I'm a C or D cup, hahaha :)

OP posts:
StatisticallyChallenged · 28/06/2013 22:33

"I'm really grateful for the support"

Ha, wait til you try a proper bra, then you'll know support!

CatInWellies · 28/06/2013 22:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Swipe left for the next trending thread