I have started my bra intervention - can this be right?

[MrsKravitzFromAcrossTheStreet]

i would love some advice from the very helpful interventionalists who I have seen commenting on these threads

Okay so I know I am in the wrong size because I have lost 3 stone and the cups on my bras are gaping and empty . I am wearing a 36B, which I bought since losing weight - I previously wore a 38C or B. I have rather small, sad, saggy, empty boobs and no cleavage. I favour a balconette style as this seems to counteract the sagging; plunge bras look horrible on me.

So I just measured myself using the bra guru method and I am 32 under my bust and 40 around the lowest hanging part when I lean at 90 degrees. Does this really make me a 32FF? As someone who has always considered myself small-breasted I am flabbergasted!

I have a small budget (normally buy M&S or Next bras). I could also order quite a few from Very on my account and then send some back without having to pay first IYSWiM. Could anyone please suggest styles/brands for me? I like lacy bras but I would also like one that doesn't show through t shirts. I usually go for padded balconettes to give me some shape, would I still need padding in the new size do you think?

I find the 90 degree measurement pretty tricky to take by myself, and there's no way I'd let anyone else see my boobs at that angle! They're like marbles in a sock!

I just re-measured and while I am definitely 32 around I am more like 41 bending over if I don't squash up my nipples at all. Is that right? A video guide on measuring would be useful.

No help at all but watching with interest for the exact same reasons (3.5 St weight loss & now have empty bra syndrome )

I'm very similar measurements. I've lost four stone now and i'm still loosing cleavage . I'm just under 32 under bust and 39plus around. I've tried lots on and feel most comfortable in a 32 D. I have tried a cup size bigger but find the tissue to the sides that i scoop in doesn't stay there all day and by the end of the day it feels a bit big. As i'm not at my end weight i don't want to invest £40 in a better brand. My advise is use intervention as a guide then try loads on. Take armfulls if necessary into the changing room.

i read lots of the bra intervention stuff and some said it starts at AA for cup size so my latest interpretation which fits me better is:

1inch AA
2 A
3 B
4 C
5 D
6 DD
7 E
8 F
9 FF

i have one of these. Its £22.50 now at M and S. Its a moulded, padded, smooth seamless balcony. It has widish straps leaving the cup and a wide band going under pit, so helps with scooping around and holding in. I got it in the sale so it was a little less.

Its washed well and is retaining its elasticity/ hold well.

Aa is less than a one inch difference, a is 1" b is two etc etc.

If your breasts are very soft -eg due to weight loss -then the dangling cup measure can sometimes overestimate, but it's a good place to start. I'd maybe order the 32e, f and ff to start with. If you have lost upper fullness then balconettes will be more wearable generally whereas the taller moulded t shirt shape will tend to gape at the top

I'm similar measurements. Most of my bras are 32G Curvy Kate balconettes - nice wide wires that take in all the escaping boob flab under my arms and mould my boobs into rather a nice rack.

The contrast to the 36Ds I was wearing is quite unbelievable.

That's my bra MisForMum! I've got it in a 36B and the tops of the cups stick out. I hate trying bras on but by the sounds of it I'm going to have to go to a big store and try lots.

I'm not going to be able to find a nice body shaper without a G-string bum in a 32FF/G am I

I have seen a Curvy Kate balconette in the sale on Very - I am so not curvy though, it seems wrong!

I think I will order three in a 32 e,f and ff as Statistically suggests. They only have it in black and white though and I do prefer a natural colour for under white tops.

I'd missed you saying it might be nearer 41 - order a g too. If you're doing it through very it won't make a difference hopefully.

Very do other good brands like Freya, Cleo and panache too

Thank you Statistically, and all of you who have commented. I have just checked my current bras and one is a 36A! and the other a 36B.

I am excited to try some in the right size! My boobs will look better in them, yes? I do hope so.

Agree you need to try 32G, too. Some (not all) CKs are small in the cup.

I'm disappointed because I've just received the beautiful purple and black Fantasie Elodie that I ordered for £15 in the Next sale. 32G. Nowhere near fits me. Band painfully snug on tightest clip, so no problem there, but even with aggressive scooping, cups are far too big and don't do anything for my shape unless I pull them together in the middle, so there would be no point me hunting down a 32FF.

Ah well. My new, purely for comfort, not uplift, Triumph Amourette 300 fits as nicely as I expected. That's a 34F for slobbing around in at tender times of the month, though.

Aah I had seen the abbreviation CK on intervention threads before and assumed it meant Calvin Klein!

I'm going to be uncomfortable in a 32 after wearing a 36 aren't I. It's going to be like when I had my first ever bra, and my mom found out I was wearing a vest underneath it (because it felt so horrible and restrictive) and told me off!

You might find it feels a little odd to begin with, but you will get used to it.

Forgot to add I have ordered 6 bras from Very, a selection of sizes, the Curvy Kate and a Panache balconette. I will report back when I get them!

None of them fit I have decided it's because I have funny shaped boobs. All the cups were too big, the strap measurement was fine.

I tried a few on in Tesco today and still couldn't find anything right, they were ether too big in the cup or I had quadriboob spilling over the top and sides. I think I need to go to a big store and try a variety of styles and sizes. I am feeling rather fed up. I want a boob job at the moment.

where were the cups too big? Did you do the whole lean over , scoop etc?

The thing thats put me off the CK (I know its a mumsnet favourite) is that my bust is not so full at the top, more ski slope than champagne glass. I find the half balcony style i fill better, but anything that goes too far up the bust starts to gape.

My boobs are slightly different sizes. That opens a whole new challenge.

It took me four visits to try on, two mistake purchases that i wore so couldn't return to be happy. Don't give up. You'll get there in the end.

Can you link to the specific bras and try to describe what was wrong with each please? Should help us narrow down where to go

And yes to scooping like crazy