Anyone wear a c cup bra? Advice please.

[thinkingofholidays]

So I've just had a breast reduction (h to a c, as far as I can tell - still a bit swollen). I've always had to buy ugly bras because of needing so much support. Now I have high, round firm boobs! For the first time in my life I'm excited about underwear shopping... Tell me where to buy great c cup bras. Which ones are the best? What should I look out for? I'm normal height and a size 10. I'm a skinny jeans and leather jacket type. Thanks in advance!

Can I be the first to say that you're probably not a C cup? Definitely not if you have round boobs!

Measure yourself properly www.wikihow.com/Measure-Your-Bra-Size and go from there.

I'm pretty small and wore a B cup bra for years until a bra intervention put me in a D cup. I doubt a C will give you the best fit. Read the bra intervention threads.

Another person recommending you do a bra intervention on yourself. (And you should wait until the swelling goes all the way down. Maybe just wear some comfy sports bras until it does.)

I wore a 36B because I couldn't find any 38A's and then I got my Intervention and discovered that I'm a 34 C.

Measure around your ribs with a tape pulled snug. Then bend forward at a 90 degree angle and measure around your hanging boobs without pulling snug. Do NOT add any inches to the rib cage measurement. Then do the cup size per inch difference thing. (If you get an uneven number for your rib cage measurement try rounding both up and down. I think most people round down.)

My friend had reduction surgery and she said it took a good while for the swelling to go down. I wouldn't try fitting any bras until the swellings gone as you won't get an accurate measurement for any bra until it does but if you put out the call to the bra gurus, they can best advise you on how to measure and what styles might best suit your new shape. for now I'd wear some soft supportive non wired type things so as not to irritate any scars or new pressure points until the swellings totally gone

Agree with what has been said above re soft bras until the swelling goes down. I'd also say please don't be upset if you are bigger than a c -my friend had a reduction from an hour, was told she would be a c or d and in reality was never less than an f when properly fitted. That was still a massive reduction and they were much perkier too.

And follow the measuring guide on the better bra campaign website to get an idea of your size

Thanks for all the replies, bit I really want someone to answer my question. (Having been such a huge size all my adult life, I know about bra fitting, believe me.) I'm pretty confident about being a C, and I am excited about shopping for nice underwear for the first time in my life. Anyone? Recommendations for great c cup bras? Thanks!

I think that now you're now a C cup you can just shop anywhere depending on budget!!! I'm a C cup (more cow-uddery though due to DC and age ). I like M&S and La Senza. BHS have pretty bras

Debenhams usually have a huge rage as does M&S.
So many to choose from.
Try different ones.
Balcony bras always look nice but are sometimes uncomfortable.
You can even get lovely underwear sets in Primark!
George at Asda even!
Honestly, the world is your oyster now so go and have some fun looking around.

I'm a 30C - I struggle a bit due to the 30 part but not the cup size. Some places have thought I was a 34A or 32B which isn't the case. Once your breasts have settled done I would recommend going and having them measured somewhere (not M&S )

C cups are such a common size that you can pretty much buy any brands you like. Since I'm small-breasted, I can buy pretty much whatever brand catches my eye with no regard to how supportive it is, etc. So, I mostly buy my stuff at Primark as they have a huge variety of things in all different colours and styles.

I think M&S has a pretty good lingerie department. While people complain about their fitting service, they can't really be faulted on their range for the normal sizes.

I have a taste for the bright and vulgar "sexy" stuff. That's why I love Primark (they have boring stuff, too) and I've noticed that M&S aren't afraid of bright colours.

Otherwise, I wear lightly padded T-shirt bras. I tend to get them at Asda or Primark.

A range for 'normal' sizes? Really? It's hardly abnormal to have large breasts, just as it is not abnormal to have small breasts.

Marks do not serve so called normal at all well -they just wedge women in to their standard sizing.

And my sized out of marks and Spencer breasts are perfectly normal.

Thank you all so much! I can't believe I can go any old where! Imagine buying in primark?! I've always spent a fortune on underwear! I will try all the lovely things you've said, can't wait. Thanks.

If you turn out to be a 28 or 30C then you most definitely won't be able to buy anything in Primark. Like posters up thread have said, cup size means nothing without the accompanying band size. A 28C is a very different cup to a 34C.

Strange as it may sound you are unlikely to be able buy a bra that fits in Primark if you are a size 10. They started at a 34 inch band last time I looked. Size 10 you will be a 32 band maximum, most likely smaller. I am size 8/10 and a 30DD. I have small boobs.

As for being 'normal' that's just a perception given by the lack of a full range of sizes being provided by many high street retailers.

Be open minded about your new size and have fun bra shopping.

What everyone else said - it's great that you're excited to try new places for bra shopping but hold your horses til you know what size you actually are!

Also there have been threads on here where women have post surgery boobs that seem to require a little extra thought in terms of shape - eg if they are high and round then a balconette style may be too boosting, that kind if thing. Not an expert but worth thinking about too.

Enjoy your new boobs!

Shops that regularly have 28 or 30 back bras are Debenhams, John Lewis, House of Fraser, occasionally M & S.

If you can, go to a large store with lots of choice and try different sizes and styles on.

I'm a 28d (small breasts but in proportion with my size 8 frame) and find Freya bras a good fit, pretty and often in the sale.

Thanks for all your replies. And the tip about shape post surgery. I'm a 32 c, it's just after being an h it's the c bit I'm excited about- always been a 32! Thanks again, looking forward to shopping!

I'm a size 10 and a 34.

And while I know you lovely ladies have changed lives with your bra interventions (and I'm really not being sarcastic), it DOES NOT NECESSARILY WORK ON SKINNY LADIES WITHOUT BACK FAT!!!

Sorry for shouting but it's just as important that you come here and say: you can see your ribcage through your skin? You don't have back fat or side fat or breast tissue spreading to your armpits? Then the bra intervention rules are probably not going to work on you.

It feels incredibly patronising and almost a bit bullyish to jump on everyone who claims they're slim and wearing a band larger than 30 and probably puts off many asking for advice.

(I've posted a pic before of me wearing my perfectly fitting 34B bra and there really was no argument against it!)

LaCerbiatta, have you ever actually looked at the website with our fitting advice on it? Cos it actually says that if you are very slender you might need to size up. It's advice we give VERY REGULARLY.

Not to get in the way of your non-factual rant, of course.

Yes the website says it but you ladies very rarely do!

I say it all the time. Just like I say very often that larger ladies might need to go down in the band.

That said, very few women need +5 a la M&S. For most who are very slim, +2/3 is adequate.

It is also a fact that most size 10 women wearing a 34 will be in the wrong size. Not all, but the majority. Most women have an underbust measurement which is within 3" of their waist measurement, and a size 10 has a waist of about 27" or thereabouts.

And, the whole POINT of the bra intervention is that the measurement is only ever a starting point. It's not supposed to be an M&S style, blindly follow the measuring tape approach. That's why we spend so much time giving fitting advice, explaining how a bra should fit. I know I almost always say "start with x size/x sizes and work from there". It gives you somewhere to start, a size which will be close to the true size on average. You are then supposed to follow the advice on identifying a good bra and work from there.

There will be women who need up a band, or down a band, or up 3 cups, or down 3 cups. No tape measure approach will ever be totally accurate, as you can't measure breast firmness, or level of torso fat, or whether your ribcage flares.