BRAS - do you still add 4 nowadays or is that old?

[genuineidiot]

I was speaking to my mother today, have been wearing a 34A bra for years... I had heard that you no longer add 4 when measuring bra sizes. But I was speaking to my mum and she said that you still add 4? Is that old or do you still do it?

Interventions are ridiculous. You measure at the fullest part of the bust and that's your 34 (or whatever) then under the bust and the difference between the measurements determines your cup size. If you start wearing a 28 or something daft you won't be able to breathe.

It's the under bust figure that gives the back size not the fullest part.

And you will be able to breathe as long as the cup size is the correct size too. If you measure 28 under the bust why wouldn't a 28 back bra fit?

Am sat here wearing a 28 and breathing too

I used to wear a 36 in the old 'add 4' days, nowadays I wear a 30. I can breath, but also get the added benefit of being able to break into a gentle jog if I need without having to try and stop my boobs from flying around all over the place. I remember one particularly crap front fastening bra actually coming undone on one occasion!

Don't add 4! I believe this was necessary in the days before bra bands were elasticated, but nowadays it isn't necessary and it will reduce the amount of support your bra gives.

M&S told me I was a 36c and I could never work out why my bras were always riding up, digging into my shoulders and generally getting on my nerves. These days I wear a 30g and have no problems whatsoever.

Why on earth would you measure the fullest part of your bust to get get your band measurement?
Unless I've been wearing my bras wrong all these years.

As a visual - this is me, at a size 14/16 with a 34 band on. And that's my fist underneath! So a 34 on a 8/10 would be generally far too big (yes I have back fat, it's not the most attractive position!)

I actually had no idea about this, yet it makes so much sense.

M&S measured me as a 34c - I'm a size 10, but am only 5ft.

I'm an 8-10, was wearing 34A for years. Did the intervention thing and my most comfy bra is a 30C. I need balcony style and a 28 back, whilst fitting, presses the wires into my ribs and it's too painful.

OP I'm a size 6 with fried eggs - and I have recently measured as a 30D. One of the best days of my life Debenhams was good for measuring. She did my under bust then just tried various cup sizes to see what fit best. It's so great just going into shops and picking up me right size. John Lewis is good for bras.

The whole bra thing is a minefield. I'm a size 8 but I need a 32..and by the end of the day that's feels tight and uncomfortable. And the ones I brought recently from m&s without bothering to try on are painfully tight!!

I must admit, I've found the intervention bra thing quite difficult but thought it was just me 😳

Wore 34B (occasionally 32C when a bit of weight loss) for years, bra intervention was 30E or 32D but find these extremely tight and uncomfortable; and then the cup size is loose at the top (boobs lack fullness).

Have tried balcony, padded, non padded, non wired, the lot. The underwire of a 32 kills me yet I measure 31 to 32 in my back - the bras I have leave dents in my skin (they fit ok in the shop).

I now wear a £5-£6 crop top style bra as I hate the underwire of all my bras, or I go back to my trust 34B.

I find it a mindfield and need professional help but feel I've seen over 4 "professsionals" now and still no better off.

Do you have the correct cup size though? And the correct style for your body shape?

I no longer find it a minefield since I have got my head around the fact that the cupsize also affects the overall 'girth' of the bra.
And i am much more comfortable in a bigger cup with a smaller band
I had to get over the weird phobia of being over a D-cup which seems to be affecting so many high-street stores also, as if being a D+ size is some kind of freakery when it is actually very, very normal

Also yy to the importance of style.
I look far better in half-cup/balconette styles than plunge or full-cup.
Trial and error.
I now know what fits me in a certain brand and buy them from brastop online for a fraction of the cost.

Ladies thank you so so much for this. Should show this to my mum haha. Will deffo measure and check out my true size (I always thought 34 was big on me although I do have a wide ribcage). Thank you for all your stories!

@dementedpixie tried every kind ☹️ Just been reading the BoobMother blog and her boob shape descriptions. I'd say I'm 'narrow and long' which she says is the harder one to find something. I can't work out if I'm any of these, or combination of a couple (e.g. Pendulum and conical)

Another one in a 28 band sitting here breathing in fact I should be in a 26, but I can't buy them easily so I wear 28 bands.

I'm a G cup. If I measured round the largest part of my boobs to get my band size it wouldn't need a clasp, I'd be able to put it over my hips like a skirt and slide it up

Thinking about it though, when I first started wearing bras (AAAAAAGES ago) the first ones I tried were 28-30. And even then, they were tight on me. I remember it well. And at that age I was in kids size about 10-11. Weird.

Was probably a tiny cup size though and that's what made it feel tight.

The bra intervention has been revoloutiobary for my boobs!! And NO don't add the inches !!!!

Ah, true about the cup size. It was an AA I think.