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Original poster

Is my bra too small?

87 replies

Photinia · 13/08/2021 08:18

Would appreciate some pointers.

I used to wear 34B ish. Bra interventions blah blah and now I'm mostly buying 28DD. Under bust is 28.5".

Took me a while to get used to it, but now I am. The selection of bras in 28 band is woeful and it would be much easier to buy 30. When I've tried a 30 on, it's felt really loose. But would I get used to that? I don't have big boobs so I don't need loads of support. I'm getting red marks on my rib cage that are still there (albeit faintly) the next morning. I don't think of myself as unusually tiny (I'm a 10-12 bottom half, 8-10 top half).

So, knowledgeable ones: am I wearing too small a band? Photos are of me in a new Boux Avenue 28DD on the loosest hook. It looks like the cup is gaping in one photo but that's because I'm in a weird position!

OP posts:
DukeOfEarlGrey · 14/08/2021 08:35

*think it looks like

FFS

JhsLs · 14/08/2021 09:20

If you press on the wire at the side of the cup, you should hit rib cage not breast tissue. If you hit breast, you need to go up a cup size

Branleuse · 14/08/2021 11:11

@JhsLs

If you press on the wire at the side of the cup, you should hit rib cage not breast tissue. If you hit breast, you need to go up a cup size
If i do that in bras, then the straps end up too far apart for my shoulders
Original poster
Photinia · 14/08/2021 18:57

I've been umming and ahhing about posting these because you can see (gasp) areola. But fuck it; you've all been so very helpful! Grin

This is also 28DD, from Simply Be but I can't remember what brand. Less tight in the band than yesterday's. This is on the loosest hook; I've normally been wearing it tighter. I tightened the straps quite a lot before I put it on. I can still easily pull them up, but they felt like they were pulling the band up from where I fastened it. Maybe thats because I'm used to wearing the band too low.

OP posts:
Original poster
Photinia · 14/08/2021 19:02

As for why do I wear a bra in the first place? Partly to stop annoying jiggle, partly to stop friction on my nipples, partly to create a bit more of a visible bust, partly as a defence against voyeurism (she says having just posted near-nude photos on the internet..), partly because I use communal changing rooms at work, mostly convention.

OP posts:
Icenii · 14/08/2021 19:03

How do you measure? I'm slim and thought I just had fat armpits but it looks like I should be scooping?

dementedpixie · 14/08/2021 19:05

www.booborbust.com/

Original poster
Photinia · 14/08/2021 19:09

I've never really managed any measurement other than under bust but tried lots and settled at 28DD ish being the right cup size. For both of the ones in these photos, that was definitely the best cup size - E was gaping or with loads of spare fabric; D had boob overspill. Though whether I should have gone with 30D instead of 28DD is the question!

OP posts:
Squills · 14/08/2021 19:10

I think your shoulder straps are too long - your breasts look far too low down on your torso. As others have said, scoop yourself into the cups. If the bra is fitting correctly everything should stay in the cup. If you are doing it with the straps too long, as they are now, you will fall out of them.

dementedpixie · 14/08/2021 19:16

I can only lift the straps away a few centimetres from my shoulders. Yours look far too loose

Squills · 14/08/2021 19:20

Measure around the fullest part of your bust and subtract the measurement taken below your bust. The difference between the two measurements will determine the cup size you need.

So, 1 inch difference is A cup, 2 is B cup, 3 is C cup, 4 is D cup and so on.

Original poster
Photinia · 14/08/2021 19:57

demented this is going to sound daft - but when you say you can only pull the strap up a few cm... before what happens? When do you stop pulling? I can easily pull both these bras on over my head and bust without undoing them when they are on their tightest setting, so I'm always going to be able to yank them up over my boobs if I pull the strap hard enough. When do I stop pulling to measure to see if I've pulled more or less than a few cm? When the wire pops up over my boob?

OP posts:
Original poster
Photinia · 14/08/2021 20:50

I put the blue one (which I think we agree is to tight in the band?) back on, with the shoulder straps on pretty much their tightest setting. This is how much I could pull the strap up before the wire started coming up over my boob. From this I conclude the straps on this bra are too stretchy for this test.

OP posts:
Original poster
Photinia · 14/08/2021 20:52

And I also had a go at scooping. I've tried to get the loose skin on my back more taught by pulling it round and into my bra - is that right? The horizontal creases make me think not. And it hardly stayed there long enough to take this photo.

OP posts:
TroubleInSnowland · 14/08/2021 21:05

How are you putting the bra on? They look like your bra sits too low. I find I get a better fit if I do my band up , pull it under my boobs, then lean forward and lift my boob up and into the bra. Then I stand up straight and scoop any side fat in and put the straps on.

Original poster
Photinia · 14/08/2021 21:15

I'm just doing it standing up - just arms in, reach round to the back, do up, go. I'm guessing that's not right though Grin. Or sometimes - if it's the second day I've worn it - I don't bother to undo it, I just chuck it on over my head like a crop top. Which I'm also pretty sure is wrong.

OP posts:
TroubleInSnowland · 14/08/2021 21:30

I think it may help if you lean forward although I’m a bit bigger then you so it may be different. I found this link which is different to the way I do it but similar in the leaning forwards. www.curvykate.com/blogs/news/how-to-put-a-bra-on-properly

It makes a big difference. I can’t do my bra properly at the moment because of a shoulder injury and I can feel the difference in support and end up having to wriggle my bra up.

Original poster
Photinia · 16/08/2021 08:13

Cleo Juna 28DD. For the weekday crowd Grin. I've got the shoulder straps done up a lot tighter so I think the back is too high. Though this has a less stretchy band than the others - it's easier to undo and put on properly than it is to pull on over my head.

OP posts:
Original poster
Photinia · 16/08/2021 08:22

I tried scooping again. Still getting horizontal creases.

Really confused by how tight the shoulder straps should be Sad. I had understood that as long as they weren't coming off my shoulders, the support was from the band (not that I need support!). But that's not right, is it? I've done up the straps almost as tight as they go and I tried to take a photo but it didn't come out because it's black. The bra is wrinkling as it's shearing under my armpits - the straps are pulling the back up while the wires keep the front down (though it feels like they are digging in a bit at the bottom of my boobs - the wires at the bottom are pushing into breast tissue rather than sitting below it. So I'm reasonably sure that's too tight?

But when I pull on the shoulders, the whole thing (bra, straps, boobs, skin on my back and underarms that the bra is in contact with) moves easily up a good few inches and makes the skin bunch up under my arm.

Thank you so much for reading, lovely vipers.

OP posts:
LaCerbiatta · 16/08/2021 08:43

I'm a similar size, just a bit bigger and think the bra intervention doesn't apply to smaller sizes. It doesn't apply to me and it sure looks like it doesn't apply to you OP. Getting a band so tight that you're left with marks like that for hours and creates those folds and back spill that your trying to scoop in is honestly absurd.

I'm back with my comfortable and adequate 34Bs after playing a bit with very uncomfortable and plain wrong smaller bands. I even a few years ago posted pictures of me in my 34B just to show how right it looked!

Squills · 16/08/2021 13:33

Why don't you measure yourself? Measure under the bust and around the fullest part of your bust. Using these measurements you can determine which band and cup size you'll need.

I'd say that the band is too shallow and tight - it's cutting into your sides.

Original poster
Photinia · 16/08/2021 19:14

Under bust, fine: 28.5" breathing out.

"Fullest" part of bust I could give you any number you wanted, pretty much. Biggest number is with the tape measure in my armpits, but assuming you want somewhere nearer my nipples it depends hugely on whether arms are up or down and which way I'm leaning. And that's only ever a start, right? When I did it, I think it came out at 28D rounded down or 30C rounded up, but I'm generally overspilling those so my normal starting point is now up one - 28DD or 30D.

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 16/08/2021 19:57

Boob or bust advises leaning forward to take the over bust measurement

Original poster
Photinia · 16/08/2021 21:43

My boobs are a bit on the pendulous side, so I get gaping cups if I go with that measurement. And because my torso is an inverted triangle (narrow waist, broad shoulders), it matters hugely how cranio-caudal I position the tape measure.

Which is all fine and the measurements are only supposed to be a starting point, so I'm not bothered about them particularly.

dememted you had strong opinions on my shoulder straps, right? Don't suppose you could look at the pics from Sat and from today and give me a steer?

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 16/08/2021 22:01

Looks like the straps are too tight now and yes the support should come from the band. How much are you pulling on the straps to make them ride up so much? Maybe it's my sports bras that I have the straps really tight.. my normal bras aren't so tight.

Just have the straps tight enough that they sit lightly on your shoulders. If they are too slack they will fall down and if too tight they will drag the back up.