Why are 28 band bras so rare?

[magicalkitty]

I don't think I have a particularly narrow rib cage, but I require a 28 band bra. I can't be that rare, but it's very hard to find bras this size without spending £££.

M&S and the like don't carry many styles under a 30 band. I'm sure a lot of women actually require a 28 but settle for 30 or maybe even larger because they have to.

It's easier to find things in very large sizes than it is in smaller, even though 28 isn't particularly tiny anyway.

I'm 10-12 and wear a 32 back

Wore a 30 for a few years but bras started to dig in so went to 32 again and up a cup size

I’m 28F/FF (and contrary to what an earlier poster said, I find my bras comfy and can watch them all day).

Bravissimo is the only place I can reliable get good bras and bikini tops. I think they’re great, but not cheap. As a result, I keep the number of bras I own to a minimum.

I can't afford to splash out on 28 back bras anymore so I settle with 30F for £14 from M&S. Not perfect, but the best I've found in a long time.

I’d definitely prefer that, I don’t like my boobs being touched!

I'm tall and size 10-12. I wear a 30f. I think many women wear their bras too loose and too high. I'm wide shouldered, so my mum stuck my in a 36b in my teens; took me a good while to get my correct size- with a detour via m&s of 34 dd for a few years. Having said that, my boobs were bigger and higher in my 20s, so maybe my back was wider there.

Just taken dd for her first bra, but m&s only do 28a or b, whereas she's actually 28 or even 26d.

@MoonGeek sorry to hi-jack the thread, but I was looking at FleurofEngland today and was wondering about their sizing (I currently have 4 sizes in my shopping bag). I'm currently wearing a 28FF, but also wear a 30E (but in that bra I feel I need to come down a cup size (both bras from Bravissimo)).
So interested to hear they come up small... I'm thinking of trying a 30D, 30DD, 30E and a 32C which was what their calculator suggested.

OP - look at Braforme, I know nothing about them but yes they do 28GG starting at £15

To the person who thought bra size follows dress size. Dress bust measurements are around the breast, bra back sizes are measured on the torso directly under the breast. So you measure your self under the breast-say this is 30” and then you measure the breast at it’s fullest point and say this is 34” you would try on size 30D as a starting point. Each inch over the torso measure is a bra cup size.

I'm a size 30 band and only realised bras are made in this size last year (late 40's!). I've been wearing ill fitting 32s forever.
30's are hard enough to find.

Wear an equivalent bra size? You dont need to be trussed up like a chicken just to say you're an F cup. 32D would also work but not as interesting as is easily found in M&S.

I'm a 28" back but I think I've only got 1 bra in that size. Nearly everything else is 30" or even a few 32". It's just too expensive/difficult to find 28" bras and I'm used to the fit of the 30" bras. I think if I had bigger breasts it would be more of a problem (I'd be relying on the band more for support).

To posters saying they're v slim/petite but don't need such a small band size, I think it's all about proportions. I'm tall and a size 8-10 but I've got a short narrow torso and hourglass shape. So very narrow waist and ribcage compared to shoulders and hips. 28" bra band doesn't make me super slim or petite, it just means I have a narrow ribcage!

Wear an equivalent bra size? You dont need to be trussed up like a chicken just to say you're an F cup

🤔 If you have breasts of any size, you need a band that actually fits to support them. Wearing the band size that fits you is also not "being trussed up like a chicken".

I have this same issue. I'm a 28DD and can't find anything that fits other than in bravissimo, and they're so expensive for what seems like a bog standard bra! I usually end up wearing a 30, if I strike lucky in Primark and find one, but tbh anything below a 32 is hard to come by, especially in anything above a C cup. There are loads of online places, that stock these sizes, but I like to see before I buy!

I feel like I've had this issue for too long now. I don't understand why we can't have a proper overhaul of the bra system. I mean, how on earth do they think young teens are going to have such broad backs? La senza used to come up small, but their bras were mainly ornamental.

I'm lucky in that 30 is fairly easy to come by. 32 can ride up, but it can depend on the fit.

I think part of the issue is that people see D or bigger and assume massive boobs. We can thank men writing about women for that i think. My 30fs are not big, because an f cup at 30 is quite small.

I'm also teaching dd already that the band is where the support is, and that the band needs to feel tight. Getting the right fitting bra in my 20s changed the way my clothes fit.

Pour Moi often have 28

does anyone petite find that anything that isn't a plunge bra hurts? I find the middle underwires if too tall are uncomfortable.

They add four inches because thats how their bras are made. I have a 30 back bra from m&s and the band measures 26inches. I'm a size 6-8.

I'm not sure that's true. I have a number of different styles of 32" bras from M&S and they fit the same band-wise as 32" bras bought from bravissimo, who use the more modern measuring method. M&S just haven't moved away from the old fashioned/traditional measurement method

This is a La Senza bra 30E. The back is 21 inches when not stretched and 26 inches when stretched. There is no possible way to stretch it to 30 without ripping it and it is the same as my M&S bras. I just took a photo of this one as you can see the size better as the label isn't faded.

La senza come up small too. I've got 32 ls bras that are smaller than my 30 freya or panache.

Been trawling the Web for first bras for dd. Most seem to start at 30, but only aa or up to about b. Next have 28c- but out of stock. Do none of these places actually measure the people they're manufacturing for?

I'm not particularly petite but do have large boobs on a 28/30 rib cage so they are close together just because of the size... So yep can only really wear a plunge bra if it's wire, and no they don't fall out in the correct size. I like bravissimo's own brand for actual plunges but check the website for 'different style in H+'.

I'm a 28k/30J and wear 14-16 (but find the shoulders big with some buttons needing a safety pin for security). So dress size plus 20 is more of a starting point for sizing and will depend if your sizing is dependent on your bust, your shoulders or your waist.

At my slimmest my shoulders would stop me wearing an 8 in a shirt or jacket, so I'd never drop below a 10 anything with sleeves (unless stretch/raglan type).

I also think that by nature with there being less fabric in a smaller back bra it stretches less than a bigger back (some law of elasticity) so wouldn't be averse to going up 2 inches, especially with a smaller actual bust which needs less support. With my size I need a tight underbust to support the boobs or everything shifts around and rubs!

I’m 28C, I was 28D before I had my kids! I find it very difficult to find bras, I’m really not teeny tiny, there must be women smaller than me!

Over lockdown I got covid and my skin became very, very sensitive and I stopped wearing wired bras, I found Calvin Klien braettes super comfortable and haven’t gone back, they do make my boobs look smaller, but I’ll take that for comfort.

The thing is, if you are a 28E, for example, you do not have big boobs, but a 28E bra is generally much more structured than a 32D bra - I prefer the thinner straps and 'daintiness' of the 32D that I can buy in any high street shop.
Surely bra manufacturers should be able to understand that just because your cup size is DD or above, if your band size is small, you do not have big boobs and can wear lightweight, skimpier bras and don't need inch wide shoulder straps.