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.

As a small band big cup girl I recommend trying next and very, always look at their sales for small band big cup bras as they don't sell as well and you can get some good bargains, I always filter the search by my bra size.

I don’t get the 4" logic. If bras didn't have any stretch, surely you'd need it to be as snug as possible or it would just be moving about and falling off?! 4" sounds like like quite a lot to me. If I hold a tape measure round my (28") ribs at 32" it just falls down. If I imagine adding shoulder straps to it, it would ride up.
Surely it would make more sense if the add 4" method had been created once bras became more elastic to allow for the give in the bra?

I second this. I've had lots of good Next bras on sale. Lots of small back sizes.

@WhereAreWeNow they also tend to carry the more expensive brands like Freya and Cleo that bravissimo have at next and very and they too often go into the sales.

Primark does 32F now. And in wire free. I couldn't believe it.

You don't need extra inches with a flexible and stretchy bras because it's flexible and stretchy. The fabric returns to original quickly and the stretch doesn't wear out quickly. Why would you need at add extra to stretch? That's the whole point of stretch.

Without fully stretchable bras, even breathing in would be painful. Breathing in can add 2 inches. Then there is movement. With limited the stretch that old elastic panels or no elastic panels would make movement and breathing painful.

Bras were not as comfortable and didn't offer the sort of support they do now.

I imagine there was more riding up and shoulder straps slipping down. Infact I remember even as a teen in the 1980s shoulder straps frequently slipped down. And the back rode up a bit. That never happens to me now at all

@Mirabai so you are a historian?

I'm pretty sure sure the 'bra people' have got facts from historical knowledge and literature. Where have you got it from?

You undoubtedly have a higher body fat percentage than @Mirabai. People with more fat around their rib cages can wear a smaller band size relative to their band measurement because the fat doesn't create a rigid surface for the band and will compress/move as you breathe. If you didn't have so much fat around your rib cage you would not be able to expand your rib cage to breathe in such a small band size.

I've personally seen this as I've gained/lost weight. I wear the same band size now that I'm two stone heavier as I did when I was lighter, in spite of the fact that the measurement around my rib cage has actually increased - the only thing I've had to change is the cup size. So the boob or bust method is probably about right for me now, whereas when I was thinner to get into their recommended size I'd have had to break a couple of my ribs and give up breathing - the M&S add 4 method worked perfectly for me.

The reason the old calculation doesn't work for so many women now is because we're so much fatter as a society. Not because it was always wrong.

I have almost no fat on my ribcage actually, you can easily see my ribs, and there's no fat squidged around my bra strap at all, I have a completely smooth silhouette when wearing a bra.
I don't think body scales are particularly accurate but the last one I used said I had 27% body fat. I am a healthy weight and clothes size for my height. Tattoos across my ribs are super painful and the tattoo artist commented that it's because I have such little fat over them.
When I was a size 14, there was fat on my ribs for sure, but not since I lost the weight a few years ago. I was wearing a bigger band size when I was a size 14 though.

I'm going through the bra fitting minefield at the moment. I measure as a 30 band but I'm finding that a majority of the bras I try on actually stretch way over 30 inches so they're not really 30 bands at all. I've just sent a load of bras back for this reason and plan to order more in a 28 band in the hope they they're more like 30's!

" is this why Mumsnetters always take their bras off when they get home?"

Yes, I think some women must be wearing bras that are too small to be so uncomfortable.
Maybe there was something in the 'add some inches' advice after all.

I agree it’s sounds like a lot merely to accommodate breathing and lack of stretch.

Band sizes were introduced in the 40s by which time many bras and girdles had elastic panels sewn into them.

The issue has been confused by the two ways of measuring.

The +0 method was originally for +DD cup sizes, due to the difficulty of cantilevering large breasts (ie more secure support round the ribs needed) and the difficulty of getting an exact measurement if the lady is overweight.

The +4 method is to fit a rib measurement 4 inches less then the band size. So a size 32 was never meant to fit 32” ribs.

Erm from historical knowledge and literature…

I’m not sure why you think a bra manufacturer necessarily has an extensive knowledge of costume history. They need to know the current market not 100 years ago.

I'm a 32 band size 16 - the reason is that the cup size is large (G cup) and clothes are not cut for bigger busts (nowadays they are often not cut for any sort of bust at all), the buttons are likely to be in the wrong place and gape open etc etc. SO I have to buy the size that fits my bust cup size -which is then too big everywhere else.

Or too large. If I wear a slightly too large in the back bra, it rubs making it uncomfortable and leaving sore red marks. I can wear my correct size (28) for 16 hours without even remembering that I've got a bra on.

@Mirabai Erm from historical knowledge and literature…
You mean precisely where they got the info from. Seriously dude. You are a random person who read a bit of stuff trying to suggest you know more than many many bra manufacturers. Are you always this over confident?

Where do you think the “info” comes from? Do you think there’s some kind of bra history database at the tap of a fingertip? It’s diverse texts, research, pictures, lots of items - crucially exhibitions and individual vintage pieces you can pick up at auction.

I don’t think you understand how the world works if you think manufacturers are experts in costume history. Do you think Jigsaw, Whistles and Zara are specialists in 30s clothing???