Bra problems

[victoriascrumptious]

If your bra underwiring digs in under the armpits where it didnt before-does this mean I need a bigger cup size or to go bigger around the back?

Also going up a back size means that I am getting fatter doesnt it? Does it?

Impossible to get a proper fitting with 3 kids in tow. Also no tape measure in the house.

Well no blooming wonder La Senza are trying to stick me in a 40 band then! Can't find a tape measure

It is much too loose, but I put it on the tightest band and put them in the dryer before I wear them. I have one or two that fit well, but most others just are much too big and gaping.

Both John Lewis and M&S do smaller back sizes.

John Lewis have quite a few bras in a 30 and even a 28 back. Look online www.johnlewis.com under lingerie.
You might well be a B cup.

As I said, I used to buy a 34 back and now realise it was utterly wrong!

Butterpie, no idea about wedding lingerie but recommend Anita underwired nursing bras.

www.johnlewis.com/Women/Lingerie/Lingerie+/View+all+Lingerie/1525/ProductCategory.aspx#&&/wEXAQUHYWp heFVybAVXRklML1dvbWVuL0xpbmdlcmllL0xpbmdlcmllKy9WaWV3K2FsbCtMaW5nZXJpZS8yOEIvLS9CcmErU2l6ZS8xNTI1L1B yb2R1Y3RDYXRlZ29yeS5hc3B4UGOAGz3rlPy2JWuX3xrTP+VBMNc=

these are all 28Bs.

Don't know what happened there but I tried to link to the 28Bs. You can search by size- they have 45 styles in a 30B cup.

Fab, your shopping trip sounds very productive so can you please put that 36E in the bin now
Purplepeony, I'd like to see you try a 32DD or even 30E but it really depends how your boobs are spaced out. When you're smaller, it's actually harder to find the right style. My dd measures 28 round the band but wears a 32 (and I take the back in) so that the cups are in the right place.
Akhems, it's not the size, it's the style when your boobs are a bit soft. Some balcony and full cup styles tend to do a better job. I'd recommend the Panache t-shirt bra (3376) and Charnos cherub off the top of my head, but some of the Masquerade ones are great and a lot sexier
Kitty, there's nothing to stop you getting fitted without making a purchase you can't afford. We charge £10 where I work (to deter timewasters) but it's redeemable against any purchase. You may need to do what my dd does, in which case you can buy cheaper bras. Not sure if R&P charge, but a professional fitting is so worth it. I wish they'd introduce the Aussie sizing method- dress size plus cup so 30=10, 32=12 etc. Women I see from there are usually far closer to their correct size than we are. Apparently getting fitted is the norm there, none of this wandering in confusion around a department store. Makes more sense to me but then I'm obsessed

I wore my new one all day- it gives a really nice shape and my boobs look about two inches higher

I have just taken it off now to chill out on the sofa...the feeling when it came off was bliss though

Butterpie, a strapless nursing bra sounds like an impossibility Freya do good nursing bras up to HH now but they do need proper fitting, and this one by Royce is also good.
The best strapless out there is this moulded one by Fantasie but I'm not sure you will get the cleavage you want. The Ava isn't bad but dearer. The porcelain strapless by Panache is lower at the front but the cups come up small- a G is more like F/FF.
HTH

Baby won't need nursing often at nine months, surely? And if you're wearing strapless anyway, you could just um, hoik?

married I told DH he could rip it off if he wanted but I have already half undressed as I wasn't comfy.

Fab, fancy a ceremonial bonfire?! I actually told a customer I was ging to confiscate her old bra once- it was so bad . People regularly throw their old ones in our bin and wear the new ones home.
That's the only thing- once you have bras that fit properly, your old ones feel terrible. You'll never go back, trust me

Being charitable- isn't there a way youcan recycle brsa towomen in the 3rd world youiwll be grateful for anything?
Maybe I'll google- was it through Oxfam and M&S? Was it £5 M&S voucher for any bra ( not M&S) that you gave to Oxfam?

married - thanks- will continue trying.
My boobs are not soft BTW they are very pert and perky and stick out! I find a push-up or balcony style makes them ost of them, as they are smallish.

You can recycle your decent condition bras via Knickers for Africa.
Purplepeony- have you tried Masquerade then?- good for your described shape

Phew, what a busy thread!

Update re swim wear - I got a tankini (don't worry it overlaps in the middle!) with shorts bottoms in Asda for £10. I eventually got a size 20 (I am not that big) which fits fine with support cups. They do supported swimsuits too in cup sizes up to E/F....not an Asda fan but way cheaper than elsewhere.

On the measuring topic. What I like about Bravissimo is that they don't ever use a tape measure so no formulas etc.

Will spread the word about Knickers for Africa - me and my sisters must have amassed about 20 feeding bras over the years!

Tape measures can never work on boobs, they are too variable. Same with jeans and shoes, you've just got to try them on.
I went on a training course when I first started current job and they used tape measures there. It confused the hell out of me tbh. Had already started fitting successfully without one and have never used one since

I'm thinking hoiking might be the answer

I'm actually considering getting a mega cleavage bra (like i tend to wear when I am in my full glam rock/punk/grunge/whatever glory-sadly not very often these days) with nice straps for the wedding. Tbh, I tend to just go for too small a bra when I am doing that, so my nipples are in constant danger of popping out as it is...

I quite like my boobs when I have no clothes on, but they just look so saggy and kind of resigned under clothes when I have a rubbish bra on. Unfortunatly I think a naked wedding wouldn't go down too well...

Will check out those links now.

Do you play the same game as me when out and about, married, and guess people's bra sizes?

I try not to but sometimes it's so hard!
I've always found it very distracting when someone is wearing an ill-fitting bra which is why I've nagged all the females in my life into getting fitted. I love my job, and got invited to do it (as an existing customer). It doesn't feel like work most of the time as it's so satisfying/lifechanging.
Can you tell?

You mean a strapless dress with bra straps showing? For your wedding? Nooooooooooooooooooooo

Schnitzel...maybe I could wear a shruggy thing?

Or add straps to the dress?

In an ideal world, I'd get a proper corset, but they cost more than £100, and i'm already feeling guilty about spending that much on the dress so don't think I can justify that, especially since my life isn't very corsetty these days so that, along with the dress, would be something I would hardly ever wear. The cheapish corsets need a bra as well (at least my ann summers ones do)

Sigh. If i'd have got married before having children i would still have bouncy boobs and a flat stomach and wouldn't have these worries!

Ok bra people, I was a lovely and comfy 34D before I got pregnant.

Suddenly all my bras started riding up at the back and just feeling generally uncomfy. I went shopping and they put me in a 34DD which was still uncomfy. I'm now in a 32E after speaking with a bravisimo lady over the phone. My back still rides up slightly and my breasts are spilling out slightly.

Now this bra does leave marks on me, is that supposed to happen?

Should I go down a backside and go up two cup sizes or just up a cup size?

I have thrown one bra in the bin so far and I expect 2 more will go but another 3 are pretty new so I will look into donating them as they are in very good condition.

Fab hurrah!

I too have thrown away 1 bra today- it's an M&S padded one and the top edge of the cup has curled over outways away from the padding...I find this happens with quite a few of thier padded bras even after a few washes.

married haven't tried Masquerade but have had alook at them on Figleaves.

J Lewis have now started stocking some D cup bras from a 28 inch band- name starts with a D and they are featured onthe HOMe page of the lingerie/bra part of website.

One problem I sometimes have is that the straps are too far to the edges of my shoulders- being a size 8-10 I have narrow shoulders and the straps can at times be too ar apart and slip off.

Butterpie - I can highly recommendthese guys for a fitting - they are not too far from your mum's in Preston and do shop or home fittings and sorted me right out after DD.