**TMI WARNING** (But you should have figured that out before clicking the link.
🤭)
Ladies:
Get a professional bra fitting.
Srsly.
Find a boutique that specializes in bra fittings. A good bra fitter won't use a measuring tape; that's not accurate. They just know how it should fit. At the place I go, they start you in a bra in the same size you're currently wearing and they take it from there. I pay about $100 or so for a bra but it's worth the money. If a bra fits properly, it will be comfortable and supportive. If you get home and want to rip off your bra the minute you get in the door, then you probably aren't wearing the right size or style. Most women don't. There's nothing sexy about an ill-fitting bra. **coughcoughvictoriassecretmodelscough**
Some tips: You get most of your support from the band. It should fit snug. You should feel it, but it shouldn't be so tight that it's uncomfortable. I believe you should be able to run two fingers underneath the elastic. When it's new it should be hooked on the loosest setting, or maybe the middle. If you can comfortably do it up on the tightest hook, the band is too big. Overtime, it will stretch out and you can do it up on the tighter hooks. It should sit right under your breasts and be parallel to the floor all the way around. The most common mistake women make is to wear a band size that's too big and then it rides up in the back while the girls fall forward. A lot of women then tighten the straps too much to try and compensate for the lack of support. You should be able to pull the straps about an inch off your shoulders. Also, if you slip the straps off of your shoulders, the rest of the bra shouldn't fall down. If it's an underwire bra, the underwire should surround the breast without being too wide or narrow. If the wire sits on the breast tissue at the side, the cup is too small. If it sits too far back on your ribcage, it's too big. The triangular piece in between the cups should sit flat against your ribcage. It shouldn't pull away from the body, although that's apparently acceptable if it's a minimizer bra. The band shouldn't pull away from your body when you lift your arms. The top of the cups should sit flat against the breasts. If the breasts aren't filling out the whole cups and there's gaping, the cup size is too big. If there's spillage over the top, AKA "double boob" or "quadriboob," then the cup size is too small. If it's a soft cup style and there's fabric puckering, the cup is too big. Every bra fits different. Some styles will work for you and others won't. You might not wear the same size in every style. Get a sports bra to work out in. They're designed differently for a reason. And don't wear a bra to bed. It has to fit snug in order to be supportive and that will likely result in temporary marks on the skin, just like when socks or sweat pants leave an elastic mark. Your body needs to be able to relax at night. Each cup size is not the same across all band sizes. If you go up a cup letter and down a band size, the cup itself is the same size and only the band gets smaller. If you go down a cup letter and up a band size, the cup is the same but the band gets larger. For example, 32D, 34C, and 36B all have the same cup volume. These are called sister sizes. Keep this in mind if you ever try on a bra that seems to fit in the cups but not in the band. And North American bras suck. European bras are better quality and come in a wider range of sizes. I heard you should wash a bra every two times you wear it, although I admit I get too lazy for that. Ideally, you should hand wash them and either lay them flat or hang to dry. And don't wear the same bra two days in a row. It will stretch a little and if you let it air out for a day it will return to its original shape and will last longer.
I don't get how some women can just not wear bras. One thing I learned from What Not To Wear is that you should never let your dress or top do the work of a bra. I'm rather well-endowed and that sounds painful. I need full support, molded cup, underwire bras. I like to sleep in tank tops that have shelf bras. That way, you get a little bit of support without being constricted at all. Actually, it's not that I want the support in bed; it's more for the time I'm in pyjamas but haven't gone to bed yet or just got up. It's uncomfortable, and a large bust with no bra just looks weird too. One thing I don't like about a snug-fitting bra though, is that when I get anxious it can feel too tight and then I have to loosen it. As long as I'm lounging around at home it's okay. I just hope it's not a problem when I'm out in public because I can't just reach under my shirt and unhook my bra in front of people.
tl;dr: Get a bra that fits.
You're welcome.
**EDIT**
I'd like to add something which I stated in a later post:
awkwardamanda said:
Depending on the brand and country of origin, there's no labeling standard once you pass a D-cup. I believe the UK system is D, DD, E, F, FF, G, GG,... I think the rest of Europe typically uses D, E, F, G, H, J, K,... Sometimes I've seen D, DD, F, G, H,... North American brands tend to go D, DD, DDD, and often stop there. Don't quote me on any of this because it can vary a lot. They seem to randomly decide which letters to double or skip altogether. I've heard of I-cups but I don't think they're always used. I don't think EE exists anywhere. The further you get from a D-cup, the more discrepancy there is. A G-cup in one brand might be equivalent to a J-cup in another. The store I shop at has their own system for their tags. They know what system each brand uses and they just use a number for the equivalent number of Ds. So a 32DD is labelled as a 2-32. A 3-36 might be a 36E in one brand and a 36F in another, but it's the equivalent of a 36DDD. It's so annoying that there can't just be a standard.
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