bra size measurement... help.

clairehi

Fitting services are a total waste of time as different styles/makes are different sizes - its the same for clothes and shoes.

its pretty obvious what is a good fit when you try it on as per Blue Monkeys advice above. although i always wear M&S - not just because Im mean but also as they always seem to have the full range of sizes in all styles whereas
smaller shops never seem to have my size in the styles I like.

xxisabellexx

clairehi wrote: »

its pretty obvious what is a good fit when you try it on

You would think so, wouldn't you? I'm a bra fitter at Debenhams and I am continually shocked at the amount of women who think they are wearing a good fitting bra when the back strap is up to thier neck and they are bulging out all over the place.

Also I often find ladies into their 60s/70s who dont know how bra sizes work, which also surprises me a lot.

In answer to OP, I second the other replies, you need to go a store and get fitted into the right size. Shock Absorber is the leading brand (whether its the best or not I dont know.) which both Debs and John Lewis sell. They do cups from A-G and do different support levels for different sports which I think is good.

Hope you manage to find one anyway!

cazziebo

xxisabellexx wrote: »

You would think so, wouldn't you? I'm a bra fitter at Debenhams and I am continually shocked at the amount of women who think they are wearing a good fitting bra when the back strap is up to thier neck and they are bulging out all over the place.

Also I often find ladies into their 60s/70s who dont know how bra sizes work, which also surprises me a lot.

In answer to OP, I second the other replies, you need to go a store and get fitted into the right size. Shock Absorber is the leading brand (whether its the best or not I dont know.) which both Debs and John Lewis sell. They do cups from A-G and do different support levels for different sports which I think is good.

Hope you manage to find one anyway!

You are so right! I was measured as a 36A a long time ago and just thought I'd have to live life flat chested with not enough to fill a bra! Got measured by a small independent store when they refused to sell me a 36a saying I couldn't possibly be that size. They measured me and lo and behold - 30C. Now have a gorgeous shape and my self confidence has boosted! Go get measured properly now girls!

Aspal

*sandymogs* wrote: »

I was about to ask the same question. I usually wear under-wired bras, but I want to buy a sports bra for the gym. I'm a larger cup size too and I looked in our local Evans, but they didn't have any. I'm going to try M&S tomorrow to see if they have any.

These companies certainly don't make it easy for us big girls to get to the gym to they?

I spent ages looking for a sports bra as I've recently taken up karate!! M&S go up to a 42 back size, and at least an F cup, in wired or non-wired, but you'll have to ask them to order them in. They ordered 4 for me to try and I just picked the best fit (seem to come up quite big - I took slightly smaller than I thought I would)

brix_2

you're right, tomsmum, this is the case for me too.

i find this formula seems to far more suitable for me:

[FONT=Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]the formula that produces a more accurate size is:

1 - measure underbust in inches
2 - round this measurement up to the nearest even number.
This is your band size
3 - measure bustline in inches (wearing a well-supporting bra)
4 - round this measurement up to the nearest whole number
5 - work out the difference between the 2 numbers
6 - for every inch difference, go up a cup size, as follows:

less than 1 inch - AA
1 inch - A
2 inches - B
3 inches - c
4 inches - D
5 inches - DD
6 inches - E
7 inches - F
8 inches - FF
9 inches - G

If the size you get from this method is too tight, go up a band size
and down a cup size.

eg underbust measures 31 inches, bust measures 36 inches
Bra size should be 32DD, but if this is too tight, a 34D may fit better.

now, according to everyone else's formulas, their measurements would make me a 36C or D, which never fits me. so i think the above formula works a lot better.


[/FONT]

the_devil_made_me_do_it

brix wrote: »

you're right, tomsmum, this is the case for me too.

i find this formula seems to far more suitable for me:

[FONT=Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]the formula that produces a more accurate size is:

1 - measure underbust in inches
2 - round this measurement up to the nearest even number.
This is your band size
3 - measure bustline in inches (wearing a well-supporting bra)
4 - round this measurement up to the nearest whole number
5 - work out the difference between the 2 numbers
6 - for every inch difference, go up a cup size, as follows:

less than 1 inch - AA
1 inch - A
2 inches - B
3 inches - c
4 inches - D
5 inches - DD
6 inches - E
7 inches - F
8 inches - FF
9 inches - G

If the size you get from this method is too tight, go up a band size
and down a cup size.

eg underbust measures 31 inches, bust measures 36 inches
Bra size should be 32DD, but if this is too tight, a 34D may fit better.

now, according to everyone else's formulas, their measurements would make me a 36C or D, which never fits me. so i think the above formula works a lot better

[/FONT]

I think your method sounds about right. That makes me about a 38D, so 36C (which is what I've been wearing) isn't too far out

I still think it depends on make and style of bra tho'.

SinKitty

I have tried the measurement techniques listed and the sites, as well as numerous other sites but each gives me drastically different measurements. My mum wants to drag me along to get properly fitted but I am really quite self concious about my body, is there another way asides from trying on endless amounts of bras? If someone could help with something that is more accurate than the sites i have been trauling through it would be much appreciated ty

Savvy_Sue

Welcome to the boards!

I do think that measuring yourself is always going to give varying results, and TBH even when you've got a 'measurement' it does vary with make and style.

Now, there are places where the very understanding fitters will start either by just looking at you, or by measuring over your t-shirt if you're very self-conscious, and then bring you some to try. Or you could just go into somewhere like Debenhams, take a few through to the changing rooms, and then ring for help. I've done the "I like this one but it feels a bit tight" line and they've done the running around finding others for me, either different size or different style.

It's that running around which I find so helpful: there I am in my bra, and I don't have to get dressed to hunt for a different style or size, strip to try it, and then dress again because it's still not right.

But go when you've got plenty of time, either with or without your mother, and if you feel very stressed about the whole thing try to treat yourself while you're out: eg "When we have finished with bras, we will have a nice coffee at our favourite coffee shop" or "When we have finished with bras, I will buy my favourite trashy mag and go home and lose myself in it." Whatever helps you through the experience.

Now, the moneysaving bit is that when you HAVE found a make, size and style which fits, you go home and look for it online, especially in the sales ... and buy lots of them. Or you may find you need two sizes / styles, particularly if you blow up with PMT or anything like that!

Best of luck ...

Bargain_Rzl

clairehi wrote: »

Fitting services are a total waste of time as different styles/makes are different sizes - its the same for clothes and shoes.

I completely disagree that fitting services are a waste of time. Ill-informed, badly trained measurement services certainly are, because modern bras just don't correspond to the traditional "think of a number, add four or five, take away the number you first thought of" formula, plus there's the fact that all women are different shapes. And as you've RIGHTLY said, each brand is slightly (or more than slightly) different from the others anyway.

A good FITTING service, like those offered by Bravissimo and Rigby & Peller and some independent specialists, is a great benefit because it equips you with the skill to assess what constitutes a good fit on future occasions when you want to just "try and buy" without being fitted. If, after being given professional fitting advice, you end up buying four bras and each one has a label saying a different size but all four fit perfectly, you've got the result you needed.

And if you're very embarrassed or body conscious, or simply find it a real chore to go bra shopping, it is possible that if you grin and bear it long enough to make your first trip to somewhere with a good fitting service (for me, it's Bravissimo every time) that you might come out of the experience realising that it's really not as bad as you thought it would be when you're dealing with a professional fitter who really knows what they're doing. I used to hate bra shopping with a passion, because although I had been measured several times and always come out at about a 34D/DD, nothing ever fit me and of course I thought it was me that was a weird shape (plus, I didn't know how to identify the signs of a poor fit). Finally bit the bullet and went to Bravissimo, got fitted (without tape measures) as a 32G and suddenly realised I was a perfectly normal shape and there were loads of bras that fit! Yes, brands vary - I'm sometimes a 32GG - but at least I now know what I'm looking for when I try bras on.

Lakshmi7

I was told to measure around the ribcage under the breast and note that down. You then measure around the fullest part of your breast and write that figure down too. If there is a 1" difference between the two figures, then you are an A-Cup. If there is a 2" difference, then you are a B-Cup and so on.