Boobs, I mean, Bras, and the eternal frustration

justine's link is good, though. that's the way to measure yourself. there's a lot of confusing sizing info online, even at major lingerie sites. any bra sizing guide that tells you to add numbers to your ribcage measurement or bust measurement before calculating cup size is outdated and inaccurate. you can come up with really comical measurements--i measured as a 36A with one of those guides once. i am nowhere near that size.

it would be best, of course, to go to a lingerie store where someone could feel you up and determine not only your size but the styles and brands that would fit you best, but some of us aren't going to be able to do that. you can figure out bras just fine with persistence and your own (correctly done) measurements. i had a hell of a ridiculous bra quest, but i managed it.

when you get the well-made, supportive stuff for larger busts, that shit gets really expensive, though. i could afford bras so much more easily when i was wearing the wrong size.

has anyone tried these before:

invisible demi bra

invisible pushup bra

my wedding dress has a low back, so i'm trying to figure out my options. i like the idea of these^^ but i'm wondering about how well they actually work. also, i'm worried about the 'pushup' aspect of them, as i don't want to actually be falling out the front of my wedding dress.

also considering one of these convertible bras because they have that really low back, but the straps look like they might bulge through the fabric of my dress.

i had a friend who used those invisible bras for special occasions. her opinion of them was that they were great for c cups and under.

i love convertible bras, myself. i had a great backless one when i was maid of honor in my sister's wedding.

what's the fabric of yr dress like?

Why not a low-back bustier thing?

There's even this one, which is all microfiber, seamless, and wireless. Might be more comfortable for all-day, esp in that soft & flowing dress?

On second thought, I don't think the center plunge is low enough on that one, but then I don't think the VS invisibles were low enough either.

yeah, that bustier is really nice but probably not low enough in the back or the front. i was playing round with the dress last night, different ways to wear it, and the way i really want to wear it means that the whole back is exposed, and the neckline is is really low. so i'm thinking i will only be able to wear those adhesive things (the ones that are separate, not joined at the cleavage).

the dress comes with a matching bandeau for more coverage, which could work well in the front, but i think it looks really unsightly in the back, even wearing the dress differently.

the fabric of the dress is modal jersey, self-lined.

maybe these?

OMG that link. I am wearing nowhere NEAR the correct size and haven't done for years.

Though I'm confused as to the adding numbers to get from the inches around your back to the "band size" thing. Trying to work out if I'm a 40F or a 44D but either way that's nowhere near what I'm currently wearing (which is actually vastly uncomfortable.)

I'll go to M&S tomorrow and try some bigger boob cup sizes and see if it helps.

that link i posted: i'm a about 3 cup sizes bigger using their method than i am using VS's fit guide or bare necessities. so take with a grain of salt.

really like this, but this site doesn't have 360 degree pics, so i can't see the front.

Well, I've been wearing a C cup since I was 18, just increasing the back size. I can no longer squish myself into a C cup, so I might try either a D or something larger.

just1n3, even the product's website doesn't have a front view, but you can see how low cut the front of Miley Cyrus's dress is when she's wearing one.

i just found a place that stocks them, out near where we're headed today, so i'm gonna see if i can try one out. fingers crossed!

i was trying on the bandeau again, and even with that on i still can't wear a bra with a back strap bc it shows right through the thin material.

http://jezebel.com/5500379/the-marketing-woes-of-36dd

In the past decade the median bra size in America increased from 36C to 36DD.

really?!?! i guess i shouldn't be surprised, but wow i gotta say that had no idea
(i am barely a b)

i blame oprah. i remember when she went on this big kick about going down a band size and up in the cup. all my friends went and got new comically sized bras.

i was thinking that bras had the inverse of the women's clothing sizing problem (ie sizes were artificially small even though clothes kept getting bigger) -- bra sizes keep getting bigger to make women feel that they have big boobies but the boobs themselves aren't growing

?

if i went up in cup i would be floating (or not) in space

If I went down a band size, you'd find me slumped over my computer, unable to operate my legs because no blood was circulating to my lower body.

i seriously need new bras right now but i am so scared of attempting to find the correct size :\

k ILS, i have to ask.. what to wear underneath white/light-colored tops and tshirts and such?! you're supposed to wear nude-colored bras with them obvs but i am several shades paler than most "nude" colors i can find. not sure where to look. and man.. 36dd?! i barely wear an a. dnw pushups/lots of padding either, prefer no wires even. this is driving me crazy.

(annoyed with self for having purchased & not returned this white summer top from apc last year, under which you might have to wear a tank because even with a lining it's semi-sheer.. but wtf, it's for summer when it's too hot for extra layers)

I don't care about color showing through as much as I hate lumpiness and lines. Wd rather wear a black bra under a white shirt and have it be smooth and well-shaped then a white bra that bunches or has seams that show.

I generally go the "nude"-colored route, but yeah, it's an enormous pain to find something like your skin. Buying bras is a nightmare if you pay any attention to the details.

If you don't need the support and it HAS a nominal lining already, why not use a sticky shaper thing to make sure no nip shows through, and let the rest vaya con dios?

i find that even if the nude color is not the same as my skin (which is like ghostly white), it generally looks fine under white. however, i wear white shirts once in a blue moon, so ymmv. also pale pink can work sometimes.

i always just wear a thin cotton tank. in fact, it is the same thin cotton tank i have been wearing for a shockingly long time. i'm gross.

in fact, i am wearing it today!

this whole nude bra under white shirts is a revelation for me. I just have a coupla black bras and a coupla white ones.

OK, that was insane. I went to M&S and tried on a dozen bras. I am a 40DD. (I think a 42D would have done as well but couldn't find any.)

Where the HELL did all that breast come from? Please tell me bra sizes have just been pushed up to make women think they have bigger boobs.

Apparently the place to go in the UK for a fantastic fit is Rigby and Peller. They do the Queen's. But then I guess you have to buy one of their Queen-priced bras.

i've found that a certain shade of pink works well under white tshirts, or lavender. i'm medium pale.

as for bra size, i'm baffled by the articles about how there are such higher averages, and vanity sizing, and all of that. when i was in high school, i measured myself according to the bali guide i had, and measured as a 36D. i interpreted this as a horrific mistake of some kind, and stuffed myself into c cups for years and years to follow. it was the simple (and for me, accurate) way of measurement--ribcage size, bust size, subract to find cup size. no added numbers or further complication.

now my size is different. in my experience, american bras fit better if i get them in my measured size or near that size--a 34 band is a 34. (maybe vanity sizing varies depending on your size range? i haven't found vanity sizing in american bras at all. and i would probably be horrified if i had to try on something a cup size larger than my actual size. i have issues.)

american companies don't make anything remotely supportive for my size, tho. fuckers. european sizes seem to almost uniformly run small, so i go up a band size and down a cup size. but they're wonderful and supportive and they actually fit me. i find the common styles that fit me decently, and then look for them on ebay, because i hate the idea of spending $60 for one bra.

it's all far too complicated and annoying.

Why are strapless bras so much more w/the insane bouncing around than their strapful kin?

I can't really work out the physics. Caek to thread.

omg. I just went to Victoria's Secret. I'd had a quick scoot round a week ago and liked that all the bras seemed to be good seamless T-shirt type styles in lots of lovely colours (I only wear t-shirt style ones cos I hate lines). So what I hadn't realised is that 90% of them have INSANE LUMPS OF PADDING AND/OR GEL! With like this tiny space for your actual breast to go in. I literally had to go round giving them all a good feel. The craziest ones were on the plastic mannequins and looked so weird because they were stuck out from the fake boobs.

So I stalked towards the 'nakeds' ones which were unbelievably light but didn't have them in A-cups (turns out that's too small anyway but I was fed up of knocking bras off hangers by the time I realised). Is half of America walking round with huge wads of memory foam in their bras?

NB I am only used to Marks & Spencers so this was a revelation for me...

Haha you came to the right place to bitch about it, because the answer is YES. And the difficulty of finding a seamed, contoured bra without any padding for under a hundred bucks is one of the banes of my existence. Every mid-level, department-store brand bra IN THE WORLD, apparently, is padded and/or push-up.

I have this problem even in the UK. Those bras with the rigid shape and masses of padding just seem like they would be so uncomfortable. But I don't like lace ones either, and there is no in-between any more.

Got a good compromise from Debenhams a year or so ago but they must have discontinued that style as I couldn't find anything remotely similar when I went back. And the other styles I tried on didn't fit at all even though they were the same size and same brand as I was already wearing.

It's not the thin, all-over padding that's everywhere in the UK (I actually don't mind that if it's done well). There are pockets of foam or gel stuff literally as big as my fist. They claim to add two cup sizes, if that's any indication.

Someone should put a few diagrams online about what's actually in these things. BTW H&M used to be OK for "normal" bras, although I haven't looked there recently.

guys i think the new 'bombshell' line at VS, which claims to add 2 cup sizes, is the one with all the gel and shit.

i actually bought this perfect push up from VS last week that fit super well and held everything up just right but when i actually wore it for real i was horrified to realize it SQUEAKS. well, its more a squeaky creaky noise like loose floorboards or something coming from where the wire goes up toward my right armpit. another return.

Also any recommendations on size reduction bras? I use sportsbras a size or two too small but the straps are all chunky so it does work for dresses etc

Try Title Nine or Athleta, sunny. They have the widest selection of sports bras and movement-reduction bras I've ever seen, and a good rating systems for testing their strengths, levels of support.

Athleta is a bit on the luxury-yoga-wear tip, but skip past that and go directly to "Support My Boobage"*.

*Sadly, not the actual chapter heading in the table of contents.

will rep for title nine for all time

all my go-to bras just wore out at once, i think (and i threw out almost all the other ones during my apartment overhaul this week). i need to consult a Support My Boobage (tm)(lol) expert, but one who specializes in non-puffed-up bras that actually look good and maybe come in teal and a really nice shade of pink and almost-white pink and also cherry red. again, i feel like i'm asking for the impossible. but i will BELIEVE.

one of my bra straps randomly broke today. had to do some covert tucking and pulling, ohdear.
now i need to go buy a new bra :/

ubiquitous bra things that make me irrationally angry: when the cleavage-side of the cups kind of curls outwards after one wear bc the bra is a stupid stiff thing from VS. It is doing it today and I have these weird lumps under my shirt.

Got a good compromise from Debenhams a year or so ago but they must have discontinued that style as I couldn't find anything remotely similar when I went back. And the other styles I tried on didn't fit at all even though they were the same size and same brand as I was already wearing.

Aaahh Debenhams did this to me AGAIN, I finally find a new bra that fits and go back a month later and not only do they not have any more but the ones with the same style and size on the label don't fit.

And I can't just buy them six at a time because often I think they fit ok in the fitting room but when I actually wear them for a few hours of normal activity I find they dig in or stick out or something, or just find that the underwiring bursts through the fabric after like 4 wears.

(I don't really know what size I am any more but I am now way too fat to let a stranger measure me, sigh)

yes, that bit of fabric turning up and causing a line to appear in clothing is nagl. i try to avoid by only buying bras made of thin fabric in layers, but that can be hard to find. there are so many BAD BRAS out there! it's so wrong. and the really nice ones are so $$. i found a couple of decent calvin klein ones the other day but the size i took into the fitting room didn't fit right i and didn't have time to let the lady measure me (which i think is fine - it's their job!), so i will have to go back to the store...

I'm running out of bras. Baaad news, bears. Am I gonna have to go to one of those places where they measure you and tell you you've been buying the wrong size all your life? I'm not sure I can afford their advice!

i have zero decent bras right now - they either make my boobs like bad or they're highly uncomfortable. i always buy super cheap bras because... i'm super cheap and never think ahead. BUT i thought i was 'splurging' when i bought a $45 bra at VS. it was so great and nice and comfy for the first month. now it's useless. i bought a couple of sale bras online, none of which are any good.

ugh. i hate even thinking about buying new bras.

the eternal frustration remains eternal

I'm running out of bras. Baaad news, bears. Am I gonna have to go to one of those places where they measure you and tell you you've been buying the wrong size all your life? I'm not sure I can afford their advice!

Don't they measure you with your clothes on, though? Sounds useless to me.

Nope - they usually measure you in whatever bra you come in wearing iirc.