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It’s not you, it’s your…

By Meg | June 28, 2007

Do you hate your armpit fat? Do you hate how your back fat? Does your bra run up in the back? Do you think you have small breasts?

If you said yes to some of those (and even if you didn’t) you could be wearing the wrong size bra. It’s a common mistake, and the problems listed above are often caused by wearing a bra whose band is too loose and whose cup size is too small. I have seen this all too often. In fact, just yesterday I pulled an acquaintance aside to talk to her about her bra (yes, I am a very honest person). This same week, Meg at Faking Good Breeding had her own Bra Epiphany.

Yes, you might not be an 38-A after all. You might be a 36-B or even a 34-D. Because cup size is determined by the difference between bust size and band size, an A-cup with a 38 band is not the same as an A-cup on a 36 band (the first is larger). Why is this important? Well, if you’ve changed band sizes, then you will likely need to change cup sizes as well - and vice versa. However, many women when they buy new bras don’t take that into consideration, so they only change one or the other. If you’re a 34-D, a 38-A will likely still “fit” around you, but it won’t fit right. You might still think that you’re a 38-A, though, because you know that you aren’t a 36-A or a 38-B.

So how do you know what size bra you should be in? A lot of nicer clothing stores that carry lingerie do have people that will measure you if you ask. You can also measure yourself with a cloth tape measurer and compare your results to an online size guide. However, measuring is only the first step. Measurements can be wrong, and even if they are right, bras might just fit you differently. For example, I got a cloth tape measure yesterday and did my own measurements. Now, I could be wrong (along with everyone else who has measured me), but I know for certain that I am not a 38-A. I spill out of a 38-B and the strap rides up. What do I wear? I have found that 34-D bras fit me perfectly. So do I care what the tape measure says? Not one bit. I go with what works.

So, after you have a measurement to start with, try on bras in different sizes to see which fits you best. If the bra you have on almost fits, try going either up a band size and down a cup size, or down a band size and up a cup size. Have a look at this bra guide. It shows how to measure yourself, has a bra size calculator, and more importantly, tells you how you should change your bra size to fix common problems. Also, take a look at Oprah’s Bra and Swimsuit Intervention: Best Breast Tips for tips on where you should be wearing your bra (hint: many women wear their bras too high). And remember, when buying bras, buy bras that fit the best on the last hook (i.e. at their loosest). That way you can hook the bra tighter as the bra wears out or if you loose weight. If you happen to gain weight, you can use a bra band extender, but making the band smaller isn’t nearly as easy.

How does your bra fit? Have you had a bra epiphany of your own? Have you done a bra intervention?


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