(slight highjack) That gadget reminds me of the vacuum “enhancer” for men. From what I understand, it doesn’t work for men, so how does it work for women? The theory seems about the same.(end slight highjack)
Tansu, thanks for the correction. As for calling me a gentleman - we’ll let it go this time. 
Just chiming in to add my 2 cents . . .
IMO, cheap bras are the way to go, because I don’t have the time or patience for the “rinsing out your delicates, never put them in a dryer” routine. In the washer with like colors and then in the dryer. Yes, I know it breaks down the elastic. Yes, I know it cuts down of the “life” of the bra. But then I just throw it out and buy a new one – that’s the point. And, anyway, if there is one thing that is almost as annoying as being poked in the side of the boob by an underwire, it’s scritchy-scratchy lace. The only lingerie I have that is lacy and expensive is the stuff I always hope I won’t be wearing long. (Oor, alas, often.)
The only thing worse than quadra-boob is uniboob (aka monoboob), which is why I hate 99 out of 100 sports bras for big-breasted women. I realize that for a person with breasts my size (38D), a compression bra works best for working out (and I do wear 'em for that purpose), but I
HATE the uniboob look. Any suggestions for a decent sports bra that keeps The Girls in place but doesn’t make it look like you only have one? Ta entirely.
Here’s another D cup chiming in for Bali bras. And you can get your undies at a good price here:
Of course, I don’t have much need for knowing the circumference of my knees … 
Maidenform’s One Fabulous Fit bra…underwire, no padded/puffy cups, smooth under shirts, fits the girls great. And the girls are growing again from a C to a D…and this bra still feels good. It strecthes to accomodate.
The #2 choice? Vasserette bras from Wal-Mart. More fun colors and prints than the Maidenform, but not as comfy.
First, my fitting horror story:
I was 17 and had to buy low-back bra (with straps) for my prom dress (it had a very low cut back). I went to a speciality store with my mom called Lingerie, Lingerie. I told the saleswoman what I needed, she handed it to me in black, in my size, and led me to a dressing room. The girls has just made it into the bra, so I’m wearing jeans and a very skimpy piece of black lace, when I hear a knocking. I barely had time to call, “Occupi–!” when the saleswoman barged in.
I immediately fell to a fetal position/defensive crouch in the corner of the fitting room, but she kept a’comin’ with a measuring tape. The worse part was, she left the damn door open while attacking, so several people witnessed my escape attempt. I have never been so utterly and totally humilated in my entire life.
Moving right along…
I wear a 38D, and hands down, the most fabulous bra I have found is the Victoria Secret Second Skin Satin bra. They recently made it even better - it’s more stretchy and has an extra hook in the back. How wonderful is this bra? I own eight! I love them! And they are 2 for $40!
It gets better…the matching satin undies (I prefer the bikinis, but the thongs are comfy too) are stretchy as well and will successfully smother any belly bulge in a tight skirt or dress. I own about twenty pair of the satin bikinis (buy 2, get 2 free…which adds up to 4 panties for $28). They constantly change the colors too - last Christmas I bought the most incredible fuschia/silver snake skin print. They are incredibly comfortable (well, I don’t know about the high-cuts) and come in great colors.
Best of luck, my friend. I wish you much bra happiness. 
[[I try to get bras that make me look smaller; so I’d never wear one of those. (I have plenty enough cleavage naturally.)]]
Oh, shut up, Carina.
38 D here. This is my favorite bra of all time. It holds 'em at just the right level to be attractive in any shirt or top, and it provides excellent support. I’m a wide-shouldered ex-swimmer (been there, had the figure problems) and it keeps everything where it ought to be so I don’t look like a total freak. Plus, it’s lacey and purty! My mom, a 36C, bought one and likes it very much, too.
OK, you asked for this one, and the guys will not understand this one but the gals will go OOOOOOOWWWWWCCCCCHHHHH.
I must say that this story was told to me by a girl who did fittings in my store. Ok, this young woman came in looking for a nice bra to wear with a backless dress. She found one she liked on the floor but her size was not there so she asked the salesgirl (my friend) if she had one out the back.
“So, what size are you looking for?” she asked.
“34B” the young woman answered.
“Umm”, the sales girl said, noticing this young woman was WAY too big to be a 34B “are you sure you are a 34C, why don’t we do a fitting on you?”
So the young woman and the salesgirl went into a fitting room for the fitting and about 15 minutes later it turns out the young woman is a 36DD!! She had been wearing a cup three sizes too small. It is amazing that she could breathe! She said that she had been wearing the same bra size since she was 12! Can you belive it?
And the moral of the story is:
women should get fitted for bras every few years.
Feh. I would LOVE to have nice little B boobies, seriously. When I was in high school, I was kind of a star athlete-type. Gave up all forms of sports at 16 because I was so distressed & embarassed about being teased about my boobs. I swear I did not run in public until I was in my late 30’s & discovered Champion sports bras. I own four, & love them.
If I could have afforded reduction surgery when I was younger, I would have done it in a heartbeat. Since I was 14, I have absolutely hated having big boobs. I’m between a 36D & DD now…I hope the damn things have stopped growing. (I’m 43 now. argh.)
Jodi I agree with you that those sports bras squish one into a strange shape! I wear the Champion ones without a shirt, so it doesn’t matter…though I do get a weird tan!
Nacho4Sara…thanks for the tip on the VS bras. LOVE the colours, I may have to try one!
I’m a 34B, and I don’t have any problems with falling out of the Miracle Bras that I own (3). My problem is that I find them so itchy! I can’t wear any of them all day because it becomes too uncomfortable. I don’t have that problem with any other push-up/padded bras, or with any other variety of Victoria’s Secret bra. 
Well, I have multiple choice boobs. I can go braless, if the T-shirt is black with some sort of decor, you know, like a big Nike thing or something, without too much notice.
And a lot of the time, if your going to get me into a bra, I love the all-cotton, no wire, barely-there variety from Wal-Mart, ‘Secret Treasures’ in a 38C, $5 apiece. I don’t need no stinkin’ wires. These boobs are not that big, they’re not going anywhere.
BUT, for groovy cleavage, which takes some work - my boobs are not cooperative - I have this black seamless underwire bra by Olga. It was expensive, but so worth it. It has formed cups that are not padded, but still very supportive. It doesn’t give you that ‘line between the poofs’ kind of cleavage, but it gives the upper slopes of the breasts a nice boost for low-cut blouses… sort of a 'yeh, uh-huh, I got em, look at ‘em’ kinda vibe. It tends to increase the number of men who want to hug you. Tightly.
You might check out these newer bras, don’t know the brand name, saw them in a department store advertisement… they are padded, but they have a thing in the middle front of the bra that you can use to ‘pull in’ your boobs closer together, to form cleavage. I want to try one, but haven’t, since I really ought to at least pretend to try to stay out of trouble.
For a while.
Pink
Since I did this at a dept store in the KC area for 2 years, I think I may be able to help you out in that respect, Jarbaby.
First of all – Do you have any “normal” new bras - non pushemups? Old ones don’t work, they’re too stretched out. If so, do they fit perfectly fine in the 36C size? Look closely for little poonchies (what I call the quadraboob phenomenon) at the top and sides. Does the center of the bra where the two wires come together tend to stick out? If so, then yes, you probably need to jump up to the 36D.
Otherwise, just blame the push-up. You’re gonna be more likely to spill out of them because there’s nothing holding the gals in except gravity. Oftentimes, they will make the push-ups a little smaller. It’s another way to get more oomph outta the bra.
And about fitting – like others said, you start measuring around the chest, just under your boobage. Add 4 or 5 inches to the measurement, like was mentioned before. Now, don’t waste your time measuring around the actual boobies. Without a bra on, it’s not going to measure correctly. And with a bra on, you’re going to measure the size you’re currently wearing. No good. The best thing to do is to guestimate the cup size you need, and try on that size plus and minus 1. Keep trying on until they’re comfortable. Do the toe touching exercise. This procedure is what they taught us in our bra fitting training. And don’t be afraid of the sales lady walking in the room (although they really shouldn’t just barge in without a warning). They tend to be the best judge of whether a bra fits or not. And they really like to look at breasts. ;p
I find it’s a good idea to try on every bra I buy. Different manufacturers have different ideas about sizing.
36C here. I highly recommend buying bras that are “balcony” or “balconette” style. These are the bras where the cups are like semi-circles with the straight edge at the top. That probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, so look in a catalog for an example. They’re usually underwired and have no padding, and they do a great job of supporting and creating cleavage. In fact, I have a medium frame but can’t even wear large-size button-up blouses/shirts when I’m wearing a balcony bra, because of the gaps created between the chest-level buttons. But I can’t go back to wearing the “normal” style bras (i.e. the kind where the cup sort of runs diagonally down towards the chest) because of the boob-falling-out problem.
I’m a 38D and I pretty much only buy my bras at VS for a few reasons…
*The bras in places like Target tend to fall apart more quickly than the ones I buy at VS.
*It’s hard to get a non-granny bra [the kind that wouldn’t show with low-cut shirts and tank tops] anywhere else.
*It may cost more, but the stuff lasts long enough that I only have to buy one or two bras every other year.
I tried on the miracle bra for laughs one day, and I was totally surprised to find that the bra looked both too small and too big at the same time. I like the Balconette stuff they have at VS, but the thong that matches it is the most uncomfy thing I’ve ever owned, and this comes from someone who prefers thongs.
Gave up caring how it looks (face it, I will never have perky tits again ) and started going for “comfort” years ago. The Playtex 18-Hour Bra. There’s no substitute for serious engineering.
[sub]any gal who buys a bra without trying it on deserves what she gets, which is a quick schlep back to the store to return it[/sub]
On a related note: I am on a quest for a piece of lingerie for a particular formal dress I own which has, thus far, been worn braless. I’m not comfortable with this. I would love to do the bra and control top pantyhose with it, but, alas, the back of it is so plunging (small of the back level) that neither hose nor backless (and there’s a misnomer) bras are feasible. Adhesive bras are more trouble than they’re worth. The item I’m looking for would be the following: girdle panels for the stomach, attached to a low panty, with bra cups and garters. Shoulder straps would be okay.
::plaintive sigh:: Has anyone seen anything even remotely like this?
OK> So i measured exactly like they said at http://www.home.flash.net/~bras/ measure.htm
and at the fullest past of my bust i measure 48 in., and at my ribcage i measure 44 inches.
what i am wearing now is a Vanity Fair 42dd, sheer delights [unsure of exact name], style 75-091. it fits perfectly, I do not have to fiddle with it very much, and is reasonably comfortable for a girl who hates to wear a bra. Also, the bra I am wearing now is new, and I’d like to get some more of them.