My problem is slipping straps. I don’t know why - I’m not particularly slope-shouldered. I tighten them as far as they will go, but they still slip off my shoulders. I’m a 36 C, not huge. What am I doing wrong?
StG
Slipping straps means the band size is too big. I bet you could wear a 32DD or a 34D and wouldn’t have a problem.
Just a mention for busty gals without a large band size to not bother with Lane Bryant. I worked there for about 7 months and got to see/try on most of the bras. I’m currently a 36F and was a 36G for awhile. Even when I lost a lot of weight, I was still a 34 F.
Lane Bryant carries up to DDD in a lot of styles, with band sizes 38-44/6. Their much-hyped move a couple years ago was to include 36 bands. Problem is, they don’t go up above DD or DDD (in some), and thus they were still useless for me. 
If you have a smaller band size and bigger boobs, I recommend Bravissimo. They’re based in the UK, but have excellent customer service. I’ve gotten personal responses to emails about “if these are my band and bust measurements, what size would I get for this style and this style?” with size recommendations (since bras really vary from brand to brand and cut to cut).
I know - they’re fun vampires all right - sucking the fun out of my day!
I can’t find the model number on mine, but I found them anyway.
It’s this bra here:
http://lanebryant.charmingshoppes.com/pagebuilder/lane_bryant_product_page?item=6688311&pagesize=3
For some unholy marketing reason, it’s known as a passion lace plunge bra. For some reason, it’s only available in white, black and beige on the website, but I personally own it in other colors, so I know they make it in other colors!
The little blurb informs you that the air cushions are for controlling cleavage, but that’s a lie - they’re really to prevent the girls from heading for your armpits. I guess it’s hard to work out a tactful way to phrase that for marketing purposes!
I appreciate that this bra may fit very well, but… it’s lace. That means you can’t wear it underneath t-shirts or any kind of drapey fabric. The lace shows through. The lace catches the fabric and makes the shirt ride up. It would be a nightmare!
Likewise, one can’t have a seam right across the middle of the cup. The seam shows.
Likewise, one can’t have an unlined cup, because every time you feel a draft… well… everyone will know.
So?
The lady at the Maidenform store was amazing! I had been wearing a 36B, turns out I should be in a 32D.* However, those are near impossible to find in most places, so a 34C works almost as well.
*Maidenform’s 32D was a tad too small, although apparently other brands’ 32D might be a perfect fit. I don’t understand why as you go down a band size, the actual cup size decreases. Like, the D cup itself on a 32 band bra is actually smaller than the D cup on a 34 band bra. Anyone have a good explanation?
That’s pretty much my story. I was wearing a 36B and both straps were by my elbows by the end of a day. I’m probably the same size you are, and no, I don’t have an explanation. Maybe because the area is wider?
It really depends on how tight the shirt in question is - although I tend away from more drapey fabric in general. They make similar stlyes of bra that are lace-free and lack the center seam. The bra I linked is fully lined, though - or rather it’s actually a molded cup style with lace overlay, rather than a lace bra per se.
Ahem. I have a small problem with the unfortunate nipple appearances, as mine are more-or-less perpetually at a minimum of half mast (so to speak) and I’ve never had an indiscrete appearence with one of the bras in this line. YMMV, of course! There are other bras by the same maker with no seam in smooth fabrics (I own a couple of those for days when I’m wearing a shirt that would make a lace bra or front seam… inappropriate. They’re also really nice bras that I can wholeheartedly recommend.
I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this yet, but I have found, through years of agony in bra shopping, that Frederick’s of Hollywood makes the most… rugged… bras around 
. These things hold up for years, they could be steel-belted for as sturdy as they are–but more importantly, they’re super comfy and even the basic design bra is very, very flattering.
See, I didn’t like Freddy bras. I bought two in 36F since I’m, y’know, a 36F. They were way way way too small. I gave up and went to an awesome professional fitter who said the cups were at least 3 sizes too small for me. The bra I got that fit wonderfully? 36F. It seems that Freddy’s does vanity sizing for at least the bra that I got.
Thanks Aangelica I am heading there right now for the second time in two days. Yes I said second time. You just know there is a wonderful bra shopping from hell story in this. 
I really need to go bra shopping now. I “wear” a 34C now, but the band is always sliding around & the shoulder straps fall down. The cups seem to fit, but I bet if I went down a band size I’d have to go up a cup size.
It NEVER would have occured to me to try on a D cup, regardless of the band size.
So do these stores usually have a specific trained fitter or do they train all staff? If you called a store about getting fitted and they said “just come in whenever, any of the staff can do that”, would that be a bad sign? (Lane Bryant)
Y’know, what I never understood and still find ridiculous is the ‘add 5’ thing.
That’s just as absurd as ‘Measure your waist, then add 5, and that’s the waist size you should buy in jeans.’
Who thought this up and why?
It was thought up, apparently, in the days of pinup girls, when a “perfect figure” was 36-24-36. This measurement, of course, was the bust measurement, not the ribcage measurement. But lines got crossed somehow and manufacturers thought Sally Homemaker would feel better about her itty bitties if her band size was 36, even when her ribcage was 31. The bigger you get, the less accurate “add 5” is - you add 3 or 4, then eventually add nothing at all. Make sense? Of course not. But why would this be the one frakking area of women’s clothing sizing to make sense, pray tell?!
A continuation of the saga of my boobs…
I bought a couple of Gillian O’Malley’s, both the same style in 36D. Seemed okay in the store. Got home, wore one for a little bit, took it off and returned them both. No matter what style I’ve tried, 36 just isn’t gonna do it, and my ribcage measurement is 34.5" so WTF. I ended up getting a Wal-Mart (oh noes) brand, Secret Treasures, in 38D that fits like it was made for me, it’s pretty, it was cheap, and it’ll last until I’m solidly in a 36 that fits properly.
Nordstrom girl told me the other day that the band on the too-snug bra she brought me would stretch. I said “It’ll ride up with wear” under my breath. I’m sure she didn’t get it.
Thanks for the explanation, WhyNot. The conventional instructions for bra sizing never made any sense to me. Then I found some web site with a different method: measure around the upper chest at armpit level, above where the breasts begin. Just take that as the band measurement, without doing any extra arithmetic. It sounded totally out of left field… but also more intuitive than the usual method. So I tried it. To my amazement, I got exactly the right fit that way. But again, maybe it’s the sort of method that would work well on one body but not on others, who knows… anyone else tried this?
It never would have occurred to me, either. Just try it. And don’t put it on and immediately reject it because it seems too big- the Maidenform lady told me that most people do that, when they really just need to tighten the straps and it would fit perfectly.
I need a Maidenform lady.
For those who need sizes above a DDD cup and have purchased the thin strappy bra’s from Bravissimo (or anywhere else I suppose), what was your experience? I’ve always been afraid to purchase a bra that didn’t have a huge strap because of the weight that was being supported.