I have to giggle at the men responding in this thread! You notice you’re being completely ignored? Can’t blame ya for trying though. 
[QUOTE=SmartAleq]
You want fun? Try finding not only a 38B, but a COTTON one! Let me know how it works out for you. I can’t wear polyester at all, and especially not over my tits and under my arms and all cotton bras seem to be pretty much nonexistent.
[/QUOTE]
Have you tried Back to Basics at www.cottonbras.com? I adore this place. Cotton skivvies of all sorts, not just bras. The best way to use this site is to find a wearable bra at the mall, and if it’s a brand the site has, order half a dozen of it.
Actually, if you find a wearable bra of ANY sort, Google the brand and see if you can buy it online. Much better than the crapshoot of hitting the stores.
[QUOTE=Kneepants Erasmus, the Humanist]
What really sucks, is that according most of the websites that have been mentioned in this thread, including Victoria’s Secret, I am a 38 AA. Yeah, I am sure I could find that. Silly me, I have been wearing a 34C all these years (no clue how I would keep the boobs from falling out of the bottom of a 38 band).
Does the “measure your ribcage and add 5” technique work for anybody ???
[/QUOTE]
I think that was the technique I used - it gave me a cup size too small. Oh yeah, and the “go down two numbers and up one cup size” thing that some women say works as an “alternate” bra size if you can’t find the one you’re looking for? Yeah, didn’t work - I couldn’t even make the band ends meet.
BTW, I looked at the prices for the bras I bought from Bali. The one I picked out was only about $19.99.
AND they also have wire-free options. You can’t beat that.
[QUOTE=Kneepants Erasmus, the Humanist]
Does the “measure your ribcage and add 5” technique work for anybody ???
[/QUOTE]
No, it doesn’t. According to that method of measuring, I should be wearing 42B’s. One look at me and it’s very obvious I’m NOT a B cup. LOL!
I wonder if a long time ago this was the way of measuring and sizes have changed like they have in other types of clothes. When I was fitted recently at Nordstrom, the woman did not do the add 5" thing. She just measured me 38" = 38 band size. Then she just looked at me and said D or DD I’ll bring both for you to try.
[QUOTE=Broomstick]
I was making do with what I had, but they are literally falling apart. I HAD TO get something cheap and quick, and fuck if they don’t last forever. WHY is it so impossible to go to a local store and do just that, buy something cheaply and quickly to tide me over for awhile? Yes, you’re all giving reasonably alternatives but am I the only one who sees the unjust stupidity that my husband can go to one of these stores and easily buy a complete wardrobe and I can’t?
[/QUOTE]
Unlike your husbands underwear, a bra actually has to provide support. When I spend $25 for a bra, I’m not spending money for fashion or a brand name, I’m buying a product that is well constructed, holds up my D-cup girls, and last for wash after wash. I personally am very happy that this is the age of spandex and I’m not walking around in a corset. But if you it bothers you so much, then don’t wear a bra. There’s no law that you have to.
I hate underwires. Anyone who says I must not be wearing the right size can go strangle on one. I have been measured several times at Victoria’s Secret here and at Mall of America–underwires are equivalent to torture for me.
I do not suggest this solution for anyone else, but I now wear sports bras 99% of the time. I’m a 36 (or a 38, depends on the manufacturer) C or B. I wear CoolMax sports bras to work (under scrubs-they’re great). And I wear them around the house and to run errands (my other life). If I had to wear suits or real adult clothes to work and my life, I am not sure what I’d do.
I also do not see WHY women should have to pay $50 and up for a decent fitting bra. have you tried Sears? They have a large selection, as does Penney’s (already mentioned). I buy my sports bras at Target-$19.99. (and even that is expensive to me).
[QUOTE=AlwaysFresh]
I have to giggle at the men responding in this thread! You notice you’re being completely ignored? Can’t blame ya for trying though. 
[/QUOTE]
Hey, we’re in the pit and nobody’s calling you a fuckwit.
Pepper Mill hijacking Cal’s spot again.
For all you larger ladies out there, have you tried Lane Bryant’s? They have a pretty good selection, some of them without out wires, and a lot of them don’t look old ladylike to me.
But as for a more or less normal size as 36C the stores metioned above are all great places to shop.
[QUOTE=eleanorigby]
I hate underwires. Anyone who says I must not be wearing the right size can go strangle on one. I have been measured several times at Victoria’s Secret here and at Mall of America–underwires are equivalent to torture for me.
[/QUOTE]
I know I suggested a trip to VS for the OP earlier in the thread, but that was assuming she already knew her size and was looking for a very specific bra (no wires, etc. etc.). In reality, I’d never, ever, ever go by a sizing given at Victoria’s Secret.
For example, one time I went in and they offered me a sizing. I said sure and proceeded to get felt up by the little girl in the black suit. At the time I was wearing a 36 C, which I knew was running a bit small, so I was curious as to her findings. Her findings? “Oh,” she exclaimed, face dead from horror, “You wear . . . a 46 EEE” (or some equally huge size). I looked at her, looked down and my lovely and large, but not THAT large boobs, smiled, and said thanks.
For shits and giggles my friends and I walked over to Lane Bryant and grabbed a 46 EEE. I could have put both tits and my entire ass in one cup, still leaving room for an elbow or three.
Even now that I am fatter and my titties have fattened equally, most D cups are still a bit big on me. I go back and forth between a 40 C and a 38 D- give or take based on the cut of the bra.
Anywho, long story short: don’t trust the bra minions and VS (or Lane Bryant, or Fredrick’s, or wherever). Go to a real lingerie store or a high end lingerie department and get felt up there.
[QUOTE=aerodave]
Quite true. And if this thread is any indication, female Dopers are, on average, quite well-endowed. More so than the general population.
This intrigues me. Greatly.
[/QUOTE]
We keep our extra brains in our boobs.
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
Pepper Mill hijacking Cal’s spot again.
For all you larger ladies out there, have you tried Lane Bryant’s? They have a pretty good selection, some of them without out wires, and a lot of them don’t look old ladylike to me.
But as for a more or less normal size as 36C the stores metioned above are all great places to shop.
[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately LB’s is more for big band sizes: they claim to carry 36’s, but they’re rarely in the stores. So those of us with a band size smaller than 38 are SOL unfortunately.
And actually, that’s a problem when looking for bras for the ‘cup runneth over’ category. I’ve noticed over the years that ‘standard’ bras carried by your typical stores with a typical selection will have 32–>36 (sometimes 38: see my note) band sizes and cups ranging from A to C, with the seemingly random appearance of a AA or D. Then the ‘full busted’ sizes tend to start at… 38DD. 
The largest cup size I’ve seen at these kinds of places is a DDD: so anyone with any kind of large cup size is out of luck, as are the larger cupped 36s and belows. (And the smaller cupped 38s if the ‘standard’ range doesn’t include 38. Note: I’m pretty sure that the 38A–>C range is made and is included in the ‘standard’ size range, but I rarely see them for some reason.)
I really feel for women in areas that don’t have a decent lingerie store or a department store with a good lingerie section near them. Having to mail order, buy over the internet, or travel who knows how long in order to get, oh say, a 38H (or 28L as I saw on one website) when just about everyone else around you just nips into the local store must suck.
[QUOTE=Subterraneanus]
Hey, we’re in the pit and nobody’s calling you a fuckwit.
[/QUOTE]
Was just pokin’ a little fun. :rolleyes:
[QUOTE=eleanorigby]
I hate underwires. Anyone who says I must not be wearing the right size can go strangle on one. I have been measured several times at Victoria’s Secret here and at Mall of America–underwires are equivalent to torture for me.
I do not suggest this solution for anyone else, but I now wear sports bras 99% of the time. I’m a 36 (or a 38, depends on the manufacturer) C or B. I wear CoolMax sports bras to work (under scrubs-they’re great). And I wear them around the house and to run errands (my other life). If I had to wear suits or real adult clothes to work and my life, I am not sure what I’d do.
I also do not see WHY women should have to pay $50 and up for a decent fitting bra. have you tried Sears? They have a large selection, as does Penney’s (already mentioned). I buy my sports bras at Target-$19.99. (and even that is expensive to me).
[/QUOTE]
Like I said, the Bali bras are only twenty bucks on the company website. Not fifty. They were thirty originally at Penny’s, but they were also on sale. Same as Macy’s.
[QUOTE=AlwaysFresh]
Was just pokin’ a little fun. :rolleyes:
[/QUOTE]
So was I. I used the same winky-smiley you did. Nobody’s angry. 
[QUOTE=Kneepants Erasmus, the Humanist]
Excuse me for a bit of a hijack…but…
What really sucks, is that according most of the websites that have been mentioned in this thread, including Victoria’s Secret, I am a 38 AA. Yeah, I am sure I could find that. Silly me, I have been wearing a 34C all these years (no clue how I would keep the boobs from falling out of the bottom of a 38 band).
Does the “measure your ribcage and add 5” technique work for anybody ???
[/QUOTE]
Not anymore, but when I was ultra-thin, I had to add the 5" to get a total of 32" which was the smallest size available. I wore a 32A, but my actual size was more like a 27B
[QUOTE=Batsinma Belfry]
I don’t mind underwires, but what I hate is “contour cups”. They’re everywhere! What happened to regular bras with fabric cups. I understand how smaller ladies would appreciate the extra shape, but why in the hell can’t it be an option, rather than the norm?!?
[/QUOTE]
One purpose of “contour cups” is to hide the fact that we’ve got nipples. Many “t-shirt bras” have contour cups.
As a 38C, I’ve had good luck shopping at Target. And I avoid the contour cups. Although I like under-wires.
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe]
(what’s with nonstandardized sizing? Isn’t that why men can just pick up a pair of Levis or Lee or Tommy Hilfiger jeans that are 36-32 and they fit?)
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Nightsong]
I really wish I could find the link, but in an earlier thread about bra shopping, someone provided a link to a place that not only told you the usual about a bra (size, color, etc.), but they also took actual measurements and told you that this particular one tended to run large in the cup, or that one ran small in the band, that manufacturer tends to fit like thus, that one fits like this, and so on and so forth. They even had a chart showing underwire sizes, and how the same size is used for multiple bra sizes. And of course, I didn’t bookmark it thinking I’d have no problems finding it later… argh!
Anyways, back to bra shopping. I’ve found the best selection at Dillard’s (link should go directly to their lingerie offerings) and at amazingly good prices. Last weekend I found a really nice wireless wrap-top style bra there for $7.50, and another equally nice (and pretty!) underwire bra for $14, both on the clearance rack.
[/QUOTE]
I think you mean Nordstrom! They have a fantastic selection - I wear a 32 D, which is basically impossible to find anywhere else. Macy’s has them ocassionally, but Nordstrom has them in a bunch of different styles & brands, and I don’t have to hunt for them.
They also have a big selection of small boob/large band sizes, and everything in between. Plus, they’re not all insanely priced - I buy Wacoal, which run about $50 for a bra, but they also have a lot of cheaper ones, including their own line. I’ve also found quite a few in my size on their sale racks for less than $20.
Those new wireless bras at Victoria’s Secret are da bomb. Really very comfortable AND supportive.