I’ve been wearing the same size bra since high school, and while I found my bras uncomfortable, it wasn’t a big enough deal to actually you know, do something about it. When my wedding rolled around, I went to a lingere store and bought a strapless doodad to wear under my dress. They measured me and sold me a larger size than I normally wear, but I figured that since it was a specialty garment (sort of like a corset, no straps) it might be sized weird.
Well, Grandma gave me some money for Xmas and I decided to buy myself a new bra. I went to the same store I bought my wedding undies from and got measured again. The bra they sold me is a different size than the corset and a MUCH bigger cup size than my current bra. I don’t know if it fits. It feels sort of tight over my shoulders (I need to play with adjusting the straps) and seems to be a little…bunchy? in my cleavage. It looks right, nothing is bulging up or out and the cups aren’t flipping away from my ribs like my other bra does. I’m wondering if I’m just not used to how a bra is supposed to fit? It definitely feels supportive.
I would never in a million years guess that this is my bra size (obviously, of I wouldn’t have been wearing a different one for 10 years), it seems slightly ridiculous. If I wear a camisole with that built in liner I don’t even wear one. I would definitely call myself small chested. Are bras like jeans, where one size in one brand is completely different from another? Are bras vanity sized like Old Navy jeans, where a size 3 is actually a 5?
The shop I bought it from is super reputable, it’s been around for ages. I don’t mind paying the price for a good quality garment and excellent service, but was I suckered?
In my experience, (U.S.) they don’t really vary from size to size, but I can see how it might change over time (as other clothing sizes have.) Of course, I’m on the other end of the spectrum and cannot fathom even wearing a shirt with a built-in liner, much less wearing one without a bra.
One of the most confusing things to me about bra sizes is that DD is the same as E and DDD is the same as F. I don’t know if they screw with your head with other sizes or not.
However, it makes sense that your strapless was bigger than what you normally wear. In my experience the sizes are marked much larger. I am a 38 DDD and recently purchased a strapless at Lane Bryant (my only source for strapless bras) of the size 36 G. G! I know their sizes are off. I don’t know if it’s a vanity thing or what.
On preview: huh, maybe they are vanity-sized. I usually get mine at Sears.
Sounds to me like they fitted you with the right bra, then, because no bra should have the result you describe for your old one.
I’ve definitely found that nominally the same size bras fit very different depending on manufacturer, style and material (stretchy or no). Could be too that your size has changed over the years and it would be worth generally re-thinking what you wear (or not). Small-chested doesn’t mean that you don’t now need support more than you used to…
Depends. If you’re comfortable, supported, and your chest looks good, then it’s probably the right size and the bunchiness is because it’s not a cut that’s particularly flattering to you. (I don’t wear full cup bras for that reason.) Lots of women are accidentally wearing the wrong sized bra. The first time I was ever actually measured, my band size dropped two steps but my cup went up three. And my rack instantly looked a hell of a lot better!
While I’ve found American sizing to be pretty consistant, it could simply be made by an overseas company. Europe and Australia have their own systems, as I discovered browsing an Australian website that does a lot of international business. They listed the company of origin for each bra and you had to check the charts to see what size you needed.
The bra sizes change with the band size, something I learned relatively recently. So saying someone is a D-cup literally has no meaning in the bra world unless you also know the band size.
I normally wear a 34B, got measured and Nordstroms and was told I was a 32C*. The cup size on a 34B and a 32C are essentially the same, but the band is smaller. With the OPs description of her old bra, I’d guess she was probaby wearing something like a 38A and is now in a 34C.
*as an aside, I’m not. A band that tight is so uncomfortable, I’d go without before I’d wear it. But I think the saleslady wanted to be able to say “see, you’ve worn the wrong size for years”. And then she told me that the muscle being squeezed over the edges of the band was back fat and I needed to work out more. :rolleyes: I’m a hundred and thirty freaking pounds. I’ve got a BMI of 21 and 19% bodyfat. I play a competitive sport and have won national titles. If I have backfat, everyone in America except Posh Spice has backfat and bras are designed WRONG. But I’m not still dwelling on this or anything…
Tremorviolet, you really need to do something about that back fat.
I had heard years ago that the majority of women were wearing the wrong size bras. I don’t know if it was a marketing gimmick or not but I’ve taken in both my ex and my current wife to be properly sized at a long time lingerie store and both came out of it much happier with a proper fitting garment.
p.s. neither of them had back fat.
p.p.s. For the love of god, do something about that back fat.
As I type I’m watching a National Geographic special on the “secret history of the bra.” They mention that the current sizing scheme (band + cup size) was developed in the 1940s, but that there is no real standardization (duh!). They also say that the cup size is supposed to be indicative of breast volume, not just difference in measurement between ribcage size and over the maximum projection point - 8 oz for an A cup, 13 oz for a B cup, 21 oz for a C cup, 28 oz for a D cup, etc.
All of a sudden, I have the urge to break out my big Pyrex measuring cup and work out the volume for myself…
I can’t be bothered with figuring out my bra size every time I need to buy one - ever since I got measured at Victoria’s Secret that’s where I go. Their bras are decently priced if you get them on sale.
The last time I got measured I discovered that I’d been wearing a cup size too small and a band size too big. It really did make a huge difference after I was properly fitted.
Oof, that hurts. I’m not old enough to worry about gravity just yet, but I definitely will be rethinking “camisole in place of bra” from now on. I hope I haven’t been walking around looking sloppy, thinking I could get away with it.
The tag says France, but it lists the American sizing. I’m headed to the department store for further bras, there’s no way I can drop $80 on another bra. This thing better last forever.
I was wearing a 34B, too. They sold me a 34DD. Doesn’t that seem impossible? If I were wearing shoes that were three sizes too small, I wouldn’t be able to walk. Maybe because the band size was the same I wasn’t that uncomfortable? PS, you are in amazing shape! If there’s backfat on you, the rest of us are doomed.
Can someone from the cool crowd tell me what this means?
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything hurtful. I’m about the same age as you, and speaking from my own experience, the girls have changed a bit in the last 10 years, especially since I weigh about 20 pounds more than I did back in high school. Even if I could find the same style I used to wear, I wouldn’t be the same cup size any more, for sure.
I’d heard once before that bras aren’t meant to be worn more than six months. Last night they said 3 months, tops. :eek: They may as well go ahead and make disposable bras on the cheap then, it’s the only way I’d be able to replace them so often.
It can vary a bit from brand to brand it seems. I recently realised I’d been wearing the wrong size for years, as well as the reason–the store I was shopping at (La Senza) does not carry bras in a small enough band size for me. The smallest size they have fits (barely) at purchase, but quickly starts to stretch and becomes too loose. Their girl’s line has bras that fit :smack: but the area I grew up in only had the adult line.
I found my size there, then got sized at Victoria’s Secret when I came to the US. At La Senza Girl I’m a 32B–same at VS. A 32B at La Senza is too big, and they don’t have anything in a 30.
(I wish I could get back to LSG–they don’t have much variety but bras there are ~$12 each. Unfortunately they don’t have an online store, and all the locations are in either Canada or the Middle East)
I’ve got bras in 32A, 34B, 32A, 34B and even in one case 34C that have all fitted me pretty okay…so yeah, I think there’s something to the vanity sizing.
I’m about the same age as you, and speaking from my own experience, the girls have changed a bit in the last 10 years, especially since I weigh about 20 pounds more than I did back in high school. Even if I could find the same style I used to wear, I wouldn’t be the same cup size any more, for sure.