The front of the bra should always lie flat against the chest.
Always.
When the front does not touch the sternum but stays in the air, it means that the band is too big (and the cups are probably too small). The band is hanging on the breasts, and does not give the breasts any support. You´re just wearing a breast-cover.
A band should lie flat against the chest, then it´s fitting the ribcage snugly and supporting the breasts from below. Remember that 90% of the support comes from the band, and only 10% from the straps !
To calculate your correct band size, subtract 5 cm from the measurement under your chest, then round down to the nearest band size. You don´t add anything to the measurement, much less round up, since a band that is looser than your chest will never give any support to your breasts. And it will keep riding up at the back. Would you wear panties that are wider than your hips ?
Once you´re taking a narrower band size, remember to simultaneously get a bigger cup size, because cup size is relative to band size. Most of the "my band is too tight" complaints are actually caused by too small cups (or too narrow underwires).
Check out the correct bra size calculator.
Does this apply to sports bras too? I have a level 3 Shock Absorber that seems to fit exactly except in the middle, where it does not sit flush. A bigger cup would likely be too baggy. It feels very supportive and I stay in place even when jumping around.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks.
Isla
ReplyDeleteApparently Shock Absorber doesn´t have underwires, so it makes an uni-boob on many people. That´s why it may not stay flush on the sternum. So I´m guessing it´s just the way this bra is cut.
You could try out a smaller cup, just out of curiousity; a big cup won´t solve this problem.
What if I have the opposite problem? IE, the front part of the bra is digging into the sternum? I got fitted professionally, and it turns out I'm a 28C. This boutique however, did not carry 28's, and very few 30's, so they altered some 32A's for me. I now have my altered bras. I have a feeling though, that they haven't been altered far back enough, because it still rides up a bit in the back, so I need to wear them on a tighter hook. In addition, I have widely spaced breasts. They say that a band altered to be smaller helps pull the cup (and underwire) back far enough to surround the breasts. But I have a feeling that this puts more pressure in the center, cuz you're pulling the cups further out to the sides. And the underwire tips pinch on the sides as well. It seems that the more "natural position" of the bra is more up front and center. In addition, while the center part is digging in, the bottom part of the underwire doesn't seem to be firm enough against my chest because all that pressure has gone to the tips of the underwires. In other words, I can easily stick a finger under my cup and into it. The pressure points are: between my breasts, and on the sides, with very little pressure below my breasts.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of hard to describe this without a diagram, so maybe I'll email you one.
Sigh...it's so hard having wide-set breasts. I do know that I need wide underwires.
I would really appreciate any advice. I've definitely come closer to having a better fit, thanks to the fitters, but I'm still not quite out of the bra matrix, it seems. So few manufacturers make 28C's that I can readily try on.
Thanks!
Or maybe I am being paranoid and adjusting it more than I should...I sometimes think, if I ignore the feeling, it'll go away. But no, something is not right, because a bra is supposed to be very comfortable...it's so hard to find the right bra! Maybe this particular bra has an underwire that's too narrow.
ReplyDeleteZoe
ReplyDeleteThat´s why I don´t recommend altering bras, it totally distorts the fit. The underwires don´t just stretch, they also kind of twist and don´t lie flat anymore. For the underwires that dig into the sternum you can sew a small dart between the cups, i did a post on this a while back. You are right, a bra is supposed to be comfortable !
have you tried ordering online ? I don´t know where you live, but usually you can send the bras back if they don´t it, and often even shipping them back doesn´t cost anything. Or you can try Ebay, there are some really cheap 28 sometimes.As a last resort, get only those bras altered that have a full band going all the way around, with the cups attached on top of it (as opposed to a band which is two pieces attached to the sides of the cups). These will not get so distorted. Also, the correct way to tighten a band is not cutting of a part of it, but lining it with cloth tape or elastic (you stretch the elastic, and sew the bra band to it). I mean to do a more detailed post about this soon.
@eternalvoyageur - Thank you so much! That makes sense--luckily two of my altered bras do have a full band going around, with the cups attached on top of it. These are the more comfortable alterations. The one that felt least comfortable was the one with two pieces attached to the sides of the cups. I think I now know why, even when two sizes have the same cup volume, say 32A and 28C, the underwires won't sit properly on both. It's because the person with the wider torso has less of a curvature (from a bird's eye point of view), than the one with the narrower torso. Like two circles with two different circumferences. (It's easier to explain this with a diagram). So the underwire would need to be curved more on someone like me than on someone who's a 32A, right?
ReplyDeleteI live in Connecticut, in the US. I haven't tried ordering online. I'm not sure if my parents would let me, and I'm still trying to find a job. I'm not too comfortable about ordering from eBay, to be honest.
I would love a post on tightening the band! Please do it! :)
As a side note, since most women make the mistake of wearing too large a band size and too small a cup size, and sometimes the bras we wear may make us think we're smaller than we really are, does this mean that there are very few women out there who really are AA or A cups? After all, I'm a 28C, and I consider myself flat-chested. I used to think I was a 32AA or 34AA. I'm quite skinny, so it makes sense that I would have a small band size. So I'm wondering, do most women who wear A cups really need B cups or higher in a smaller band?
In addition, I've noticed that most Victoria's Secret models are really skinny, so it looks like most of them should be wearing band sizes 28 or even 26, but most of their bras don't go lower than a 32.
What you say about the curvature makes a lot of sense !!!
ReplyDeleteAbout ordering online, I know it feel really weird to do it ! If you find an online store that´s inexpensive, and if you make sure that they accept returns (hopefully including shipping costs), then your parents might see that it´s not risky. Especially if it´s less expensivce to custom-alter the bras. With Ebay it´s often hit-or-miss when it comes to bras, but sometimes I found such cheap deals that I didn´t really care (like 5€ including shipping... but I had to be patient and hunt for offers like that !)
Yes, I´d agree that fewer women are AA or A ! I don´t know how it i in the US, but in Poland the only "real" bra size is thought to be 75B. It´s like almost everyone thinks they are 75B, but they are actually not ! And I´d say that most women that wear badly fitted bras (whether small cups or big) wear a band that is too wide and cups that are too small, I´ve never yet seen anyone making the opposite mistake... Theresults of wearing the wrong size are different between small-breasted and large-breasted: with big boobs they hang low, bounce around and make armpit rolls, and generally look and feel bigger and less firm. With small boobs, they look even smaller than they are, and are usually squashed by pushups (that makes more armpit rolls and makes the breasts unfirm).
As for Victoria´s Secret, if you look at their catalogues, you can spot signs of a bad bra fit (in spite of all the photoshopping). Like here, armpit rolls say hello: http://gizmodo.com/207798/victorias-secret-hocks-65-million-bra-babe-not-included If you look carefully, you can see that they tried to photoshop away the armpit rolls (which were probably quite big) but they are still visible.I´m thinking that some of the skinny models may have broad backs, because they are taller. So many of them might not fit into 28 or 26, though some of them might. It´s interesting: how tight you can go with a band often depends if you have a fleshy (chubby) or lean torso. If the ribcage has no fat on it, you can´t take bands as snug as for a chubbier torso.
@eternalvoyageur - "So many of them might not fit into 28 or 26,
ReplyDeletethough some of them might. It´s interesting: how tight you can go with
a band often depends if you have a fleshy (chubby) or lean torso. If
the ribcage has no fat on it, you can´t take bands as snug as for a
chubbier torso."
That makes sense--it depends on your bone structure. Some women are larger-boned and others smaller-boned.
@eternalvoyageur - "As for Victoria´s Secret, if you look at
ReplyDeletetheir catalogues, you can spot signs of a bad bra fit (in spite of all
the photoshopping). Like here, armpit rolls say hello: http://gizmodo.com/207798/victorias-secret-hocks-65-million-bra-babe-not-included"
That's really sad, because that bra is extremely expensive, and must have taken a lot of time and energy to make, and yet it isn't the proper fit for the model anyway. I am happy that VS has increased their size range though, at least online. They now have band sizes as small as 30 and cup sizes from AA to DDD (E). But it's still a narrower size range than that of department stores. You'd think that VS, being the most famous lingerie chain, would have a wider size range.
@eternalvoyageur - Ahhh, I spy some more bad fitting on this page: http://www.most-expensive.co.uk/2010_05_01_archive.html
ReplyDeleteOw, they looks so uncomfortable and badly fitted ! Princess Leia got it right though:
ReplyDeletehttp://cosplaygirl.webs.com/slaveprincessleia.htm
I´m happy that VS has increased it´s size range, though it still leaves a lot to be desired ! I guess they are famous due to the big name models they employ, not due to their quality.
@eternalvoyageur - Hi, it's me again--I would like to know what could be the main cause of underwire digging into the sternum. I went into a Gap store to try on some 32A bras to see if there is anything that might fit better. All the 32A underwire bras seem to have the problem that I mentioned above--digging in the center, and bottom part of underwire not lying flat against my chest. It seems that the positioning of those cups is wrong for me. (Basically, underwire not parallel to chest bone.) Is this a size thing, or is this a style issue? I find that in order for the underwire to lie perfectly flat against my chest is for the cup to be put in a more forward position--but then I will have gapping in the front and poking on the sides of my breasts. The cups seem to be made for a woman who has more breast in the front and center. Is it that my breasts are simply positioned differently than that of other women? Someone (a fellow Asian) told me that Asian women probably have breasts that sit differently on the chest than Caucasian women. One site I came across said that Asian women tend to be more widely spaced. I'm not sure if it's true in general, but it's definitely true for me. This issue doesn't seem to be commonly addressed, I noticed. My friend, who is a similar size to me (who's Caucasian btw), said that she had that issue too, where she would try on bras, and the wires would poke but she couldn't fill out the cups anyway.
ReplyDeleteI think a bra that would it me properly is one that I wouldn't have to distort its "natural position" or 'pull out' the cups in order to get it to fit.
Sigh....Sorry for flooding your blogpost, but finding something that fits can be so frustrating. The thing with bras is it has to fit "perfectly" in order for it to be comfortable...unlike t-shirts. And my mom wonders why I spend so much time researching about bras...to the point where I get distracted from my studies.
I can even contact Intimacy and ask them to stock more 30's and 28's.
Hi Zoe
ReplyDeleteThe underwires not lying flat is a size issue. The cups are not deep enough, and they are hanging on the breasts, instead of encapsulating them. When you go down a band size and up a cup size (like 70b to 65c) the depth of the cup stays the same, but the underwires are slightly broader. I´m also guessing that when the band is to loose and rides up at the back, we tend to tighten the straps, and all of this pulls the underwires and makes them bend in weird ways. Bras with the band going all the way around tend to have less of this problem than bras where the band is only attached to the sides of the cups.Bra band going all the way around: http://www.womenwithcurves.co.uk/ekmps/shops/womenwith/images/panache_ariza_5051_bra__A_5052_brief_-_blue.jpgBra band attached: http://www.talk2myshirt.com/blog/image-upload/Business/bra.jpg I have no idea if Asian women tend to be more widely spaced, but I´m Caucasian and widely spaced myself. I used to think that I need special bras because I have weird breast placement. But half of the problem went away when I got the right sized bra, the second half when I picked broader underwires over narrower (I like Panache and Fantasie bras). I assure you that when you find your right size and style, you won´t need to pay attention to it again, most of the time you´ll be forgetting that you have a bra on. However there is a new danger: compulsive-addictive bra shopping, born of the euphoria of the perfect bra size. I think it´s a good idea to contact Intimacy !
@Zoe - I too am a just-recently-converted-28C, and since the size is so hard to find online, my last resort was eBay. I had some luck finding 28C Marks and Spencer bras, and they fit really well. Although I am now waiting for a Panache 28C, also from eBay, to try on the soft cup. I used to wear 32As, and there was something wrong, like the wires would poke my armpits, or the band will ride up my back, or both. But ever since I changed 2 months ago to a 28C, all is perfect.
ReplyDelete@Zoe @eternalvoyageur - I tried to go up one cup size to 28D for the breast migration, and so I ordered a 28D Marks and Spencer, and I had to return it. This was when I learned that sometimes going a cup size would be a problem for people who do not get wider in their backs, but breasts do get larger (those who pack on the pounds on the breast instead of the back or waist, or those who have breast enhancements done). Why and how? Here are some of my observations when I tried a 28C and 28D with the same style.
The underwires of the 28C rest exactly under my breast tissue. When I remove my bra at the end of the day, I see the wire marks and they are perfect right where they should be, not narrower (which will sit on breast tissue) and not wider. However, for the 28D, since the underwire is wider, it not hugs my sides. There's a very uncomfortable pain/poking on my ribs, and as I was analyzing it, I knew the underwires were too wide, that it was already bending (as the band is tight) and going past my breast, and all they way up to my sides. Now the pressure point and pain is on the ribs. I have also noticed that this also causes a little problem on the front not resting on the sternum, all because the underwires are broad, but the band is right and tight enough, and forcing the entire underwire to go around me, causing the front to go up too. (Not sure if you can imagine). So sometimes, going a cup size to accommodate bigger breasts or breast migration just won't do. How do you solve this @eternalvaoyageur
I say it's better to get a 28C, even off eBay, as the fit really makes a difference.
Hi, I wonder whether this problem is specific to just this particular bra model, or is it a general thing ? Either way I´d suggest looking at different models, preferably those with narrower underwires. Like Freya, or Kostar.
ReplyDeleteAnother option would be trying 30C in the model that you got, I don´t know whether that would solve the problem, but it might be worth a try. I´m actually having a similar problem right now, I´m changing sizes from 30D to 28DD and suddenly all the undewires are sitting very very differently...
@msam - Can you give me the links for the 28C bras you ordered? I saw some 28C Marks and Spencers bras, but their prices were low, so I was worried if the quality would be too cheap, or whether it is a good quality for the price you pay. Thanks!
ReplyDelete@eternalvoyageur - I know, and I'm kind of getting frustrated! Got a Panache Celo in 28D and it had the same problem, the wires felt different and so I had to send it back and get a 28C. Seems that the wires are sitting on great. But the cups does not fit me well, they are just shaped differently than the natural shape of my breasts, and so there's that extra space in all the wrong places. Now I am guessing, a change in band size also changes the position of the underwires, since a bigger band size means a broader cage of the person and so I think the wires are positioned farther apart, even if the cup volume are the same. Really this is a trial and error kind of thing
ReplyDelete@Zoe - sorry the ebay link has expired already! But I think for the low price, it would be worth a try
@Zoe - M&S bras are kind of hit-or-miss, I´ve had some good ones and some crappy ones. By crappy I mean very flimsy, not at all supportive. But also some great ones, like the red one in the DIY nursing bra tutorial.
ReplyDelete@msam - I´ve recently gone down to a 28 band, and I´ve realised how much less choice there is as compared to a 30 ! One tip: I just discovered Discover Mademoiselle, the bands are very tight ! I got the Clara Bow in 30D (as opposed to the 28DD I normally wear now), and I am in love. Very comfortable, the underwires are medium, and their bras are very pretty.
@msam - Hi, if that link has expired, are there other places you can show me where I can find 28C's? Thanks!
ReplyDelete@eternalvoyageur - Do you happen to have a livejournal? Mine's lunalotte88. If so, we can add each other.
@Zoe - I added you ! I used to have a livejournal blog, I have to dig around to see if it´s there somewhere.
ReplyDelete[Please pardon any novels I post, I have no female friends so I'm full of pent up bra-ramblings]
ReplyDeleteI tried on more bras yesterday at a few stores and found different problems at each of them. I was shocked that Victoria's Secret bras fit me the best, I always thought anything from there would be horribly misshapen for self image demeaning reasons. While they fit me very comfortably, they didn't look good topless because there was too much material.
What made me post on this topic, is the confusion that hit me when the last place I checked, Soma Intimates, had bras that seemed the right size all over, except the underwire in the center of a few of them poked into my chest, they seemed to be aiming too far inwards even if the bra was off. I always used to see the floating-away problem, this was the first time I've had underwire poke me in the center. I only tried on one bra there that wasn't clearance, that one was a perfect fit but also full of material. I assumed this was why those were clearance, because I just can't see any other size fitting around my breasts properly while having the right size band. I'm just not sure, though, I also speculate it goes in farther on purpose, relying on women to wear the wrong size. Two others I tried here had a small amount of empty material at the top of the cups, which again I don't think I can remedy with a different size as the band or width would be wrong. I think they were all demi cups and from the same brand, it's a little overwhelming how far you have to look for the right fit.
Hi Kim, interesting that the VS bras fit you. I have no idea what quality their are, but their size range is so small that they have nothing close to my size.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean by too much material ? Do you mean that the bras had a heavy construction and went almost up to your chin ;-) and you woukld prefer something skimpier and lower cut ? Or do you mean excess empty fabric in the cups ?
About the poking underwires: some women are more prone to them for some reason (it has something to do with the angle of the ribcage). Try plunge styles, which have very low center gore. You might also have to bend the top underwires slightly, away from the ribcage.
If only the top of the cup is empty and the rest of the cup fits right (and the next smaller cup is clearly too small), you need to look for low-cut bras. I also have drop-shaped breasts that are not full at the top, so I have the same problem.
All the searching is totally worth it in the end ! Once you don find your right size and best styles, it´s downhill from there !
I'm having a horrible time trying to figure out what size I should be. Everyone says that the center gore should lie flat. Is that true of a full coverage bra as well? I measure 33 around the band and 40 around the bust, so I tried a 34F in a HotMilk nursing bra. (I'm assuming they are UK sized since they are based over there, but I didn't see where it specified.) That was fairly comfortable, but the straps over the arm were adjusted as tight as they could be which I figured wouldn't be good once the bra ages and stretches out...can't tighten it up any more. Also, the fabric was no where near close to lying flat on the center gore. So, I ordered a 32H and a 34G, figuring I probably needed a larger cup. Neither lays flat between the cups. And now, they have wider straps which are uncomfortable on my shoulders, and the fabric beneath my arms seems to be rubbing a bit. I'm guessing that the fabric rubbing beneath my arms means that I don't need a bigger size cup in spite of the fabric not lying flat at the center gore. How do I know? I have no idea what to try next, and I'd have to drive over an hour to get fitted. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous whose 34F HotMilk bra failed--if you have access to a truly good fitter who is under two hours away, go there! I live in the freaking San Francisco Bay Area, and the one time I found a bra that fit was a 30E Freya sports bra in Walnut Creek Nordstrom last year. I've since noticed the Nordstroms in San Jose and Palo Alto have a few 30 bands, but my underbust seems to be shrinking, and my cup size increasing. Plus most of those 30 bands are (a) only up to a C cup or (b) Freya, whose underwires are far too narrow for me. The next chance I get to go to LA (a 5 hour drive), I will visit Jenette Bras. Five hours is nothing for a great bra and the chance to try out multiple sizes, styles, and brands without having to buy them all online first. It is exhausting buying and returning online purchases all the time.
ReplyDeleteThe three other places I would suggest seeking help are online:
(1) bratabase.com
(2) sophisticatedpair.com (Erica will consult by phone or email, and I suspect she would examine any photos you sent her of your fit problems. She has a retail location in North Carolina and sees a lot of women with brafitting issues.)
(3) butterflycollection.ca (Started by a husband and wife for larger cup sized woman. The wife does Skype fittings. Company is in Canada.)
Good luck!
Hey Anon #1 -- the center gore should normally lie flat! I checked the reviews of Hot Milk bras on Bratabase and it seems that a lot of women have the problem of the center gore not lying flat with this brand. If the bras are ok otherwise, keep them. Next time try Ewa Michalak's nursing bras, maybe?
ReplyDelete