Saturday 22 June 2013

Are you wearing the wrong bra size?

I was.  For years.  Until today.

Let me give you the back story.  I have never been fitted for a bra.  Back when I started buying bras in  highschool, I locked myself in the Myer change rooms one afternoon and tried on a whole heap of sizes.  I chose the one that fit best and it happened to be a 12D.  Now I was about 1.5 dress sizes bigger in highschool (I think it's called stress eating and the HSC) so I probably was a 12D.  However as the years passed, I dropped weight without dropping my bra size.  I continued to buy 12D out of habit and nothing else.  I realised a few years ago that it was probably the wrong size but didn't think it was enough of an issue to try and fix it.....

....until I googled "wrong bra size symptoms" earlier this week.  My biggest problem is that the band at the back rides up something savage.  I keep trying to pull it down but it keeps riding up.  And I've always worn bras on the loosest clip; whenever I did up the tightest or even the middle clip I felt like I was being constricted.  So apparently the riding up band means the band itself is too big.  Which makes sense when you think about it - how can a size 6 woman wear a size 12 band?  Crazy.  You'd think I wasn't University educated.

Another problem I have (and only in some of my bras, not all) is I don't fill out the cup.  Which you'd think was another telltale sign but some of my 12D bras I can fill out no problem, but most I can't.  Go figure.  I read that if you go down a band size you need to correspondingly go up a cup size, but given I don't fill out my cup size in most 12Ds, I decided to stick with D but go down to a 10.

bendonlingerie.com.au was having a huge sale and I managed to pick up 2 Pleasure State bras and an Elle Macpherson bra for $44.85 all up (that's about $14.95 each!).  It's still on but a lot of the good stuff is gone.  Still worth a look though - RUN!

Anyway I ordered these 3 bras in a 10D and was so nervous waiting for them to arrive.  I got home last night, dropped everything and tried them on.  And can I just say......  my boobs have never been happier!!  They are finally being supported properly, the band is staying down and I feel so comfortable.  Funny thing is, as I still haven't been properly bra fitted, 10D might still be the wrong size but let me tell you it feels MUCH better than 12D.

I will be going into bras n things next week hopefully to get fitted properly and I urge you to do the same!  If you have been fitted previously, did you find out you're actually a different size to what you had been wearing?

PS - I measured my underbust and bust and entered the measurements into various online calculators and they all told me I should be a 10A.  Which I know is very wrong.  I would advise against trusting these calculators without question.

PPS - sorry for this pictureless post.  I don't think you want to see pics of me in my ill-fitting bra anyway!

13 comments:

  1. Yep most ppl have this issue

    I was wearing a 12 E for ages and then got fitted am a 10 FF, eek!

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    1. Ah wow, how painful is it finding bras? I would guess FFs are rare?

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    2. Online from uk is the only way

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  2. I'm right now trying to fit mine into my pre-pregnancy bras which are a B and they are literally spilling out... Secretly I loving it but it is really time to go get fitted again. I would guess that the majority of women have ill fitting bras, so many life changes: puberty, weightloss or gain, pregnancy, breastfeeding. Who can keep up?!

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    1. That's so true Kacie! Womens weight changes constantly so presumable bra size would also have to change accordingly.

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  3. I'm right now trying to fit mine into my pre-pregnancy bras which are a B and they are literally spilling out... Secretly I loving it but it is really time to go get fitted again. I would guess that the majority of women have ill fitting bras, so many life changes: puberty, weightloss or gain, pregnancy, breastfeeding. Who can keep up?!

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  4. I have been avoiding buying new bras for months now as I know I need to be fitted and I am trying to lose weight / refine my style (and therefore what undeewear i need) so I am just waiting it out. In the interim, my nude bra is dying a painful death!

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    1. Haha I recently went through a "buy only nude/black bras" phase because I've been buying a lot more white blouses/shirts/t shirts for work and not having the appropriate underwear to wear with it!

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  5. God knows what I am these days, I usually wear a 12b. fits me in certain brands but not in others, they vary so much.

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    1. I know it's crazy how much sizes vary between brands! I think Pleasure State is the most true to size, with Elle Macpherson and the Bras N Things house brand 'Short Stories' being really small.

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  6. I agree with this! I remember when I was 15 and got my bra fitted (cringe!) I never wanted to experience that again so as I got older I just guessed haha and kept going up a size! xx

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  7. I agree with Poptartlr, it's really annoying how different sizes can be between brands and I think that's partially what is off-putting? Like you don't want to have to keep getting fitted for a new bra from a different brand, or sometimes even from the same brand! I made an order from Bendon a little while ago and despite having been fitted for a Bendon bra, buying the same size got me really mixed results! I found Pleasure State a tad big, Elle Macpherson much too tight and the other two Bendons were also hit and miss being a tad big themselves! :/

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    1. I also always have that band riding up problem too. Even for my fitted bras, but that can't be right...I think it must have something to do with my poor posture. Or I don't know...

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