Top Five Bra-Sizing Myths

We’re always looking out for our readers at Knickers, and in the same spirit as our professional fitting poll, we’re here to make sure you’re getting the most out of your bra. We’ve talked to our readers, quizzed lingerie store owners, and offered ourselves up as fitting guinea pigs to find out just why women aren’t wearing the right bra size. After hours of bra-talk, here are Knickers top five bra-sizing myths:
BRA-SIZING MYTH NUMBER 1: I’M WEARING THE RIGHT BRA SIZE, AND IT IS X.

Chances are, you aren’t wearing the right bra size — roughly 85% of women are in the wrong bra, and even for the lucky 15%, it’s almost impossible to just have one bra size. Every woman has weight fluctuations throughout the year, and unless women are being re-fitted roughly every six months, they’re probably wearing the wrong size. If you’re not sure that you’re wearing the wrong size, here are a couple of tell-tale signs to look for:
Do your breasts look weird underneath your shirt, like they’re sticking out over the top? That’s a key indicator that you’re wearing too small of a cup size, and that your breasts are spilling over the bra, and are not fully supported.
If you lift your arm above your head and look at the wire of your bra, how far back is it going? If your cup isn’t actually covering all of your breast along the side of your body, this is another sign that you’re wearing too small of a cup. Another key indicator here is if you have skin spilling over the sides of your bra
Do your straps dig in to your shoulders? If so, you’re probably wearing too large of a back size, and your breasts are not getting enough support.
Does the cup of your bra stick out from your breast and bunch up in certain areas? This is a sign that you’re wearing too large of a cup size, and should size down a size.

Oprah’s site has a great before and after photo section of ill-fitting bras, and how bras should fit on different types of women. Typically, women are wearing too-small of a cup size, and are constantly battling with digging underwires and uncomfortable shoulder straps. If you suspect that you are wearing the wrong bra size, the remaining myths will help you narrow down your actual size:
BRA-SIZING MYTH NUMBER 2: ALL BRAS ARE THE SAME

Once you’ve sussed out your size range, you’ll quickly find that some bras work better for you than others. There are a variety of bra types out there, the main four being:
Full Cup: These are bras that go all the way up your breast at an angle (example here), covering a great deal of your breast.
Balconette Cup: These bras (example here), also sometimes called “shelf” bras, are cut almost horizontally across the breast, rather than along the top. These bras cover much less tissue than full-cup, and are also called demi-cup or half-cup bras.
Plunge: These bras cut away dramatically at the inside of the breast and cut farther down into the cleavage, allowing you to wear V-cut tops without your bra showing (example here)
Depending on your size, certain types might work better for you: for example, a woman with a smaller cup size may struggle with full-cup bras, as the fabric might often “pooch out” over the breast if the cup does not match your breast shape exactly. A balconette or a triangle bra might work better, depending upon your shape. Larger sizes may find difficulties with balconette bras, as their breast tissue might spill over the top, creating the unfortunate quadraboob effect. You should experiment with different bra types to find out which ones work best for you.
BRA-SIZING MYTH NUMBER 3: I CAN BUY THE SAME SIZE ACROSS ALL KINDS OF BRANDS


Just like with different bra types, your size can change dramatically across bra brands as well. There is no one standard bra-sizing convention for companies to go by, so just as your Gap jeans don’t fit the same as Rock & Republic, Rigby and Peller isn’t going to size the same as La Perla. As an example, I am at once a 36FF, a 34G, a 34FF, and a 36F, depending upon the brand. As the Bra-Makers blog explains, even the band sizes, which you’d think would be pretty simple, are wildly inconsistent between different brands.
The cup sizes are even worse — some brands use double-letters like DD, EE, and FF cups, some brands simply “round up” to a larger size like E, F, G, and some brands call what should be a G a FF. Sites like 85B.org bravely try to make sense of all the sizes by offering international converters and calculators, but even with this guidance, the reality is that you’ll need to experiment with each brand to make sure what size you are. This sounds pretty daunting, but once you find a few brands that you’re happy with, you can pretty comfortably stay within their ranges and be confident that they will fit.
BRA-SIZING MYTH NUMBER 4: TO MAKE MY BRA FIT BETTER, I JUST TIGHTEN THE STRAPS

This is a very common myth for bra sizing, one I believed myself for many years — if a bra wasn’t comfortable for me, I just kept tightening the straps until I thought I had a good fit. In reality, the straps are the least important part of your bra, and they should not be supporting your breasts. A properly fitting bra supports the breasts at the band, meaning you should be able to pull the straps completely down and still feel supported by the bra. If you’re trying this at home and thinking I’m nuts, read on to our last (and most important) bra sizing myth:
BRA-SIZING MYTH NUMBER 5: I HAVE A BIG BACK SIZE AND A SMALL CUP SIZE

This is the single biggest bra-sizing myth out there — women who wear the wrong bra size almost always have their back size too large, and their cup size too small. It’s no surprise — there is a huge stigma attached to any cup size above a D, partially because there’s much less choice after a D cup, and partially because it seems “unnatural” to go above the “normal” sizes. When I thought I was a 38D and was re-sized to a 36F, I couldn’t beleve it — was I fat? Was I going to have to wear ugly old-lady bras for the rest of my life?
In reality nearly half of women are over a size D, and while there may be less choices for D+ cups, there is a huge payoff in confidence and comfort when you do wear the proper size. Your entire body shape will change when you’re wearing a properly-supporting bra, and many say it is an instant way to look like you’ve lost ten pounds! Feeling great in your new bra will far outweigh any worry about wearing a “weird” size.
SO HOW DO I FIND THE RIGHT BRA SIZE?

At this point, you’re probably thinking that you’ll never wear a bra again, just to save yourself from the nightmare of weeding through different bra types, brands, and sizes. In reality, it’s pretty simple to find your perfect bra: you just need to find an experienced bra-fitter, and take an hour or so to experiment with a variety of types and brands. Your fitter will quickly have a rough idea of what size you are, and by trying a couple of sizes, they can start narrowing down the best styles and brands for you. From there, you can build up a basic bra collection for your lingerie drawer, and will have a solid base to experiment with new brands and styles in the future.
Lingerie works in seasons just like outerwear, so your favourite brands will have beautiful new collections twice a year for you to choose from, meaning you can always update your look without worrying too much about the size. And once you’ve found the right bra size, you will never go back — you’ll start hassling your mom, your girlfriends, even strangers on the street about their bra sizes too, because it’s frankly a revelation to feel comfortable and confident with your own breasts. Trust me, it’s the most valuable hour you’ll ever spend!
Source;http://www.knickersblog.com/