Not only that, bras are ridiculously expensive! I'm on a fixed income. Plus, I despise underwire bras they always, always, always poke me, yet, I find non-underwire ones nearly impossible to find anymore. I find them uncomfortable and restrictive. For years, and years, and years, we were told, 'To correctly measure for a bra, measure yourself over a well-fitting bra!' What the heck? If the bra fit well, or wasn't worn out, I wouldn't be in the market for a new one anyway now, would I?!Д«ras are my least favorite piece of clothing. Liz Elias from Oakley, CA on May 25, 2018: Lie down flat on your back, slip the tape underneath you, and measure around your breasts one more time.ДЄnd if there are any questions I can answer, let me know in the comments! Happy fitting! Comments Remember to make sure the tape is still level all the way around. Lean forward 90 degrees, so your back is parallel to the floor. Use a mirror or a buddy to make sure the tape is level all the way around. Measure loosely enough that you don't push down your breasts at all, but not so loosely that the tape is slipping around. Stand straight up and measure around the fullest part of your bust. Don't worry, your bra won't actually fit like this! This is just a measurement of how much 'give' you have around your ribcage. Measure the same part of your ribcage, but this time pull the tape as tightly as you can, like you're trying to break it. Otherwise known as the 'Break the Tape' measurement. For this measurement, hold the tape nice and snug, about how you want your band to feel on you. This is around your ribcage where you want the band to hit. Or, they're worried that wearing a large cup size means their breasts are abnormal, which can be a hard mindset to overcome for women who have been taught to be self-conscious about their breasts.

A lot of women are afraid that, if their bra is a larger cup size, people (people who don't understand what cup sizes mean!) will think that they're 'faking' having larger breasts. Going to a larger cup size is a scary prospect in a society that judges women on the size of their breasts. The stereotype that a B or a C cup is 'normal' means that a lot of women feel comfortable with those numbers. Stigma about bra size is really pervasive.Measuring techniques that convince women they fall into one of these sizes put the maximum number of women in a narrow range of sizes, so retailers make more money. It's much cheaper to only produce bras in 32-38 A-DD. Measured properly, most women fit into 28-40 D-K bras (yes, really! Keep reading.) That's a lot of sizes. Someone with a 32' ribcage in a 32 band with no stretch wouldn't be able to breathe, so adding inches made sense. The 'adding five inches' technique was originally developed when bra bands weren't nearly as stretchy as they are now. There are three main reasons so many women are in the wrong bra size. This is how the UK lingerie companies size their bras, and slowly but surely many US manufacturers are moving over to this method.Why Are So Many Women Wearing the Wrong Bra Size? This website was created to give you your TRUE bra size using your TRUE measurements, which results in the best, most optimal fit you will ever experience. Quickly run away from any bra fitter who adds additional inches to your measurement! If you measure 30 inches under your bust, your band size should be exactly 30 inches.

Why are they fitting you into a band size that is NOT your actual measurement?! The answer is simple: to cut manufacturing costs. This results in a less-than-optimal bra fitting because the band is going to be too loose, and the cup size is going to be too small due to the additional band size allowance. So if you measure a true 30' around, your band size would be rounded up to 34' in order to fit their brand sizing.

It is common for a lingerie fitter to take your under-bust measurement and add 4 (or even 5!) inches to that number. In many US department stores, the method of sizing they use is outdated and super inacurate. Band sizes ranging from 28 to 52 and cup sizes ranging from AA to J are the norm there, and so they should be! The United Kingdom, for example, knows that breasts are not created in a limited size range and caters to all shapes and sizes. The good news: most brands outside of the United States already know this and have been manufacturing bras that fit the majority of women for ages. There's a secret that many large scale lingerie companies don't want you to know - there are a plethora of bra sizes outside of the standard A-DD range and you very likely might fit into one of them.

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