Did you know that more than 75% of women are wearing the wrong bra size? It completely boggles my mind, but also kind of makes complete sense. No one tells us how to measure ourselves, you just think you know the right answer. As a teenager, you buy what someone tells you to buy, or what the “cool” size is and kind of just go with it (or grow with it, shall we say!). No one tells us how the bra should fit us. No one tells us that our bras age. No one tells us that as our bodies change, we often will need to adjust our sizing. No one tells us about sister sizes (more on that later!) No one tells us that there isn’t always a clear-cut way to figure all this out. If your interest is piqued, keep reading.
I’m going to tell you exactly how to figure out your correct bra size, and where/how to use your own judgement in the process. Buckle up, because I’m about to throw some real knowledge at you. But trust me, your girls will thank you for reading this!
It’s story time! For what seems like my entire life- literally all of my teens and most of my twenties, I was wearing the wrong size bra. There, I said it. I somehow ended up in a 36B bra early on, and that was what I always wore. It was comfortable for the most part and it gave me cleavage (which -let’s face it- was all I really cared about at that moment in time. Sorry Mum.) It was the “standard size” or so I thought, but the straps never stayed on my shoulders and the band rode up in the back. The underwire would dig into my sides and cause painful red marks on my skin. I found that VS bras didn’t do that on the sides, so I always stuck with them. But still had slipping straps and was constantly tugging at the bra to adjust and keep it in place.
Fast forward to 2010. I decided to put on my big girl (…bra?) and go into Nordstrom for a real bra fitting. Now, mind you, at that time I was about 30# heavier than I am now, so just keep that in mind as we are talking about this. I had never really shopped at Nordstrom before, but knew that I needed to go there for my fitting. I had read somewhere that the sizing at VS is not always the most accurate because they tend to size you into their bras, whether they fit or not.
So, off to Nordys I went. I approached the lingerie section and the woman was honestly so nice and very approachable but even so, I was super intimidated. I am not really that modest, so being half naked in front of a stranger didn’t really bother me (edit: in the confines of the dressing room at a fancy place like Nordstrom), but I just didn’t know what to expect really. It was perfectly fine. She measured me, laughed at the size I was wearing, and said no wonder I am having fit issues. She went on to explain that the band size should actually be pretty tight on your body and that the cups should really extend farther onto the side of your body than you think. Who knew!? Her hands were COLD, but her demeanor was gentle and she helped put me into the RIGHT size. Girls. Let me tell you. The minute I had on the right size, forget the awkwardly forced cleavage that I thought was so important. That was nothing. My boobs looked HUGE. Who wants to guess what the correct size she put me in was? (if you know already, that’s not fair, no guessing. I think it’s hilarious so I do share this information with anyone that will listen!)
Done guessing? She put me in a 34DD, y’all. Yup, you read that right. A Double D. I was baffled. But it felt good, it looked good, and it was seriously life changing. I bought like 5 bras on the spot and felt like I was moving on UP.
Since then, I have lost, gained, lost, gained – you get the picture. The DD eventually went away and I settled into a 34D for the majority of the last say 5 years. I have had a mix of brands of bras (most recently my favorite has been Lively, but also have had a mix of VS, CK, and ThirdLove) and have found many quite comfortable. Until now, as my weight loss journey has gotten kicked into high gear. The dreaded digging into my under arm/side began again and I wasn’t really filling up the cups anymore, so I knew it was time.
You may or may not know, but a woman’s breasts are actually made up primarily of fat tissue. Which I find ironic that we all want bigger ones- it means we want more fat! But it also means that this is the first place that many of us will lose fat as we start to lose weight. My bras have been huge on me and I’ve been avoiding shopping for new ones because I didn’t want to spend the money. But I finally bit the bullet and did some measurements and ordered new bras, and honestly I don’t know why I waited!
Before we get into the bras I chose, let’s talk about fit and measuring. Good bras are comfortable and supportive. You should know it’s there, but it shouldn’t be a nuisance! A well-fitting bra should:
- Be fairly snug but not SO tight it’s leaving red marks on your skin. Clasped on the last hook, you should be able to fit one or two fingers underneath, but there shouldn’t be much give. You should not really be able to pull it away from your body past the width of your two fingers. (and yes, you should wear your bra on the outermost hook. Bras will loosen over time, and you will work your way in to keep it tight)
- The band should remain parallel to the ground and not move around as you lift your arms, etc.
- The straps should stay put. They should not slip down (once properly adjusted) and should not dig into your shoulders.
- The cups should cover your entire breast. There should not be spaces or overflow in the front, and if wearing an underwire style, the underwire should encompass the breast tissue on the sides/under your arms a bit also.
- The underwire (or bottom of the cup) should always sit UNDER your breasts. If it is riding up or any part is coming out of the bottom, you are wearing the wrong size.
There is also a lot that goes into finding your correct bra size, and if you google it you will find a bazillion different ways to measure for it. It can actually be quite overwhelming. I did a lot of research on it, as I do for most things, so I will share what I found and what worked for me, as well as a few tips and tricks for fit that I think are important. The size of your bra has two parts, but for measurement purposes, there are three main components.
Band size: You’re going to want to wear a bra that is not padded, or very lightly lined. First, take a deep breath in and let it out, relaxing. Wrap a measuring tape around your body where the band would sit. You want it to be fairly snug, parallel to the ground as it goes across your back, and be just under the bust. If the number is even, this is likely your band size. If the number is odd, you will round to the closest even number to get your band size.
My band measurement = 33”
Note that rounding up to the nearest even number, my band size would be 34
Bust size: Take another deep breath in and out and relax. Keeping the measuring tape on your back at band level, you will now measure across the fullest part of your bust. Again, you will want to make sure the measuring tape is snug, and remains parallel to the ground. I would recommend taking a few full deep breaths in and out while holding the measuring tape across, and the tape will adjust slightly as you do, just make sure it is not too loose. Round to the nearest whole number. If you measure on the half inch or more, you should round up.
My bust measurement = 36.25”
Note that I measured on the quarter inch, so I will round down to 36.
Cup size: The numbers above are black and white, but this is where it can get a little bit confusing. Cup size will definitely depend on the brand of bra and the sizing is NOT universal.
Standard US sizing says that you will obtain your cup size by subtracting your band size from your bust size. I recommend using your actual measurements. The chart below shows the Standard US sizing.
My Bust size (36.25″) minus my band size (33″) = 3.25″
Rounded to the nearest whole number, my cup size measurement would be 3”
So, based on this sizing chart, my cup size is a C cup.
The correct bra size for me based on my measurements is 34C.
I know what you’re saying now. “Okay, Coleen, I have my numbers and have determined my correct size. How the H-E-double hockey sticks do I know this is the right size for me?” And that’s a GREAT question, and to be truthful, you don’t really know, but this is a really good place to start. Stay with me.
Every brand is going to be a little different, and every person of course is different for a variety of reasons (body type/build/frame, breast shape, etc). So next, you want to think about the bras you are wearing now. How do they fit? For me, I was wearing a 34D and had the following fit issues across multiple brands of bra:
- Major space in the cups (wahhhhhh)
- Straps slipping, even when tightened as tight as they would go (so annoying)
- Underwire digging into my side and leaving red marks (ouchies!)
Armed with my newfound bra size, I jumped online and found a few beautiful pieces from my favorite brand, Lively. I added the 34C’s to my cart, and went to check out but something was holding me back from clicking the check out button. But what?! Clearly my current bras did not fit me correctly, they were obviously too big. BUT in my head, the weird under arm digging thing was causing hesitation on a smaller cup size. The D could certainly have been just too big so the end of the wire was hitting me in a weird place, but for some reason my gut was saying that the solution didn’t seem to go with the issue, even though the chart (and all of my research) was pointing me there.
So I went back to the actual numbers that went into determining my bra size. My band size measured 33” and I automatically rounded UP putting me at a 34. But what if I rounded down? Could I even do that?
Then I realized that my bust size measured at ¼ inch. Not enough to round up, but does one really need to round down?! I was so conflicted. Was this kind of thinking completely against the rules?! I made the executive decision that it is NOT against the rules! I MAKE MY OWN RULES! Okay, no I don’t. But… either way. In this case, I am going rogue. Enter:
SISTER SIZES
If you don’t know what the term “sister sizes” means for your girls, you need to pay attention now. I know there’s a ton of info in this post but this may or may not be the most crucial piece of information you learn today.
Basically, if you need to go down a band size for fit, you can! You would just go up a cup size. And if you need to up a band size for fit, you can! You would just go down a cup size. Get it? And so, if you need to adjust your cup size for fit, you would simply adjust your band size accordingly. You can reference the chart below to make it a little easier. There are of course more sizes out there, but for simplicity sake, I am showing you the basics of how sister sizes work.
THIS IS GOLD, MY FRIENDS! And will be the answer to your bra fitting questions*. So if the 34C wasn’t feeling quite right for me, what could I do? I went to my handy dandy size chart and saw that I could also opt for size 32D or 36B (which is actually kind of ironic, if you’ve been reading the entire post). I knew that having lost weight, and planning to lose more, that going up in band size probably wasn’t the right answer for me.
So what DID I do? Well, I went ahead and added the same three bras in a 32D to my cart as I had in 34C. Why three? Because when you buy more, you save more at wearlively.com and free returns! Which is ridiculous because all of their bras are ONLY $35 to start with (YES! All of them, all of the time!) or you get 2/$60 and 3/$80! And with free returns… why not?!
When my box arrived, I couldn’t wait! Of the three bras I ordered, I had only worn one of the styles before, so when I broke into the box, I started with one of the styles I had not already tried.
This is the Deep V No Wire bra, which is (obviously) a wireless style. Unfortunately, neither size worked for me. The fit was a little odd, and it didn’t feel comfortable. That one was going back.
I moved on to the second style, which was the classic t-shirt bra. I have it in my old size already, and love love love this bra.
I tried on both of my sister sizes, and honestly, I could have kept either one. I felt supported and comfortable in both of them. The deciding factor was that I felt a bit more “held in” in the smaller band size. I’m not sure how to describe it, but I could just tell it was the better fit for me. I am so happy to have this one back in my daily life, because it is SO pretty. It has the most adorable lacy detail in the back and as with all their bras, a J-hook for wearing with a tank!
Next up, another wireless bra. I’m really digging the wireless styles, I have one in my old size that I have worn literally almost every day. Because of the cut of it I can still pull it off for now, so I decided to go with a slightly different style here, and which is Lively’s No-Wire Push-Up bra.
I got it in this beautiful smoke gray color and it is absolutely gorgeous. With this one, it wasn’t much of a comparison between sizes. The band on this one is a little more stretchy, so the larger band size felt way too loose. The cups worked either way, and of course the larger band size was a little more comfortable, but with the stretch of the material, I felt better about the smaller size. I will DEF be getting another color in this one!! It’s pretty much the most comfortable bra I have ever worn.
So there you have it. At the end of the day, the 32D was the correct size for me! Who knew!? But I am telling you – sister sizes, man. That’s the key. And finding a good bra, and good company. And IMHO, Wear Lively is the BEST. I have been wearing their bras for a while now and the quality is great, the prices are insane and customer service is amazing. These bras are so comfortable and super cute. If you are interested in seeing what these bras are all about, I got you guys a discount code!! Use Code: AMB-livingprettyxcoleen for $10 off your purchase! They honestly have so many styles- wire and wire free, lined and unlined, bralettes, and sports bras. Most of the colors are in the nudes range, and they have a match for pretty much every skin tone. They also have underwear to match most of the bras, loungewear, and even swimsuits! I seriously can’t wait to try one of their swimsuits this summer!
It was long, but I hope you found this bra fitting explanation to be helpful, and that you feel empowered to get on out there and find the right sized bra for you! And if you are already wearing it, Cheers to you! You are one of the lucky few who already figured it out.
*Of course I cannot guarantee that these measurement techniques will work for you, but based on my personal experience with a number of bra brands, fits, sizes, etc. along with research, I think this is a pretty universal fit finding guide. My best advice is to also use your judgement, as I did when deciding what size to purchase. If you have any questions, need help based on your measurements or anything else, feel free to comment here or email me!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you purchase something through one of my links, without any extra cost to you, I may earn a small commission. It helps to keep my little blog going! Regardless of compensation, all opinions are my own. As always, thank you for your support! x
