Bra fitting guide

Bra fitting guide

Finding the right size bra is often a trouble for many women; estimates are that about 80% of women wear the wrong size bra. It's is not healthy for your breasts - especially if the breasts are in a too tight bra.

Let your breasts have free time from bras daily - it's best to spend more than 12 hours of your day bra-free. It's will help the lymph flow inside your breasts. And when choosing a bra, try to get yourself fitted by a professional.

A part of these bra fitting tips below have been submitted to us by a professional bra fitter.

Finding the band size

There is NO consensus in these measurement methods (unfortunately). Different opinions exist. So no matter what measuring system you use, you still need to try the garment on to be sure it actually fits.

Have someone measure around your chest with a tape measure, just under your breasts, and around the back. Make sure the tape measure rests flat on the skin and goes straight across your back.

The common advice is to add 5 inches to this measurement - and then that is your band size (also called chest size). HOWEVER, adding only 2-3 inches (instead of 5) can work better for many women. Some even recommend not adding any to the measurement you get, and just using that as your band size. The reasoning is that the bra band needs to fit snugly so it can provide about 80-90% of the support for the breasts - and then the straps (shoulders) only carry about 10-20% of the load.

If you end up with an odd number, go up to the next even number, since bras usually only come in even-numbered band sizes.

As always, try the bra on, and let that be the final determining factor. If the bra band rides up on your back, the band is too large (loose) and you need to go down in the band size.

Finding the cup size

Measuring the cup size is trickier; even with a measurement it is better to try on different bras and find out experimentally which one fits.

Have someone measure you again, this time the measuring tape goes on top of the fullest part of your breasts. If you already own a well-fitting non-padded bra, you can wear it while taking this measurement as long as it doesn't 'flatten' your breasts (which would make an illusion of a smaller cup size). Record this number, and find the difference between that, and the band-size number. The difference tells you the correct cup size as follows:
While this chart is useful for determining the cup size, bear in mind that 34A cup does NOT have the same exact volume as 36A or 38A. Similarly, 30D does not have the same volume as 36D (30D is a much smaller cup than 36D). So, if you try on a 36B bra and the cup size fits but the band is too loose so that you decide to go to down in band size to 34, you may actually need 34C cup size so as to have about the same volume in the bra cup.

It's is sort of counter-intuitive. Just remember to go by the fit, not by the numbers. You have to try the bra on. If it fits right, that's your bra size even if the tape measure told you different.

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