BlogHer - Bare Necessities Tells You EXACTLY How to Find Your Proper Bra Size - Comments

Find a bra that really fits!

jodik — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:49:38 -0600

Kramey,

I'm convinced that VS sales people don't know very much about bras. I was there buying a gift for someone else, and they tried to sell me a bra. They don't carry my size, but that didn't stop them from suggesting I go a band size up (which won't fit at all)!

Bare Necessities (as well as figleaves and herroom) are much better options.

whoo!

Kian Yamaguchi — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:45:56 -0600

Being also flat chested (an attribute that I actually *enjoy* having) I am in the place now where I need to get fitted because I had two babies in 20 months and just stopped nursing the youngest. He's 20 months now and I nursed him until he was 16 months. So yeah I'm not my old size (which was flat chested) and I threw out all those bras anyway because I'm an idiot. But I have no real idea what the real size is and Victoria Secret's website just made me even more frustrated. SO! I shall go to Bare Necessities and I shall try their measurements and hopefully shall be very very happy! Thanks Susan!!

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Bare Necessities IS Great

BethanyWD — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:49:17 -0600

I find that they generally have the BEST prices for all brands of bras
- even the tough to find. For those of us a little (ahem) fuller than
you, while I believe the home measurement recommendation is a great
place to start, I definitely advocate heading to a department (or
specialty store), and try on a wide variety of styles. I FINALLY
committed to doing that; and I LITERALLY tried on 25 bras and,
honestly, it was the last bra I tried on that fit the best and gave the
best shape. I bought it on the spot and then ran home and ordered two
more (for CHEAPER) from Bare Necessities. It turned out that I had
picked one of Oprah's favorites - the Le Mystere Dream Tisha.
And while it says it is for full figured women, it works great for me -
and I am not full figured (not that there is anything wrong with
that!). I wear a 32 inch band size and a size 4 pant. Moral of the story - measure, go try on, and then buy from Bare Necessities. The end.

The Bra

krameymartin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:15:36 -0600

I'm completely convinced that VS sales people see imaginary bosom. Everytime I go in there they tell me I need a C. For the fact that my boobs hardly hit the end of my B cups bras, I am entirely UNCONVINCED this is the truth. I have yet to find the perfect bra, I think I'll try Bare Necessities! Thanks!

Bare Necessities Tells You EXACTLY How to Find Your Proper Bra Size

Susan Wagner — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:15:31 -0600

Here's a funny story for you: years ago, I decided that I needed new bras, or at least bras that weren't meant for jogging. I'm essentially flat chested, and for most of my adult life, I had been winging it with sports bras and camisoles, but when I got into graduate school and started teaching, I began to feel like I might need to wear a bra to class, you know, as part of being Grown Up. Or at least as part of not looking like I was an undergrad any more.

Of course, in order to buy a bra, I had to figure out what size I was. Fortunately, Victoria's Secret had a handy-dandy on-line bra size calculator; at this point in time (in the early 90s) they were about the only web site that did. So I carefully followed their directions and measured around my rib cage, and added five inches; then I measured the largest part of my chest, and entered both of those numbers in the calculator.

And I got an error message. Because CLEARLY I was measuring wrong.

So I did it again, and then I had a friend help, and every time it was the same: Victoria's Secret told me that there was no way those were my measurements.

So depressing.

(For the record, I was measuring correctly, at least according to those directions; Victoria's Secret just doesn't carry bras in my size. Which is a bummer, because I know I'm not the only flat-chested grown-up woman out there.)

For years, I've been winging my bra size; I assume that I was a 32 A because those were the bras that (mostly) fit me the best. And every few months I would measure myself, again, to see if I could get a more definitive answer, but I always came up with the same mathematical anomaly.

Until now!

Bare Necessities doesn't use the standard bra measuring method; they recommend measuring "under your arms, high on your back, across the top of your chest. If
this measurement is an even number, this is your band size. If an odd
number, add 1" to determine your band size." Once you have that number, you measure "loosely around the fullest part of your bust. Next, subtract your band
measurement from your bust measurement; each inch represents a cup size." And, for those of us who wear hard-to-fit sizes, they provide a chart, with specific cup sizes. So if the difference between your band and cup measurements is less than one inch, as mine was, you wear a AA cup.

Guess what! I'm not a 32A, I'm a 34AA! Go figure.

The bra I ordered using these measurements fit perfectly -- I have honestly, in over 25 years of wearing a bra, NEVER had a bra that fit this well. I have also never had any luck with in-person bra fittings; a local lingerie boutique carried only petite bras in cups smaller than a B, and the fitter at Nordstrom's in Chicago said, "Yes, you look like a 32A!" and then brought me a bunch of bras, which didn't fit at all -- you know, since I'm NOT a 32A.

If you don't have access to a really qualified bra fitter (and a sales clerk with a tape measure is NOT a qualified bra fitter) give the Bare Necessities method a try. Next week, I'll tell you all about the bra I ordered from them and why I love it more than I love my children.

Here's more information on bra fittings:

Style Advice Plus has tips for plus size bra fittings.

Alison, at Knickers Blog, goes to bra fitting school. How fun!

And from the BlogHer archives comes this fabulous ILLUSTRATED post by Kristy Sammis about the importance of a properly fitted bra. Illustrated, you all! Excellent.