Most of us need to wear a bra, at least sometimes. But lots of women I speak to complain about how much they hate bras – they don’t find them comfortable at all. Many seek out the advice of a “professional bra fitter” in the hope of finding a better fit. Sadly this often doesn’t help.

There are a few shops out there who are doing it right – Bravissimo, Rigby and Peller, Leia etc. But there are a lot more who are doing it wrong. Marks and Spencer, BHS, AnnSummers, La Senza and many others are on the bad fitter’s list. If you have had a fitting from any of them or followed almost any online size chart, then chances are you are in the wrong bra. If you recognize any of the symptoms below then you probably need a new bra.

Bad Bra Alert

•  You have to tighten the straps a lot to keep the bra up
• Your bra rides  up at the back – you can feel it isn’t sitting horizontally
• Your shoulder straps dig in and leave nasty red marks or grooves
• Your bra straps fall down (off the shoulder)
• You sometimes bulge over your bra (the 4-boob look)
• If you lift your arms, your bra moves up (sometimes letting you slip out from underneath)
• You have “armpit fat” – there is bulging over the sides of your bra cups.
• The middle of your bra (the “central gore”) does not sit flat against your chest – it should sit flat in between your boobs
• The wires dig and cut in – anywhere
• You suffer from back  or neck pain
• Your bra slips down, leaving empty space at the bottom of the cup
• You are a size 8 and wearing a 34 band…it’s possible, but it’s unlikely!

These are all signs of an unhappy bra.

The reason for this is an old fitting method where they take your back measurement and add 4-5 inches to get the back size. This results in an unsupportive and often painful bra, normally much too big in the back and too small in the cup.

How to Fit Properly

Firstly, you can’t get your exact size from a measuring tape. You can get a pretty good guide (particularly when it comes to the back size) but you need to know what to look for to get it perfect. First off – getting your “starting size”; you can measure wearing a bra, but only if the bra already fits well. So I am going to tell you how to do it braless.

• Measure underneath your bust, firmly, in inches. The tape measure should be pretty tight
• Bend over so your boobs are hanging down at 90 degrees and measure around the widest part – like this picture

The underbust measurement is the band size*. If you are an odd number you will want to try the size either side to be sure, but as a rule of thumb, most people fit better if they round down. So, if you measure 31”, you could try a 30 and a 32 back, but chances are the 30 will be better.

there are a couple of exceptions to this rule. If you are very very slender and have no “padding” around your ribs then you may find it necessary to try one back size higher. Conversely, if you are “squidgy of torso” then you may need a smaller back size than you actually measure as the bra needs a relatively firm surface to sit on. So if this is you don’t be scared to try 1-2 back sizes smaller than you measure.

To test if the band fits

Put the bra on back to front so the cups are at the back. When new this should be on the loosest hook as bras stretch with age. The band should feel snug, and you should be able to fit a couple of fingers under it, but that’s about all. If you can’t breathe try a size up,  but most of the support comes from the band so we are aiming for the firm. The reason for trying it back to front is that even if the back is correct if the cup is far too small it can trick you into thinking the band is too small – the cups try to steal the fabric!

Now, working out the cup size

Most UK manufacturers Bra-alphabet goes A,B,C,D,DD,E,F,FF,G,GG,H,HH,J,JJ,K, KK,L…..there is also the AA, which is smaller than an A. For each inch difference between your band size and your overbust measurement, you get a cup (starting at A) – so somebody measuring 30” underneath and 40” over would start at a 30GG. I would normally suggest trying AT LEAST 1 cup size either side of this to be sure. Now, if you have always been fitted the “old way” you will probably be in shock right now, as you’ve probably gone down 2-3 back sizes, and up several

Once you have the band right, time to test the cups. Here is what to do

Lean forward, drop your breasts into the cups and do the bra up at the back. Now, take your right hand, put it around inside the left cup, all the way around under your armpit, and scoop all the soft tissue and flesh into the cup. You might not know it, but all that soft tissue under your armpit is breast, and it needs to be in the cup. Now, repeat on the other side. The wire should totally encase your soft breast tissue, and you should have no overspill or wrinkling in the cups. The central gore should sit flat in between your boobs.

Sources – Softy Bra