It's Your Band Size, And Your Choice

You might have noticed me mentioning in recent posts that I’ve started including 30 bands in my possible sizes. That’s not because my measurements have changed but because I had a realization, one that felt a bit mischievous at first: I don’t have to wear a 28 band if I don’t want to.

I’ve been wearing one for the past few seasons because it matches my measurement (28 inches around the underbust) and I didn’t want to risk having back pain or other problems from wearing a too-loose band. But I hadn’t had many problems with 30 bands before that, unless they ran unusually loose, and I had a host of new problems with 28 bands—painful underwires, sharp edges cutting in, and that weird constricted feeling that comes from wearing something very tight for hours. So I recently decided to do a small trial of wearing 30 bands again. I figured if it didn’t work, I would go straight back to 28s, but ultimately, the 30 bands were a success for me based on the criteria I had chosen. The way I see it, there are three important tests for whether the band size you are wearing is too big:

First of all, and I’m sure you’ve all heard this before, but your bra band should not ride up. It should sit horizontally around your body. However, it’s important to note that a few bras have bands that just sit that way, angled a bit up, so they look like they are riding up when they are actually the right size or even too small. This is one of the most annoying things ever in my opinion, because it makes it difficult to distinguish between a correct or too-big band, hence why I’m mentioning two other tests.

Second, if you have back pain at the end of the day from your boobs, definitely try a smaller band.It might not solve the problem, in which case you need not bother to size down, but if it does help, you owe it to yourself to wear the smaller size.

Third, if you have to readjust your boobs a lot throughout the day, that’s a sign that something may be amiss with your size. Ideally, a well-fitting bra should stay more or less in place—you shouldn’t feel like you are constantly tucking and pulling. If you are, you may need to reevaluate what size you should wear. It could be that you need to change your cup size, or it could be that you need to wear a tighter band.

If you don’t have these problems with a slightly larger band size, though, I personally feel that you should choose the band that feels most comfortable, which may not necessarily be the tighter one. For me, I had a lot of comfort issues with 28 bands, so I’m moving away from them. Of course, I was never a small 28, and this is just my experience—I’m not suggesting that people abandon their sizes willy-nilly on my advice. I just don’t want people to feel trapped in a band size that is only best for them in theory. I have met some people with larger underbust measurements who prefer to subtract inches from their measurement to get the most comfortable band size, and I think that it’s also okay to add a couple of inches if that is the most comfortable option and if it is still equally supportive.

I’m pretty convinced that it’s not a good idea to add more than 2 inches to your measurement to get your band size, nor would most people have success subtracting more than that, but again, I’m sure there are some exceptions and outliers to this rule of thumb. Only you can decide what feels most comfortable for you. Just be informed about the right and wrong reasons to wear a band size slightly bigger than your measurements. For instance, no bra fitter in a store should encourage you to add inches—especially not the standard, pathetic American system of adding up to SIX inches. It is your right to decide to add inches, but MOST people will fare best in a band size that is close to their measurements.

I also don’t think it’s a good idea to make the choice to upsize just because of increased options in larger band sizes, although I understand why some people might find this a massive relief. Wearing a 30 band, I have many, many more options than wearing a 28 band, but that isn’t reason enough to size up in the band. If I was uncomfortable in the 30 band, all the options in the world wouldn’t mean anything--because all of them would cause me pain. Upsizing just so you can find something in shops, when you wouldn’t do so otherwise, means you are being bullied by the companies and inadvertently voting for the wrong sizes with your wallet.

However, you also shouldn’t feel that you need to wear the smallest possible band size if you are actually more comfortable in one size up. The best method is to take some time to experiment and try out a few different sizes. Most people will still find they are most comfortable in a band size that nearly matches their measurements, but trust your own instincts—if you’ve tried all the sizes you can (and that means more than just the ones available on the high street), you’ll know which one is best.

Curvy Kate's Sizing... Letting Us Down?

Today I saw an interesting graphic revealing the sizing for some of Curvy Kate’s upcoming, and long-awaited bras (you can see photos of their Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, and sizing information, here). Especially with the new “Smoothie” bra having been trumpeted as the first ever J-cup molded bra, I think a lot of people will be quite startled and disappointed to see that it doesn’t go up to a J-cup in anything other than 28 and 30 bands.

On the one hand, this is a rare reversal of what the sizing looks like for many bras. Most companies seem content to either end the sizing at the same cup size over every band size...

Masquerade 'Capella' Size Range

....or to go up to higher cup sizes in only the higher band sizes, which doesn’t really make sense. For instance, Bravissimo's bras go up to a J in 28 band, but up to K-L in bigger band sizes.

Bravissimo 'Alana' Size Range

This seems odd as a 30J would have the same or similar cup volume to a 28JJ; it’s obviously a decision they make based on demand rather than ‘fairness’, but it has always annoyed me.

So Curvy Kate’s sizing for these bras does technically make a little more sense—they end the cup sizes at a proportionally equal volume for every band size (except the 28, which would need to go up to a JJ for all to be equal). This does at least convince me that Curvy Kate knows how proper bra sizing works, with cup sizes changing proportional to band size, something I’ve never been convinced that Freya is fully sentient of.

However, Curvy Kate’s decision also goes against what I think of as their whole philosophy of inclusive sizing, and especially the way in which they bring certain types of bras to sizes that have never had them before. I thought that’s what they were trying to do with the creation of a molded bra up to a J-cup. But for those wearing a 38 back, this bra only goes up to a G, which is hardly revolutionary; I know plenty of people who need sizes bigger than that. I’d also prefer if this bra went up to a K cup in a 28 band--that way even if they do cut off the sizes proportional to band size, at least they'd make it up to a GG or H in the 38 band. Curvy Kate’s Showgirl and padded bras have always come in fewer sizes than their unpadded bras, which seems like a real shame as it is often those with the biggest boobs who most desire the shape and support of padded bras, and who have the fewest options elsewhere. I know what I should say—that “it’s a start”—but I wish they would have started this with a bigger bang. I’m sure Curvy Kate wants to make sure to get the shape and support exactly right before they put bigger sizes into production; maybe I'm wrong about this, but I’m convinced that most people who are sized out of the Smoothie would have been happier with a slightly imperfect version rather than none at all. 

Does it Really Matter if There’s a High Demand for Smaller Back Sizes?

Posts about sizing on Busts4Justice and Invest In Your Chest got me thinking about the relative rareness of small back/big cup bras. Over and over, I see people requesting more 28 backs and the introduction of 26 backs on the Facebook pages of D+ companies. Over and over, the response is the same—there isn’t enough demand to justify it.

I’m no economist, but I truly believe that these brands should want to produce 28 backs not based on how profitable they are, but simply because it’s the right thing to do. Think of it this way: if they are making up to K cups, then their whole company is founded on the belief that a proper fit is important. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they just sell us horribly ill-fitting bras at mainstream stores? If they are focusing on making the most money possible, shouldn’t they just make sizes 32-38 A-DD, teach customers to add +4 to their band size, and use super-skinny models to shame us all into buying their crappy products? If fit is important to a bra company, they should consider it paramount to make sure that everyone is able to find a size to fit and support them.

Sure, I like to buy pretty bras, and I would buy more of them if there were more available in my size. But it’s much more than that—it’s a physical, possibly even moral issue. If no one made bras in size 28J, I WOULD have to get a breast reduction whether I wanted one or not (I don't). I would HAVE TO. The back pain I would suffer without a supportive bra would be impossible to deal with. The blog Thin and Curvy points this out in this truly brilliant post from a while back: THE RIGHT BRA CAN PREVENT SURGERY. Everyone deserves a good fit, but for the upper reaches of cup sizes, a good fit can be life-altering.

That’s why I feel so scornful of companies that continue to make tons of D-G cups while ignoring bigger cups and smaller backs based on how little money they’d make off them. Fine, if they want to turn it into an economic issue, I just won’t buy from them. But the sad fact is that I don’t single-handedly have the economic power to convince anyone of anything. I’m sure Freya couldn’t care less whether I buy their trendy floral creations. I’m sure Panache wouldn’t even notice if I stop buying their bras that leave scars and lacerations on my body.

At least we’ve got Curvy Kate. They seem committed to continuing to produce their non-Showgirl bras in 28 D-K (EVERY bra, not just the ugly ones) even though I have read that they don’t make as much profit off these sizes. I really respect them for this commitment to supporting women and I really, really hope I never have to eat my words about this. 

Bra Bands: In Which I Have A Lot Of Feelings

As we know, the band of the bra is supposed to provide the vast majority of the support, not the straps. That’s why it’s important to make sure your band isn’t too loose, and it’s the element of bra sizing that’s most important to not compromise on.

So why do I find myself gazing longingly at 30HH bras on ebay when I know I measure 27.5 inches around my underbust and should wear a 28J?

It’s because I’m so sick of my bras hurting me. And I remember that back when I wore a 30, they never hurt. But it’s the not the bras that changed, it’s me—I lost some weight around my ribcage and now there is nothing to cushion me from the underwires sitting right on my bones. These are my scars:

Not so sexy. And that's after NOT wearing a bra for a few hours. Please, bra manufacturers, do something about this! Lots of people, and not just in 28 and 30 band sizes, don’t have enough natural padding around their ribcage to protect them from the hard metal wires that are covered by nothing more than a single layer of fabric. By the end of the day, I feel like my bra is attacking me. But if I wear a band that’s too loose to avoid this, I get back pain from supporting the weight of my boobs.

Totally exposed.

This awesome blog post lists some of the features the author misses from her days of wearing Victoria’s Secret bras before she knew her size. I’m so with her. All I want right now is a super-soft, laser-cut Secret Embrace bra with the underwire completely encased in a comfortable foam channel. I just want it in my size. I truly think the cool pseudo-scientific bells and whistles Victoria's Secret uses in their bra construction are the reason lots of women are unwilling to switch to their "real" size even when they know it--because brands for D+ women don't bother to do any of that stuff (some brands do a little, but none past a G cup). 

Check out that concealed underwire!

Another problem, wonderfully documented here, is the rise of looser and looser bands. In my experience that’s how bra-hating starts: you find your 30s are riding up your back…you go down to a 28…that pushes you over the edge in cup-size territory...you suddenly find yourself relegated to a few boring styles, mostly in basic colors…you long to return to the happy land of 30 inch bands and OPTIONS.

The whole situation depresses me a lot. It's obviously something that D+ bra manufacturers put on the back burner as they think instead about fashion. Personally, I'd sacrifice a years' worth of floral patterns just to have a little more thought put into softening up the bands and underwires. It would make me so much more excited to put a bra on in the morning, and a little less excited to take it off at night.

Why Doesn't Freya Think We're Sexy?

Have you ever been looking at a cute bra for sale online and noticed these words: “Additional lining in GG-J cups for extra support”?

The phrase seems harmless, but beware those words if you’re hoping to purchase the bra you actually see in the pictures. Check out the difference the additional lining makes in the appearance of the Freya Arabella, a bra practically mythologized for its sexy sheerness:

It’s still a cute bra with the extra lining, but the fact is that the lined version looks JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER BRA made for GG-J. It loses the one feature that makes the Arabella distinct: its sheerness.

The same is true of Freya’s Eleanor bra of a few seasons back...

...and the Lyla, which I already decried here for its inadequate size range. Bravissimo is kind enough to feature a picture of the double-lined version in their catalogue, but there is NO photo of it on their website, so I dug one up.

Looks like a totally different bra, doesn't it?

I know what they’d say in their defense: the extra lining is necessary to provide the support needed by GG+ cups. Here’s why that’s bullshit:

        1. Since cup sizes change proportionally to band sizes, a 30GG (which would get the extra lining) is the SAME CUP SIZE as the 32G (which would not get the extra lining). The ONLY DIFFERENCE between those sizes is the band. If the unlined version can support a 38G, it would also be able to support up to a 28JJ. I keep waiting for bra manufacturers to pay some attention to this fact. Do they just not know about it?

        2.  Even more significantly, the extra lining does not give extra support. Want to know how I know that? Back in the day, I was the proud owner of a 30GG Arabella that had the extra lining. It bothered me that I couldn’t wear the bra as it was designed (sheer) so I simply cut out the opaque inner lining. It wasn’t too hard, I just had to cut carefully to avoid puncturing the outer mesh. When I was done, the bra looked just like the D-G sheer version--AND it still gave the exact same level of shape and support. The outer see-through mesh on the Arabella has NO STRETCH WHATSOEVER, so it can support the structure of the bra all on its own. The inner lining, on the other hand, has slight 2-directional stretch; the only function it serves is visual.

So if the additional lining doesn’t provide any extra support in GG-J cups, why do they put it in? Well, I suspect it’s because Freya thinks women with GG-J cup boobs wouldn’t want a sheer bra—for the same reason they refuse to make longline bras, padded plunges, and most of their cuter designs in those cup sizes even though every other similar company does. They just seem to think that boobs that big wouldn’t look nice in their fancier designs—that boobs that big shouldn’t need anything other than the basics. Well, I think they’re wrong. As a J-cup, I do want a sheer bra; I think it would look just as good on me as it would on an F-cup. The upper cup sizes really do deserve to have the same cute options as the lower cup sizes, even if there is a slightly smaller group of customers that needs those sizes.  Shouldn’t we all get to be a little impractical with our lingerie once in a while?

Freya "Lyla": Another Sad Sizing Story

I was just enjoying looking through blog posts on some of my favorite blogs Invest In Your Chest and Fuller Figure Fuller Bust about a lingerie show featuring Freya bras, among other brands. As I made overly clear in my earlier post Why I Hate Freya, I am not the biggest fan of Freya bras overall . But when I caught a glimpse of the new version of the Lyla in this Hazelnut shade, I fell in love.

Something about this color just sings to me—it’s so warm and unusual. I love the idea of sheer bras, they’re sexy and elegant at the same time. And the design on this bra looks like POPPIES and SNOWFLAKES. I have wanted a snowflake bra since the tender age of fourteen.

I got all excited, thinking I would buy this bra when it comes out, since I knew the Lyla goes up to a J cup and I would need a 28J. But then suddenly I got a nagging feeling that I was getting my hopes up only to be let down…

Well, I was right! Here’s the size range. I literally did a double take of unpleasant shock when I saw it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a size range so inclusive in most band sizes while being so severely limited in a 28. Hats off to you, Freya, for once more making me feel like I don’t exist.

DD and DDD

         Dear everyone commenting on every article about big boobs on any blog (other than blogs specifically about lingerie fitting),

           DD is a relatively small cup size, unless perhaps you have a 40 inch back. If you think you’re a DD, you either have smallish boobs, or you are wearing the wrong size.

           
           DDD seems to be used as a general term to mean “anything over a D cup, which is spilling horribly over the cups of the ill-fitted bras I am forced to buy at department stores because I’ve never been properly fitted and have no idea what size my boobs really are.” Maybe work on that, ladies.

           PS. DDD isn’t even a real cup size. It goes from DD to E.