re girl stuff

[maevele]

okay, i may need to give in and buy a bra that isn't a sports bra.

i srsly do not know how to do this, for real. help me internet.

Comments

[damned_colonial]

The customary advice is to go to a department store like Macy's OR one of those lingerie stores that sells girdles and old lady knickers and find a middle-aged sales assistant to measure you. They're surprisingly professional and non-judgemental, in my experience. If you don't generally wear a non-sports bra, be up front with them and say "I usually wear sports bras but I want to get a non-sports one and need measuring."

Generally they will measure you around under your breasts, where the band of your bra would sit, and then around the nipple line. They do this in about three seconds flat, over your clothes (eg a tshirt), without touching you much if at all.

The first measurement, the band measurement, will be in inches, and will indicate the numeric bra size, eg. 34.

They'll subtract that from your nipple-line measurement and do some magic, and that will give you the cup size. Eg. 2" difference is an A, 4" is a B, 6" is a C, 8" is a D. Or something like that. I'm not sure exactly. It's magic.

Then tell them what sort of bra you want. Usually I say "non-frilly, machine washable, something sensible" and they find me the right sort of stuff, if they have it. Tell them if eg. you prefer cotton to synthetics, or what colour you prefer, or what you're planning to wear it with. You can tell them, "usually I wear sports bras/don't wear bras/whatever, but I have this wedding/party/job interview coming up" and they'll deal.

They will load you up with a handful of options and throw you in a fitting room. They will usually hang around outside asking if you need another size, or whatever. They may ask if you want help, and offer to take a look and advise. Usually they look at the fit of the bra, whether the band is sitting right, the shoulder straps adjusted correctly, the cups the right size, etc. The bigger your boobs are, the more important a correctly fitted bra is. For me, I just push down my body-image issues and accept their help, because my girls need the help, you know? For you, it would be optional. If you feel like advice would help, they can advise; if you feel like you don't want them looking and fiddling with the adjustments, just say no thanks.

Things to look for in a well-fitted bra:

1) The band should be horizontal all the way round; turn in the mirror and check that it doesn't ride up in back. If it does, first loosen the shoulder straps a bit, and if that doesn't work, you probably need a tighter band.

2) Your boobs should exactly fill the cup. If it's too loose it will be puckery/wrinkled or there will be a gap/empty space along the bottom near the band. If it's too full you will get a sort of bulging double boob over the top edge. Adjust cup size up/down if necessary.

3) There are other things about underwires and stuff but you're small enough that they probably won't affect you.

If you want to know more you can google "bra fitting guide" or something like that and you will find lots of sites.

Also... once you know your size and a style that suits your needs, you can order shit on the internets. Bra sizes do not vary as much as clothing sizes so there's a decent chance that shit will fit you.

(I went through all this a couple of years ago, albeit with much bigger boobs. Fun times. Ugh.)

[trouble]

The most important thing is sizing. Both cup and strap.

[trouble]

And I now see someone else has responded *much* more thoroughly. :)

[damned_colonial]

That's me. Mouthy :)

[littlebutfierce]

I like Blue Canoe for comfort but they are sadly fairly expensive. :/

[leeoakfire.livejournal.com]

try this:

http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-a-Well-Fitting-Bra

Good luck!

[bifemmefatale.livejournal.com]

I love TJ Maxx for bras. You can get good brand names for less than $10. If you find any Wacoal, snap them fuckers up. For once Oprah wasn't lying--they make the best damn bra I have ever owned.

Also, once you determine your size, try them all on anyway. There is an unbelievable amount of variation in fit even between 2 different styles by the same maker.

Oh, and one thing that wiki link doesn't mention--once you put the bra on, bend at the waist and fluff the girls or they won't sit right, unless you're a B or smaller.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

First, go to a place like Kohl's or something, and ask the employee who works in the lingerie department to fit you! They do it for free, and I seriously get fitted once a year or so - bra sizes are not constant.

Don't have Victoria's Secret fit you! The girls there are useless and only interested in making sales. People at department stores are usually more interested in giving you an accurate fitting. Also, the bras are cheaper at a place like JC Penney's or Kohl's. Either way, it's best to get one that fits right, so start with a fitting!

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

I am dubious of even department store fittings. Measuring myself seems to work reasonably well.

[kayjayoh.livejournal.com]

I actually recommend the fitters at Macy's. At least when I have been there, they've been great.

I second the statement on VS...they are overpriced, poorly made crap, and the employees don't know much beyond the company line. (Whereas a dept store has many brands and style to choose from.)

Also second the Wacoal = awesome. I'm also a fan of Maidenform. I actually found a bra style they make that works great for me while shopping at Kohls, then I made note of the style number and bought it again and again online, so I didn't have to hunt for my size and a nice color.

[eriktrips.livejournal.com]

in the olden days the Sears catalog had detailed instructions on how to measure yourself for a bra. I think my first bra was a "AAAA" cup which means elastic material stretched over your flat chest because there is no difference between your rib cage measurement and your "bust" measurement. but in any case you measured around the bottom of your boobs-to-be for the number part and then you measured the "fullest part of your bust" and the difference determined your cup size. 32" around at both locations = 32AAAA bra. or maybe it was something worse, like "if your bust size is up to 1" smaller than your bra size,...".

there must be something floating around the internet that is similar.