How to Measure Bra size: Bra Fitting Guide

Believe it or not, 85% of the ladies use Bras of the wrong size! The use bras with a large backside but with a small cup. Though average bra size is told as 36C, but actually this myth was spread because ladies tend to buy this size bra more. Those ladies who wear bras of 36C, most of them actually need something around 30E.

So, how bra size is indicated? Most people think it’s measured in 2 parts, 1 number and 1 alphabet. Band sized is indicated with number whereas cup size is indicated by alphabet. But most of the people don’t know that cup size is rational to band size. So all D-cup is not same for different sizes. The cup of 32D is actually equal to the cups of 34C or 36B, just its band size is smaller. Even if you are slim and thin, you might need a bigger cup even if your breast doesn’t look bigger than other girls’.

Whereas taller or fatter girls could need bras of smaller size as well. The size of bra mainly depends on your weight and body shape. Many women tend to adjust the size of Salwar and Semij according to the change of their weight, but they neglect to do the same for the bra. If a woman keeps wearing the same-sized bra for a long period of time, she gets used to it and even if it’s not perfect for her, she thinks it is. So if you need to know the perfect bra size for yourself just follow the instructions given below:

First, How to measure the Band size of your bra:

Take a tape that you use to measure the size of clothes, hold it exactly underneath your breast and then move the tape around your body and note down the reading (in inch). Make sure the tape stays horizontal and feels comfortable (doesn’t feel too tight). Let your hands relax when you’re taking this measurement.

If the reading is an odd number (in inch), you’ll have to try on bras of immediate smaller and larger size to see which one feels more comfortable. For example, if the size 31 inches, your bra size could be 30 or 32 (as bras sized of odd numbers aren’t available in market). 9 out of 10 girls find the immediate smaller size for comfortable (30 for the example above). If you are still confused then lean towards the front while wearing the bra and see whether it’s too tight or loose. If the band size is a little bit larger then you can adjust it. But if it’s too large, then it’s unusable and won’t give you any shape.

If the measurement comes out to be an even number, then it’s the perfect band size for most of the women. In rare cases, if you are too thin, then you might tend to wear a bra sized lot larger than you need. In other cases, if you are too fat, you might tend to wear lot smaller bra than you actually need.

So “Bra fitting guide” or ‘bra size calculator” might suggest you add 4-5 inches to the measurement you get- but it’s an old fashioned way. “Add Four” theory got popular in 1930’s by Warner when bra designing was at it premature age, but with today’s bra designing technology, it does not go.

How to Measure the cup size of your bra:

As the breast size of a woman can change according to her structure and shape (even a same woman can have two breasts of different sizes), the best and primary way to measure the cup size is measuring it according to your current bra’s cup size. Cup size is proportional to band size. So if you wear a bra with the smaller band and correspondingly smaller cup as well, then the cup size could be a lot smaller than your required size.

If you get down to a size regarding the band, the cup size has to go up by 2 alphabets correspondingly. As an example, if you are using a bra sized 30D currently, and after measuring you find out your band size should be 28, then you might actually need to wear a bra sized 28F for perfect fitting ( ]as your band size got down to 28 from 30, your cup size need to go up to “F” from “D” which is 2 sizes bigger).

The Cup Sizes are: AA, A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, FF, G, GG, H, HH, J, JJ, K, KK, L and LL

Some important information:

If, Band size is (28+4) = 32 and,

Cup size is 35,

Then by subtracting,

We get (35-32) = 3, means “C”

So, the perfect bra size will be “32C”

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Difference: Cup Size:

0”-1/2“: AA

1/2“-1”: A

2”: B

3”: C

4”: D

5”: DD or E

6”: DDD or F

7”: G

8”: H

9”: I

10”: J

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A=Small

B= Medium

C= Large

D= Larger

E= Too much Large

So the bras seem they might be the size for you according to the instructions above, give them a try and figure out which one is comfortable for you. You might have to try few different sizes because written bra size and actual size could be different sometimes because of design or being from different companies. So the bras you think will fit you, sometimes they might not.

 

Before wearing a bra, enlarge the band a bit. The pass the two arms through the tape from inside, lean forward a little so that your boobs get into the cup perfectly. Then hook the band up. You can use your personal tricks to the band hook which you might be comfortable with. But if you like smaller and tight fitting bra then you might need to enlarge the band a bit more.

Leaning forward, wear your undergarment or salwar so that your boobs get into the cup perfectly from all sides.  You can push the boobs towards each other if you feel it’ll make the fittings better.

Now you can adjust the length of the band towards comfort and make sure it’s not too tight or too loose.

Bra fitting Guide: Verify whether the band size is right or not

Perfect band size is that lowest size of the band of a bra that you can wear comfortably. It might be smaller than the measurement you got from the tape measuring your body around just underneath your breast. Because the elastic used in a band of bras are tensile, especially in 42 and later sizes. The band should be supportive towards your body.

You should be able to pass a finger through the band. The band should not be tighter or looser than that. The best way is checking whether you can pass your thumb through from the side part of your body and make adjustment according to that.

If the bra is so tight that you are having difficulty in breathing, should you wear a bra having a bigger band and smaller cup than the size you are wearing now? Like, 28HH instead of 26J.

Bra Fitting guide: Verify the cup size

If you wear bras having perfect-sized cups for your breast, there’ll be no wrinkles in the skin off your boobs. But if you see any wrinkles whatsoever, get that the cup size is a lot smaller than needed one, even for push-up bras.

Standing in front of the mirror, check if there’s any kind of bulging around. Not only in front, check under the arms and in the back as well.

If you still feel the cup size is smaller, but if you can get sure about that, you can wear a bra with little bigger cups to be double sure. Then you’ll know if smaller cups are perfect for you or not!

Bra fitting guide: Final Looks

Now wear your dress. I hope the new bra that you’ve bought is comfortable and nice. So now check if you can find out any change in your figure. Or if you can see any sign of the bra over your dress. Or anything that can put you in embarrassing situations.

If you have worn the perfect sized bra, your boobs should be in the middle position of your elbow and neck looking from the side part of your body. From the measurement perspective, your nipple should be 10 inches down from your chin.

Bra fitting tips:

For many women, it’s seen that bra straps along two sides of the body tends to go towards the middle part of the back because of wearing bras with smaller bands than needed. For bras with bigger bands, it also happens to the band in the back side tends to go up a little in the middle portion rather than staying parallel to the land. You can solve this issue by pulling that parts that tends to go up while wearing the bra.

• If you two boobs are different in sizes, then buy the bra according to the measurement of bigger boob. You can shorten the band a bit of the smaller sized boob, or you can use an extra pad in the cup of the shorter boob which you’ll find easily in the market.
• If you want to keep your bra fit for using, then do not wear that same bra for a couple of days at a stretch, even if it’s washed. If you wear it after a gap of 2-3 days, the elastic will come back to its regular form before stretching again.
• Do not wear a wrong-sized bra for you ever again. And never buy a cheap quality bra to save some money. Remember, it’s better to have one good quality bra than 2-3 cheap quality bras.