Bra confusion

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I am quite confused about Bra's
When i enter a mall there are different varieities but they look bridal collection
they are expensive plus in lace fabrics etc
indian climate is not suitable for lace bra's
also i dont know use of padded bra's i find a lot of padded bra's nowadays
what type of bra should a women with cupsize 36 wear
why do foreign brands come with 36A,36B,36C etc...........in india its only 36
and whats with all this seamless, push up bras and 3/4 cups etc
its as confusing as rocket science

The number refers to the "band size" that goes around your chest just under your bosom. The letter refers to the actual size of the breast. You measure yourself just under your bosom, then around the fullest part of it. If the difference is one inch, you're an A, 2 inches you're a B, etc..

For example, I measure 38 inches around just under the bust and 41 inches around the actual bust, so I'm a 38C. At least I hope that's how it works. If I'm wrong, it may explain some of my discomfort with bras.

It's getting harder and harder to find a bra that's just nice, soft, plain cotton, with underwires. I've got one that's kind of padded and shaped, made of some kind of rubbery fabric covered with nylon and I find that it gets really smelly after wearing it all day, especially in the summer.

I don't know. I was fitted as a teenager (my older female relatives were insistent that I needed to get properly fitted) and generally just try on sizes close to what I was fitted as so... 34 or 36B or C (when I was nursing a baby) and then go with whatever is most comfortable. I don't wear bras with underwires because they're uncomfortable to me.

So... maybe try to get fitted? It was uncomfortable to me because a lady had to come measure me, but I guess it was worth it. I just get whatever bras feel most comfortable (or least uncomfortable depending...) and I wear them until they fall apart because they get more comfortable the more I wear them.

It took me over a decade to get used to wearing bras and I still don't like them much, but I'm used to wearing them now at least... I don't wear them when I'm at home though.

Oh dear this sounds terribly familiar. If you are living in a country where they don't know much about bras then it is normal practice for them to talk about bras in terms of the band size only. They did that when I lived in Spain, and I was always appalled by it.

The bigger your boobs were, the bigger your band size allegedly was. People in Spain would say: "Oh, look at her, her boobs are so big, I bet she's a 95 or even a 100." (They talk in cm there, not inches).

Of course, that is totally wrong. Breast size and torso size are two different things. It's just appalling ignorance to say that the bigger your boobs are, the bigger your torso will be - ignorance brought about by the fact that the bra manufacturers in some countries do not make a wide range of cup sizes, so the sales ladies in the bra shops have to try and sell you a bra even if it's the wrong size.

The bigger your boobs are, the bigger band size the ladies in the shop will tell you that you need. They will probably even believe that what they are telling you is true. It isn't. What they are probably doing is trying to sell you a bra that is too big around the band, to compensate for the fact that it is too small for you in the cup.

It is very bad for your body to be forced into a bra that is the wrong size. It can really hurt. Unless you are quite plump or muscular, it is unlikely that you genuinely measure 36 inches around your underbust. Go and get a tape measure and see. Meausure yourself around your ribcage just underneath your breasts. That will be your band measurement. It is a measurement that has nothing to do with the size of your breasts. It only tells you the size of your ribcage. It tells how fat or thin you are.

Then you need to find out what cup size you are. That is the measurement that truly deals with the size of your breasts. That measurement will always be written in the form of a letter, not a number.

So basically there are two parts to every bra size: first a number (that tells how fat or thin you are around the ribs) and then a letter (that tells how big or small your breasts are).

Example: 42A = very fat lady with very small breasts.

30F = slim lady with very large breasts.

Hope this helps.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPwmcA_qmEQ[/youtube]

Sports bras and crop tops are my go-to bras, super duper comfortable and the sizes are simple to follow (S, M, L etc). And some brands might have fabric with little holes on so it's more comfortable in hot weather. And with sports bras there's no need to mess with straps constantly, I can't actually tighten straps I have to get others to do it.

In the climate you live in I wouldn't even wear a bra! I only occasionally wear a bra now already.

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I always find t-shirt bras a good choice if you don't want anything fancy. They're underwire, but made of basic material such has cotton, polyester or spandex. Smooth cups with only about 5mm thick padding. My fave brand is Hestia (I dunno if you can get them over there).

The other alternative is one of those "Ahh Bras" that appear in lots of infomercials nowadays.

I've never liked lace either as you can generally see the bumpy unsmoothness of the lace under tighter clothes.

I passionately hate bra shopping. I know how the sizes work, but why are there so many options. My husband has to go with me (he even usually ends up picking one out for me), and he laughs at me. He says I look like totally scared and confused every time. I stick with sports bras. I hate anything with an underwire. In fact, I am fairly sure that underwires were invented as a torture device.

Not really. The underwire has a function. It is there to stop the breasts slipping down and popping out of the bottom. Much as they hurt sometimes, I cannot wear a bra without underwire. It simply won't do the job. My boobs pop out the bottom if there's no underwire.

I am rather jealous of ladies who are able to wear soft bras with no underwire in them. The only kind of non-wired bra I can wear is a sports bra, but they are always so horribly tight that I feel like I'm wearing a corset, and get really panicky and have to take it off.

indian women are usually bulgy and so am i
there are no proper bra system in india
moreover the padded bra i have no idea what are they for

What about the horrible bra's underwire? It really hurts the skin. That thing can't be good for our body. I always take it out.

never tried underwire bra's
always been finding cotton bra's and elastic bra's here in shops
indian women are plum and any other type of bra's are usually
not suitable for them

But if they're plump, they presumably have big boobs, in which case underwires would be ideal (as long as the bras in question are the right size. If they're the wrong size, the underwires will cause a lot of pain).

You really need to try and find a bra that is the right size. You wouldn't consider wearing shoes that wouldn't fit, so why wear a wrong-fitting bra?

Also, people need to educate themselves on what all the different bits in bras are for. As explained above, some women may hate underwires but they actually serve a useful purpose (they stop large breasts from slipping down below the cup and escaping from the bra).

Yes, I know the purpose of the underwires, but all the bras wear underwires nowadays, so maybe the problem isn't in the buyer but in the producer.

i don't like to wear a bra, but clothing is manufactured with the bra in mind so it is hard to find things that will fit properly without wearing one. even properly fitting ones are not so comfortable to me as going without.

this site has an interesting size calculator:
http://www.85b.org/bra_calc.php

please delete

Last edited by SpiritBlooms on 04 Dec 2012, 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.