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From 34C to 34DD to 32 whatever fits me.
The summer of my sophomore year of high school, I decided to get measured for a bra before going back to school. At the time, I was wearing a 34C, which fit rather horribly, to be honest, and I often wore a sports over my bra to make my chest more compact. I went to a local Macy's where I was fit into a 34DD. I had the worst experience there. The bra I ended up with made my breasts point in opposite directions and pointy. Not so good. I went to Victoria's Secret later that same week, armed with what I believed was the right size, in hopes of finding a better shape.
That was 5 years ago. I wore 34DD, always on the tightest hook, straight from the dressing room, for 5 years. During those years, I felt weird. I felt like my chest was simply enormous; that it was people saw of me sometimes. I was always the bustiest and the curviest of my friends, so I felt like the odd one out. And nothing can damage the already fragile self esteem of a teenage girl like feeling like a freak of nature.
It was a bit of an accident that I found out I was wearing the wrong size. I came across busty girl comics, which had a lot of information about how a bra should fit. Imagine my surprise when I took a look at how mine fit compared to correctly fitting bras and discovered that I almost all the signs (arching band, digging in wires, could fit my whole hand behind the centre gore, push the centre gore to my sternum and had quadraboob. Yeah. Not pretty.)
So, I went to Nordstrom. There a very helpful woman measured my band only and then came back with an assortment of sizes. We quickly ruled out all cup sizes below an F (US sizing, E UK) and settled on a 32G or F. It's amazing how much better I feel with my new size. I feel confident and comfortable with my chest for the first time.
I no longer feel like a freak, I feel comfortable and confident in my own skin. I've even come to like my curves.
Give or take a number or letter here and there, this is very similar to my experience. I was a freshman in college before I got it figured out. I know exactly what you mean about feeling like a freak. It doesn't help when the people who should be helping you instead reinforce it. Isn't it amazing how much better you can feel, both physically and emotionally, from such a simple change?
Oh that is so encouraging! I am still trying to figure out my size, but hopefully, I'll figure it out without a Nordstroms. And Busty Girl rocks!