Well, that was an epic fail. I ordered Cleo Natasha in 28 F, 30 E, and 28 G. One thing for certain, I am *not* a 28 G. Bandwise, the 28 feels a bit too tight on the loosest hook, but the most comfortable is the 30 on the middle hook. I am not too happy about that, as this decreases the life of the bra. I think I am going assume my "normal size" is 28 with an extender, unless it's tight, then I'll go with 30.
Cup size is a mess. Everyone in the "fitting help" section, seems to think I'm not swooping and scooping properly. Maybe I'm not. But as I'm still learning how, that is not going to help me figure out a cup size. I mean, suppose I wake up tomorrow and it suddenly clicks?? Then I will have the same problem I do now, so I hope I can figure out how to do it before sending these back.
The consensus, over there, seems to be that I need a 28E/30DD, which puts me back at the cup volume I started with 34C. Heck, even Victoria's Secret had me at 32C and I've never had so much quad boob in my life.
The strange thing is, with the 30, I could not escape the feeling that the underwire was sitting on breast tissue, and the centre gore was sitting on breast tissue, too, (even though I scooped until I was raw). None of this was a problem on the 28F! Is this an indication of the band being the wrong size, the cup being the wrong size or both??
Shared on Sep 27, 2012 Flag this
Just because you were spilling out of the 34C doesn't mean the same thing will happen in the 28E-30DD's. Different brands and completely different cuts. Based on your measurements, the smaller sizes recommended should be a better fit than the 34C, you just have to play around with different styles and brands.
When you put a bra on, close the band first, adjust it into place, then put the straps on. Next you're going to hold the cup in place by the outermost part of the wire, then scoop from your back/sides and place this into the cup. Then, using your fingers, scoop the center front of yourself into the cups - referred to as the windshield wipe (think of it like the upside down wipers on buses), but not just wiping it away from the center gore, you also want to bring it up in the cup from the bottom of your breasts. Is this what you're doing?
Wires feeling like they're sitting on tissue is a sign the band is too big and you're escaping back out of the cups. However, as I mentioned in the comment left for the 30F, the band looked snug enough, and quite honestly it didn't appear to be sitting ontop of tissue. You can see the bottom edge of your breast about an inch or more above the underwire and away from the sides. Perhaps it was just the wire sitting ontop of regular flesh that can sometimes be mistaken for breast tissue? Something else to consider is with a larger cup, because it's way off from the edge of your breast can make it feel like it's sitting in the wrong spot (mostly because it is), but it provides slack in the band and creates that too big feeling. I think the 28 was not a good choice, if you notice in the last picture you have (side shot) the wire is being distorted and pulled towards the back.
Can I ask what your ribcage measures if you hold the measuring tape evenly around without exhaling and pulling it tight?
Oh, that is not what I was doing at all. I tried it that way, and after step one, I'm falling out of the cup, but during step 2, I seem to be pushing some of the tissue back out the side again. Maybe, I'm going the wrong direction?
Without exhaling my rib cage is 29"-29.5"