I'm new here, and totally confused.

After losing 30 lbs I decided it was time to treat myself to properly fitting bras. Who knew it would be so difficult? Went for a pro fit, wound up with a Chantelle Full Coverage 3816 70F. Both fitters pronounced it perfect, but I don't particularly like the fit of the cups, feel they go too E/W and a little flattened, not sexy enough. Second pro fit put me in Freya Deco Moulded Plunge Bra (4234) in 32F. Sexy, but cup gap all over the top. So much for the pros.

I've been doing a lot of ordering online and returning. I thought if I can narrow down my breast shape it would help, but I can't even do that! I thought I was FOT, now I think I'm FOB. Thought I had narrow roots, now I'm convinced they're wide.

The more I read, the more confused I get! Any advice for someone who is a total novice at properly-fitting bras would be appreciated.

Updated on Oct 06, 2014 Flag this

• 1

  OK so first thing--the great advantage of Bratabase is that you can focus on numerical measurements instead of getting all tangled up in descriptors like "narrow" "tall" "full on top or bottom" etc. These descriptors are subjective and make sense only to a person who has seen a lot of different pairs of boobs in bras. When you are only just starting to figure out your own boobs, you have very little frame of reference so objective data is more useful.

  Let's start with cup width. When you wear your new bras, where are the outside ends of the wires positioned in relation to the outer edges of your breast tissue? Are the wires sitting on breast tissue (usually obvious because this is uncomfortable)? This means they're too narrow, usually. Are they RIGHT outside the edge of the breast, i.e. half a fingerwidth or less from the edge? That usually means it's OK. Is there more room between the wire and the edge of the breast tissue, like an inch or more? That means the wires are wider than you need.

  Based on this, you can see whether the width of this bra's cups works for you. Measure the cup width and determine whether you want something close to this width, narrower or wider.

  Next: cup depth. In your size range, your lying down breast perimeter (for just 1 breast, the larger one) usually works as a decent guideline.

  Once you have these two numbers, plus your optimal band length, you can do a search by measurements on this site and use photos and reviews to assess which of the results seem like a good bet :-)

• Thanks, wendybien! That sounds so easy, I wish I had found this site weeks ago!

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