Breasts the size of footballs!

Andie02

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Really? I measure 29” but a I definitely need a 32 or 34 band depending on the make. I might have to remeasure!

Correct .........I have found the measuring guide at David Nieper to be spot on, but like you say the variation of makes/styles, and the shape of your boobs can make a difference as to what suits/fits you best.
 
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Andie02

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Grab a tape measure and do it yourself. Most importantly, when measuring your underbust do not add any inches. If the tape measure says 32 then you’re a 32.

Not according to the measuring guides I have seen........measure snugly under boobs, then add 4" for an even number and 5" for an odd number to give you your band size, and then follow instructions for cup size, see Ample Bosom and David Nieper, also Miss Mary of Sweden is an accurate guide, to name just 3 sites. I found this to be spot on for size. However, styles/fit and brands do vary slightly according to your boob shape.
 

conniegirl

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Not according to the measuring guides I have seen........measure snugly under boobs, then add 4" for an even number and 5" for an odd number to give you your band size, and then follow instructions for cup size, see Ample Bosom and David Nieper, also Miss Mary of Sweden is an accurate guide, to name just 3 sites. I found this to be spot on for size. However, styles/fit and brands do vary slightly according to your boob shape.
That is a very very old fashioned way of measuring and was correct for the much less elasticated fabrics and the designs we had 60 years ago.
It is not the way to measure yourself for modern bras and guides like those are the reason that a large proportion of women are wearing the wrong size bra.
If i measured myself like that I come out as a 38DD, i’m actually a 34HH
 
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Polos

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I’m a 34J but not riding in a sports bra atm as I’m only walking due to injury

join the boob or bust group on Facebook and use their calculator so you will be wearing the right bra size. The admins are so helpful they will be able to help you find a sports bra that fits if you post a fit check
 

sbloom

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Not according to the measuring guides I have seen........measure snugly under boobs, then add 4" for an even number and 5" for an odd number to give you your band size, and then follow instructions for cup size, see Ample Bosom and David Nieper, also Miss Mary of Sweden is an accurate guide, to name just 3 sites. I found this to be spot on for size. However, styles/fit and brands do vary slightly according to your boob shape.

Sure, some people will be more comfortable in a slightly larger band, but 4" on top of my 32" snuggish underbust would put me in a 36" which is what I wore for a few years. So loose that it was comfy most of the time, just no support at all! I went from 36B as fitted at M&S and John Lewis maybe 25 years ago, through a terrible 34D from Rigby & Peller (with super narrow wires and a projected cup, entirely wrong for my shallow shape) to a self fitted 30FF (Freya, stretchy bands, so 32F in some other brands if only they'd fit me!). If I had more projected or larger volume boobs I'm sure that 36" would have given me more serious issues.

Boob shape seldom has much impact at all on what band size you wear, though you'll find with the wrong shape cup you often feel like you're between two sizes. Learning to spot what wire width you need is a great start.

Calculator - https://www.abrathatfits.org/calculator.php (better than Boob or Bust imo, the latter can end up with too small a band and too large a cup)

Don't believe you could possibly be that new size? https://www.reddit.com/r/ABraThatFits/wiki/beginners_guide#wiki_believe_your_size

There is also a FB group A Bra That Fits.

Ultimately though it's your body and wear whatever you like, and whatever is comfy, but please be really careful giving measuring advice, because the vast majority of sites have it wrong, and no, it's not different sizing in the bras, sizing is reasonably consistent (the biggest variations being fabric stretchiness in bands, and then cup and wire shape, volume is pretty consistent), it's entirely down to different fitting methods.

That is a very very old fashioned way of measuring and was correct for the much less elasticated fabrics and the designs we had 60 years ago.
It is not the way to measure yourself for modern bras and guides like those are the reason that a large proportion of women are wearing the wrong size bra.
If i measured myself like that I come out as a 38DD, i’m actually a 34HH

They're now not so sure it was about non-elasticated bands, but it seems actually the stated size in inches was your overbust measurement, with a proportionate cup size of AA-DD. Utterly useless of course, even back then, I'm sure!
 
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2ndtimearound

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If you want no movement, you need a compression-type bra that stops upward movement not just giving support underneath. I’ve been wearing a Freya Dynamic sports bra for the last 18 months or so, and it’s the only one I’ve had no jiggle with - at all! Well, that and a body protector.
 

sbloom

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If you want no movement, you need a compression-type bra that stops upward movement not just giving support underneath. I’ve been wearing a Freya Dynamic sports bra for the last 18 months or so, and it’s the only one I’ve had no jiggle with - at all! Well, that and a body protector.

Actually for many larger boobs encapsulation bras (mostly wired but some unwired bras have some encapsulation effect) are better, and the good ones have cups that come up and over boobs providing that control over the top of the boobs. I'd say you've simply found a bra that is truly the right shape and size for you, and sufficiently high impact of course!
 

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I sometimes ride in the shock absorber ultimate run bra but tbh I find it a bit crap!
My preferred one is the SheFit bra which I bought from the US. It is expensive once you factor in customs etc (doesn’t seem to be easily obtained in the UK) but does a good job.
 

McFluff

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As others have said the measuring method of adding inches to your underbust measurements can be awful for fit and support if you have bigger boobs. As a first step I’d agree with all the posters above recommending that you go down a band size or two. You need to go up a cup size for every band down, which can be rather depressing.

Then it’s just finding what works for you. I think I have tried every sports bra mentioned here… none are perfect for me.
My go to is an underwired bra (balconette is best for me, but whatever shape is comfiest for you in normal day to day use) with a bra top over that (I use the sportjock one.

good luck.
 

catembi

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I have no business being on this thread as I am spectacularly flat chested & could quite happily do extended periods of sitting trot or jumping braless or indeed topless (!) but this whole band measurement thing has intrigued me. I have just measured my rib cage under my barely there boobs, and it measures 28", or 29" if I take a breath. I wear a 34A soft i.e. non wired sports bra. A previous o/h by mistake bought me a 32A once & it honestly wouldn't do up & was horribly, horribly tight. I am totally & 100% sure that my band size is NOT 28" or even 30". It honestly IS 34". So for me, the band measurement + 5" works for me. 29" + 5" gives 34"...?
 

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I have no business being on this thread as I am spectacularly flat chested & could quite happily do extended periods of sitting trot or jumping braless or indeed topless (!) but this whole band measurement thing has intrigued me. I have just measured my rib cage under my barely there boobs, and it measures 28", or 29" if I take a breath. I wear a 34A soft i.e. non wired sports bra. A previous o/h by mistake bought me a 32A once & it honestly wouldn't do up & was horribly, horribly tight. I am totally & 100% sure that my band size is NOT 28" or even 30". It honestly IS 34". So for me, the band measurement + 5" works for me. 29" + 5" gives 34"...?

Chest measurements are tricky. I wear a 34a mostly though but also measure as 30/29". Or did last time I checked but I bell ring so they stretch and end up getting grossly misshapen anyway. But I CAN wear 32s, I can just never find them (shops round here rarely seem to go smaller than 36/38b's which is way too big). So it doesn't seem to follow a predictable pattern at all ?
 

ecb89

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I have no business being on this thread as I am spectacularly flat chested & could quite happily do extended periods of sitting trot or jumping braless or indeed topless (!) but this whole band measurement thing has intrigued me. I have just measured my rib cage under my barely there boobs, and it measures 28", or 29" if I take a breath. I wear a 34A soft i.e. non wired sports bra. A previous o/h by mistake bought me a 32A once & it honestly wouldn't do up & was horribly, horribly tight. I am totally & 100% sure that my band size is NOT 28" or even 30". It honestly IS 34". So for me, the band measurement + 5" works for me. 29" + 5" gives 34"...?
A 32a would feel too tight as the breast tissue would be squished round to where it shouldn’t be, normally into arm pit area.
If you go down a back size you need to go up a cup size.
 

sbloom

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A 32a would feel too tight as the breast tissue would be squished round to where it shouldn’t be, normally into arm pit area.
If you go down a back size you need to go up a cup size.

And then if the cup shape is wrong it can feel too small, plus, as you tighten the band you often reveal. The cup volume is too small. 34A is for a 35" bust, give or take, a 32B, which has the same cup volume, is for a 34" bust on the same basis, so.could.stillnfeel.too small.

For those thinking wtaf, it's horribly counterintuitive when you first come across correct bra sizing, bit see the link i posted that said "believe your size...i thought 34D was too big for me yet I wear a 30FF which is a cup volume bigger not just a sister size" which is the same cup volume on a different band eg 34A and 32B.
 

conniegirl

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A bra that fits properly feels very different to what most are used to as well, but once you have worn a properly fitting one you will never go back!
Since getting a properly fitting bra I’ve been able to ride in a plunge bra, never had red marks on my shoulders, never ended up moving or tugging at the underwire or band during the day and a properly fitting bra makes you look slimmer as well.
 

sbloom

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I have no business being on this thread as I am spectacularly flat chested & could quite happily do extended periods of sitting trot or jumping braless or indeed topless (!) but this whole band measurement thing has intrigued me. I have just measured my rib cage under my barely there boobs, and it measures 28", or 29" if I take a breath. I wear a 34A soft i.e. non wired sports bra. A previous o/h by mistake bought me a 32A once & it honestly wouldn't do up & was horribly, horribly tight. I am totally & 100% sure that my band size is NOT 28" or even 30". It honestly IS 34". So for me, the band measurement + 5" works for me. 29" + 5" gives 34"...?

Your 32A was for a 33" bust, 34A for a 35" bust. I would try several 32C and a 30D or three, shape matters too...but you can check if a bra feels too tight and you think the band is too small.

Put the bra on backwards or with the cups down instead of up, then see how the band feels, try it even if you can't even get it done up with it the correct way up/round.

Also realise that many sports bras are made with much firmer bands to make up for this "+4/5"" sizing. And why is it done? Because stocking the full range of sizes means more than quadrupling stock in each style, bras with big supportive cups are expensive to make, and because they only ever sort of fit you can "fit" people into a much smaller range of sizes, known in the bra world as matrix prizes. Modern moulded cups (usually shallow shaped) mask this even more, and have been very unhelpful for more projected shapes that don't play nicely with them at all.
 
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ecb89

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And then if the cup shape is wrong it can feel too small, plus, as you tighten the band you often reveal. The cup volume is too small. 34A is for a 35" bust, give or take, a 32B, which has the same cup volume, is for a 34" bust on the same basis, so.could.stillnfeel.too small.
For those thinking wtaf, it's horribly counterintuitive when you first come across correct bra sizing, bit see the link i posted that said "believe your size...i thought 34D was too big for me yet I wear a 30FF which is a cup volume bigger not just a sister size" which is the same cup volume on a different band eg 34A and 32B.
It doesn’t help that for years anything above a D cup has been seen as massive and only for glamour model sized boobs.
This image helps show what sister sizes means.
 

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sbloom

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That chart is simply mindblowing, and so counterintuitive...

People struggle with it so much, but cup letter is proportionate to band size, if you focus on that it starts to make sense, so if you have photos, with no scale, of a tall 36D person, and a shorter 32D person (height giving the same proportions), they'd look like they had the same size boobs, but if you directly compared their boobs the 36D will be larger in real life.

However if you then add in shape...shape can make sizes look very different, more so under clothes (my shallow 30FF defies nearly everyone as I'm shallow so don't look that big, and I'm not really!) -
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palterwell

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I am completely at a loss, I’ve just measured for the 100th time and i am 30” around the ribs. I’m wearing a 36 f and it feels too tight. I followed the instructions in the Reddit link and I think it came up with 32 ff.
 

ecb89

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I am completely at a loss, I’ve just measured for the 100th time and i am 30” around the ribs. I’m wearing a 36 f and it feels too tight. I followed the instructions in the Reddit link and I think it came up with 32 ff.
Scoop all your breast tissue away from your armpits. Does that help with the band tightness? What is your overboob measurement
 

sbloom

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I am completely at a loss, I’ve just measured for the 100th time and i am 30” around the ribs. I’m wearing a 36 f and it feels too tight. I followed the instructions in the Reddit link and I think it came up with 32 ff.

Reddit is a starting point, the same cup volme as 36F on a 32 band would be 32G, so it would be worth trying that size too for sure, having the wrong shape can make a cup feel too small, but also a moving band feels tight as it cuts into the flesh. Did you try your 36F on backwards or upside down?
 

Otherwise

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However if you then add in shape...shape can make sizes look very different, more so under clothes (my shallow 30FF defies nearly everyone as I'm shallow so don't look that big, and I'm not really!) -
I'm exactly the same, I have a 28 underbust and find 28F the most comfortable and supportive, it's really not very big if you look at just the cups. It was a revelation when I went to bravissimo, I didn't think there was any way I could be above a D cup.

Bra style matters a lot as well, balconettes just don't fit me as I'm bottom heavy and shallow whereas a plunge style fits perfectly.
 

sbloom

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I’ve just tried it on back to front and the band feels better.

It's a revelation, once you realise it takes the cups out of the equation.

I think there was possibly some mismeasuring in the leaning/lying measurements, it's easily done, especially with very soft or projected boobs, the Reddit calculator is seldom two cup volumes out. It gives me 32E/F, and I'm a shallow (so very small difference in 3 bust measurements) 30FF/32F.
 
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