Bra Sizing

I can't remember who asked for advice on this subject recently, but it is an issue that effects all of us women with each pound we lose.  Oprah did a Bra Intervention where they brought in bra experts from Nordstroms and some fancy store in NY.  Here is the St. Louis area we have a good bra shop called Ann's (brashop.com) where the ladies step into the dressing room with you to confirm the size and fit.  The nice part about their store is the racks are by size, so you can see all your options in one place and not have to hunt the whole store.  Ann's has a website, brashop.com. The conflicting information I found on some websites is about where to measure.  I found this on Oprah's page and it helped me find a better fitting bra - and as they said would happen my band size went down and my cup size went up.  For those with slow connections I pasted some of the advice below. http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200511/tows_past_2005111 5_c.jhtml Where should you measure? When measuring your chest to find the best band size, Nordstrom's top bra fitter Sandra Saffle says to make sure the measuring tape is secured low and snug on the back. Most women secure their bra band too high on the back, causing the band to ride up and the cup to fall forward. Also, make sure to lift the breast tissue up when measuring—that way the tape is snug on the rib cage. If your bra band lies across your shoulder blades, you've got it all wrong, Sandra says. The band should fit around the smallest part of your back.  What should big-busted women watch out for? Finding the right size isn't as simple for women with a bountiful bust. Sandra suggests that big-busted women lift their arms up after securing the bra band to make sure they are not dropping out of the bottom of the cup. If you have spillage, then your cup size is too small!  Where to Wear Your Bra According to Susan, the perfect position for your breasts is midway between your shoulders and your elbows. And your bra should be level front to back. Susan says most women wear their bra bands too high on their torsos and throw their measurements off. "Most women," Susan says, "keep going up in the back [increasing their band size] instead of getting a deeper cup. We want to keep the back lean and small so we can lift the bust. [The bra band is] like a bridge, if it's properly planted at the base, it can lift." Susan says there are obvious clues your bra is the wrong size: --If your cups runneth over, it's time to go up a cup size. --If your cups dimple, it's time to go down a cup size. --If you have the dreaded back fat, you probably think your bra is too tight, but you're wrong—your bra is too big. Wearing the bra lower on your back with a smaller band size will completely eliminate the back fat. --If your strap falls down, that means your bra band is riding up and you probably need to go down a band size.

all is true.except you left off how to measure for th cup size. you can measure from the base of your breast. where it starts against your chest wall on th bottom to the nipple area. if it  1 inche you are an A

2inches =B 3inches=C 4inches=D 5inches=DD

6 inches =DDD

When i work this is what i do all day long. People come in compaining that  bras dont fit and are uncomfortable and more than half the time they leave wearing one of their new bras with the old one in the bag. LOL....Jan

Thanks for adding this that Jan, I was typing this at work and had someone distracting me with "real" work  so I had to submit it.  I have been postponing buying any new bras and can't wait to get into a pretty one for a change.  I've never been too heavy on top so I'm hoping they don't deflate too much with the weight loss and turn all saggy and flat like you see in the plastic surgery tv shows.  Back to bras, the thing I hate the most is the straps that fall off the shoulder.  For a while I'll just be buying cheap ones at WalMart until my size stops changing so much - not worth spending money on "over the shoulder boulder holders" that will be too big weeks later.