[MasterDragonfly]

Quote:
H_cups said:
Just remember if you go down in a band you may need to go up in the cup size.

Or at least that's the popular myth they would have us believe.  I don't agree with it any more than I agree with "go up a band size and down a cup size", because otherwise the following would also be true:

- go up 2 band sizes and down 2 cup sizes
- go up 3 band sizes and down 3 cup sizes
- go up 4 band sizes and down 4 cup sizes
- go up 5 band sizes and down 5 cup sizes
- go up 6 band sizes and down 6 cup sizes
- go up 7 band sizes and down 7 cup sizes
... etc ...

This is called reductio ad absurdum.  Put another way, if you wear a 36H today, then you should also be able to comfortably wear a 50A and it would work just as well.

Conversely, if you wear a 36H then you could switch to a 26M and it would fit just as well.

Which is bogus, in my opinion.

Quote:
Have you measured your ribcage?

I'd actually like to try out either Dr Pechter's method (you've probably heard of it) or the method detailed over on www.plussizebras.info .

Someday.  In the meantime, the bras I picked out for her months ago seem to have pretty much nailed it.

[H_cups]

Quote:
MasterDragonfly said:

Quote:
H_cups said:
Just remember if you go down in a band you may need to go up in the cup size.

Or at least that's the popular myth they would have us believe.  I don't agree with it any more than I agree with "go up a band size and down a cup size", because otherwise the following would also be true:

- go up 2 band sizes and down 2 cup sizes
- go up 3 band sizes and down 3 cup sizes
- go up 4 band sizes and down 4 cup sizes
- go up 5 band sizes and down 5 cup sizes
- go up 6 band sizes and down 6 cup sizes
- go up 7 band sizes and down 7 cup sizes
... etc ...

This is called reductio ad absurdum.  Put another way, if you wear a 36H today, then you should also be able to comfortably wear a 50A and it would work just as well.

Conversely, if you wear a 36H then you could switch to a 26M and it would fit just as well.

Which is bogus, in my opinion.

Quote:
Have you measured your ribcage?

I'd actually like to try out either Dr Pechter's method (you've probably heard of it) or the method detailed over on www.plussizebras.info .

Someday.  In the meantime, the bras I picked out for her months ago seem to have pretty much nailed it.

I dunno about all that up and down, I'm just going from my experiance in bra shopping. If I buy a 36 G I can wear a 34 H or if i buy a 36 F I can wear a 34G...am I making sense? I NEVER buy a 40 band, for one it rides up in the back and two your band is suppose to do all the supporting not the straps and thats not my size. Now I do own a sports bra that is a 38 DD, I only bought it cause I have yet to find one that fit my boobs right.

As far as the bra sizing, I have not tried his way but I will look at it and try and do the measuring and see what I come up with. I have used this site which may be kinda close. It has the above, bust and below measurement tool and it calculates it for you. HA HA rememember I am a female(and blonde) and the only numbers I know how to read are on a price tag. JK

 http://www.85b.org/bra_calc.php

I like this way of measuring, only prob is when you get to the larger cup sizes its off the charts.

http://www.herroom.com/measure-bra-size-with-implants,904,30.html


BTW this is soo weird talking to a guy about BRAS. Its been kinda interesting. You know alot about them I will say.

[MasterDragonfly]

Quote:
H_cups said:
I dunno about all that up and down, I'm just going from my experiance in bra shopping. If I buy a 36 G I can wear a 34 H or if i buy a 36 F I can wear a 34G...am I making sense? I NEVER buy a 40 band, for one it rides up in the back and two your band is suppose to do all the supporting not the straps and thats not my size. Now I do own a sports bra that is a 38 DD, I only bought it cause I have yet to find one that fit my boobs right.

The theory (so the vendors would have you believe) that having a bit of latitude going up/down in bandeau size while at the same time going down/up in cup size is a bit of a slippery slope, that's all I'm saying.

Let's say you go into a store with the goal to buy a new 36G.  They tell you "sorry, we're all out of 36G, but you can go up a band size and down a cup size, so a 38F should fit you just fine."

Sounds innocuous enough, right?  A wee bit of wiggle room?  It certainly helps them clear out stock and make the sale, right?

So based on the above, we are led to believe that a 38F should fit you.  After all, if you follow the above logic, it WILL fit you.  Or so they want you to believe.

So you walk into the same store a week later, thinking "okay, I can buy a 38F and get away with it" and tell the clerk (a different clerk) you're open to buying a 38F.  This clerk tells you "sorry, we're all out of 38F, but you can go up a band size and down a cup size, so a 40 E should fit you just fine."

See where I'm going with this?  The "wee bit of wiggle room" premise that they would have you buy into breaks down real fast.

Also, think about this with shoes.  Would you buy a pair of shoes which is one size larger if the clerk tells you "well if you tighten the laces, they'll fit you just fine"?  Or the flip side, a shoe size too small, "well if you let the laces out, they'll fit you just fine"?

Not for my money.  I want a pair of shoes which are bang on, otherwise I'm just asking for trouble.

That said, I *did* come across this reference (while trying to find a copy of Dr Pechter's guideline).

To wit:

Quote:
... For example, if you've been wearing a 34C that's too big in the band, you should move down a band size and up ...

and the rest gets truncated, as it's not part of the preview.  But it's easy to see that the rest would have read "... a cup size".

The key point there is that IF you've been wearing a bra which isn't quite fitting right, then you have a suggestion on how to remediate that.

This isn't the same as one bra being equivalent to another bra, simply by going up a band size and down a cup size (or vice-versa).

Quote:
As far as the bra sizing, I have not tried his way but I will look at it and try and do the measuring and see what I come up with. I have used this site which may be kinda close. It has the above, bust and below measurement tool and it calculates it for you. HA HA rememember I am a female(and blonde) and the only numbers I know how to read are on a price tag. JK

 http://www.85b.org/bra_calc.php

I took a quick look at this.  The good thing is it saves you having to do the math yourself.  The bad thing is it most likely uses the common methodology of adding 5 inches to the underbust measurement.  Which just seems wrong.

This sizing system seems quite a bit more reasonable.  More measurements, but certainly adding only 2" to the chestband size makes more sense (to me).

Quote:
BTW this is soo weird talking to a guy about BRAS. Its been kinda interesting. You know alot about them I will say.

Heh, thanks.  

I'll say that my bra-fu is only fair to middling.  There are others on this site who have done some fairly deep dives into the world of bras.  I've tried to distill a lot of that on my site.  It saves me having to keep looking around for notes or old threads.  

[collared_cherri]

I don't buy into the theory that if your measurement around your ribcage is X you should add Y inches to it to get your correct measurements.  This seems to only apply to bras.  You don't add inches to your waist measurement when buying jeans, pants or skirts.  You don't add a size to your foot measurements when buying shoes.  Bra measurements are just far too complicated and confusing than they need to be.

My ribcage is 37 inches.  As I've discovered, a 40 is not a good fit for me.  A 42 isn't going to be an improvement.  In future I think I'll ignore the sales pitch and tell them to give me what I want, not what they think I need.    

It also grates on my nerves that saying you need a DDD cup bra somehow makes you feel better about yourself than needing an F+ size.  It's ludicrous.

In the past I've found a brand and style I've been comfortable in and been loyal to it simply because I can't be bothered trying on dozens of pairs and being measured and remeasured and still given a bra that I'm not totally happy with.  As was this weekend's experience.  I can just take one off the rack and up to the counter to purchase.  But since my boob job I've had to start from scratch again.  So we're still in the process of trial and error.  Unfortunately still heavily on the error side of things.  

[H_cups]

I have always just gone in a tried on til I find one that fits. I have found soo many brands differ in their cups sizes that it really doesn't matter how much math you do it all comes down to style and fit. I know what style I like (balconette)and I have shopped til I have found that style. I have low slung boobs naturally so having a shelf like bra brings them up and out, not smashed inward and toward my armpits like some I have tried. I have really close cleavage naturally and the balconette seem to seperate it some. I also love the upper pole look and that style seems to accentuate it better. It just seems like if I push my cleavage together it makes me look like I have a uniboob.

I have found a specialty store here where I live and they bring the bras in the room, help you with the straps and adjust the cups. You never see them on racks, they have them in drawers in the back room like its some kind of secret.  There is no comparison to the European bras, its the fit and the quality that I fell in love with not the store, I was SOLD. They are VERY expensive though...so I only own a handful.

Have you tried any of the Olga bras? I have one style that I do like. I bought a 38 DD since I needed a larger cup and they don't go any higher than a DD. The cups are VERY stretchy so it will accomodate larger boobs. I have found the band runs a little small on that style too. Lane Bryant also has ALOT of nice bras...any luck there?

Good Luck with your bra hunting journey. There is NOTHING like a good fitting bra.

[ilovefakeboobz]

Quote:
MasterDragonfly said:

Quote:
H_cups said:
Just remember if you go down in a band you may need to go up in the cup size.

Or at least that's the popular myth they would have us believe.  I don't agree with it any more than I agree with "go up a band size and down a cup size", because otherwise the following would also be true:

- go up 2 band sizes and down 2 cup sizes
- go up 3 band sizes and down 3 cup sizes
- go up 4 band sizes and down 4 cup sizes
- go up 5 band sizes and down 5 cup sizes
- go up 6 band sizes and down 6 cup sizes
- go up 7 band sizes and down 7 cup sizes
... etc ...

This is called reductio ad absurdum.  Put another way, if you wear a 36H today, then you should also be able to comfortably wear a 50A and it would work just as well.

Conversely, if you wear a 36H then you could switch to a 26M and it would fit just as well.

Which is bogus, in my opinion.


My good man, are you sayin my wife of 40DD could infact be wearing a 32F?  My oh my how awsome that would  be telling my friends my wife is a  32F

[MasterDragonfly]

Quote:
ilovefakeboobz said:
My good man, are you sayin my wife of 40DD could infact be wearing a 32F?  My oh my how awsome that would  be telling my friends my wife is a  32F

Not unless she's actually wearing a 32F.  Have you actually tried getting her to try on a 32F?  How about a 30G?  A 28H?  A 26I?  A 24J?

This is the sort of silliness that some (most?) bra departments would have you buy into.  "Wait what?  It's not a perfect fit?  Well if you pull up on the left bra strap and hold it there with your chin, you'll be all set!"  

At some point, it really does get silly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum

But feel free to tell your friends whatever you're happy telling them.  

[BluePeep]

I agree Master Dragonfly. I've been told that lie about the band size my entire life. I measure my band, and then measure how much bigger around my boob is. Or I just measure base to nipple, but still, that lie has made me have may a uncomfortable bra.

[Q_BE]

After reading this thread (linked from your signature, MasterDragonfly), I'm curious as to what you have to say about them now, over 1 year after the fact. If Cherri could weigh in as well, that would be fantastic!

Q-"Curiouser and curiouser"-BE

[MasterDragonfly]

They're fab.    She's really pleased to have had the work done.

There have been discussions around going bigger, but it's not nearly the priority it once was.  Mainly because she's got some goodness going on now. 

[d_jnes]

Would be cool to see this thread upated with some pics of CC...

[MasterDragonfly]

Not a bad idea, although it'll require some co-ordination of my memory, free time and a camera. 

[Djoser]

Take your time MDF, we all want to see her

[Q_BE]

Take your time MDF, we all want to see her

Absolutely. Also, we are all extremely grateful you are willing to share her with us, because I think some of us would rather keep her all for ourselves if we were in your situation!

Q-"Spreading the wealth around?"-BE

[MasterDragonfly]

It would appear that the image loss from the forum migration of 2009 affected some of the pics I'd posted of cherri.

So in the interest of providing hopefully useful info to others, here are four pics I must say I rather like.

First pic: