BONUS TIP
Avoid wearing the same bra multiple days in a row. This gives the elastic and the bra components time to “recover” (so they don’t get permanently stretched out)and helps avoid any potential irritation or pressure points from the bra pressing into the same places on your body for more than one day in a row.
Seams
Bra seams offer more than decoration. They’re essential for shaping the bust. In the United States, seamless contour cup bras are the most popular. However, a contour cup is not the most supportive type of bra, especially for large busts. That’s not a flaw; it’s simply a side effect of the limits of molded-cup technology.
The molded cup works by forcing your breast into a certain position. The bra doesn’t change its shape to accommodate your bust. Your bust changes shape to fit into the bra. That means whatever shape the molded cup has is the shape your breasts will have.
Unfortunately, how effective that shape is depends on the resilience of the fabrics and materials making up the cup. Beyond a certain size, a molded cup simply can’t adequately support the weight of a heavier bust. Even if you can technically wear the bra, it won’t be able to shape the tissue as well as it could for a smaller bust. That’s why bra brands that focus on larger sizes offer more seamed or cut-and-sew–style bras. It’s also why almost all bras beyond an H cup are cut-and-sew.
Seams gently guide the breast tissue into a specific shape. Keep in mind that the more seams a bra has, the more supportive it will be.
Vertical seams: These seams direct the breast tissue upward, providing lift. The more vertical seams a bra has, the more lift and support you’ll get.
Horizontal seams: These seams help give more forward depth to the cups, also known as projection. Sometimes, however, this seam can lead to what people call a “pointy silhouette.”
Diagonal or angled seams: These seams help center the breast tissue, pulling it away from the shoulders and armpits, and also provide lift. You’ll often see a diagonal seam used in conjunction with a vertical seam for the classic three-part cup shape (this is the cup shape shown in the diagram here). Together, these seams lift, center, and shape the breast tissue.
Side seams or side panels: These seams run from the top to the bottom of the cup, usually along the outer edge. They are something extra that you’ll find in full-bust and plus-sized bras. The side panel helps make sure all the breast tissue is pulled away from the sides of the body and contained within the bra cups, front and center. For people with larger breasts, side seams help create a smaller profile.
Bra seams aren’t something to be intimidated by—they’re just a tool. Seams not only improve your bra’s fit, but also reinforce the cup structure. And if you’re a fan of beautiful bras, here’s some good news: cut-and-sew bras tend to use much prettier fabrics than contour cup bras. If you’ve tried all the contour cup bras available and found that none of them work for you, give seams a try. You may be surprised!
Why Wear a Bra?
I’m not here to give you lingerie rules, but I do want to give you as much information as I can. There are lots of good reasons to wear a bra. As I mentioned, bras can help with back, shoulder, and neck pain. They can improve posture, help keep the breasts from bouncing (which can be especially painful during physical activity), and provide a layer of protection or insulation between sensitive parts of the body, such as the nipples, and your outerwear. Bras can also help support confidence. Not having to think about your breasts and their comfort during the day means you can focus on other, more important things. And, of course, since most of our clothing is made with the assumption that we will be wearing a bra, bras can help our garments fit better on our bodies.
However, there is one thing bras do not prevent, and that’s breast sagging (ptosis). I know … I’m probably turning everything you’ve heard about this on its head, but stay with me because this is important. According to medical research, there are five major causes of ptosis, and none of them involve wearing a bra: smoking, significant weight loss and/or gain, pregnancy (not breastfeeding), growing older, and just plain-old genetics (which also determines the softness of your breast tissue, the elasticity of your skin, and the size and shape of your breasts, in general).
I can’t tell you how many people have come to me nearly in tears, worried they’ve “ruined” their breasts due to not wearing a bra or because they have been wearing a poorly fitting bra. Please know that no matter how your breasts look, they are not “ruined.” And you, as a human being, are certainly not “ruined.” You are more than your breasts.
It may seem strange to include a section in a chapter about bras telling you that bras won’t permanently change your breasts or ultimately make your breasts look any different than they do now, but I believe it’s important for people to have accurate information so they can make informed decisions … instead of relying on fear, rumors, or myths.
If you enjoy wearing a bra, keep wearing a bra. And if you feel like you need to wear a bra, for whatever reason, then you should wear a bra. I’m not here to tell you to stop or start doing anything. But please don’t think you’re doing bras “wrong” if your breasts don’t look like that perky model’s in the fashion magazine. More than likely, whether because of Photoshop trickery or just plain genetics, that model’s appearance is due to factors completely beyond your control.
BRA SIZING SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
The Classic Method: Add four or five inches to your underbust measurement to arrive at your bra band size (it’s “four or five” because there are no odd-numbered band sizes for bras, so you’ll need to add five inches if your rib cage is an odd number). To put this into practice, if your rib cage is thirty inches around, your bra band would be a size 34. Using this method doesn’t mean the band is thirty-four inches long; it’s still cut for a thirty-inch rib cage. The only thing that has changed is the final number, much like how a size-16 dress doesn’t correspond to sixteen inches of anything; it’s just a number on the tag.
The New Method: Your underbust measurement corresponds exactly to your band-size number. So a thirty-inch underbust equals a thirty-inch band size (this is the example given in “Bra Sizes” on this page).
Bra Sizes
A bra size—whether it’s 32A, 38C, 34DD, 28J, or 42K—is really just a ratio. The number, or band size, roughly corresponds to the size of your rib cage or underbust. The letter, or cup size, represents the difference between your rib cage and your bust at its fullest point.
To get the letter, use a cloth tape measure to take your bust and then your underbust measurements. Subtract the second number from the first one. Every inch of difference corresponds to one cup size. For example, if your bust measurement is forty inches and your underbust measurement is thirty-six inches, your bra size would be, approximately, 36D (thirty-six inches being your rib-cage measurement, and the D cup reflecting the four inches of difference between that measurement and your bust at its fullest point).
One inch of difference is an A cup, two inches of difference is a B cup, three inches of difference is a C cup, and four inches of difference is a D cup. Five inches, though? Well, here’s where a pesky lack of standardization comes in: U.S. bra manufacturers rarely venture beyond the letter D for cup size; instead they repeat it (D, DD, DDD, DDDD, and so on). U.K. bra companies use
