Welcome to Braradise!

A few years ago I needed regular physiotherapy because of back pain. Many ill-fitting bras later, I am now pain-free. The rather shocking truth is: I need bras in 26G.

When I ask someone how they imagine this size, I hear: “Teenage anorexic with soccer breast implants”. When I google this size, I find stoves.

My figure is unspectacular. I’m slim, my breasts are on the borderline between medium and large. You might estimate me at 32C. There is a disconnect between our perception of bra sizes and reality. Bras are like that niche in the kitchen that you didn’t measure before you went to IKEA. You think you know its size. Until you try to put a wardrobe in it. (Spoiler: it doesn’t fit).

The difference is that a kitchen cabinet creatively folded into the alcove doesn’t cause back pain, headaches or postural problems. This begs the question: How is it possible to be so off base on an issue that can make the difference between pain or freedom from pain in everyday life? Where is all the information on this?

It is here. This bra bible brings light into the darkness of the underwear drawer. For you, when you get home after a long day and take your bra off before your shoes, this page is for you.

Why do women wear ill-fitting bras?

Lycra and outdated bra size charts

Lycra and outdated bra size chartsOur bra size designations with letters for the cup size (originally only A, B and C) originated in the 1930s in the USA. Spandex did not enter the market until 1959. The size charts were never adjusted. Today’s bras are much stretchier than back then, which is why the size charts recommend underbust bands that are too wide. For a correct fit, most women need to choose their bra one to two sizes smaller than the chart suggests. This is a bra with a 55cm (21.5″) underbust circumference. It stretches to 62cm (24.5″) even with a slight tug.

History of the bra

This short section will follow soon 🙂

General problems of standardized sizes

There are over 3.5 billion women in the world and each of them is unique. There are around 250 bra sizes and many women don’t buy their bras in lingerie stores, but in the lingerie department of larger clothing chains. There are often only 16 sizes, sometimes even less.

This means that not every woman can buy a bra that fits. In Germany in particular, it is unlikely that you will stumble across a bra size that actually fits in a store that does not specialize in lingerie due to the small number of common sizes. There are simply too few sizes for our different bodies. At the same time, an unsuitable bra is like an unsuitable shoe: harmful.

Bra sizes as a problematic concept

Bra sizes are based on the idea that bodies can be measured, categorized and assigned a fixed name. This system does not do justice to the diversity of bodies or to the fact that bodies are constantly changing. Some women’s breast size changes so much during their cycle that they need different bra sizes.

Not only our bodies, but also bras themselves are subject to much greater size fluctuations than the labels suggest. The size printed on the bra is at best a rough guide. It is difficult to produce large quantities of bras true to size. Even if the only difference between two bras is the fabric, a different pattern may be necessary. Even the color leads to irregularities. Dark bras are often tighter and smaller than light-colored bras.

Standard chaos

It gets even stranger when you realize that the EU bra size standard is a recommendation that manufacturers may or may not adhere to. One manufacturer’s 75B may not have much to do with another manufacturer’s 75B. In the US, there is even less regulation.

Furthermore, although the measurements in the size charts are standardized, the measuring methods are not. For example, nowhere is it specified whether the measurement should be taken when breathing in or out. However, this can shift the result by two sizes or more.

Last but not least, the idea that you can determine the volume of two approximately hemispherical breasts by taking two circumference measurements is purely mathematical nonsense.

Bra size misconceptions

In addition to the confusing sizing system, there are a whole range of misconceptions that have become ingrained in the general perception. In the following section, we will clear up the most common misconceptions.

Letter not equal to cup size

Many women wear bras that don’t fit. Some lingerie saleswomen report that during their many years of professional experience, not a single customer has ever come to a consultation with a bra that already fit.

A general misunderstanding about sizes contributes to this. It is a widespread but incorrect assumption that the letter of a bra size stands for the size of the breast. When women are asked about their bra size, they often only state the letter, for example “I wear a C cup”.

However, the letter of the bra size only indicates the size of the breast in combination with the length of the underbust band. A 32C is a completely different size than a 40C, which has a wider underbust band but also significantly larger cups.

Historical reasons

The first mass-produced bras were only available in sizes A, B and C. These sizes hardly suited any woman. Gradually, the range of sizes grew and a system of labeling was needed. A 750ml breast volume looks much larger on a slender woman than on a fuller woman. That’s why one came up with the great idea of taking a woman’s general stature into account. This created a wonderfully confusing sizing system, which to this day generates extra sales on the fact that you need specially trained staff to choose the right size.

So how does it all work?

Theoretically, two measurements are required: The bust circumference and the underbust circumference. These two measurements can then be used to derive the size using either a table or a formula. In practice, this system does not work for the reasons mentioned above, more about better methods later.

In the tables you can see that the same letter is always assigned to the same breast-bust difference. If you subtract the respective underbust circumferences (70, 75, 80, 85, 90) from the average values in the A table column (83, 88, 93, 98, 103), you always get 13. 13cm difference between the bust and underbust circumference therefore always corresponds to an A cup.

Problems with the measurement method

Sister sizes

Let’s imagine that a woman’s ribcage slowly shrinks while her breasts remain unchanged. Every five centimetres she would need a bra with a band one size shorter, and at the same time the letter of the cup would go up one step. So (if her breasts remained the same size!) her size would change from 90A to 85B, 80C, 75D, 70E, 65F and perhaps 28G. Incidentally, this is a perfectly realistic size that could fit a slim woman with larger breasts. When her ribcage then magically expands back, she goes through everything again in reverse order.

As a counterpart to this example, let’s imagine a balloon in the shape of a woman. (Get your mind out of the gutter, this is science!) When it is inflated, the chest and ribcage grow evenly. If the balloon fits 70D well in the first, relatively deflated stage, it would now go through sizes 75D, 80D, 85D, 90D and so on. The volume of the breasts would increase (just like the rest of the body) despite the letter remaining the same.

A 60E has just as large cups as a 75B.

It therefore makes no sense to specify only one letter.

If 75B and 80A have the same size cups and there are no more 75Bs in the stores, can you just take an 80A? No. The length of the underbust band is important for the fit of a bra. It must fit well. Often an underbust band that is one size too tight or too wide makes a bra completely unsuitable. But it’s still worth trying it on because the sizes are inconsistent as fuck.

Bra straps carry nothing

The German term “Träger” is misleading. The weight of the breast should not be lifted by the straps, but supported from below by the underbust band. Correctly fitted, the underbust band should support 80-90% of the breast weight. This is the only reason why strapless bras work. Ideally, the straps only prevent the bra from slipping downwards and shape the breast. Because the underbust band fulfills the support function, it is wider and firmer than the straps. To fulfill its purpose, the band must gently but firmly enclose the ribcage while the breasts stretch the cups open.

An incorrect cup size can lead to an ill-fitting underbust band not being recognized. Many women wear cups that are too small in combination with an underbust band that is too wide. The excessively long band is then not noticeable, because it wraps around not only the ribcage but also part of the breasts. You can test whether a bra fits by trying it on with the cups turned to the back and the straps off the shoulders. In this position, it must not slide down the body, otherwise it is too wide.

Putting on a bra incorrectly

There is another factor that often leads to the purchase of unsuitable bras. Most lingerie stores do not show you how to put on a bra properly. However, this has a big impact on the fit. Many of us have unconsciously developed strategies to put on bras in such a way that fit problems are not immediately recognized.

Fit problems become visible by putting them on correctly.

The surest indication that a bra doesn’t fit is how you feel. Is it uncomfortable? Burn it.

Real vs. perceived bra size distribution

Essentially, only bra sizes from 32-36 and A-D are present in the media or lingerie departments. This creates the following classification of breast sizes in the minds of most people:

Flat = AA
Smallest quarter of all breasts = A
Rather small quarter of all breasts = B
Rather large quarter of all breasts = C
Largest quarter of all breasts = D
Anomaly of nature/ breast augmentation = DD

However, this is wrong for several reasons. Firstly, a letter without a band length says nothing about the size of the breast. Secondly, this classification may be correct if you look at what sizes are bought (by women who believe in this classification themselves). However, bra fitters across all stores agree that in reality, hardly any women wear bras that fit without advice. If all women wore correctly fitted bras, the size distribution would be completely different. DD, for example, is not a large size on most underbust band lengths.

Average bra size

According to the German Federal Statistical Office’s “Average Woman 2014”, the most common bra size is 80C (36C). Apparently, purchasing habits were surveyed here without checking whether the bras actually fit. 36C would fit a woman with a wide ribcage and fairly small breasts, rather not the average combination. A good place to go for bra advice in Germany is the online forum Busenfreundinnen.net. There you will find the following statement from one of the moderators:

“In our consultations, we recommend a 65(30) UBB [underbust band] extremely frequently, estimated at around 30% of all women. Taken together, recommendations for 60, 65 and 70(28, 30, 32) UBBs account for almost 70% of all consultations.

However, this does not reflect the real distribution in the population, because only the desperate and the suffering with internet access appear here. At enamora.de, orders for 65(30) UBBs only account for around 5-10% of the total volume. This may be largely due to customer ignorance, but I think these figures tend to be closer to the German average. Furthermore, experience from UK lingerie sellers shows that the most common size sold in the UK is 32DD/E/F.

For many women with small breasts, the pressure is not great enough to specifically look for 65 UBBs. They are content (even after the advice here) with firm 70s (32) and 75s (34s).”

What bra sizes are there? What is the largest/smallest bra size?

In most stores you will find bras with band lengths between 34 and 40 and cups between A and D. However, these are only a fraction of the available sizes. However, this is only a fraction of the available sizes. The following sizes always refer to regular bras, not custom-made bras.

The smallest and largest underbust band

In fact, the underbust band lengths start at 24 (you can buy 24 bands at Bosom Galore, for example) and go up to at least (you can buy 56 bands at Ewa Michalak, for example). The 24 and 56 are designations for the length of the underbust band in the British bra size system.

The smallest and the largest cup

You can get the smallest cups at dainty lady, where there are bras in 28AAAA (60AAAA). That’s five sizes smaller than a 32A! The largest cup is probably the 46K (105O) from Jeunique. K is the 15th letter in the British bra alphabet. However, it is larger than the German O would be, as in the British system there is one inch between each size instead of two centimeters.

There are still a lot of bras that are labeled with higher letters because the companies use different sizing systems, because they are custom-made or because the bra has a shorter underbust band. If two bras have cups of the same size but underbust bands of different lengths, the bra with the shorter band always has the higher letter due to the cross sizes. For example, there are 38MM (85T) bras from Ewa Michalak. However, these are smaller in terms of cup volume than the 46K (105O) cups from Jeunique.

Who wears bra sizes like that?

Anyone hearing about bra sizes with 24 underbust bands or O-cups for the first time is probably wondering which business is worth selling such extreme sizes for.

As these are the smallest and largest bras, it is clear that the sizes mentioned are rare. However, they are nowhere near as crazy as you might imagine when you first hear about them. The fact that many women mistakenly wear bras in 34B and surrounding sizes means that we misjudge. The gaps between the sizes are much smaller than often assumed.

Many slim women should actually wear underbust bands under 32. We have confirmed this with our interactive bra size statistics. With short bands, the letters are automatically high due to cross-sizing. For young women in particular, whose chests are not yet fully grown, 24 bands are not out of the question.

And cups that are too small are one of the most common fit problems. So it may well be that an 36D wearer would be better off in a 32G bra.

What bra size does a woman with 90-60-90 have?

“What bra size is a woman 90-60-90?” This question from an internet forum refers to Marilyn Monroes alleged chest- waist- and hip- measurements in cm. The questioner misunderstands bra sizes. The measurements 90-60-90 describe the bust, waist and hip circumference. However, a bra size always consists of a second measurement in addition to the bust measurement: the underbust measurement. Without this, it is only possible to make a very limited statement about the bra size.

You can look at any size chart and find all the fields that contain a 90. Let’s take a look at the table as an example.

We find the 90 in the fields of sizes 36AA, 34B, 32D, 30E and 28FF. These are British sizes that roughly correspond to the continental European sizes 80AA, 75B, 70D, 65F and 60H. Women with these sizes would all have the same bust size, but very different bust and ribcage sizes.

The only thing they all have in common is that the ribcage and breasts together give a circumference of 90 centimetres. This could be a woman with an 80 cm underbust and a ten centimeter larger bust in an 80AA. Or a woman with a 60 cm underbust measurement and a 30 cm larger bust measurement in a 60H. In other size charts, the corresponding sizes may differ slightly. However, the principle remains the same. There are multiple measurements for each size in the size charts if they are wide enough.

Regardless of this fact, it is very difficult to say which bra would really fit a woman with just two numbers.

Let’s assume a woman with a bust measurement of 90 cm and an underbust measurement of 70 cm tries on a 70D bra. This should fit her according to the table. It is possible that the bra does not fit her well because it is wide or she simply needs a tighter bra because of the shape of her ribcage. Due to the cross sizes, she would perhaps fit better in a 65E bra.

There is conflicting information about Marilyn Monroe’s own bra size, ranging from 70D to 75B to 80C. Probably none of them fit well.

Body normativity

Knowledge about fitting bras can hardly spread. Breasts are so sexualized in our society that they are taboo except to medical staff or close confidants.

In addition, they are often a sensitive point of self-esteem. In bra fittings, professional bra fitting consultations, you often hear women apologizing for their breasts or talking disparagingly about their own bodies.

The female breast and evolution

Breasts as a sexual stimulus are a cultural construct

In „Patterns of Sexual Behavior“ of Ford und Beach reported that of 190 examined cultures, only 13 assign sexual connotation to the female breast. In some areas of Africa for example, it was normal for women to got topless in public. The role of the female breast as a sex symbol is a cultural construct.

Those who struggle to belive a societal norm could dictate ones sexual preferences be reminded of historical Chinas lotus feet. Small feet were considered so erotic, that many rich young womens feet were maimed to make them marriageable. Poor women got lucky in this regard, as they were needed for work. This practice was likely the results of showing off wealth – a man needed to be wealthy to support an impaired wife – and exerting control over women, who got trapped in dependency of their husbands, as they could no longer work. However, it got justified by alleged biological causes, such as that the clumsy stumbling steps (due to the pain) awakened the male protective instinct and thus increased the attractiveness of the woman.

Male and female nudity bias

The female breast is a secondary sexual characteristic, like a man’s beard. The fact that women have to cover their upper body in public while men do not (and neither do they cover their beards) is evidence that the female variant of sexual dimorphism is still seen as a deviation from the norm.

If given a photo showing only a nipple, could you tell wether it belongs to a woman or a man? I am allowed to post only one of them on Instagram, the other one is considered obscene. Since they look pretty much the same, content policies like the one above imply some sort of inherent obscenety in the female body.

The artificial sexualization of the female breast goes so far that in some places breastfeeding women are banned from restaurants. In addition to a negative relationship to sexuality and nudity, this construct of values resonates with thoughts that regard people as uncontrollably subject to their hormonal needs. The same construct gives rise to absurd excesses, such as the attempt to attribute complicity to abuse survivors through “provocative” clothing. This is a common myth to shift accountability away from the perpetrators and their enablers. Most sexual assaults happen within close social circles like families, clubs or nursing homes, with perpetrators abusing their positions of power.

Letter phobia

Out of sheer fear of being somehow abnormal, many women neglect their feeling for the fit of a bra with thoughts like: “This bra fits well. But it’s in a D and I don’t have big breasts, so I’ll buy it a size smaller (even though it will be more uncomfortable)” or ”My friend has bigger breasts than me and she wears a C, so I won’t try on anything bigger than a B”. This gives rise to a phenomenon known as letter phobia. When buying bras, most people unconsciously orient themselves towards misinformed women and the limited range of sizes available. Since so few sizes under 32 and over 36 as well as under A and over D are offered, these sizes mistakenly seem rare.

Even women who wear fitting bras can feel intimidated to share their actual size, as they fear judgement.

Letter phobia manifests itself in the refusal to try on bras with large letters. The counterpart is number phobia with thoughts such as “underbust bands under 34 are only for children!” for short underbust bands. Letter and number phobia prevent women from accidentally finding bras that fit when trying them on.

Many women are unaware that these thoughts are factually incorrect. It also plays a role that many lingerie suppliers are uninformed or prefer to quickly forget all plans to broaden their size range in view of the impending costs of resizing their range or hiring well-trained staff.

Ill-fitting bras in the media

It’s hard to recognize ill-fitting bras because they are all around us all the time. Movies, series and commercials show so many fit issues that they pass into people’s minds as the normal look of a fitted bra.

Who has noticed that Victoria’s Secret and Hunkemöller regularly use photos in their online stores in which the models are clearly wearing cups that are too small and the overflowing tissue has simply been ironed out with Photoshop?

Or that in the laundry room scene in “The Big Bang Theory” where you see Penny in her bra, the edges of the cups cut into her breasts and the underbust band slips towards her neck?

Example fit problems in well-known TV series:

Bra range in Germany

Sorry, fellow oxygen breathers, I have very little information about the situation outside Germany. Feel free to add to it!

Existing size range

From time to time, affected women ask lingerie stores to expand their size range. Up to now, these requests have faded into the wind. There are reasons for this: There have already been trials in which larger lingerie chains have included new sizes in their range on a trial basis. However, they were not bought.

Letter phobia prevents women from even trying on the new bras. They remain shelf warmers and sales are discontinued, with the footnote that the stores will not get involved in such nonsense again.

The wrong offer, together with the wrong demand, forms a vicious circle that can only be broken with good advice and information about bras. 

Cartel of bra information withholding

However, manufacturers’ interest in providing this information is limited. They are in a comfortable position, because women who can’t find bras that fit, will buy them anyway. The lingerie companies therefore do not benefit from good advice as long as it is not available anywhere else.

It is a cartel of deliberate withholding of information. If they gave good advice, they would have to recommend sizes that they don’t carry. Customers would start sourcing their bras from the UK, for example, where the size range is better. In the long term, this would necessitate an expensive change in production. It is easier to simply “add to the range” or not advise at all. At the same time, no one in this vicious circle is acting maliciously. The sales assistants are often not sufficiently trained in bra fitting. The management has the safety of the company in mind and offers what is well bought.

So far, there are only a few small, independent businesses that specialize in advice and good size selection. Customers who have discovered such a store usually remain loyal to it. Information via the internet is also advancing all the time, so established stores will have to think about their strategy in the long term.

Risks from wearing ill-fitting bras

Ill-fitting bras are not a trifle, but a health risk. Women with large breasts in particular are often told that their bust size is to blame for their back pain. However, an ill-fitting bra is much more often the cause. Healthy breasts do not hurt at first. Pain can be caused, for example, by hormonal changes or movement, such as shortly before menstruation or when walking. This is why bras are a useful invention. Correctly fitted, the underbust band (UBB) supports the breasts from below, holds them in place and reduces shock.

• Poor posture: incorrectly distributed breast weight leads to postures that become habitual
• Headaches: UBB that is too wide distributes breast weight on the straps and pinches nerves in the shoulder area
• Skin irritation: UBBs that are too wide slip and irritate the skin
• Milk blockage: cups that are too small press on the breast tissue and cause painful milk blockage in breastfeeding women
• Back, neck and shoulder pain: UBBs that are too wide lead to incorrect distribution of breast weight on the shoulder area and pinch tissue
• Breast deformation: Breast tissue migrates under the arms if the cups are worn too small over a long period of time

Do bras cause saggy breasts?

Probably not. It is true that muscles slacken if they are not challenged. However, the female breast is not made up of muscle, but of fatty and glandular tissue that lies over the breast muscle. This tissue is not exercised when under heavy strain, but tears. It is therefore more likely that a well-fitting bra will not cause the breast to sag, but on the contrary will prevent sagging.

However, it is difficult to make precise statements. Many of the women who have rarely worn bras throughout their lives have given them up because of their small breasts. However, small breasts generally sag less quickly. And only a few women wear correctly fitting bras throughout their lives. It is virtually impossible to reliably identify them. A fair comparison of the two groups is therefore hardly possible.

One study that is often cited by bra-free advocates is that of sports medicine specialist Jean-Denis Rouillon from the University of Franche-Comté. He observed that many of his female students did without bras for reasons of comfort and freedom of movement during sport. He began measuring the bodies of some of the voluntary bra-avoiders and documenting the change over time. Their breasts did indeed rise by a few millimetres on average over time. However, the methodology of this study is rather dubious. After all, it is not surprising that the bodies of sports students become firmer over the course of their studies as their training progresses. So whether this change is due to not wearing bras is questionable.

Comparison between fitting and ill-fitting bra

A correctly fitting bra also makes a world of difference visually. Here are comparison pictures of me in an ill-fitting 34C noname bra and a 26J plunge from Comexim, which fitted me perfectly.

Finding the perfect bra

Determine bra size with chart and measuring tape

There are various ways to determine your own bra size. Interestingly, the best-known method using a measuring tape and table/formula is also the worst. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned here.

For this method, you measure two circumferences with a tape measure:

• The underbust circumference, around the rib cage just below the base of the breast.
• And the chest circumference, around the widest part of the breasts.

Now you have two values that you can either read off a bra size chart or use in a bra size formula.

Alternatively, look for the measured values in a table.
According to the official formula, a woman measuring 34 and 32 should wear a bra size 32B.

However, this size will not necessarily fit, because:

• A body cannot be described in two dimensions. Perhaps a woman’s particular breast shape requires a different size.
• The measurement is not standardized. Should she wear a bra during the measurement, and if so, what kind? Should she measure while breathing in or out? This changes the values considerably.
• Bras vary greatly.
• For historical reasons, the tables and formulas often suggest underbust bands that are too wide and cups that are too small.
• Bra sizes are often incorrectly converted between different sizing systems.
• The charts are too limited and some women may find that their measurements fall outside the charts.

Fortunately, there are some measures that can be taken to improve the results of this method. These are additional measurements.

The super tight underbust circumference

Here, the underbust girth is measured as tightly as possible with an empty lung and without a bra. The measuring tape is stretched as tightly as if you wanted to tear it. The resulting measurement shows how compressible the chest is. If measured correctly, this measurement will probably be at least two Inches smaller than the normal underbust circumference.

The super tight underbust measurement is often a good indication of the appropriate width of the underbust band. Of course, nobody wants to constrict themselves so tightly that they can no longer breathe. However, unlike a measuring tape, bras are very stretchy. An underbust band must not be wider than this value when loose, otherwise the underbust band will slip down when you breathe out.

Bust circumference bent over

Women whose breasts have grown on a rather small area of the ribcage, but extend forward, often get too small values from the simple breast circumference measurement. It is therefore advisable to take another measurement by tilting the upper body forward and measuring the circumference of the freely hanging breasts. The measuring tape should not deform the breast. Protruding nipples should not be measured.  

bust circumference while laying down

The chest circumference is also measured without a bra, lying on the back. The breasts are allowed to fall wherever they want. Again, care should be taken not to deform the breasts with the measuring tape, otherwise the measurement results will be incorrect. The other values determined should also be entered into the formula/read from the table. This creates a range of sizes in which it is worth starting the search for a bra.

The bra sizing systems

It would be far too easy to determine your bra size with a few measurements. To keep things interesting, there is a whole range of sizing systems.

Conversion of children’s/clothing sizes into bra sizes

Neither children’s sizes nor normal dress sizes can be converted into bra sizes. Although the bust circumference is also taken into account when calculating the size of normal tops, there is more leeway. Furthermore, to determine the bra size, you need additional measurements that are not derived from a dress size.

Bra size calculators

You can find a large number of bra size calculators online. Unfortunately, most of them are completely useless. If you search for the German term “BH-Größenrechner” on Google, all the results on the first page are, without exception, poor. Many of them only give tabular values as results, with all the errors inherent in the method.

It is also bad that many calculators give error messages for true measured values, implying that the values entered are impossible or incorrect.

In such cases, it would be absolutely necessary to point out that there is a problem with the calculator or the values offered, but under no circumstances with the womans body. English-language calculators that can be found using the search term “bra size calculator” perform similarly miserably.

Good bra size calculators

Fortunately, there are exceptions. The online calculator on “A sophisticated pair” recommends very accurate sizes. This size calculator has three settings for the preferred width of the underbust band. It is important to select the widest option “looser but still supportive”. The other two settings usually suggest underbust bands that are too tight. Obese women can also choose the medium option in some cases, as their bodies are more compressible. Nevertheless, the results of a calculator for finding a suitable bra can only ever be seen as a starting point, as neither the individual shape of the breast nor the differences between different bra models of the same size can be taken into account here. Another calculator that often provides useful results can be found at sizemapp.com.  

Trying on bras properly

To recognize whether a bra fits correctly, you have to put it on properly.

1) Close the bra

You should be able to close new bras comfortably in the outermost hook, not in the middle, as is sometimes mistakenly said. The band will wear out due to body heat and friction, so you should be able to tighten the bra afterwards. However, if you put on weight, you will most likely need a different size anyway, especially in terms of the cup.

2) Pull the cups into the breast crease

The underwires should lie exactly in the breast crease along the entire length, not on the breast and not a few centimeters below or next to it. If this is not possible, the bra will not fit.

3) Slip on the straps

The strap length should always be checked at the time of purchase, but also regularly afterwards. Size fluctuations during the cycle can be countered by adjusting the strap length.

4) Lift the breasts into the cup

Bend over at the front and let the breasts fall into the cups. Stroke the skin and tissue from the back into the cups. This step is important! If an unsuitable bra has been worn for a long time, breast tissue often migrates under the armpits and appears there as supposed armpit fat. See also breast migration.

5) Place the straps on the shoulder bones

This is probably unusual at first because the straps are positioned further out on the shoulders than many women are used to. However, it prevents the straps from digging into the fabric in the neck area. If you put a bra on correctly, it should therefore stay in place all day without having to be readjusted. If it still slips or becomes uncomfortable, this is also (surprise!) a sign of an unsuitable bra.

Once the bra is on, it’s worth bouncing, raising your arms, sitting down, bending over at the front. Is everything still in place? Good! If not, use it as ammunition for your trebuchet.

Finally, we recommend putting on a thin, light-colored top over your bra. This is a good way to assess the shape of your breasts. You can also assess whether seams or lace are showing under the fabric or whether the color of the bra is visible through the fabric. Is everything okay? Congratulations!

Bra consultation

The quickest way to find a suitable bra is with professional advice, ideally from a bra fitter. As good advice is not easy to find, many women have no choice but to turn to the internet for advice.

Busenfreundinnen

In German-speaking countries, there is an online advice forum called Busenfreundinnen. After registering, you can fill out a questionnaire based on the fit of your current bra, add the results to two different size calculators and link to users with similar measurements. Based on this information, one of the volunteers will recommend a starting size and promising models. For more complicated cases, there is also the option of receiving advice using anonymized photos in the protected area of the forum.

One advantage of the forum is the huge collection of knowledge about bras. The forum is intended exclusively for women and follows a very strict netiquette, according to which comments of a body-normative nature, including compliments about the user’s body, are rejected. This is to ensure that every woman can move freely in the forum without fear of her body being judged.

Live advice

Although the quality of advice on the Bustfriends forum is good, it does not come close to good live advice, as the fit of a bra can naturally be judged less well from photos and self-descriptions than from direct observation. Many department stores with an underwear department employ staff to give advice. The quality of such advice is mixed. The employees are rarely trained in brafitting, although some have gained a good overview through long professional experience or private training. Some lingerie departments have a not inconsiderable variety of sizes. You will only search in vain for relative marginal sizes such as 60 underbust bands or cups over H.

Bratabase.com

The English-language forum Bratabase should also be mentioned here. This is primarily a collection of data on bras with measurements, experience reports and a bra search engine. However, there is also an advice section, which is open to the public.

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ABraThatFits/

Eine englischsprachige Reddit-Community rund um das Thema passende BHs. Ein niedrigschwellige Möglichkeit, Beratung zu Passform-Fotos zu bekommen, ebenfalls öffentlich einsehbar.

Skype-Fitting

Another relatively unknown option is Skype fitting. This service is offered by various lingerie manufacturers who mainly sell online. This option combines the advantages of location flexibility and a more realistic assessment of the fit of bras. However, like the classic fitting at home, it also has the disadvantage that a larger order of bras of different sizes and cuts should be placed in order to be able to compare effectively.

Bra-fitting

The best way is a professional bra fitting in a specialized studio. In contrast to lingerie departments, “real” bra fitters have worked intensively on the perfect fit of bras and also have the necessary variety of sizes to be able to give real advice. This is where you will also find the above-mentioned supposed “fringe sizes”.

Unfortunately, not every so-called bra fitting is a genuine consultation. Some providers only give this impression for marketing reasons. It makes a good impression to be concerned about the health and well-being of customers. Unfortunately, “real” bra fitting advice is time-consuming and expensive. If you want to offer something like this, you need to train your staff much more extensively and have a much wider range of different sizes in stock.

An unsuitable bra worn for a long time can have serious health consequences. It is therefore important to be able to recognize a genuine consultation.

Recognizing a good brafitting

Firstly: respect. A bra fitter will never try to minimize fit problems. If a customer explains that she feels uncomfortable in the bra, she will look for alternatives.

Secondly, a bra fitter will explain. Why it has to fit like this, why this bra will cause problems later, how to put the bra on correctly. The aim of a bra fitter is to help the customer to help herself. Advice is time-consuming and expensive, even for specialist stores, as not every woman who is advised buys something. So there is a great deal of interest on their part in imparting knowledge.

Thirdly, a good bra fitter always admits when she cannot offer a suitable bra. In mock consultations, there is a bad habit of only advising customers on the available range. Even if lingerie stores are usually much better equipped, it is impossible to have a bra in stock for every possible customer. A bra fitter is there to help and can give tips on where to look further.

What happens at a brafitting?

Once you have found a brafitting studio, ask for a consultation. Sometimes consultation appointments have to be arranged in advance, but most of the time you can simply come into the store during opening hours. The bra fitter will show you the fitting room and ask about your wishes. What kind of bra do you want? Occasion, color, style?

The measurements are usually taken in the fitting room. Normally the measurement is taken without a top, only in the bra. The methods differ here. Sometimes several measurements are taken, often breast and underbust measurements. Sometimes only the latter or neither. The fact that no measurements are taken does not mean that the advice is bad, because the measurements only serve as a rough starting point anyway; a very experienced bra fitter can also assess a customer without taking measurements.

Fitting room

Next, the bra fitter will bring one or more bras into the fitting room for you to try on. Unless otherwise agreed, she will always knock or ask permission before entering the fitting room. If it is your first time in a bra fitting studio, the correct fitting technique will also be explained. The first bras that are brought in for fitting will probably not fit. This is completely normal. The bra fitter probably has certain models that serve as reference points. Depending on how the bras fit, she can draw conclusions about the shape and condition of the customer’s breasts and select better fitting models.

The bra fitter will look at the bras and can often recognize any fit problems immediately. If she does not recognize any problems, she will ask whether the customer finds the bra comfortable and whether she likes it. If necessary, the search will continue.

Several attempts

It is completely normal that it takes many attempts to find a really well-fitting bra, possibly only the last model will fit. It is also normal that not all bras on offer will be the same size. A good bra fitter knows her range and knows, for example, if certain models are smaller or larger. Good advice does not comment on the customer’s body. Nobody has to be ashamed of their figure or breasts.

Very-important-boobs-box

The bra startup Sugarshape offers the “very-important-boobs-box” service. After filling out a questionnaire about breast characteristics and bra preferences, a box containing various models is sent to the customer free of charge. She can try everything on at home, pay for what she wants to keep and send the rest back. As the bras are selected by experts on the basis of breast characteristics and measurements, it can be easier for beginners to find well-fitting bras this way. The selection of sizes and styles is limited compared to larger online stores.    

Bra-fitting-blacklist

Once we have established the criteria for good brafitting, a whole series of cases open up where the criteria do not apply. Two very well-known examples are unfortunately Hunkemöller and Victoria’s Secret. For both companies, presenting themselves as bra fitting experts is an integral part of their marketing strategy. Hunkemöller stocks bra sizes from 70-85 A-E, Victoria’s Secret 32-40 A-DDD. This size range is not enough to sell a suitable bra to many customers.

At the same time, it is very rare for customers to be referred to other stores. Whether this is due to a lack of knowledge on the part of the consultant or to maximize profits, the advice given is simply to “fit” the existing range. You can get an impression of how seriously the correct fit of bras is taken by both companies from the online stores (as of 09.2019). Both offer poor size calculators and photos of models in badly fitted bras.

Fit problems from the online stores of Hunkemöller & Victoria’s Secret:

1 Breast swells out of the side of the too small cup
2 Gore does not lie between breasts, but on top of them
3 Breast swells out of the side of the too small cup
4 Underbust band is too wide and slides up
5 Underwire is not in the breast fold, but on top of it
6 Cup is too small and cuts in
7 Underwire lies on the breast instead of next to it
8 Breast swells out of the side of the too small cup

Indentifying ill-fitting bras

Classic fit problems are not always immediately visible in the form of incisive cups or similar. At first glance, the bra in the top left image does not show any clear signs of a poor fit.	However, it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to. To the right you can see how a well-fitting bra should actually lift the breasts. The underbust band of this bra is a little too wide to provide support from below.
This bra has cups that are too small. You can only see them because it was put on correctly. The cut fits the breast shape well. It would probably fit well one or two cup sizes larger.
Those cups are not too large.	They wrinkle because they are not pulled up to the breast. If the breasts were lifted correctly, there would be more upper breast tissue in the cup.	The underband is four or five sizes too wide.
This underbust band is too wide. Although it does not ride up much, the vertical drape reveals that it is not sufficiently taut to provide support. As it only rests loosely on the bust, the bust does not exert any pressure on it at the front, so it hardly rides up at the back.
This bra has cups that are too large. This is particularly unfavorable for a sports bra because the movement of the breast is not sufficiently cushioned.	The point at which the bust ends is visible at the folds in the cup from below. The underwires are almost four centimeters off.

Tricking yourself by putting bras on incorrectly

1) Combine cups that are too small with an underbust band that is too wide

The combination is so mean because the two fit problems conceal each other’s most obvious signs. The breasts do not swell over a cup that is too small if the underbust band is wide enough so that it does not pull the cup towards the breast. At the same time, an underbust band that is too wide will not slide up the back if it covers a good part of the breasts as well as the ribcage.

3) Combine cups that are too large with a too tight underbust band

This problem often occurs when a woman has just found out that she has been wearing underbust bands that are too wide and cups that are too small for a long time. She can now easily go to the opposite extreme. This is not always noticeable because these bras are nevertheless much more comfortable than those of the other incorrect variant. However, a bra like this cannot provide optimal support.

4) Adjust the strap length extremely

Very long or very short straps are often used in an attempt to conceal cups that are too small or too large or to replace the lack of support with an excessively wide underbust band. The strap length should be carefully adjusted.

5) Push tissue out of the cups

To prevent the breast from overflowing if the cups are too small, the breast tissue is pushed outwards towards the arms into the cup. Part of the breast is pushed out of the bra under the underwire. Now the cup only contains half the breast and the rest is squeezed out under the underwire.

Breast migration

People who wear unsuitable bras for a long time often don’t even know how big their own breasts are. By wearing such bras, breast tissue often migrates under the armpits. Sometimes you hear a woman talking about her “armpit fat”. This is displaced breast tissue.

If, on the other hand, a properly fitted bra is put on properly over a longer period of time, so-called breast migration sometimes occurs. The tissue then slowly migrates back into the breast so that the recently perfectly fitted bra becomes too small again. As a result, the breasts can become larger or firmer.

The role of fit

Comparison images of bra fit

Relevant breast properties

	breast volume	The required cup size depends on the volume of the breast. A small breast needs small cups, a large breast needs large cups.
	ribcage-circumference	The width and firmness of the underbust band depends on the size of the ribcage. A small ribcage requires a short underbust band, a large one a wider one. However, the relationship is not proportional, as the constitution of the body also changes. Very small underbust circumferences are almost always found in slim women. For these women, a band that is too tight can be uncomfortable. Women with very large underbust circumferences often need tighter underbust bands than their measurements suggest in order to ensure good support despite a softer body.
	horizontal position of breast base	The breast base is the area on the rib cage to which the breast is attached. The horizontal position of the breast base determines the distance between the breasts. This is important for choosing the correct bridge width and height. Women with little or no space between their breasts can opt for styles with overlapping underwires, such as those found in bras from Comexim or Ewa Michalak. Alternatively, plunge cuts with very low underwires are a good option, as the round shape of the breasts widens the gap towards the bottom. Plunges with only one fabric band connecting the cups, on the other hand, are suitable for larger spacing.
	vertical position of breast base	The height of the breast base on the upper body influences the width of the underbust band, as the upper body becomes narrower towards the waist. Women with low-set breasts therefore often need short underbust straps. The vertical breast base position also influences the strap length. Women with very high or very low-set breasts should look for bras with fully adjustable straps. Thirdly, the height of the cup in the underarm area is important. With high-set breasts, the underwires of high-cut models can pinch the armpits.
	horizontal shape of breast base	The width of the bust base is directly related to the underwire width required. The underwires should follow the underbust crease, i.e. the line where the chest and ribcage meet.
	vertical shape of breast base	The height of the breast base is a measure of how high the breast tissue reaches below the collarbones.
	horizontal volume distribution of breast tissue	The volume of the breast can be either on the inside, in the middle or on the outside.
	vertical volume distribution of breast tissue	The volume of the bust can be either at the bottom, even or at the top. This is important for the edge of the cup (half cup, full cup etc.)
	volume distribution of breast tissue depthwise	The volume of the breast can either sit close to the ribcage or at some distance from it. One possible example of this is the difference between a standing breast and a sagging breast. If you bend over at the front with a naked upper body, you can determine whether the breast retains an almost hemispherical shape (an indication of the need for wide underwires) or whether the volume of the breast sinks downwards as if in a cloth bag (an indication of the need for narrow underwires).
	asymmetries	Most women do not have symmetrical breasts. If there is more than one cup size difference, it can be very difficult to find bras that fit. In this case, the bra should be fitted to the larger side. If you wish, you can stuff the smaller side; special inserts are available for this purpose. Bravaria also makes bras for asymmetrical breasts.

Bra sources of supply

Good bra-fitting studios (Germany)

Good bra supply sources online:

• Amazon
• Ebay
• Brastop
• Bratabase
• Lace
• …

Starter bras

If you have just realized that your old bras don’t fit and you don’t live near a bra fitting studio, you may want to place a test order. It is advisable to narrow down the approximate size with the help of one of the good size calculators. It is then best to order the same model in several adjacent sizes. If you don’t yet have a starting point for the fit, you can use the following models because they are easily available, fit many women well and their fit provides a good indication of the breast characteristics.

Panache Envy (non-padded balconette)	Panache Andorra (non-padded fullcup)
Freya Deco (padded plunge)	Fantasie Rebecca (spacer fullcup)

Bras for…

uneven breasts	Bravaria
different skin colors	Nubian Skin
very large breasts	Ewa Michalak, Optifit
very small breasts	Dainty Lady (discontinued?), Aikyou
very large ribcages	Ewa Michalak, Glamorise
very small ribcages	Bosom Galore (eingestellt?), Comexim
narrow breast base	Comexim, Freya
wide breast base	Change
Your need not met?	check out bratabase

And then…

The perfect bra for every occasion

What bra color under white?

A bra can easily show through unintentionally under a white top. White bras are also clearly visible. The most invisible bras are always those that come as close as possible to the wearer’s skin color. Nubian Skin offers nude bras for different skin colors. If no skin-colored bra is available, sometimes a red bra will also work.

How do I get a slit between my breasts?

For many people, the ideal cleavage looks like this: One breast on the left, one breast on the right and a slit in the middle. However, as breasts rarely grow like this, you have to help them along. And the best way to do this is with a bra.

Breast cleavage due to an unsuitable bra

Unfitting bras, namely bras that are too small, create beautiful breast clefts. If the cups are clearly too small so that the bridge cannot rest against the breastbone, the breasts are squeezed together. The obvious disadvantage is that the breasts are neither shaped, lifted nor held in place. The bust then quickly looks more like a shapeless mass than two almost hemispherical breasts. That is not the purpose of a bra. It is unhealthy. And there are better ways.

Breast cleavage with a perfect bra

A matching bra with a cut that suits the shape of the wearer’s breasts collects the breast tissue and pushes it together at the front. However, the bridge lies flat against the breastbone and separates the breasts. If you can create a gap by pushing the breasts together with your hands, a good bra can do the same. In this case, you don’t need push-up pads or other aids to achieve this effect. Push-up helps if you can’t push a crease together with your hands.

Despite the push-up, there are also women for whom it simply doesn’t work. And they don’t even have to have small breasts, even medium-sized, very firm or widely spaced breasts can make the breast gap impossible. But there are more important things.

So what is a perfect cut?

A low and narrow center part of the bra, such as a plunge, is important for the gap. A clip that holds the straps together at the back or slightly shortening the straps can provide an extra push effect. The most important thing, however, is that the bra fits perfectly. The underwires must follow the line of the underbust crease exactly. This is the only way it can gather the entire breast and push it together.

Can you wear a bra under a sports bra?

You can. You can also splint a broken leg with a wooden spoon and duct tape. If you have the feeling that the sports bra doesn’t offer enough support, it probably does and it doesn’t fit.

Different bras for different dress shapes

What actually is a plunge? There is a whole range of different bras for different occasions. Here is an overview:

	Balconette	A balconette bra has a high center gore, open-top cups, and wide-set straps. The upper cup edge runs horizontally. This cut is great for broad shoulders, wide necklines, and soft breasts.
	Camisole Bra	A camisole bra is a type of tank top with an integrated bra. It’s practical when layering a tank top over a bra is uncomfortable or too warm. Unfortunately, they are usually only available in so-called standard sizes, which fit very few women well.
	Bodysuit	A bodysuit is lingerie shaped like a one-piece swimsuit with a built-in bra. Some are made of firm fabric with strategically placed seams to create a shaping effect.
	Bralette	Bralettes have a simple cut with triangular cups. They offer little support and are mainly meant for coverage and decoration. Nowadays, there are also underwired bralettes, which provide more support and are more comfortable for larger breasts.
	Wireless Bra	Wireless bras are more comfortable but provide less support. They can be useful during pregnancy, as underwires can increase the risk of milk duct blockage.
	Open Cup Bra	Open cup bras leave the breasts exposed while still providing some level of support. They are generally not intended for everyday wear.
	Bullet Bra	The bullet bra was especially popular in the 1940s and 50s. The name comes from the “bullet-shaped” pointy bust it creates. Bullet bras are favored by some lovers of vintage and rockabilly fashion. This shape also works better than minimizers at visually reducing breast size.
	Bustier	A bustier is a short top that covers only the bust area. Finding a well-fitting bra can be unnecessarily complicated when breasts are still developing. In such cases, a bustier is a simple alternative that offers light support. Unlike a bralette, which often has a traditional bra closure, a bustier is simply pulled over the head.
	Cage Bra	The cage bra (also called a harness bra) gets its name from the decorative straps forming a cage-like structure. Sometimes it is also referred to as a harness bra. Originally inspired by the BDSM scene.
	Support Bra	Support bras are designed for women with particularly heavy breasts. They aim to distribute weight more evenly with extra-wide straps and help prevent back pain. For some reason, manufacturers assume that women with large breasts only want beige monstrosities. The good news: Support bras are mostly unnecessary. A well-fitted bra supports breast weight from below via the band, preventing strap digging.
	Full Cup	The full cup is a bra style that fully covers the breasts. It works well for women with very soft breasts.
	Half Cup	The half cup bra leaves the upper part of the breasts uncovered.
	Minimizer	Minimizer bras are designed to make breasts appear smaller. However, they often only work to a limited extent. Most minimizers press the breasts flat against the body, making them look smaller from the side but larger from the front. A better alternative is a bra that gives the breasts a slightly conical shape, such as milder versions of the bullet bra.
	Multiway	Multiway bras have straps that can be worn in different ways, such as crisscrossed, as a racerback, halter, traditional, or strapless. This is useful for wearing under tops with various necklines where you don’t want visible straps.
	Plunge	The most striking feature of a plunge bra is its low center gore. It’s great for breasts that are close together and for deep necklines. However, a plunge bra doesn’t provide much support, and very soft breasts may spill towards the center.
	Mastectomy Bra	For women who have lost one or both breasts due to breast cancer treatment, mastectomy bras have special pockets to hold prostheses.
	Push-Up Bra	Push-up bras lift the breasts and bring them closer together with padding. However, if poorly fitted, they can do the opposite and flatten the breasts.
	Sports Bra	Sports bras are designed to protect breasts from damage during intense movement. They come in different support levels, but it’s always advisable to choose the highest level for running or high-impact activities.

Bra hacks

Bra care

To be able to use a bra for as long as possible, there are a few simple tips to follow. The gentlest way is to hand wash with a little mild detergent in cold water. The elastic fibers are destroyed by heat. Never wring out the bras. It is best to spread them out on a towel to air dry.

If you don’t have time for hand washing, you can also wash bras in a laundry net or pillowcase on the delicate cycle of your washing machine. The laundry net or pillowcase is important because it protects the washing machine from damage caused by the bra underwires. With foam cups, you should be careful not to turn them inside out. Folding one cup into the other saves space, but leads to small tears in the foam. In the long term, these will cause the cup to lose its supportive effect.

The advice not to wear the same bra on two consecutive days is probably less well known. If the bra is given a day off between uses, the fibers can stretch back completely so that the support effect is maintained for longer. As soon as the bra no longer provides support, it should be replaced. With a bra that is worn frequently, this can be the case after just one year. The worn-out band can manifest itself in regular back pain after wearing a bra.

Bra accessories

	1) Bra Extender 1	There are two different products referred to as bra extenders. The first one is more like a band-lowering accessory. It is a strap that hooks into the bra closure and wraps around the waist. This lowers the underband at the back, which is useful for clothing with low-back designs. However, for well-fitted bras, this effect is usually minimal, as their bands already sit lower than those of poorly fitting bras. Women whose bra bands touch their shoulder blades will likely benefit more from properly adjusted bras than from an extender.
	2) Bra Extender 2	The second type truly extends the underband. It consists of a short piece of sturdy fabric with hooks on one end and multiple rows of eyelets on the other. It can be hooked between a bra’s existing closure ends. Extenders come in various colors and hook/eye arrangements, commonly with two or three vertically stacked eyelets. They are great for women who experience frequent weight fluctuations or for bras that feel very tight and need a break-in period.
	3) Bra Shortener	This handy tool consists of a clip on one side of the underband and a row of eyelets on the other. While practical, it does not work miracles—there is only about one underband size worth of adjustment possible.
	4) Insert Pads	Bra insert pads help balance breast asymmetry or serve as flexible push-up pads. They are available in foam, gel, and even waterproof materials for bikinis or swimsuits.
	5) Replacement Straps	Multiway bras have detachable straps, which can sometimes get lost. For such cases, replacement straps are the perfect solution. They fit almost any multiway bra. Unfortunately, fabric replacement straps are still quite rare, but you can easily buy strap material, hooks, eyes, and sliders separately and sew your own.
	6) Shoulder Pads	These are plastic cushions that can be placed under bra straps to prevent them from digging into the shoulders. This is only useful for women with very heavy breasts. In a properly fitted bra, the straps carry no more than 10% of the breast weight—the real support comes from the underband. If your straps dig in even though you are not carrying multiple kilograms of breast tissue, you would benefit more from new, well-fitted bras than from shoulder pads.
	7) Strap Clip	Under racerback tops, visible bra straps can be unflattering. If that bothers you, a bra strap clip can help. The clip resembles a plastic “H” with inward-curved ends. A paperclip can also do the trick.
	8) Fashion Tape	If you want to prevent your bra from showing under a low neckline, fashion tape is a great solution. This double-sided adhesive tape sticks to both skin and fabric, keeping clothing securely in place when applied to the inside of the neckline.
	9) Nipple Covers	For those who go braless and don’t want their nipples to show through, nipple covers are the best invention. These self-adhesive pads leave the nipple area free of glue. Some women find that crisscrossed adhesive bandages work just as well.
	10) Adhesive Bra	These range from individual cups to the most covering versions that even simulate part of the underband. The cups alone offer little more than nipple covers and provide no support. If anything, the models with an adhesive underband strip are worthwhile, as they offer at least some support. However, if you absolutely cannot or do not want to wear a bra under your outfit, the cheaper and more supportive DIY alternative of “taping your breasts” is worth considering.

Bra crafting/sewing instructions

Taping breasts

Lace bralette without sewing

You can make a bralette yourself without sewing. You need a piece of fabric that doesn’t fray, such as jersey, and a pair of scissors. Then simply cut out the shape shown in the picture below:

Depending on the stretch of the fabric, the shape should be a little more than twice as long as the underbust circumference. For a 70cm underbust circumference, this means about 150cm. The whole thing can now be put on like a vest or rucksack, simply pull both arms through the hole and knot the ends together at the front or back.

You can create a slightly stronger hold by wrapping it twice. You can vary the neckline by knotting the scarf differently.

Free bra sewing patterns & instructions

• Make-bra:
  very detailed instructions for sewing different padded underwired bras
• Instructables:
• Wunderfaden:
• Jessica Tromp:
  detailed instruction for sewing a non-padded underwired bra
• Afi Atelier:
  free pfd download of underwired bra sewing pattern

Further information

Bust-friendly clothing

If you have problems finding well-fitting clothes because of your large breasts, this is a good idea: There are companies that specialize in garments with cuts for women with large breasts. Here is an overview:

• Biubiu (discontinued?)
• DD-Atelier (discontinued?)
• Maxime (discontinued?)
• Pepperberry (discontinued?)
• Saint Bustier: (discontinued?)
• Urkye: everyday wear, shirt about 20€

Online bra help:

• A bra that fits
  A subreddit around fitting bras.
• Busenfreundinnen
  A German-speaking bra forum, descendant of the Polish forum Balkonetka.
• Bra Band Project (eingestellt)
  Was originally an informative collection of pictures of women in properly fitted bras to combat prejudices about sizes. Unfortunately discontinued.
• Brafitting Map
  A collection of places to go for good brafittings in Germany, created by my blog colleague from BH-log.
• Bratabase
  An English-language bra forum with online advice, lots of scientific bra examinations and model and brand information.

Bra blog recommendations

• BH-Lounge
• Nicht 75B
• Big cup little cup
• Thelingerieaddict
• Thin and Curvy (discontinued, but still readable)
• Boosaurus (discontinued, but still readable)
• Bras I hate (discontinued, but still readable)

Bra facts

• Hong Kong Polytechnic University offers a course on bras: “Intimate Apparel Specialism”
• The city of underwear: Chendian Town (China) is home to 528 underwear manufacturers. Together, they produce over 200 million items every year.
• Victoria’s Secret has been creating a jeweled “Fantasy bra” every year since 1996. At 15 million US dollars, the 2000 model was entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive piece of underwear of all time.
• A spy bra can be admired in the Berlin Spy Museum. There is a tiny camera on the bridge.
• In 2017, an adhesive bra made the headlines because it tore off the skin of several women when it was removed.

Breasts

Breast structure

There is a layer of fat under the skin. This envelops the fatty, glandular and connective tissue inside the breast. The glands are connected to the nipple. Underneath is the pectoral muscle, directly on the ribs.

Growth stages

Breast development begins on average at the age of 11 and is completed at around 15, but the process can also continue until the mid-20s. It can be divided into five phases:

Breast size

 
Is that normal?

Breasts point outwards

If you take your breasts in your hand and move them, you will notice that they are not set in concrete on the ribcage, but are very flexible. This is why it is completely normal for them to follow the force of gravity. In advertising, you often see women lying down with their breasts “standing up”. This happens when the women are wearing bras, have had breast surgery or have been helped along with Photoshop. When lying down, almost every woman’s breasts fall to the side.

Bn many women, the breasts point outwards even when standing. What is this all about? During growth, it often happens that the outer parts of the breast increase in volume first. The inner part then follows later. In the period in between, this breast shape is common. Some women retain the outward-facing breasts even after their breasts have grown out. This breast shape is sometimes encouraged by unsuitable bras that push the breast tissue towards the armpits. If the breast is not deformed by frequent wearing of an inappropriate bra, and the outward pointing is simply its natural shape, there is no cause for concern.

A well-fitting bra will “collect” the breast tissue under the arms and push it forward and together without a push-up, just through the clever cut. In such a bra, the wearer’s outward-facing breast shape is no longer visible. When fitting bras to outward-facing breasts, the width of the bridge plays a special role. The bridge is the part at the front of the breastbone that connects the cups. The fact that the breasts are often very flat towards the sternum is sometimes misunderstood as a large gap between the breasts. This is why people mistakenly choose a bra with a very wide bridge. However, the one has nothing to do with the other.

The best way to find out how wide an ideal bridge should be is to bend over at the front without a bra and look at the gap between the breasts in this position. If it is very wide, you need a wide gore; if it is very narrow, you need a narrow gore.