Nevermind. Posting at 3am leads to silly comments. But anyway, that is weird.

Landon's Baby, I used to hate underwire bras too, and go out of my way to avoid them. Then, between dd2 and dd3, I lost a lot of weight and discovered that you can buy 32DD bras. I was amazed to discover that a properly fitted underwire bra can actually be quite comfortable. Before that, I'd thought of them as torture devices.

I have serious issues finding bras that fit properly and am scared to buy online without trying them on. I also hate paying 50+ dollars on one especially while losing weight.

So, after exhaustive searching, I've found that JC Penney has a pretty decent selection of plus size bras for a pretty good price. I ended up with one that has nice support, soft fabric and wasn't too high on the chest. So many of the DD+ cups came up way too high on the breast and would peek out under every shirt I own. Plenty come in cute colors/patterns too so I don't feel so frumpy. I ended up with a 42DD for $22: http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?...Id=70659|71387

It takes time but a good bra makes a huge difference.

I love under wire bras. My only problem is that I want to get a cute and sexy bra every now and then but the bras I get (Cabernet) only come in 3 boring colors. A girl needs colors like red, purple, yellow, orange, etc.

I know, I know, but the chart equating the different brands is my favorite thing ever.

I don't care about colors really. I never buy cute bras. I just like plain white or plain black. But my goodness I loath underwire. I only wear a bra when I leave the house. The second I walk in the door I take it off. I'd really like to not need one at all!

Same here as far as not needing one. Until I get my breast reduction surgery, I will always need a bra. I know that once I get the girls reduced and lifted, I won't wear a bra as much.

The absolute best starting point is taking your underbust=band size. It might not work for everyone BUT it's going to give you the best starting point (being that some women need to go up a band size and some need to go down). What you need to learn are the signs of a well-fitting bra:

- the band needs to be tight. 80% of the support from the bra comes from the band. It should be parallel to the ground and you shouldn't be able to comfortably put more than about 2 fingers underneath your band.
- The center gore should sit flat against against your sternum.
- the cups should enclose all the breast tissue i.e. no quadraboob.
- when you put on the bra make sure to bend over and scoup all your tissue into your cups. This CAN affect your bra size so don't forget to do this while trying it on!!! Additionally, if you're experiencing back/underarm fat then this can help prevent that.

As for figuring out your cup size it takes a lot of trial and error but I'd actually recommend a few different methods of measuring your bust because if you're in a really ill-fitting bra than your bust size might not be the appropriate one (due to your breasts sitting too low). I give a detailed description here on how to measure your bust size and have a link to a great bra size calculator.

If you want to see the difference a well-fitting bra can make check out this link. There are a lot of reasons to have a well-fitting bra (yes, health reasons) that I outline here.

If you have any further questions or need help with fitting/where to find bras, let me know! ;)

Please don't wear those 34D's!!! Yikes.

Check out the two links that I posted above on why it's important to wear well-fitting bras for both appearance and health reasons.
As for 28's being to small. What happens is when you're wearing way too small cup sizes then the band will feel tonight. 34D's have to be WAy too small. Just to give you an idea, due to sister sizes the volume in 34D's have the following equality 34D=32DD=30E=28F so the volume you're wearing is about 4 cup sizes too small and since your band is 4 sizes too big you're not getting the support you need (trust me as an H cup you really need that support to avoid back pain!).

Personally, I'm a 28J, sometimes 28HH so, yes, bras definitely exist! Actually, a lot of really gorgeous bras that are comfortable, sexy and supportive. Just to give you a few examples:

Ewa Michalak
http://www.ewa-michalak.pl/data/gfx/.../5/6/165_6.jpg

Panache Cleo
http://corporate.panache-lingerie.co...34_col_166.jpg


Curvy Kate
http://www.curvykate.com/products/co...curvy-kate.jpg

If you have any questions on where to buy them/fit etc let me know. I've helped to fit a lot of women on here and they've been really happy with the results. You can also see any of the pictures on my blog of me (in a size 28J in the recent pictures) for a comparison (blog is in my signature)

What does it mean if the gore is digging painfully into your rib cage? This only happens on 1/3 of the bras I got recently. It's a Panache 32G. I can wear the 30G Panache bra I got without any digging in, but it seems counter intuitive that a slightly too large band would cause the centre of the bra to dig in painfully. At any rate, the band doesn't feel too loose. Maybe the cups are slightly too large, so I'm not pushing the gore off my rib cage at all? Or the style of the bra isn't right for me?

I got another bra in 32F from another company, and that band feels a bit on the looser side compared to the other 32, but it is very comfortable, way more supportive than anything else I had before, pretty, and great for wearing when I'm spending most of the day chasing after my kids and doing housework. No digging in at all.

Yes, that can definitely happen on too big cups (and especially if the bra is too big, in general). Also, you might want to look into bras with lower center gores (if this happens in cups that fit correctly too). Panache is notorious for having higher center gores. (and I've actually experienced the same issue as you when I start shrinking out of cups, it's normally the first sign for me that I need to go down a cup size soon!). High center gores are great for women like me (with very soft breast tissue) but if you have firmer breasts you might be a lot happier with a lower center gore. Ewa Michalak bras are like that, Freya/Fantasie also offer a lot of plunges too.

:p Me, firmer breasts? Hahahaha. After 5 pregnancies and the accompanying ups and downs in size, my breasts are more like a 30 or 32 long than anything else. I think maybe it's the combination of the gore coming up too high and having lost 5lbs since I originally measured and was recommended a 32G or 30GG bra. The cups don't look huge, but they're maybe not as full as they should be at the top. The 30G fits the best and is lower than the other Panache.

Yeah, so I definitely think it's the too big issue then. ;) Like I said I have soft breasts too and experience that also. ;)

IF you still want to get some use out of the bra you can just bend the top of the center gore outwards so it doesn't poke you.

I'm learning a lot about bras. Good information being posted.

Thanks Valrock. You made it really simple. I was always wondering.