Actually yes I'm not too far from NYC. It's a short train ride away if you're talking about Manhattan. If you mean the general 5 boros of NYC I could walk down the street and be in Queens.

I suspect that I do have a large rib size. I've measured myself and I measure in at a 35" underbust. It seems to run in the family though, as my mother told me of her and my aunt always having problems with clothes when they were teenagers.

Ok, I've tried it and I get 35" for my underbust (like I did before) and 40" for my bust, so I suppose that would put me at a 36D. Thank you for the tip!!!

That's why I usually go with 36" because my underbust is 35"... I suspect that the bra fitters I've been to have been adding the 4-5" and giving me 40 as my bra size (although if my bust measures at 40", shouldn't I be a 40A or 40AA or something crazy like that?)

Measured and 36D is the right size It fits wonderfully, doesn't go up in the back, nor do I spill out of the cups or have room to spare in them.

I would love to try on a 34DD or 36DD just to see how that fits, but I've had no such luck finding those damn sizes in the stores!

Thank you for your help if you have tips on finding cheap bras in larger sizes, I would certainly LOVE to read them!

I understand so much. It's tight around you lift, things fall out from the wire. I would like to find something that is comfortable and reasonable. Also, I'm petite so you buy something that is fitting. Once you have a couple of wears you have to adjust the straps until they are totally shortened and can't go further.
You end up still needing more adjusting but it doesn't work. I take my sewing machine and make adjustments.

No problem! It sounds like you really are on track with your size. Just to let you know if 36DD works well for you then you'd actually want to try on 34DDD/F's because when you go down in a band size you want to go up in a cup size. Since you're still losing you might consider going the 34DDD/F's (if it's possible) just to extend the size a bit.

I'd still definitely check out town shop just so you can try on a wide variety of sizes so you have a general idea of what you want. Lane Bryant sells 36DD's and 36DDD's online and you can usually find coupons to buy one get one 50% off (on their website it looks like if you spend $40, you get back $20? I'm not sure... ). I'd also check Ebay a lot too! Some brands that are really well now and VERY supportive are Fantasie, Freya, Panache, and Curvy Kate.

As for ordering online. Check out the following sites:
http://www.herroom.com/
http://www.biggerbras.com/
http://www.brastop.com/ (this one is in the UK so you might have to pay customs fees but the prices are really low so it could very well be worth it!!!)
All of those sites have GREAT return policies so most people buy in a few sizes and return the ones that don't work.

Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions!

Congratulations on finding some bras It's funny that I logged on today because I just went bra shopping this morning (for the first time in a year) and the lady fitted me at 32D/34C (I used to be a 38D). But last year, I bought this excellent bra from the same store and although it was a 36B (I just guessed by size back then), it holds up the girls really well- I'm kind of in love with it. They didn't carry the same style any more but I bought two similar ones.

I had a gastric bypass in 1998. My weight loss was so dastric that I went from305 to 125 in less than a year. More like 10 months. My breasts went so far south they could reach the equator. I've always been embarrassed of my breasts because I could never find the right bra. Yeah, I went to Nordstroms, Macy's, Target, Walmart, yada yada yada. I recently boughtl a couple genie bras & they kill my back. I have a very wide back so anything stretchy really hurt my back. I am a size 8 but have to buy an x large I. The genie bra. My back is extremely wide. I'm thinking Soma? I wish at this point I could just have a double mastectomy & be done with it. They are useless.

Hi, Karen. You might be able to convince your insurance to cover a breast lift/breast reduction surgery. That's what I did, and I love my new uplifted breasts. I told my doctor I had lost weight, and that I was having neck pain from large, saggy leftover breasts. I got referred to a plastic surgeon, and he recommended to the ins. co. that I get a breast lift/breast reduction. It was really more of a lift. I get the vanishing back bra from Soma now, and I love it.

I have lost about 70 pounds. At my heaviest, I wore a 42/22 D bra. Now, my measurements are 38 band, 42 nipples. That puts me at a 38 D, but I am swimming in the cups. Like others who have posted, I have sag with no substance (or not as much substance). I found a bra that was a 40C that fits comfortably, but it is a minimizer. I am struggling with feeling unattractive with the saggy/wrinkly excess skin and want a bra that gives me cleavage. That way I can wear a low-cut top and feel cute (provided I can find a top that has sleeves long/wide enough to hide my arm skin and still fit in the bust).

I have tried many places, most recently the VS Outlet which had nothing above a 38. One bra I found at Ross, pushed my breasts up a little, but it looked odd to me.

Metafilter has a remarkably detailed thread on bra sizing and bra shopping (as a new user I'm not allowed to post links yet, so just search google for metafilter find perfect bra)

During my weight loss journey, I have had to take in my band on my bras. I have been wearing 18 hour comfort strap bras for years. I started with 50ddd, folded the band behind the cup, and below the arm, by a half inch per side, making a total of 2" reduction. My cup size has not changed much, just slacker. When they too got too big, I bought newer bras, after about 2 months, I would take them in too.
Now my journey is almost done, and I have run out of my favorite bra because they do not come in my cup size. The last bunch I bought were 40ddd, and I will take them in soon. I can squeeze the girls into 40dd's but that is my limit in this style.
I went to VS to see if they had anything that would fit, but no luck. The band's stretched way too much, and the girls oozed over the tops and sides.
Going to try Maidenform next. If they have nothing, I don't know where I'll look next.
I won't even consider a lift or reduction until at least a year after I reach my goal weight. At 61 years old, I don't expect everything to spring back. But I want to let my skin settle and tone up some before making a major decision like that.

Here's my favorite, in a 36H:

http://www.wacoal-america.com/basic-...-855192-p.html

Update: I got fitted at Maidenform, was told I was a 38DDD. After trying on about a dozen bras, I found two that supported and covered the girls. Both were by Bali. Live It Up, seamless underwire. Dream underwire Jacquard Minimizer. Both were on sale in the shop, but were lower priced on the website.

Then I went to a Soma store. There I was fitted and told I was a 36G. Again I tried on about a dozen. So many were almost perfect, but any movement from me, and my cup runneth over. I hate having more than two boobs! While waiting for the clerk, I was browsing he store, and she had noticed which bras I had been looking at. She asked if I would be interested in trying one of those. They looked like a sports bra and I said sure. She brought me a 36DDD. It fit perfectly, and was very comfortable, the girls stayed put, and completely covered. So I bought 3 in different colors.
Soma Embraceable full coverage wireless. I plan on buying at least two more in colors they didn't have in the shop.

I went from a 52 or 54DD to a 38H. It was more challenging to find a bra AFTER losing 250 pounds! I have found happiness with the Wacoal and Chantelle brands in an underwire. They are not cheap but are very supportive and last forever.

I hate shopping for bras, and I hate when I find one I really like and then they discontinue it. Over the years I remember going from store to store looking for discontinued styles in my size. People who are very small seem to be able to wear any bra comfortably and even go without one sometimes. Many people think an underwire bra would be so uncomfortable, but when you need the support, they are great! And bras become very uncomfortable when they start to stretch out and become worn out. I have not been able to wear a non-underwire bra for years.

Congratulations to you Activeadventurer, for losing so much weight and coming down to a much smaller bra size. I know it wasn't easy.