Not too long ago I found myself in need of new, ahem, foundation garments. I am going to be on TV in the not too distant future, thanks to DS' ballroom habit. When we got the date for the film crew to come to the house, I decided it was time to purchase some serious suck-it-in-and-push-em-up underthings. As you know, I am a firm (pardon the pun) believer in Getting Properly Fitted for a Bra. This time, I headed to the local Nordstroms. And here I found some interesting things that may help you in your quest to look good.
I worked with a very nice young lady who measured me. Now here's interesting factoid number one: every store has their own fitting measurement "standard". For instance, at Lady Grace, to get your bra band size, they measure around the upper chest, also known as the high-bust. At Nordstroms, they measure around your ribcage right below the bust. I find this interesting because my band size varies slightly with these different measurements. With the high-bust, I fall between a 34 and a 36. Using the ribcage measurement, I'm squarely in the 34 size. This isn't entirely surprising to me. I work out 4 times a week and I have pretty large shoulder and upper back muscles thanks to that.
After getting the bra band size, the nice lady at Nordstroms then took my full bust measurement (Lady Grace does this too) to determine the cup size. Then she went off to get some bras for me to try on. Which brings me to interesting factoid number two: bra size is just a number/letter combination. Case in point: she brought me several different styles of bras. The 34 DD in the Natori fit me well. The 34 DDD (what???) in the Chantelle fit me well. In Felina's world, a 36C fits me better than a 34 DD. My favorite Lise Charmel bras, which fit beautifully, are 34D. Go figure (oh man, I am just full of awful puns today, sorry). The serious point of this is that each manufacturer, like RTW clothing manufacturers, uses their own fit model, and sizing is not consistent between brands.
Once I found a couple of bras that fit, the nice lady at Nordstroms went out to get a tee shirt to try on over them. I like this approach; it lets you see how the bras look under clothing, and it takes some of the incipient humiliation out of the situation. I tried on the bras with the shirt and noticed something which brings me to interesting factoid number three. Different bra styles/manufacturers lift and separate differently. Here are a couple of examples. When wearing the Natori, I measured my shoulder to bust apex. 12 inches. It's a minimizer, and we'll get to that later. With my Felina, that same measurement is 11 1/2 inches. With the Chantelle: 10 1/2 inches. Sign me up for the Chantelle, babies! It's like I never had kids.
Interesting factoid number four is that different manufacturers/styles also move you around so the distance between your bust apexes is different. Back to the Natori. As I mentioned, it's a minimizer. So what it does is it pushes them down and apart. In commercial sewing patterns, the bust apex is 4 inches from the center front. With the Natori minimizer, it pushes that out to 4 1/2 inches. I have another bra, a cleavage building balconette style from Felina, that brings that measurement down to just about 3 3/4 inches. This is important because if you sew a garment without taking these things into account, you're going to get wrinkles on your garments where you don't want them.
So the moral of this story is to try on lots and lots of styles and lots of lots of manufacturers to see which one fits you and your body the best. Also, and I know we've all been told this before, but it bears repeating, wear the bra that you will be wearing underneath a garment when you do the fitting adjustments. The right bra really does make all the difference.
Happy sewing and fitting!
4 days ago
18 comments:
I'm a fan of Chantelle too. They are big bucks in Canada, but worth it. I also like Fantasie when I want to be upright and British!
I agree about the T-shirt.
Wish I could see you on TV. Thanks for all the information.
Helen
I recently got fitted at Nordstrom and was also a little shocked when they said 34DDD. But, I have to say, I look better, my clothes fit better, and even my posture is better thanks to a bra that fits!
I can just see you analyzing with the fitting ladies. "Well you see, I am writing a blog post and I really need to know all the nitty gritty!" That sounds like something I would do! Now I have to grab my tape measure and do some analyzing of my own 34sadlittleB's
Interesting, because bra patterns are the same way! Some patterns have you measure band size with the upper bust and some have you measure under the bust at the rib cage. Yes, cup size varies depending not only on pattern publisher but a little bit between styles, too. Like any pattern or RTW - the numbers are there to help differentiate between sizes and give you some empirical frame of reference for size.
I think that looking at them with t-shirt on is a fantastic idea! What may look good without any clothes could be a disaster with clothes due to the way the cups shape what's there. Excellent post!
Why can't women's clothing be simple like men's? Why are different brands of all women's clothing, not just undergarments different from other brands? Why can't patterns have standard sizing across the brands? To me it is very frustrating. I hate, hate, hate trying on clothes!! Back when I was a size "nothing" everything fit, but no more.
What shoe, channel, time, day, etc... are you going to be on tv?
This is why I stick to one brand and one bra...it lifts them high...has the bust point in the same place and keeps them from flying under the armpits!!!
But this was a very interesting post because if Bali ever stops making my bra...I will need to go through this exercise again too!
Really interesting! I love my Chantelle Graphie and Simone Perele bras, both kinds 34C but when I tried on sports bras, the Natori is a 34D and the New Balance a 34C. All underwires.
Coincidentally, my underbust is very near 34", so it makes sense to me that my band size is 34".
My dress form was fitted to me wearing a bathing suit which comes very close to the way my bras fit/lift/separate, so it really helps when fitting a new pattern to myself.
Excellent post Ann. I love the Chantelle bras at Nordstrom (pink one is on sale for Anniversary Sale,but sheesh those puppies are EXPENSIVE). I have to get fit every year because due to some freak of nature (cough) I am losing weight up top and it has moved to my new "rectangular waist". Like I should embrace this new turn of events.....
I think there's some vanity sizing going on in bras -- what used to be a C cup is now a DD or even a DDD. But I too had success with going down a band size, up a cup size and buying the fancy European models.
And thank you, thank you for writing like we're all adults and not once referring to your breasts as "the girls."
The last and only time I was professionally measured was at a home lingerie party. Embarrassing!!!! Also I was pregnant at the time and my breasts were changing non-stop so the bra doesn't fit me now at all...
I should get measured for real some time. Good blog!
Excellent post Ann! The right size bra makes all the difference.
I tried on a Chantelle bra last year for the first time and couldn't believe the difference. Seriously, I was really surprised by the fit. I can't afford them but they are on sale now so maybe I'll get my first one.
AAck! Where were you when I went on my bra buying blitz last week? Wow, have I changed in size but they are perkier. I wore a blouse that makes my boobs look bad in every blouse I own. When I put it on with the right bra, wow, what a difference. No moving that dart box any more! I bought four!!!
Funny for the day on the subject. Doggy Bra: one that makes Pointers out of Setters.
So Ann, we are all interested which bra you purchased?
Oh what I would give for a bra that makes my big girls sit up tall and sing! You have inspired me to go out to Nordstrom's this afternoon and check out the Chantelle bras. Thanks for this blog post Ann.
LOL! I need to look into the Chantelle if they can bring the girls up to pre child position!!!
I recently got fitted at a specialty store. While the bras were pricey- $45 to $65, the fit was fantastic. And none of the bras were the same size. Since each was from a different maker, I ended up with 3 different band and cup sizes.
Now I am unhappy with the fit of my everyday bras. On most the straps are set too wide. Putting them on my shoulders properly causes the edges of the cups to stick out and make bumps. And on many, the molded cups are lumpy after being washed. They are not bonded well andthere is too much fabric on the inner thicker layer.
How do you make with only a few that fit properly? Wash them frequently? Settle for bad fit on other days? Fix the fit of the inexpensive ones? Doesn't matter much in the winter under sweaters and jackets. But in the sumemr, with thinner tops, every bump shows.
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