Bra Fit Basics: 3 Ways to Tell If Your Bra Fits Correctly
Me trying on a 34HH bra. By Darlene Campbell of Hourglassy.com.
There's a new video up on The Lingerie Addict YouTube Channel, and in it, I'm sharing a little bit of what I learned about bra fitting from the Eveden Group while in NYC for Lingerie Market.
Eveden, which owns the brands Huit, Fantasie, Fauve, Freya, Goddess, and Elomi, teaches a bra fit seminar at Curve every market season. It's always well-attended, and after hearing great things about the class from Elisabeth Dale (of The Breast Life) and Laurie Shapiro (of Toad Lillie), I had to go. And I'm glad I did because it was definitely an eye-opener.
Video Screenshot - Me in the Wacoal Lace Embrace
If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that I'm really honest about not being a bra fitter. I've never worked in a lingerie boutique. I can't look at you and guess your size. I'm rubbish with a tape measure. Basically, I have no qualifications whatsoever to fit you for a bra.
All the same, I get a ton of questions in my inbox every week asking about bra fit. And while I'm still not a fit expert of any kind, this short video will tell you if your bra is doing okay or if it's time to go in and get resized. I recently went up a cup size myself (from a 34B to a 34C) and when I used these bra fit criteria in my old bra size and my new bra size, I definitely noticed the difference.
If you don't have time to watch the bra fit video right now, here are the key takeaways from it:
- There are three places you can easily check on your bra to determine if it's fitting you the right way or the wrong way: the gore, the underwires, and the band.
- The center gore (the bit of fabric between the cups) should lie flat against your breastbone with no gaps or spaces.
- The underwires should completely surround the breast. There shouldn't be any breast tissue outside, over, or under the cup. You can test this by pressing on the outside edge of your underwire --- it should be laying against your ribcage, directly on the bone.
- The band, where most of your support comes from, should be horizontal to the ground, not riding up or dipping down. It also shouldn't be so tight against your body that it hurts or bruises.
I hope you enjoy watching this video, and that if you're new to bra fitting, it helps you figure out what to do next. If you have any bra fit tips and tricks of your own to share, I'd love to read them in the comments.
