Boob retention

I went from being a 36C at 220+ to wearing a 32DD at 160. My band size going down significantly makes the cup change sound more drastic than it really is -- sister sizes, the actual cups on a 36C are almost identical to a 34D, 32DD and so on. I lost body fat around my chest area, but got lucky that most of what was underneath was breast tissue.

I've lost around 150 lbs now and have lost a ton in my chest. I am at maintainence now and don't really have any more fat left on my chest. The last pounds made my band smaller, but my bust didn't get any smaller. I am still large and have very dense tissue. It really does depend on the tissue makeup of your breasts.

As far as bras, I can't wear anything local. I do have a small bra shop near me as well as a Nordstrom's, which sometimes has my size. Unfortunately, I have a small band, a large cup, I'm short, and I have a short torso. Most of the bras in my size have wires so wide they wrap around my torso and so tall they are up in my armpits. I love Ewa Michalak bras. She is in Poland and I special order my size. They are hand made so it takes a couple weeks to get them, but the cost is the same as what I would pay for an off the rack bra, but so much better. I would recommend them to anyone who has a hard to find size.

I would second the advice to get properly fitted, but do not go to Victoria's Secrets for that. They do not carry a wide range of sizes, measure wrong, and will put many women in the wrong size bra.

amyk0202 wrote: »

I've lost around 150 lbs now and have lost a ton in my chest. I am at maintainence now and don't really have any more fat left on my chest. The last pounds made my band smaller, but my bust didn't get any smaller. I am still large and have very dense tissue. It really does depend on the tissue makeup of your breasts.

As far as bras, I can't wear anything local. I do have a small bra shop near me as well as a Nordstrom's, which sometimes has my size. Unfortunately, I have a small band, a large cup, I'm short, and I have a short torso. Most of the bras in my size have wires so wide they wrap around my torso and so tall they are up in my armpits. I love Ewa Michalak bras. She is in Poland and I special order my size. They are hand made so it takes a couple weeks to get them, but the cost is the same as what I would pay for an off the rack bra, but so much better. I would recommend them to anyone who has a hard to find size.

I would second the advice to get properly fitted, but do not go to Victoria's Secrets for that. They do not carry a wide range of sizes, measure wrong, and will put many women in the wrong size bra.

Ha! @amyk0202, I had just come back to this thread to ask the question about the problem you have just addressed.

I too have no side fat/breast tissue, a 30 band, 5'1, and find the cups are half way along my sides making my sides sore, oxters impinged upon, and worse still- my breasts not in their correct position.

Is Ewa on line? I may just have to resort to her if I find nothing in the UK when I am there in June.

Canada by the way is, I think, even worse than the USA in size availability.

Cheers, h.

merrysailor88 wrote: »

Am I the only one who doesn't give two *kitten* about my boobs?

The answer to "am I the only one who...?" is always no.

@middlehaitch , Ewa Michalak is online: https://www.ewa-michalak.pl/main-eng.html . She will do size exchanges if you order a size she carries in stock. If you have to special order a size, she charges a little extra & it is non-returnable. She does have a size calculator which I used once a long time ago. It put me in a much larger band than I needed but the cups were OK. I would take very good measurements & enter everything into http://www.bratabase.com/ for suggestions or ask the ladies on https://www.reddit.com/r/ABraThatFits/. You can often find used bras on bratabase as well.

Another brand with narrow wires that you can get shorter gore height in is Comexim. Ewa uses UK sizing, Comexim uses EU sizing so be careful. I didn't realize that with my first Comexim bra & ended up with one that was way too small.

If you are in Canada, you could order both Ewa & Comexim from Bra Obsessed: https://braobsessed.com/. She may be able to guide you to what size you would need in each brand & hopefully would have what you need in stock so you wouldn't have to wait so long or pay so much to exchange. I don't know if she takes returns on special orders--she doesn't say anything about it on her site. If so, that would be great! I looked at her sizing guide & she is recommending that you size up from your regular UK size in the band. I haven't found that to be true for me, so I guess it's all in how tight you wear your band. I need a lot of support, so I like it tight enough to creak when I take a deep breath .

VintageFeline wrote: »

gradchica27 wrote: »

I wish. I think I hear my husband crying with every pound lost. After 4 bfing babies, they were a bit shrunken and deflated, but I've gone from a C when we met to a B to...maybe an A. If they made adult bras in 34 AA, that would be better. Alas the 32s are a bit snug for me and I'm too tall for the juniors/kiddie bras in a 34.

I feel like I'm being mean at this point but that's a size also readily available in the UK. This is a very educational thread with regards to huge gaps in the US bra retail market!

Most of the department stores carry limited cup sizes. However, there are bra-fitting specialty shops (NOT Victoria's Secret) that carry nearly every size imaginable. Because these tend to be smaller boutiques, prices are slightly higher. I wear a 32F and pay $60-$75 USD per bra--but some of these bras are downright amazing. My current favorite bra fitter is about 90 minutes away (it's near my old house--I live in the Boston metropolitan area now and I've still had a hard time finding one closer). I usually do an annual trip to get properly fitted, and in between visits I'll sometimes shop at herroom.com or barenecessities.com since they carry the same brands.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again--I would highly encourage any of you ladies (even those with average sizes) to go get professionally fitted--wearing the proper size bra can be life-changing. (And if you are large-breasted, Everything But Water carries an excellent selection of bra-sized swimwear online!)

I have never had large boobs by any means, but I was SO happy when they started to get smaller! I love my itty bitties, and I feel sorry for you larger ladies! Mine were at the point of starting to get painful when I ran or something, and they were still average.

I'm short and huge chested and hate it! Would love to donate them to the needy... :-) Am hoping as I lose weight that they shrink just a little but don't think so. The other thing, with being short, these boobs make me look like I weigh more than I do. (but they do dress up a sweater or nice t-shirt! lol) Anyway, looking forward to getting new bras once these go down (38G). Too old for these - they serve no purpose!

Jayfeather15 wrote: »

mitch16 wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

gradchica27 wrote: »

I wish. I think I hear my husband crying with every pound lost. After 4 bfing babies, they were a bit shrunken and deflated, but I've gone from a C when we met to a B to...maybe an A. If they made adult bras in 34 AA, that would be better. Alas the 32s are a bit snug for me and I'm too tall for the juniors/kiddie bras in a 34.

I feel like I'm being mean at this point but that's a size also readily available in the UK. This is a very educational thread with regards to huge gaps in the US bra retail market!

Most of the department stores carry limited cup sizes. However, there are bra-fitting specialty shops (NOT Victoria's Secret) that carry nearly every size imaginable. Because these tend to be smaller boutiques, prices are slightly higher. I wear a 32F and pay $60-$75 USD per bra--but some of these bras are downright amazing. My current favorite bra fitter is about 90 minutes away (it's near my old house--I live in the Boston metropolitan area now and I've still had a hard time finding one closer). I usually do an annual trip to get properly fitted, and in between visits I'll sometimes shop at herroom.com or barenecessities.com since they carry the same brands.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again--I would highly encourage any of you ladies (even those with average sizes) to go get professionally fitted--wearing the proper size bra can be life-changing. (And if you are large-breasted, Everything But Water carries an excellent selection of bra-sized swimwear online!)

I have to be fitted? I always just buy whatever fits...where do I go?

You don't HAVE to... According to the fashion mags, 64% of women are wearing the wrong sized bra though.

When I was in my 20s I was pretty skinny (19 BMI) and still wore a 36D bra. It was when I was getting fitted in my wedding dress and buying the appropriate undergarments that the bra fitter pointed out the error in my way--I was actually in way too big of a band size--I ended up being something like a 30G when sized correctly! Then I got pregnant (blew up to a 40H or something like that) and then was breastfeeding--they don't recommend underwire bras when you're breastfeeding so it's kind of a challenge to find a large bra without underwires--the bra fitter was able to find me the right bra in the right size for all of these circumstances.

Honestly, being in the right size bra can make all of the difference how you look in clothes, how you carry yourself (too skinny of straps tend to dig into your shoulders and can make you slouch/hunch your shoulders), and how well you can do things like run when large-chested. For me, it's a luxury that I gladly pay for--spending an hour with a professional who measures you up and then runs out and grabs 40-50 bras for you to try on rather that you having to keep running out to find the right size is well-worth it.

And I mentioned the swimwear because a little while ago we were at a waterpark with my family, and my sister is similarly large-chested. She actually doubles up on the bathing suit tops because she's had a hard time finding suits with appropriate support and coverage. Not me! I ended up getting her hooked bra-sized bathing suits (in the proper size) now too and she doesn't have to double up.