u/Elanoreth

Help! After troubleshooting my measurements I went to the local specialist bra shop and came home with Panache Clara full cup 32DD only to realise later it's actually too tight. It felt great in the fitting room and the fitter confirmed it sat well.

The band feels fine with the 'cape' test when trying upside down, but once the cups are on, it's absolutely strangling me after about 15 minutes, especially when sitting down. The whole thing feels itchy and left really deep red marks under my boobs that were still there the next day (!). (I do have sensitive skin.)

I've done lots of reading and research and I think my problem is not enough immediate projection? If that's so, what do I do? My boobs (soft, squishy) have seemingly even fullness but they're very 'droopy' when unsupported so I think they are pushing the bra down and the underwires are digging into my torso. The gore stays tacked comfortably and the width of the underwires is fine. It's just massive tightness from the Clara overall. I also didn't love how pointy it made my boobs look but the side support was awesome.

Measurements:

loose 81cm (31.8 inches)
snug 79 (31.1)
tight 76 (29.9)
standing 90 (35.4)
leaning 97 (38)
lying 93 (36.6)

Calculator places me at 32DD, after trying on some ~30+ bras at the shops I can report I'm a 32D or DD depending on the brand; larger cups tend to wrinkle or gape, I simply cannot fill out an E cup, not any of the bras I tried anyway. What do? I'm losing my mind.

Hi everyone, looking for bra type recommendations for my collection of boob features, which I'm finding really tricky to find the right support for.

Calculator result is 32DD, based on these measurements:

loose 81cm (31.8 inches)

snug 79 (31.1)

tight 76 (29.9)

standing 90 (35.4)

leaning 97 (38)

lying 93 (36.6)

However, there are several factors in the 'inaccuracies' tab of the calculator that apply to me in terms of overestimating cup size: pendulous, wide-set (easily 3 fingers), very soft east-west boobs which have very little volume on top when unsupported, with fairly prominent areolae. When I lean forward, they hang like tubes. When I lie down, the majority of the tissue is in my armpits with nothing in the middle of the chest. I also have a muscular torso and strong back muscles with minimal squish.

When I use a hand bra for support, I have fairly even vertical fullness. I'm not sure how to figure out the root width though. When I look at photos of people with correctly fitted DD cups, their boobs look quite a bit larger than mine. Wire width mystifies me as well.

I promise I'm not trying to argue out of sticker shock, I'm open to any cup size as long as it will actually work! But whenever I've tried even a D cup bra in what seems to be the right band size, the cups have been half empty, so I think it's possible I need to pay closer attention to bra construction/cup shape/seams etc., so that the support lands where my breast tissue is (mostly to the sides of my torso)?

Since my boobs don't support themselves, I've often gravitated towards moulded cups to provide me with some structured shape, but now I'm thinking that might be a mistake. My current bra is a soft foam moulded 34C bra, the band feels fine using the cape method, but when the cups are on, the whole thing shifts around and the wires droop below the inframammary fold.

The most comfy bra I've ever had was a random H&M lined balconette with horizontal half cups, it was either a 75B or 75C but it doesn't have any tags on it.

Would love any and all input in terms of what features to look out for in bras and where to go from here! If you're similar to me, please share your tips.