Bad bras - a real pain in the neck!

Bad bras - a real pain in the neck!

..and the back, arms, ribs, shoulders and boobs for that matter!

There's no denying that changing from the wrong bra to a bra which fits you perfectly can make you look a whole lot better - perky, uplifted, slimmer, younger...choose your happy boob description. But, when the topic of bad bras comes up many people have a "so what?" attitude. So what if retailers are fitting women in the wrong bra - it's just an item of clothing? A case of vanity - right? 

Well, no, it's not.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the sartorial benefits of a good bra. But it's not the only reason for this campaign. Bad bras hurt - sometimes a lot. Over the last few months I have helped a lot of women find their real bra size, and the problems they report from bad bras are awful. 

Here's one lady's story:
"I had an appointment with a physio for my back pain this week and was told that my badly fitting bras had caused poor posture which had caused my problems. The difference now that the bras fit and are not constantly pulling my shoulders down and forward is life changing! I have parathesia (numbness), neck pain, headaches, back pain. The neck pain was so severe it was causing vertigo and vision issues. The shoulder straps digging in caused me to hunch my shoulders so much that I have given myself a shelf where my neck and back meet. As a consequence I was only moving half my neck which was causing such bad neck and shoulder pain that I have spent most of the past year on strong pain killers. I also had bras that rubbed so much that caused bleeding. All professionally fitted

A better fitting bra has taken the weight of my shoulders. It's only been a month, but I can exercise again, my back pain is improving and I'm able to start retraining my posture so that eventually I will hopefully be completely pain free eventually. I'm also not longer desperate to take my bra off as soon as I can, or covered in deep red welts.

It is so so much better... it's not even been a whole month since I got the bras that fit- in fact it's only been a fortnight! I just cannot imagine how I lived with it before." 

Back pain is a huge problem. The British Chiropractic Association found that 47% of women have suffered from back pain which they attributed directly to the weight of their breasts. They go on to explain "Bras are like

suspension bridges, you need a well engineered bra so your shoulders don’t take all of the

strain and end up doing all of the work; spreading the load is important. Bras that don’t fit

will affect the shoulders and chest and may cause back pain as you get older. It is so

important to make sure a bra gives you enough support as possible."

The support from a bra needs to come from the back - and that means a firm, well fitting band which 

does not ride up and can support the weight of your breasts. Take a look at our fitting guide for help 

on getting this right. 

When your bra is too big at the back your shoulders take the strain. You end up tightening the straps 

more and more to get support, which then makes the straps dig in. The straps hurt, and you end up 

hunching your shoulders to try and make it hurt less. Suddenly, you have a bad posture, your shoulders 

hurt and now your back is joining the pain party too.  Your neck may well pop in to say hello as well. 

Of course, it's not just the back pain. Women often say they hate their bras. Digging in, rubbing, 
itching,blisters, even bleeding have been reported...from bras which retailers have fitted. Your bra 
shouldn't be wriggling around and moving. If it does, you end up with sore patches as it rubs against
the skin. Too small a cup size means the wire ends up sitting on soft breast tissue which is very tender. 
So it digs in, and you end up with incredibly sore bits. 

I've also seen ladies with huge deep grooves in their shoulders which stay for hours after their bra 
comes off. 

For some women, bad bras can be a source of headaches - overtightened shoulder straps dig in and 
press on delicate nerves leading to nasty headaches.

This just isn't right.

And don't forget about breastfeeding. A lot of retailers will tell pregnant women to never wear an underwire because it's "dangerous" but in a well fitting bra, it's not. However, when any bra fits poorly - especially when the cup is too small - then that puts pressure on the tender breast tissue, can block ducts and lead to mastitis. If you are pregnant or feeding it's really important to make sure that your bra fits. If you wear wires, it needs to sit outside the breast tissue, and if you are wearing softcups make sure it is big enough and isn't just squashing/compressing you.

We need better bras. We need proper fittings. And we need the 
retailers to get this right

Back fat

An embarrassing topic...it's backfat

We've helped a lot of ladies find their true bra size, but one issue always crops up when we are trying to explain the need for a smaller backsize. Backfat. 

We've all experienced it - you think you look great then catch a glimpse of your rear view in a mirror and, wowser, where did that backfat come from?!? It must mean my bra doesn't fit...it's digging in...I better buy a bigger bandsize right?

WRONG! You probably need a smaller band!!!

How can you possibly need a smaller band when you have fat overspilling or underspilling at the back?!

A good bra doesn't just support your front - it supports your back too. And a well fitting bra will make that evil backfat look smaller, not bigger. Once you have your size right - check out our fitting guide - and have "scooped" like we describe, then your backfat will look better than it did in that bra that was too big in the back. And your front will too!

Retailers are getting this wrong. Marks and Spencer told both of us we couldn't possibly need a smaller back when we had back spill issues. So, here's some rather embarrassing photographic evidence (I'm no skinny minnie!) that bigger back does not equal less backfat!

A 36F - the size Marks and Spencer claim I should wear - that's pretty grim right? This is a 30HH bra that has stretched quite a bit (so it's fitting like a 32) A 30 which fits pretty well - I have my hands on my hips hence odd shape at top!

As you can see, the bigger band doesn't make the backfat better - it makes it worse. And that's a bra 3 band sizes bigger than I need, so it's seriously loose. 

So don't be scared to try a bra that doesn't add inches. 

 

 

 

Bra fitting

Bra Fitting

Let’s talk boobs

Most of us need to wear a bra, at least sometimes. But lots of women I speak to complain about how much they hate bras - they don’t find them comfortable at all. Many seek out the advice of a “professional bra fitter” in the hope of finding a better fit. Sadly this often doesn’t help.

There are a few shops out there who are doing it right - Bravissimo, Rigby and Peller, Leia etc. But there are a lot more who are doing it wrong. Marks and Spencer, BHS, AnnSummers, La Senza and many others are on the bad fitters list. If you have had a fitting from any of them, or followed almost any online size chart, then chances are you are in the wrong bra. If you recognise any of the symptoms below then you probably need a new bra. 

BAD BRA ALERT

• Your bra rides up at the back - it should sit horizontally

• You have to tighten the straps a lot to keep the bra up

• Your bra straps fall down (off the shoulder)
• Your shoulder straps dig in and leave nasty red marks or grooves
• You sometimes bulge over your bra (the 4-boob look)
• If you lift your arms, your bra moves up (sometimes letting you slip out from underneath)
• You have “armpit fat” - there is bulging over the sides of your bra cups.
• The middle of your bra (the “central gore”) does not sit flat against your chest - it should sit flat in between your boobs
• The wires dig and cut in - anywhere
• You suffer from back  or neck pain
• Your bra slips down, leaving empty space at the bottom of the cup
• You are a size 8 and wearing a 34 band…it’s possible, but it’s unlikely!

These are all signs of an unhappy bra. 

The reason for this is an old fitting method where they take your back measurement and add 4-5 inches to get the back size. This results in an unsupportive and often painful bra, normally much too big in the back and too small in the cup. 

HOW TO FIT PROPERLY

Firstly, you can’t get your exact size from a measuring tape. You can get a pretty good guide (particularly when it comes to the back size) but you need to know what to look for to get it perfect. First off - getting your “starting size”; you can measure wearing a bra, but only if the bra already fits well. So I am going to tell you how to do it braless.

1.     Measure underneath your bust, firmly, in inches. The tape measure should be pretty tight. Do this one standing up

2.     Bend over so your boobs are hanging down at 90 degrees and measure round the widest part - like this picture but make sure you are on the fullest part.

The underbust measurement is the band size*. If you are an odd number you will want to try the size either side to be sure, but as a rule of thumb most people fit better if they round down. So, if you measure 31”, you could try a 30 and a 32 back, but chances are the 30 will be better. 

*there are a couple of exceptions to this rule. If you are very very slender and have no “padding” around your ribs then you may find it necessary to try one back size higher. Conversely, if you are “squidgy of torso” then you may need a smaller back size than you actually measure as the bra needs a relatively firm surface to sit on. So if this is you don’t be scared to try 1-2 back sizes smaller than you measure. 

To test if the band fits:

Put the bra on back to front so the cups are at the back. When new this should be on the loosest hook as bras stretch with age. The band should feel snug, and you should be able to fit a couple of fingers under it, but that’s about all. If you can’t breathe try a size up,  but most of the support comes from the band so we are aiming for firm. The reason for  trying it back to front, is that even if the back is correct, if the cup is far too small it can trick you in to thinking the band is too small - the cups try  to steal the fabric!

Now, working out the cup size:

Most UK manufacturers Bra-lphabet goes A,B,C,D,DD,E,F,FF,G,GG,H,HH,J,JJ,K,KK,L…..there is also the AA, which is smaller than an A. For each inch difference between your band size and your overbust measurement, you get a cup (starting at A) - so somebody measuring 30” underneath and 40” over would start at a 30GG. I would normally suggest trying AT LEAST 1 cup size either side of this to be sure. Now, if you have always been fitted the “old way” you will probably be in shock right now, as you’ve probably gone down 2-3 back sizes, and up several 

Once you have the band right, time to test the cups. Here is what to do:

Lean forward, drop your breasts in to the cups and do the bra up at the back. Now, take your right hand, put it round inside the left cup, all the way round under your armpit, and scoop all the soft tissue and flesh in to the cup. You might not know it, but all that soft tissue under your armpit is breast, and it needs to be in the cup. Now, repeat on the other side. The wire should totally encase your soft breast tissue, and you should have no overspill or wrinkling in the cups. The central gore should sit flat in between your boobs. 

I am going to put up another post later showing good and bad bra fits.