[Anastasia916]

Okay so I thought I knew everything there is to know about bra sizes. I know how to measure myself and get my bra size. But now I think there is a problem that I think bra fitting professionals are WRONG on. The past few days I am at a 37" bust, I was at a 36 1/2" at the start of this round of NBE. Now normally I wear 32D's they are very full but still. And I was ALWAYS told that if you are a 32D you can also wear 34C's which I do in some brands. The 34C's I ALWAYS have to wear on the tightest hook and they ride up in the back on the band because the band is too big for me but the cups always fit fine. Well since I been measuring at 37" my 32D's are now too small, so small that wearing one for a day proved to leave imprints on my breasts! But I wore a 34C today thinking, okay it's going to be tight too... but to my surprise it's not! The cups are fuller, but not leaving imprints on me and the band is STILL loose and STILL riding up in the back!

I was ALWAYS told that when you go up a band size you go down a cup size and when you go down a band size you go up a cup size. Well thinking about this logically with how I know how to measure, this really doesn't make sense after all! When I'm a 32D I'm at least 36" on the bust, me being 27-28" underbust puts me at a 32 band this a 32D since if I minus the band size from the bust measurement you get 4. BUT if I'm 37" I'd be a 32DD right? Well think of a 34 band... if I subtract that from 36 you get a B cup, not a C, if you subtract it from 37 you get a C cup. So the conclusion I come to is that a 32D is NOT the same size as a 34C, but the same size as a 34B, duh, why didn't I think of this before??? And a 32DD is the same size as a 34C. So when you go down a band size you should really be doing up 2 cup sizes and when you go up a band size you should be going down 2 cup sizes. That makes TOTAL sense. But yet for years I have read on bra fitting sites, from professional bra fitters in shops, etc. that it's 1, but really if you do the math that doesn't make sense!

So dang it to be a 34D I'd have to be a 32E haha. And to be the average size of a 36C, I'd have to be 32F or 34DD! That's ridiculous! HAHA oh well, I'm going until I'm happy haha.

But just thought I'd throw out there my discovery of the day for other ladies in case others are confused about bras. I thought I knew what I was talking about haha, looks like I should have looked at it more logically! Oh well, live and learn.

[raw]

I don't think that's the case. I highly doubt that a 36AA is equivalent to a 32D. Also, Kim Kardashian is a self-proclaimed 32DD and my mom is a 36C and they look about the same size. It would be noticeable to me if there was a 2 cup size difference between my mom's breasts and Kim Kardashian's breasts. Kelly Brook is a 32E and her breasts are definitely bigger than my mom's.

You have to remember the difference between bust and under bust is relevant as well. Even though both a 32D and a 34B have a 36" bust the 32D has 2 extra inches of projection from her ribcage. I know you probably know this but the reason you go up a cup size when you go down a band size is because two pairs of breasts of the same size on two different size rib cages will project differently depending on which ribcage is wider. The confusing thing that bra manufacturer's don't tell us is how they know this difference in projection leads exactly to a cup size down for each band size up.

Also, keep in mind that bra sizes vary greatly even within the same brand. I have 2 VS bras of the same size (both are demi) and I fill one significantly better than the other. I also have one 34A that I bought at walmart that's huge on me and another one that I almost fill out. The shape also differs.

Edit: Also, perhaps if you reach 37.5" you will be busting out of your 34C.

[raw]

You should try a 36A next time you go to the store and see if the cups are big. If they are then you will have saved many of us years of discomfort and if they are small then you only have to reach a 32DD to be the same size as a 36C. If they fit then that would just be really weird. If they fit, a 36A would be equal to something between as 34B and 34C and that would be equal to a 32D. So something like one and half cup sizes per band size which would actually make sense in your case since your 32D's are tight but your 34Cs aren't.

[A-2-C]

And let me also add that the shape of breast itself matters too. My breasts, for example, have wide base (diameter?) and even though they technically look like an A cup, I wear padded B because As are not able to completely cover my breast tissue and both 32A and 34A used to cut into my breasts and I had breast tissue “left out” (not within underwire) towards my arm pits (and 34 was too loose). Then one day I tried padded 32B and it fit me great. Unpadded Bs I, of course, don’t fill, but all my breas are padded 32B now.

Now, I never used online calculators before I got to this forum. I went to the most recommended 85b.org and when I enter my measurements, it gives me 32AA which is definitely not what I can fit into. I measured and remeasured, and come up with pretty much the same numbers (31, 32 & 27”)

So, that’s why I’m thinking that breast shape and how they are sitting on your chest (mine are kind of far from the center and closer to my underarms) should be taken into account.

On a side note, I was thinking, many women here say that during their NBE, their breasts were originally growing in area “coverage” (diameter) before they grew outwards. I’m only hoping that mine won’t do this – they are already pretty large in that dimension. If only they could grow more outwards, I could end up with quite a pair! LOL

[Anastasia916]

Raw, I know a few different women with natural breasts that are a 32DD and they do not look as big as Kim Kardashian, so my guess is A. she's wearing the wrong size B. her natural shape is very round so they seem bigger than they are or C. she has implants. She claims she's all natural, so who really knows. There are some women who are very lucky to have implant type roundness naturally, and in that case the breasts always appear larger than they really are! Like me for example, I look back on topless pics when I was a 32B and I do not look bigger without a bra on being a 32D, this is because of my breast shape. I have to either wear a bra or cup them with my hands to make them appear rounder to see the difference, but you can see the difference from the side I think more. So I agree with A2C, shape plays a huge role also. I also know a girl who I thought was a 34DD, she has implants, but not too long ago she said that she's a 32DD, so the roundness of her breasts make them appear much bigger than they are. But like I look at mine and I don't think I look like a 32D at all. Like Katy Perry is a 32D last time I checked and I do not look as big as her without a pushup bra on! But yet I know I'm a 32D normally because I literally broke 3 32C bras, they busted completely!!!

A2C, mine were further apart, more into the pit area when I first started NBE, now they have grown more widely technically, but really the cleavage area was just filling in more. The pit area didn't get wider if that's your concern. But I think what helped this the most was using a Noogleberry and when I pumped with the M and L size domes and at first with the XL's I would tie them together, forcing my breasts to become more centered if it makes sense. And it worked, it took a long time, but it worked.

[raw]

My mom has very round breasts too actually. They're actually a similar shape to Kim's but Kim's are perkier as she's younger. I've always thought her boobs looked too small to be a C (that was before I knew about difference in band sizes) but you have a good point. I think Katy Perry has claimed both a 32DD and a 32D so she might be in between the two. Also keep in mind Katy has a very small frame so they look bigger in comparison to her body. My friend met Katy and she said she was shocked at how tiny Katy was frame wise. Either way, Kelly Brook is a 32E and there is now way my mother is bigger than her. My mom has a similar shape to Kelly as well, maybe even rounder. http://www.fotolive.org/r_celebrity_phot..._1183.html

Also, since you're good at judging sizes could you tell me how big you think Bar Refaeli is? This is my dream size. I probably won't get close seeing as I'm a 34AAA to begin with but yeah it doesn't hurt to dream. I would guess Bar to be a small 34D.
http://omgoddesses.soup.io/post/97662033...-in-Mexico

[Anastasia916]

Hmm, Bar, I'd say 34D as well but googled and everyone is saying 34C, I wish I looked that big haha. Maybe mine don't look like a 32D to me or even a 34C because my waist isn't as small as I would like and definitely not as small as these celebrities. So maybe once I get my body where I want it and am able to keep my breast size they will look more like the size they are to me? Who knows. I might gather up the courage to post topless pics without the circles on my nipples and maybe get yalls opinions. But when I get the chance I do plan to take more up to date pics anyway, just haven't had time and can't find the camera I originally used yet, it's somewhere though.

[Philycheese81]

That is a great size Anastasia haha but I say that any bigger than DD is to big.

[Doll]

You definitely go up a cup when you go down a band. Just one cup, not two. I know sometimes the bras don't seem like they're that way, but you gotta realize not only is the bra not fitting properly because the band size is wrong, but the cups are actually shaped slightly differently for different band sizes.

I had a 36B I couldn't fit into completely for the longest time, and when I finally thought I filled it close enough to completely and went out to buy a 34C so I could have a better fitting band, I was busting out of it. I now have a 36C (which was totally labeled wrong at the store, fml), and I know even though I don't completely fill every inch of it, I'll burst out of a 32DD because of the shape difference. For some reason, 36 bands seem to have a different shape than my usual 34 bands (and the 32 bands I should be wearing will likely have even more of a shape difference). The bra manufacturers make them this way knowing how every band/cup will fit at that size.

I also look nothing like my bra size. I look like what I always imagined a full B cup to look like. I know they're not as big as 34 or 36's, but they still feel completely too small to be a DD of any band size. :/ I feel weird to complain about this, but because they're so perky/round and I don't have that underboob cleavage, they don't look as large at all. I think part of the reason I have a warped perception of actual boob size is because my friend is the same size as me and her boobs are more pointed and come out a lot more, so even though they're even perkier than mine, they still look a lot bigger. This whole time I've been on NBE I've been under the impression that at her size, my boobs will poke out that far, when they actually come nowhere close.

[sweetpea]

I really don't think bra sizes are interchangeable like some people say. I've tried wearing bras that are supposed to be my sister size and they don't fit properly. I'm 34" so that could be 34AA or 32B or 30D and these sizes don't fit the same at all! I also tried it the other way, thinking 32B is the same as 34A and that's not the same either!