Good fitting bra is not only making you look beautiful, it is also very important for your health. Ill fitting bra can cause back and neck problems, bad posture, headaches and skin irritations.  In severe cases, it can even damage the breast tissue.

Many women are wearing the wrong bra size without even realising it. If you are constantly finding yourself straining your back, neck or shoulders, you are likely to be one of them. You may involuntarily adopt uncomfortable posture to make your bra stays in the right place. Remember, the bra should support your breast, not the other way around.

The most common mistake women make is wearing a band size too large and a cup size too small. Bra band plays the most important role in supporting your breasts. When the band is too loose, it can’t provide enough support, causing the shoulder straps to carry most of the weight.

Bra fitting checklist

Standing in front of the mirror with your bra on, go through the following points to assess whether your bra fits correctly:

1. Make sure the bra band sits snugly around your body right under your bust. It should be in horizontal position, not riding up at the back or be too tight.
2. The centre part of the bra should be flat against your chest, not against your breast.
3. Cups should form smooth, flawless line with your breasts.
4. Wires should not be cutting in or pinching your breast tissue.
5. Straps should not fall off your shoulders or dig into your skin.

Bra test

Now, let’s put your new bra to the movement test. Move your shoulders, your arms, bend your body forward and to the sides, do some twists – that is exactly what you will be doing during the day, and you need to make sure you will still feel comfortable in your bra. If your bra shifted too much, you probably need to make some adjustments. Check our troubleshooting guide.

Troubleshooting

Problem 1: Bra band is riding up at the back.

Explanation: The band is too loose. Your breasts are supported mostly by shoulder straps. You may feel comfortable at first, but if you wear it for prolonged period, it can cause pain and redness under the breasts as the wire is pressing against your breast tissue at the wrong angle. Pull off the shoulder straps – if your bra collapsed, the band is definitely too large! Ideally, your bra should support your breasts without straps.

Solution: Get a smaller band size. When you go down on a band size, you may need to move to a bigger cup size to make sure your bra still fits around the cups.

Problem 2: Centre part of the bra is not flat against your chest.

Explanation:  Your bra cups are too small to provide enough room for your breasts, and the band is too big. The underwire is not sitting right under your breast.

Solution: You need a larger cup and a smaller band.

Problem 3: Breasts are bulging at the top.

Explanation: The cup is squashing your breast because it’s too small. Even if you are wearing push-up bra, there should be no ‘double boob’ effect.  Also, the style of the bra may be unsuitable for your bust shape.

Solution:  Get a larger cup size or look for a different shape. For example, push up bra with moulded cups may not be an ideal option for you if your breasts are fuller at the top. Try balcony bra or a bra with more cup coverage instead.

Problem 4: Breasts are falling out of the cups when you bend forward.

Explanation:  Cups are not giving you enough coverage.

Solution: Choose a bra with fuller cups.

Problem 5: Fabric on the cups is wrinkled.

Explanation: The bra cup is too large, and your breast is not filling it properly. If that is not the case, your shoulder straps may be either too tight or too loose.

Solution: Make sure the shoulder straps are adjusted correctly. They should not be too tight to dig into your skin or leave red marks, or too loose to fall off your shoulders. If adjusting your straps doesn’t fix the problem, you need a smaller cup size.

Problem 6: Breasts are sagging.

Explanation: Your bra is not giving you sufficient support.  If you have large or saggy breasts, lacy or stretchy fabric is not strong enough to support their weight.

Solution: Choose bras with cups made of tougher fabric, or a moulded cup. Don’t be afraid to wear padded bras or push-up bras, even if your breasts are large. They provide more support and shape your bust better.

Problem 7: One cup fits better than the other.

Explanation: It’s very common to have one breast lager than the other. In fact, no one is perfectly symmetrical. The difference may become more pronounced during the periods.

Solution: Buy a bra with removable pads and use one or both of them on a smaller side.

Problem 8: Underwire is poking the breast tissue.

Explanation: Some women have wider and flatter breasts. Even though your breast may be of the same volume as particular cup size, the underwire diameter may be too small for the base of your breast. Unfortunately, the current sizing system only provides reference to size (or volume) of the breast without taking its shape into account.

Solution: Try bigger band on a tighter setting of hooks. This is because the diameter of wires will also increase proportionally as you go up on a band size. Also, you may find that bras with soft foam padding fit you better than moulded bras. Alternatively, you may opt for non-wired bra.

Problem 9: Underwire is hurting the ribs.

Explanation: Many women associate underwired bra with pain. If you are skinny around your ribcage, you may find wires very uncomfortable as there is little flesh to absorb the pressure. If underwire is only hurting between the breasts, it means it’s not positioned properly against your chest. The reason could be that the cup size is too big or this particular model is not right for you.

Solution: Wear bras with more cushioning around underwire. You may also look for non-underwired bras.

Problem 10: Front panel always rides up, despite the band size being correct.

Explanation: This problem is very common in women with small bust. Because the circumferences of your bust and underbust are almost the same, your bra easily gets dragged up by shoulder straps when you lift your arms or move your shoulders.

Solution: Make sure the bra straps are not too tight. Wear bras with softer, more stretchable shoulder straps or a halter style bra. You may also consider wearing corsets, bustiers, or bras with wider band.

Problem 11: Shoulder straps keep falling off.

Explanation: If you have smaller frame or rounded shoulders, you may experience this problem, no matter how well your shoulder straps are adjusted.

Solution: Try a bra with the straps set closer together on the back or a halter bra.