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Cup size conversion chart

Finding the right size for you

If you are wearing the wrong bra size well, your not alone, it is thought that over 80% of women are wearing the wrong size!

So, how do you find the right size for you? Well here at Mish Online  we devised a self fitting guide to help you find the size without even leaving the house!

Mish's self fitting guide

1. The Band Size

When wearing a correctly fitting bra most of the weight of your breasts should be supported by the band of bra (that’s the bit that goes around the rib cage) and not the shoulder straps. So the first rule of finding the right bra size for you is finding the right band size.

1.1 Have a look at the bra you’re wearing now. If you stand sideways on in the mirror the band on your back should be in line with the bottom of the cups on your front. Not riding up your back. If it does riding up your back so it rests higher than the bottom of the cups then the band is too large. Another good test to check if the band is too big, is hold the wires at the bottom of the cups and if you can pull the wires away from your chest and see the bottom of your boobs, it’s too big.

1.2 You need to remember that for every band size smaller you wear you will need to wear one cup size bigger than before. So if you were a 38FF and the cup fits but the band is to big you will need to wear a 36G.

Remember- If the band is moving up your back then your boobs are moving down your front!

2. The Cup Size

The most important rule about your cup size is that it must not trap any of your breast tissue. Trapping of the breast tissue most often occurs on your sides where the wires finish, but it can occur anywhere along the wires.

2.1 So, before you check whether the cup fits it needs to be in the right place. Put your bra on as you normally would. Firstly the wire should be sat against your rib cage the whole length of the wire without any gaps.

2.2 Now put fingers under the wires inline with the middle of the cups. The wires should be resting against your rib cage and not sitting on your breast tissue. With your fingers under the wires you should be able to feel the bottom of your boobs which should sit just inside the wire without any gaps or folds.

2.3 To help the wire sit in the right place put your right hand in your left cup so you’re holding your boob and hold the front of the left cup with your left hand. Now with your right hand lift up your left boob and at the same time lift up the left cup. Next let go of your boob and then let go of the cup. Repeat this step for your other boob.

2.4 The wire should now be sitting in the right place and you can begin to check the cup size.

            2.4.1 Top edge of the cup

The top edge of the cup should lay flat against your boob and not cut in. So when looking in the mirror if it looks like you have 4 boobs the cup size is too small.

2.4.2 Centre wires

As noted earlier, the wires should lay flat against your rib cage their whole lengths and this is no different between your boobs. There should not be a visible gap between the ends of the wires and your body. If there is, the cup is too small.

If you feel that at this point that instead of there being a gap, your wires dig in and are uncomfortable then it is likely that the cut of the bra you are wearing is not a suitable fit for your shape not that the cup is too big.

            2.4.3 Outer wires

There is only one main issue you need to check for on your outer wires, and that is that the wires sit behind your breast tissue on your rib cage. You need to use your own judgement on where your breast tissue finishes on your side. Breast tissue is often softer than the rest of the flesh on your side but this can be different for different people. So the best to work out where yours finishes is to feel your breast and feel along your side taking note of where the texture and thickness of your tissue changes from breast tissue to normal tissue.

3. The shoulder straps

In most cases if your shoulder straps fall off your shoulders throughout the day are too loose. When your straps are fitted correctly they should be firm against your shoulders but not digging in so much they causing discomfort. If when you tighten your shoulder straps the back of your bra begins to ride up your back the band size is too big.