Have You Found A Bra That Fits?

Or should I say, have you found r/ABraThatFits? I can’t remember how I first stumbled across the bra fitting community on Reddit, but I know that I’d already started my journey into better fitting bras at this point, and I read up on all their information about sizes, shapes and brands. A lot of people seem to find their way into the community searching for terms like “a bra that fits” or “my bra doesn’t fit” in Google, then going on to create a post to get some help. Over the time that I’ve been part of it (I’m not hugely active since I don’t think of myself as an “expert” like some of the amazing ladies in there, but I chime in every so often and post our reviews there) there have been some changes, such as the measuring guide developing into a pretty reliable calculator.
I’m constantly recommending this community to others, whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments of this blog or real life, so I thought it was about time that I dedicated a proper post to it, to make sure that you can all have a look and see if it might be able to help you on your bra fitting journey.

Where do I start?

Let’s start at the very beginning (it’s a very good place to start!). The first thing you’ll need to do is get yourself over to r/ABraThatFits and familiarise yourself with it – there are a few rules (although not too many, don’t worry!), and if you’re not used to Reddit, it might take you a few minutes to figure out what’s going on. Essentially it’s just a forum where people can post questions, discussions or links and other users can comment on these – posts are listed on the front page by the amount of upvotes they get and thus their popularity. So click on a few, see what other people are asking and talking about, and see if there’s anything you want to chime in on. You can then start exploring the sidebar which has tonnes of information as well as other related Subreddits (like forum boards if you’re not used to Reddit). All the pages I’m going to link to below can be found in the sidebar. I believe you can’t see it if you’re on a mobile device, so here’s what it looks like for reference:

But if you’re starting on your very own bra adventure, you’ll want to head to…
The Beginner’s Guide
This is a page filled with information on how to get started, telling you how to measure yourself and how to find your correct shape. There’s a lot of information there, so I recommend starting at the top first, taking your 5 measurements (they even have handy graphics to help you with this) and plugging them into…
The Bra Size Calculator
There’s also a lot of really useful info on this page if you’ve got 10 minutes to spend reading it, but I wanted to say a few words on the calculator itself before moving on. I plugged in my measurements to give an example, and generally it pops up a couple of text boxes which can cause alarm for some people, these are the boxes I got:

Basically the boxes are just to ensure that you know that this is just a starting point (which is what I’m always emphasising), and that you might want to try a couple of sizes on either side of what the calculator gives you – because really, how much can expect a robot to know about you just from a few numbers?! Just to demonstrate, the calculator gives me a 28H based on my measurements – I currently fit best (by experience) into a 28GG at the moment, but others around my size may also find that sister sizing into a 30 band may be more comfortable for them.

So where next?

You’ve now got an idea of your size, plus the “sister sizes” either way, but that doesn’t mean you can run straight out and grab bras in that size and expect them to fit perfectly. Okay, it might work for some people, but remember: everyone is a different shape, there is no “standard” shape for your breasts to be, so of course, there is no standard bra shape either. There’s still more you need to figure out before finding your ideal fit.
The size the calculator spat out for you might be a bit of a shock if you’re used to fitting into the “Matrix” (a set range of bra sizes sold in most high street shops, usually around 32-38 A-D), or if your size has changed dramatically recently (weight loss/gain, pregnancy, or just general changes). In these cases, the community recommends posting a Measurement Check so someone can have a look at the figures to determine if everything is right. It’s also recommended if your underbust measurement is above 36″ since bra sizing gets a bit wonky at that point! The brilliant thing about Reddit and A Bra That Fits is that you can sign up completely anonymously – you don’t even need to enter an email address – so no one will need to know who you are. You most definitely don’t even need to post pictures – all they need is your 5 numbers so they can give you a starting point size.

Got it, can I buy a bra now?

I’d hold on for another minute yet – we haven’t determined your shape! A Bra That Fits is very focused on figuring out what your shape is in a bra, and this is where things can get a bit more confusing if you’re not sure about it. The first thing to figure out is whether you’re projected or shallow in shape. There are various guides and info pages for this, plus a few graphics to help you understand in more detail. Here’s the shallow shape guide which helps you understand what that looks like with a few recommendations of bras that might work, with a graphic below:

There’s a “scale” of shallow to projected, and you can fall anywhere on it – this graphic might help you understand. What you need to know is that certain bras have shallow shapes that are not compatible with projected breasts and vice versa. And of course, some people fall right in the middle and may find that some of both work for them.

So size, shape, got it, let’s go!

Not quite yet – there’s just one more aspect of shape that A Bra That Fits likes to cover to find your ideal bras and that’s Fullness. You might have heard me talk about how I’m more full on top and this is what I’m referring to. You need to figure this out while wearing a bra (or a “hand bra” – ie. using your hands to support as a well fitting bra should) and refer to this part of the guide, using the graphic below:

Not everyone finds this easy to figure out though – I certainly didn’t! In this case, ask for help! I submitted a post (this one was under a different account to my usual one) and got some advice from the experts in the community who helped me figure out that I have a very rounded, even to full on top and fairly projected shape. This means that I need bras that are more open on top, and fortunately a lot of moulded bras are made to fit my shape.

Now you can start buying those bras!

There are a few recommendations for each shape here, but now that you know your shape and size a little bit better, you can start exploring the posts in the community a bit more to find recommendations from other members. You can search for any “problems” you might have and see if anyone has a solution that could help you (ie. I got some help when I couldn’t figure out why J hooks on straps were such a problem for me).

My bras have arrived…and I’m not sure if they fit

This is obviously a pretty big question that a lot of members have, especially if they’re trying out a completely different size. First check out the section: Determine if your new bras fit.
Even experienced bra fitting community members still have problems figuring out if a certain bra fits them properly though and why it might not – I’ve seen several of the experts on there asking for advice too. It’s a very open community, so there’s nothing to stop you from asking! This is why they advise doing a Fit Check too where others can weigh in on any problems you’re having. They ask you to include your measurements and what you think your shape is, then to talk in detail about the bra you’re trying, the size and any problems you’re having. You can post pictures if you like to show the problem in more detail, but again, it’s not at all necessary.
In response to this, you may be able to pick up a few more recommendations, whether it’s a different size to try in that bra, or a different bra to try if there’s a shape mismatch (such as my Panache Melody).

Yay! What else can I find at A Bra That Fits?

You’ll find all of these in the sidebar, but a quick round up of a few more things you can find at A Bra That Fits:

FAQs (all the questions you wanted to ask, answered here!)
Buying/Brand Guide (figure out where in your country you can buy bras and some handy size conversion charts for different brands/countries)
Care and Storage Guide (info on how to look after your new bras properly)
Bravangelism Guide (once you’ve converted to the ways of a properly fitting bra, you might find you want everyone to know. You may also start spotting people whose bras aren’t fitting quite so well and feel the urge to tell them…this will help you figure out when you can approach the topic and how)
Alteration Tutorials (sometimes you just need to make a few tweaks to your bra or fix up an old damaged one)
Graphics List (a few more graphics that might be handy, including wire width, band tightness and more alterations)

And a few more places on Reddit you can turn to for boob related help:
r/SmallBoobProblems (talk to other small breasted ladies about any issues you have – a bit more fun!)
r/BigBoobProblems (the counterpart of r/SmallBoobProblems – talk to other big breasted ladies about any issues you have)
r/BraSwap (swap, sell and buy preloved, sometimes unworn, bras for cheaper prices)
r/RandomActsOfBras (charitable bra donations – give away or pick up a bra for free. This is useful for those still trying to find their size on a tight budget or trying to help someone else out)

So, I think we’ve reached the end of our A Bra That Fits “brief” summary! The members are constantly working to try out new bras, keep an eye on new collections and to keep any information on there up to date. They’re even collecting data at any given time on different things (for example, there’s a height/weight/band size survey going on at the moment), and there’s additional info such as root height and wire width floating around too, but you can find that all with a quick search – I just didn’t want to overwhelm you with too much detail!
I hope this helps a few of you out – remember, you’re always very welcome to ask them any questions about bras (as long as you’re not being a creeper…) and can do so completely anonymously if you wish. They’re not at all prejudice or judging in any way – there are a good amount of transgender people asking questions on there, as well as a few men who like to wear bras too. The motto is:
Because everyone who wants one deserves a bra that fits.