How a bra should and shouldn't fit

Hello bosom bestie!  My name is Courtney Killpack, I'm a bra fitting expert and CEO of Bosom Besties. I want to help educate you on how bras should and shouldn't fit with these six bra fitting tips.  By knowing these tips, this will help you to know whether or not you need to adjust your cup size or band size to get the perfect fitting bra. 

1. Gore

The gore is located in the area where the two underwires meet in the middle. In this illustration, the gore isn’t laying flat and separating this headless gal’s boobs.  There’s a lot of cleavage going on which means this bra isn't fitting.  If you look at the underwires in the front, you can see how they’re literally laying on top of her breasts in the front, having a metal wires poking in your breasts can be really uncomfortable and we want to be comfortable while wearing our bra. 

To fix this problem, you need to go up a cup size or two until we get the gore to lay flat against her skin and separating her breasts.

 

2. Top Cup

When the cup size is too small, you will get the dreaded “double boob” coming out of the top of the cup.  This happens when the cup is too small and there’s not enough space for the breast, so the breast is pushed out of your bra, and the bra indents into the top part of the breast showing a defined bra line underneath your clothing.

To fix this problem, you go up a cup size or two until you get no more double boob.

 

3. Bottom Cup

When the gore isn’t laying flat between your breasts and you have the double book happening at the top of the cup, most of the time you'll notice boobage that comes out of the bottom of the bra when you lift your arms up.  You want the bottom cup part of your bra to lay flat against your skin.  If you see the bottom part of your bra being lifted away from your breast or skin, this means the cup size is too small. You want a little bit of space between the underwire and your breast tissue to ensure that the cup is completely encasing your breast, so it's not falling out of the bottom.  *Tip, take your hand and scoop and lift your breast into the cup to make sure the breast is in the right position.  You might need to take your cups and shake the breasts back into the bra if you're coming out of the top after scooping and lifting. 

To fix this problem of falling out of the bottom of your bra, you go up a cup size or two until you feel like the bottom part of your bra is laying flat against your skin and you're falling out of the bottom when you move.  Ideally, you want a finger width of space between your breast and underwire.

4. Sides

Did you know you have a lot of breast tissue located on the sides by your armpit area?  You can see in the illustration, a large portion of her side breast isn’t being covered up by the bra and looks like it's hanging out over the sides.  When this happens, the underwires on the side are laying on top of your breasts, which is really uncomfortable.  *Tip make sure to move your arms back and forth, if you feel like the bra is chaffing in your armpit area, that's not good and want to go down a cup size. 

To fix this problem, go up a cup size to ensure you're getting enough coverage on the side of your breasts.   

5. Band

See how the band is riding high in the back?This means the band is too big and not supportive enough.  Did you know your band is where 95% of your support comes from?  I love to give the analogy that bras are like teeter totters on a playground.  The higher the band is in the back, the lower your breasts will be in the front.  The lower the band is in the back, the higher your breasts will be in the front.   You want the band to lay in the middle to lower part of your back where the dotted line is shown.  Putting the weight of your breast on your back  instead of your shoulders can help alleviate shoulder and neck pain.

To fix this problem, go down a band size or two until the band fit lows and snug on your back and on the loosest set of hooks. 

6. Straps

How bras are made is the larger the band size, the more wide set the straps are placed in the back of the bra to accommodate larger women.  The smaller the band size, the more narrow set the straps are places in the back of the bra to accommodate petite women.  For correct fitting straps you want to be able to slide two fingers underneath the strap and have a hard time moving them around.  If you can move your fingers around easily, you need to tighten them.  Remember, your support comes from your band, not your straps.

To fix this problem, If your straps feel like they’re constantly falling off your shoulders this means your band size is too big and you need to go down a band size or two until the band is fitting low and snug on your back and on the loosest set of hooks. 

I hope this help break down the confusion on how bras should and shouldn’t fit.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below!