Are You Wearing the Right Bra?
Jennifer D'Angelo Friedman,SELF magazine
Ever feel like you have NO idea what your bra size is? Do you find that you are a 34B with one brand and a 36C when testing another? The reason, says New York-based bra retailer Linda Becker (better known as "the bra lady"), is "vanity sizing." In other words, many bra-makers want you to feel like you're slimmer than you really are -- and slightly more blessed in the chest area, she says.
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"They want you to think your back is smaller and your breasts are bigger," Becker, who has been selling bras for 25 years, tells SELF.
Our dilemma: If bra sizes are all over the map, how are we supposed to measure our mammaries? Becker offered us a few pieces of advice:
1. Get yourself professionally measured. "Go to a store that specializes in bra fitting and have somebody measure you," says Becker, who went to school to learn how to fit women for prosthesis. "In all my years, I rarely see women come in who have figured it out by themselves." Becker says she spends three to nine months training her employees how to measure women for bras.
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2. Make sure the back is snug. Start with the loosest hook when you buy a new bra. "If [the back] feels really snug, you've got the right size -- that's what holds the breasts up," Becker explains, adding that it should be snug, but not so snug that you can't breathe. "If your band is loose -- if you can put your hand in the band -- the bra is too big."
3. If your breasts aren't halfway between your shoulder and your elbow, then you're too low, Becker says. "A little higher is OK, but never lower," she advises.
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4. Buy new bras every six months. "If I told you how many bra sizes I've been since I was a young girl -- I must have been 15 sizes," Becker says. What affects your bra size? "Having children, nursing, menopause, medication, hormones, losing weight, gaining weight," she explains. Basically everything.
5. Rotate the bras you DO have. Don't wear the same bra every day -- you'll stretch it out.
The end result, Becker says, can be transformative.
"We're all different but we're all the same -- we all need a good bra. We all need three good bras."
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