This weekend I opted to miss Caroline’s ever hilarious four-year-old soccer game in the name of a clean house. I wanted to put toys away in peace and know that seven seconds later the room wouldn’t be destroyed. I wanted to sort laundry and start a load (or maybe two!) before wet soccer cleats walked on my piles. Oh, and I wanted a cup of hot tea and I wanted to drink the entire thing without the need to reheat. #thelittlethingsinlife

While sorting our mountain of laundry (We’ve talked about this problem before…)I came across my entire bra collection (4 bras) two strapless-one black and one tan, and two tan bras that are both old. I mean old. One I bought for my wedding and that was almost four years ago, and the other I bought in college when I was an A cup. Seriously..I’ve gained who knows how many pounds since college and birthed a child…I’m not an A anymore.

How to Calculate aBra Size
Yes…that’s a ten year old tag that says 36A. It’s just wrong all around.

I thought to myself, “Vanessa, you are 30 and you need nice bras that fit right.” So I stopped what I was doing (the laundry will have to wait!) and got in my car to go to a bra fitting. I went to Victoria’s Secret because I dont know any better and automatically think of them when I think of underwear. I have not walked in a Victoria’s Secret in too long because I walked in to a sea of polka dot bras and teenagerish looking apparel and had to do a double take. Yup–past the fifteen year old section are the mom bras. Nice, beautiful, tan bras with just a hint of lace perfect for an on-the-go mom such as you and me.

I walked right up to the first employee I saw and beaming with pride I said I was there for a bra fitting! I coyly said it was my first one ever and that was exciting for the good ol’ VS employee.

They took me to a dressing room that was fit for a queen. Seriously, I really question the decision to dedicate that much real estate to a dressing room at Victoria’s Secret and not at places like Nordstom or Target when you really need the space to get your whole self dressed and undressed. Either way, moving on, I was nice and settled in my room when they started measuring me.

She measured me up and said I was a DD. Say what?! That can’t be right. She brought me a giant bra and I tried it on. Thankfully it was too big. I freaked at the thought of being a DD. That’s not to say I don’t find busty women attractive I just never considered myself to be a busty woman. She admitted to doing bad math in her head (and I couldn’t fault the girl!) and I landed at a C. What I expected, but not what I had been wearing. She explained the formula to me and I  thought it was something worth sharing. Here’s a link to a Real Simple article on the same topic.

austin-moms-blog-how-to-calculate-your-bra-size

How to calculate your bra size: 

1. First Measure Your Band: While braless or wearing a non-padded bra, measure around the bottom of the band, directly under your bust. The measuring tape should be level and very snug. Round to the nearest whole number. If the number is even, add four inches. If it’s odd, add five. Your band size is the sum of this calculation. (So if you measured 32 inches, your band size is 36. If you measured 33 inches, your band size is 38.)

2. Next Measure Your Bust: Wrap the measuring tape somewhat loosely around the fullest part of your chest (at nipple level). Round to the nearest whole number.

3.Lastly, Calculate Your Cup SizeSubtract your band size from your bust measurement and refer to chart. Example: 37 inches (bust) – 34 inches (band) = 3 inches. That’s a 34C.

Calculating Bra Size

Pretty scientific, eh? I mean, I don’t know how I really picked bras before, but it wasn’t doing that.

Anyway, I learned quite a bit during my half an hour visit that I thought was worth passin’ along. I walked outta that store with a pink bag stuffed with more tissue paper (resuable!) than bras. A day later I’m happy to report that my girls are feeling supported and grown up.

Victoria's Secret Bag

See ya old college bra!

Have you ever been on a bra fitting? What was your experience like? Did you new bra size rock your world?

1 COMMENT

  1. I’ve only been professionally fitted once (using this method) and was told I was a 40DDD. It floated around my ribs and did NOTHING for the girls. We double checked the math together it was right, the size was COMPLETLY wrong. I tried on different sizes until we figured out my band should have stayed 36 and my cups were GG. After I figured this out I got my first bra IN MY ENTIRE LIFE that actually laid on my breast bone. There was no bulging, spilage or biting. It FIT. The adding 4-5 inches to band size had me in ill fitting bras for years. Just subtract the band measurement from the bust measurement and count that many cup sizes. Easy. My band measurment was 35.5 so I round that to 36. My bust was 46. 46-36=10. The tricky part is figuring out the cup system for the manufacturer your looking at. Because of my size I have a much easier time shopping European manufacturers such as Panache and Elomi. That puts me at a GG cup in their systems.

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