Bra Fitting Encyclopedia

How to Tell If Your Bra Fits

A bra fits when the band, cups, gore, and straps each do their job. Go through the checks below in a mirror. Most fit problems trace back to one of two causes, a band that is too big or cups that are too small, and each check says which adjustment fixes it.

The band

• Level. The band sits parallel to the floor all the way around. Riding up in back means the band is too big (or worn out), not too small.
• Snug, not tight. You can slide two fingers underneath, but not more. If you can pull the band more than about two inches from your back, go down a band size.
• Fastened on the loosest hooks. A new bra should fit on the loosest setting so the tighter hooks remain as the elastic ages. If you are already on the tightest hook in a new bra, size down.
• Stays put. Raise your arms, bend, twist. A fitted band stays level without your constant attention.

The cups

• No spillage. Tissue should not overflow the top, sides, or underarm of the cup. Quadruple-boob spillage at the top usually means the cup is too small, not that the band is too tight.
• No gaping or wrinkles. The cup should hold smoothly with no empty space or wrinkled fabric. Gaping can mean the cup is too big, or the shape is wrong for you; try one cup size down first, then a different shape.
• Full but not straining. The cup holds all of your tissue without compression or overflow. See how to put on a bra first, because an unfitted cup can fake both symptoms.

The gore and underwire

• Gore flat. The center panel rests against your sternum, neither floating away nor digging in. A floating gore usually means the cups are too small and tissue is pushing it out.
• Wire on the rib, not the tissue. The underwire traces the root of each breast and lies flat without pressing into breast tissue or poking the side or underarm.
• No poking. A wire that pokes at the armpit or center usually means the cup is too small or the wrong shape for your breast shape, not that the wire itself is defective.

The straps

• Steady pressure. Straps should rest comfortably on your shoulders. They are stabilizers, not the support; the band does that work. Straps that dig in are compensating for a loose band.
• No slipping. Constantly slipping straps point at a band that is too big, or a style that does not suit your shoulder shape. Adjust the band before assuming you need a strap fix.

Common myths this page un-teaches

• "Back fat means my band is too small." Not necessarily. A band that is too narrow for your torso can dig regardless of size; a wider band in the same size often solves it. Judge by the level-and-two-fingers test, not by whether the band makes a line.
• "A bra should leave red marks, that means it fits." Some settling marks are normal for a snug band; deep painful grooves are not. Pain is a fit failure, not a size feature.
• "My straps should carry me." See above: the band carries you.

Once the checks pass, re-run them every few months. Elastic relaxes, bodies change, and the size you measured this spring may not be the size you need this fall. The fit-adjustment table maps every failing check to the size change that fixes it.