What is pushup for?

One could think, that the pushup is supposed to make your bust bigger. Well, it will work this way only, if this is the pushup in the right size. If it’s not... Take a look.

 

In the first (left) picture we can see our model in an 80B pushup with 2cm thick “silicone” pads. Believe me, I’ve chosen the best of all the photos. In the second one (right) – our model is wearing a mist thin half-cup (Chantelle Africa), 70E, no padding at all. One thing is sure – the pushup is not visually enlarging breasts. Even, if it is 2cm thicker than the other bra.

 (The idea of comparing the look in different size bras was taken from Stanikomania).

Poor girl from HB

Have you seen the huge ad of Calida underwear on the Zurich HB?

Take a closer look at it, when walking by next time. Below is an example of another Calida ad. I’ve chosen Calida on purpose – it’s quite popular in Switzerland, and is proud of selling only 75-95 A-D bras. We already know that it is a very poor choice.

What’s wrong with this girl? – you may ask.  There is nothing wrong with the girl, but there is a lot of “wrongness” with her bra. 

1. The underwire. When in the bathroom, take a look at yourself in the mirror. Check where your breast “starts” on the side. For most women this line will be more or less below the armpit. That’s where the underwire should go. It does not start so far to the middle as the model has it – actually she is cutting a part of her breast with the underwire.
2. The band. Can you see, that it goes upward on the back?
3. The band again: can you really imagine, that it is supporting something? Would it be difficult to put a hand below it?
4. The cups. Now just imagine that the model takes a breast in a hand and tries to place it into the cup (instead of just covering it below the cup). What would happen? Wouldn’t half of the breast go out and the other half be squeezed? It seems so.

Now take a look at another bra, this time the right size on the model with similar shapes. This one is made by Freya, a company famous for producing underwear in proper sizes. The bra presented below is "Millie" and is produced starting with 65 band and (starting, not finishing!) C cup.

Which of them do you think is more comfortable?

But 80B is just good for me!

Of course it can be, that it is good for you. We have very different shapes, different body structure. For example a girl who trains a lot (professional swimmer) will definitely need different bra than a girl who sits in front of the computer all her day – even if the measurement shows the same size.

The point is, in my experience the A/B/C sizes are rare (still, if it’s really what you need, there is nothing wrong about it). Very rare. I’m aware, that if you say  80% of woman is wearing the wrong size, all of them will be convinced, that they are in this lucky 20%. I know, because I was :)

You may say: “But my current 80B is not too loose! How can it be wrong?”

Let's imagine a person with 75/92 below/in size. 80B is (more or less, I'm simplifying it) for a person with 85/92. It will not fall down, because it is supported by your bust (it is actually squeezing the soft tissue of your bust).

75B is for a person with 70/87. Of course it will be too tight. You won't be able to wear it! Even 75C will be more too small.

But try 70F. It's made for a person ~75/92. It should be just ok (because it will stretch). You won't feel it, the same way you don't feel your panties. The band will support the bra (and it was not at all in 80B). This way you will even feel less load on the strips.

You don’t believe, that the band so tight will be comfortable for you? Do an experiment! Try it: here are the instructions.

My advice is: measure yourself. When you are in the shop try the size recommended by the calculator. If they don’t have your band/cup, you may try another one, but follow the rule: if you take the band 5cm bigger, you have to take the cup two letters smaller. If the band is 5cm smaller – the cup goes up by 2. E.g.: if you are recommended 65G and you don’t see any 65-band bras, try 70E.

Important: try only soft bra. Not pushups and not the ones with the 5mm layer of sponge – even if they are so cute. Those kind of bras simply cover your breast and give it their shape. What the bra should do is to support your bust and just slightly shape it.

The size is not a cure for everything. The perfect bra must have the shape of cups and the shape of underwire that fit. There are no parameters on the lingerie tag, that will tell you anything about it. You must try it.

And I eventually found a nice website with explanation, what does a “good bra” mean. 

What bra size should I wear?

If you speak Polish simply visit http://www.atlastravel.nazwa.pl/mariska/

To know what bra size is good for you, you must first know, what the bra is for. Your breast is build inside of connective tissue and fat, covered with the skin. It has no muscle inside (although there are some muscles around, that support it in a way). The skin is stretchy, the heavier the content is, the more pressure is put onto the skin and so it gets misshaped. On the other hand, then it is squeezed, the content gets misplaced: it goes to the back and under your arms, creating weird shapes. The first problem is more visible when you have bigger bust, the second one, when you have it smaller.

The main task of a bra is to support your bust and keep it in its place.

Have you ever hiked with your rucksack? Have you ever used the hip band? Do you remember how your arms hurt when you did not use it? It shows you a universal rule: it is better to put the load on band and strap. The same rule can be applied to bras. Actually, the bra band should support 90% of the weight, the straps getting only 10% of it. How to achieve it? Well, the band has to be tight enough and the cups should be large enough.

What does a bra size mean? The first number (band) is the length of the band when it is laying on the table, i.e. not stretched. The letter (cup) means the difference between the band and the size in bust (yes, the size of a bra and the size of a person). Some (13) cm difference means A and then any additional 2cm make a cup one letter bigger. (There is a lot of confusion about the bra sizes. The one I’m using in my blog is so called “EU size” – it’s the one you have to use when buying bras in Swiss shops. Other popular metric is “UK size”, which is calculated in inches and sometimes uses two letters – I will explain it later).

You don’t have to calculate the size by hand. Visit this page: http://www.atlastravel.nazwa.pl/mariska/ Scroll down to the very bottom. You’ll find the bra-size calculator there. Put into the first field the girth (your size) below the bust, measured very tightly, without the air in your lungs (breathing out). Put into the second field your girth in the bust, measured loosely without a bra (or in a soft bra – and take the bigger result). Press “Przelicz” (Calculate). You’ll get some results: the first is the UK size (very useful for online shopping), the second and third results are the alternative ones, to be used if a particular model is too loose/too tight. The last one is EU size – the one you may try to use in Swiss stationary shops.

My Story

My acquaintance with the group promoting bra-fitting started two years ago. When browsing Polish forums I found one about why is the good bra size so important. I read it carefully and even told to my husband: “You know, many women with bigger breasts have problems that can be solved by simply choosing a good bra. Fortunately, they organize themselves to help each other, they exchange experiences, wow, that is really impressive. Good luck that girls with no bust at all, wearing 80B don’t have to worry about such things”. In other words, I completely missed the point.

Quite a long time later my online friends started a discussion about clothes and one of them mentioned her experience with searching a good bra. She admitted that she was wearing 75B all her live but now, fortunately, has found a good size. What? What can be wrong with 75B? I read again the website she pointed to and I eventually measured myself. I was looking at the new size with disbelieve, but the next day I decided to give it a try. I went to a shop. It wasn’t too good of a shop, because when I tried the smallest available band with the biggest available cups (“UP to BIG CUPS”) I could see that the band is too loose and the cup is not fitting properly.

 Some days later I found a better shop with better choice. I bought two beautiful bras, one white, one dark. I threw my old lingerie to the drawer with unused clothes. I started reading “specialists” blogs. I was greeting all of my girlfriends with news “do you know what I found out recently?!”

 I live in Switzerland and soon I became jealous, that in Poland you can so easily exchange experience and here there is no one that shares my hobby. That’s why this blog is created – so that I can share the good news with my CH friends. I will focus on the problems you may have living here.

 If you speak Polish, you’ll find all the information you need and additionally a lot of support and help on those forums: www.malobiusciaste.prv.pl or www.biusciaste.prv.pl – take a look also at the blogs recommended on those pages.