How To Tell If You’re Wearing the Wrong Bra Size

Bras are already uncomfortable enough on their own, but when you’re wearing the wrong size, they can be downright unbearable. Having to constantly adjust the underwire under your clothes, trying to stop the plastic pieces from digging into your back or shoulder – it’s a lot of work trying to make your boobs look perky. Here are some signs you might be wearing the wrong size bra and how you can help prevent it in the future.

1. The underwire stops before the entirety of your underboob is covered. You always have a little blob of boob trying to escape out the sides of your bra. Try a bigger cup size next time and you’ll see a huge difference.
2. Your straps are constantly falling off your shoulders.Try tightening the straps from behind; if that doesn’t work, you may need a different band size.
3. Your boobs spill out over the top or below out of the bottom of the bra.I feel like this is the most common one for ladies with big boobs. You should definitely try a bigger cup size.
4. You don’t feel supported. This can happen if the band size and/or the cup size is too big. Try going down a size.
5. The underwire is digging into your skin. This usually happens if the band size is too short.
6. The back band of your bra rides all the way up between your shoulder blades.The back of your bra should fit comfortably in the middle of your back. If it’s riding up too high, it means your band size is wrong.
7. The middle part of your bra between your boobs is lifted up. That part should lay flat against your skin. Try going up a size with your cups.
8. Your back fat is bulging out between the straps or band. You don’t have to be so uncomfortable! Just go up a band size and everything will smooth itself out.
9. Your shoulders have indentations in your skin from the plastic adjusters. If you have big boobs, sometimes this can be a huge problem. Try A. Going up a band size and B. Getting a bra with thicker straps.
10. Your cups are bunched or wrinkled.This can happen if you machine wash your bra (try getting a bra bag so it doesn’t get flung around in the washer.) It can also happen if your cups are too big.

Finally, know that cup sizes are not always the same;  they directly depend on your band measurement. If you want to correctly measure yourself, start with your band size. Use a tape measure and measure around your back to the front, underneath your boobs. If you get an odd number, round up. Now for your cup size, measure loosely around the fullest part of your breasts. Take this number and subtract it from your band size measurement and you will get your cup size. Here’s a little conversion chart for you from Bare Necessities:

Happy bra hunting, ladies!