Thirty-five years on the floor at Bloomingdale's 59th Street, and I can tell you the question I heard most often was not about color or lace. It was a woman in her sixties saying, quietly, that her bra had stopped feeling right. Sometimes she had lost weight. Sometimes she had gained a little. Sometimes she had been through surgery. Almost always, she was still buying the same size she had bought since her wedding.
That is the first thing to know. Your bra size is not a fixed number. It is a measurement of a body that changes, and bodies at sixty and seventy and eighty change more than people expect. So let us walk through this the way I would have walked through it with you in the fitting room, with the door closed and a tape measure on the bench.
The two measurements you actually need
You need a soft tape measure. Cloth, the kind sewists use. The hard plastic ones from the toolbox lie about an inch. Wear a non-padded, non-push-up bra that still has its shape, or no bra at all if that is more accurate for you. Stand in front of a mirror, shoulders relaxed, arms at your sides.
1. The band measurement (ribcage)
Wrap the tape around your ribcage directly underneath your bust. The tape goes flat against the skin, parallel to the floor all the way around, and snug. Not tight. Snug, like a firm handshake. Exhale, and read the number.
That number, rounded to the nearest whole inch, is your band size. A 32 ribcage is a 32 band.
If you have read the older advice about adding four or five inches to that number, please set it aside. That math came from an era when bra bands were stiff cotton with very little give. Modern elastic stretches plenty on its own, and adding inches just gives you a band that rides up your back and dumps all the work onto your shoulders. Eighty percent of a bra's support comes from the band. A loose band cannot do its job.
2. The bust measurement
Now wrap the tape around the fullest part of your bust. Again, parallel to the floor, going around your back evenly. This time the tape should sit lightly. Do not pull it tight. You are measuring the breast tissue at rest, not squeezing it.
Subtract the band number from the bust number. The difference, in inches, gives you the cup:
- 1 inch difference: A cup
- 2 inches: B
- 3 inches: C
- 4 inches: D
- 5 inches: DD (sometimes called E)
- 6 inches: DDD or F
- 7 inches: G, and on up
So a 34 ribcage with a 38 bust is a 34D. A 36 ribcage with a 39 bust is a 36C. Write it down.
Sister sizes, and why one number on the tag is not the whole story
Here is something most women are never told. A 34C, a 32D, and a 36B all hold the same volume of breast tissue. They are called sister sizes. If you go up one band you go down one cup, and the other way around.
That matters because brands run differently. A Wacoal 34C might fit you beautifully and a Bali 34C might cut into you. When the band is too tight, the cup of the next band up will usually still fit. When the band feels loose by lunchtime, the smaller band with a larger cup is the one to try. Keep a little card in your wallet with your size and its two sisters. It saves a lot of guessing.
What changes after sixty
I want to be plain about this because no one in a department store is going to say it out loud. Bodies past sixty go through real changes, and they show up in how a bra fits.
- Ribcage softening. Many women lose a little muscle tone in the back and side. The band that fit at fifty can feel like it is sitting differently at sixty-five. Re-measure.
- Breast tissue shift. Tissue moves toward the outside of the chest and downward over the years. A cup that lifted you up at forty may now be gapping at the top and spilling at the side. A different cup shape, usually a half-cup or balconette with a wider underwire, handles this better than a full t-shirt cup.
- Shoulder and posture. If your straps are gouging, your band is too loose. Tighten the band first. Adjust the straps only after. Straps should hold the cup steady, not hoist the whole bra up.
- Arthritis in the hands and shoulders. Back hooks become a problem. Front-closure bras and longer multi-hook bands (three or four hooks instead of two) are friends to anyone with stiff fingers.
- After surgery. Mastectomy, lumpectomy, augmentation, reduction. Your old number is no longer your number. Wait until your surgeon clears you, then get measured fresh. Medicare covers up to six mastectomy bras a year and a fitting from a certified fitter, and that fitting is worth every minute.
How to check the fit once the bra is on
The tape gets you in the door. The mirror tells you the truth.
- The band should run level all the way around, no riding up in the back. Lift your arms. If it climbs, it is too loose.
- You should be able to slide two fingers under the band, no more, no less.
- The center panel, the little bridge between the cups, should lie flat against your breastbone.
- The underwire, if there is one, should sit on the ribcage behind the breast tissue, not on top of it.
- No spillage at the top, no gapping at the top. Tissue at the sides should be contained, not pushed outward.
- Straps should hold without digging. If you can lift a strap an inch off your shoulder, that is right.
When to skip the tape and see a fitter
If you have had any kind of breast surgery, a significant weight change, a cup difference of five inches or more, or a long stretch since your last fitting, do yourself the favor and get measured by a person. Most independent lingerie shops still offer it free. Department store fitters vary; specialty shops almost always do better work. Call ahead and ask whether they have a certified mastectomy fitter if that applies to you.
The number on the tape is a starting point, not a verdict. The right bra is the one you forget you are wearing by ten in the morning. Find that, and you are done.