Finding the right bra size is a challenge, whether you have small breasts or large breasts. You often stick with the bra size you wore from the time you hit adulthood, which can leave you with bras that are either too tight or loose. However, your bust size changes throughout your life because of weight gain or loss, childbirth and breastfeeding, hormonal changes from menstruation and menopause and even medications like birth control pills. To compensate for fluctuating breasts, you need to periodically measure your bust. Learning measure your breasts helps you pick the right bra size.
Instructions
1. Place a tape measure under your breasts, snug against the rib cage but not pulled too tight. Make sure the tape is flat against your back and ribs and that no breast tissue is included in the measurement. Add five inches to that number. This number represents your chest size. If you get an odd number, round down by an inch. For example, if you get 35 inches, write down 34 inches.
2. Put on an unpadded bra to measure your cup size. Wrap the tape measure around your body and over the fullest part of your breasts, most likely the tip of the nipples. Take this number and subtract it from the chest measurement. The difference in inches equals your cup size. For example, less than an inch difference is an AA cup, one inch is an A cup, two inches is a B cup, three inches is a C cup and so on. If you don't have a good bra, measure your cup size while braless (avoid wearing a sports bra because the cup size would be too small).
3. Get a secondary measurement when you go to the lingerie shop. The salesperson should have a tape measure and be able to corroborate your at-home numbers. Once the salesperson confirms your measurements and bra size, pick a selection of bras to try on before making your purchase. Just as pants and dress sizes differ according to their designers, bra sizes are not standard. Go up or down a cup size if needed. If your breasts are two different sizes, get a bra in the larger size and purchase a bra pad to even out the breasts.
Tags: measure your, your breasts, tape measure, your size, measure your size
