So your online bra size calculator miraculously calculated your bra size and you're still chomping at the bit!  Bra shopping has been trivialised to a grocery purchase, as easy as buying a pair of underpants, which if you have big or small breasts you know is as far from reality as wearing one size fits all stockings that actually do fit.

The statistic that 80-90% of women wear the incorrect size bra would prompt a government inquest if it actually held any credibility, should at least highlight that this is a problem that if anyone actually knew how to solve would not be a statistic (credible or not)

These are a few of the phrases clients use that almost guarantee they are wearing the wrong size.

My bra does not work anymore.

I have always bought this bra and it always worked and now it does not, they must be manufacturing it in China. Most bras are manufactured in China and always have. More and more brands are looking to manufacturing in some European, African and Middle Eastern countries, but the fact remains China produces most of the worlds bras that stopped working and never did work. 

The reality is that your bra never worked in the first place only back in the good old days when your collagen was pumped out in gallons your breasts were supporting themselves and now they rely more and more on the bra which never worked. Sad but true.

I had beautiful breasts before children and now they're just empty sacks

Yes the harsh reality of being a mother, how much does that suck? I prefer to think of it as my trophy for the marvellous achievement of doing what no man has ever done. And while it is not very much to look at, you will always need a bra no matter what intervention so make sure the one you have fits and makes you look the best you can. There are bras that will take all the left over breast tissue and scoop it into a beautifully designed cup and some even allow for some overflow called cleavage. Bras are amazing things, they have the ability to make you look like something you are not and while some may call it false advertising I console myself with the fact that there is just no way I can handle all the attention so let's just please one person- myself. Breasts drop naturally, why we ever thought it would last forever I have no idea, it wasn't like my mother ever had trophy jelly moulds and I certainly never thought they were repulsive. In fact I could not wait to have breasts like my mother. The picture is just not right, we are not meant to look twelve forever.  Bra's can make the difference and we believe they cannot we have not found the correct fit

I would never wear a strapless bra, it just does not work for me

I often browse the pages of Facebook marvelling at the beautiful photographs of my social media friends rocking beautiful strapless dresses and ponder about how many times they went to powder their nose to rearrange their bra.  A badly fitted strapless bra can ruin your night not because it makes you look bad but because besides your pointy high heels digging into your little and big toe and the balls of your feet screaming to stop the torture, a sliding strapless bra can make you feel like your breasts are testing their boundaries. No invisible fingers or magical strapless bra will work if it does not fit you. The problem is for a strapless bra to work it has to anchor onto your body because in the absence of straps there is nothing that miraculously suctions onto your breasts. The band has to be tight because if it is not it will migrate towards your waist. Why doesn't anyone get that? I have had big breasts my entire life, I don't remember a life without breasts and I can assure you that once you feel what a bra should feel like it's hard to wear anything looser. And there I said it a bra needs to be tight, the problem is that initially this feels like a torture chamber for some but once the wear in process is complete your body will thank you for it. This is a whole topic of conversation and in some cases a nasty girl fight. Bras don't work if they are not anchored onto your body and if you do find some that work they will eventually stop working (see my first point). Strapless bras as the high heel of bras, wear them at your own peril or forsake your waist.

I have D cups

For some reason women who have big breasts tend to announce their size through the DD or D cup size. If you still think you are large breasted and a D, DD, E or F cup is large you are definitely wearing the wrong bra. The cup measurement is a relationship measurement, it means that the difference between your over-bust and under-bust is four inches in a D cup, five inches in a DD cup, 6 inches in a E cup and seven inches in a F cup, there are many more more cup sizes but for the sake of this post I am only using four common incorrect sizes. The misconception has been given merit because of the large bands given to women who have large breasts. If you start at forty inches forty-four inches for an over-bust measurement is large. Instead this particular lady should be in a 32J or a 34HH or even a 36GG-H. The band is tailored to the body while the cup is larger to accommodate the breasts. It's not an easy concept to grasp and has left many a fitter and client flawed at the possibility that support comes from beneath the breasts, because if it does not it will come from the straps which will anchor onto the shoulders causing muscle to spasm and separate as the weight bares down. Thankfully this is all completely reversible with a well fitted bra and many hours of physiotherapy. 

Underwire bras hurt me 

Underwire bras have been blamed for so many breast related traumas, when in actual fact it's the fit and size that cause the pain and eventual trauma. If the cup is too small, which, in most cases, is the culprit the wire will dig into the delicate breast tissue and possibly cause an interruption to lymph drainage. We always recommend a consultation so that ladies can assess for themselves which is best. If the client insists on a wirier bra for religious regions we will gladly oblige. No wire bras just don't do what underwire bras do. There are so many wonderful reasons to change to underwire bras but if you have endured the pain of a poking wire I completely understand your reservation and would like to help you see the light. A badly fitted underwire bra can take away the love and in most cases is the reason for non wire bras. The problem is enduring the wear in process can often bring about the same memories of a badly fitted wire bra and women resort to the non wire bra. 

I wear more than one sports bra- you don't understand!

I do understand, I see many women pound the pavements in their badly fitted sports bra and commend them for their commitment to their health. For some reason it's an accepted discomfort and one that most women agree there is no solution to except to wear more than one, two or three bras. I won't mention how much chafe and scarring this causes but it's a small price to pay for the end goal. This is a misconception and one that has left women dancing around in the shower after a prolonged run. Why is it that it is perfectly acceptable to buy running shoes for R1100- R2900 ( I did my research) for fear of ITB or shin splints or hip issues but not when it comes to a bra? It is an accepted practice to go to a specialist for shoes but not for a bra. We have clients who have breasts that would be listed in a book of records and their commitment to their health is mind blowing - they only wear one bra, albeit a well fitted one bra, purchased with saved money in a one hour consultation that they made an appointment for. There is light at the end of the tunnel. 

My bras just don't fit, if I go bigger they gape, if I go smaller I bulge

Band issues and misconceptions contribute to this, women change their cup sizes hoping it will cover more as they spill out of their bras only to find that now they can fit their cell phones in them.