5 Times To Use A Bra Liner

Let's not beat around the bush, bra liners are not the prettiest things you'll ever see but they can give huge relief and comfort and that's why we cherish them. In case you don't know what a bra liner is, it's a cotton strip that's shaped to sit between your skin and the band and gore of your bra. If you have a well-fitting bra that's comfortable then chances are that you've never needed a bra liner but there are times in your life when they can be incredibly useful.

1) Rashes
Your breasts generate heat and moisture and this is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Your bra band lie on the crease between your breasts and your torso (your breast root) and if moisture gets trapped here it can causes skin irritations and rashes, most commonly a yeast rash. Some women are particularly prone to rashes underneath their bra band and in the worst cases their skin becomes broken and can bleed. A bra liner absorbs the excess moisture so that bacteria can't grow. Daily use of a clean bra liner can prevent or clear up a rash under your bra band.

2) Heat and Menopause
If you are someone who gets very hot then you'll know how awful it can be to sweat from your boobs. This is particularly a problem for women going through the menopause, in fact it was a menopausal client that prompted us to stock the Wick'em Bra Liners. The bra liner draws the moisture away from the body and absorbs it to the core so that you don't sweat through your clothing.

3) Skinny Torsos
I've written before about how the fat around your torso can affect your bra fit. The more fat your have around your torso the more cushioning you have between your ribs and the elastic/wires of your bra and you can often wear a smaller band. If you have a skinny torso then wearing a band that is tight enough to keep your bra in place can be very painful because you have very little cushioning. Wearing a slightly bigger band works for lots of people but some women find that a bra liner allows them to wear a snug band in total comfort so they don't have to compromise on support.

4) Nursing
I know from personal experience that wire free bras can put more strain on your band. The wires in full bust bras provide vertical structure for your breasts which lifts some of the weight away from your band. Nursing bras tend to be wire free and when you have heavy breasts the added pressure around your band can be very uncomfortable. A bra liner adds a layer of comfort that is so appreciated when your body is already tired and sore.

5) Post Surgery and Illness
Your skin is the largest organ and can be very sensitive and sore after surgery or during an illness. If you have to wear a bra then the pressure around your band can be agonizing. We have clients with arthritis, fibromyalgia and chronic back pain who all report a more comfortable bra fit with the bra liners.

Bra accessories are vital for some women to tailor their bra fit to be more stable or comfortable. Bra liners bring much needed comfort and relief for lots of women xx

Bras For Narrow Shoulders

Women of every size and shape can have large breasts and if you're someone with narrow or sloping shoulders then bras can be a strap slipping headache. Lots of bras have straps that are wide apart partly because of style and partly because not every manufacturer has figured out that just because someone has a large cup volume doesn't mean they're taller and wider than someone with a smaller cup volume. It can be so frustrating to find a cup shape and size that works for you only to have the straps slipping off your shoulders every 5 minutes.

A quick note about slipping straps. The most common cause of straps slipping is your band being too big. When your band is too big it can ride up your back and this slackens the tension of your straps and they gradually slip off your shoulders. If you know that your band and cup sizes are right and your straps keep slipping then it's most likely that you need a style with straps set closer together.

There are some full bust bras that are ideal for narrow and sloping shoulders. Here are some of our favourites:

Eva by Elomi  (34-40 E-JJ) - The outside panel of this bra has been extended so that it swoops up past the armpit and the straps sit about half an inch closer in on the shoulder than a regular strap position.

Etta by Elomi (34-40 E-JJ)- Etta is built on the same short torso friendly frame as Eva (by the way Eva has just been inexplicably renamed Yolande by Elomi - just to confuse everyone!). Not only do the straps sit closer in on the shoulders there's also a J hook in the back so that you can wear the straps as a racer back for the ultimate zero slipping straps!

Basic Beauty by Wacoal (32-38 E-GG)- This smooth cup bra has Wacoal's V back straps which means the straps are angled in a V shape at the back where they join the band. These straps sit about 1.5 inches closer in on the shoulder than a regular strap position and they really don't move no matter what you're doing. This style is very popular with our clients who have physically demanding jobs.

Versailles by Lunaire (32-38 E-G) - Another smooth cup bra, the cups are a teardrop shape which means the straps are positioned at the top of the cups rather than to the outside edges. The straps sit about an inch closer in than an average strap position.

Deco Vibe (28-38 E-GG) - This is the newest Deco basic by Freya and it comes as standard with a J hook in the back so that you can make your straps immovable. Without the J hook the straps are in a pretty standard position but I think it's great that more and more styles are becoming available with the J hook for those people who really need to adapt the straps.

Not every size is covered in these suggestions but there is an accessory that can stop straps slipping on any bra. A strap holder is a piece of elastic that you loop over your straps and it keeps them in place. What I like about the strap holder is that it stretches as you move so it's flexible. It's not a solution that everyone wants so as we get more close set straps styles for small bands in the H+ ranges we'll let you know xx

Why Bras Slip Down

Sometimes a client asks me why her bra slips down her body during the day. She puts it on in the morning so that the wires are flush with the root of her breast but it still manages to wiggle its way down her body. There are 3 main causes for bras that slip down the body:

Wire Shape
If you have a wide breast root and you're wearing a bra that has narrow cups (like Gem in the picture above) then it's like trying to keep a tennis ball in an egg cup. You might be able to squeeze the tennis ball into the egg cup but the pressure is going to build and the tennis ball will pop up.

Your wide breast roots force their way out of the narrow wire shapes and your bra slips down. To resolve this problem look for bras with a wide wire - Panache is particularly good for wide wires.

For more information on breast root shapes click here.

Torso Shape
I've written a lot about torso shape because for some women this is the biggest shape factor that affects their bra fit. If you have a flared torso that is wider at the top of your band than it is at the bottom then you can often find that your bras slip down.

Lots of my clients with flared ribcages wear their bands on the loosest hook at the top of their band and the tightest hooks at the bottom to offset the size difference. There's no easy fit fix for a significantly flared torso but bra extenders can help you create a wide fit at the top of your band and a tight fit at the bottom.

For more information on how torso shape affects bra fit click here.

Cup Size
Similar to the tennis ball in an egg cup scenario, cups that are too small for you cause a pressure build up and eventually your breast tissue wiggles out of the cups and forces the bra down. Your bra wire should go all the way around the outside edge of your breasts without spilling over the front, sides, armpits or beneath the band.

Have you experienced your bra slipping down your body? Was there a reason not mentioned here, we'd love to read your experience xx

When To Use A Bra Extender

Bra accessories are one of the easiest ways to tailor bra fit to your body. The most popular bra accessory we sell is bra extenders. This useful bra accessory is used to make your bra band longer. There are a few times when a longer band is helpful:

1) A brand new bra can be very tight but after a few wash and washes the elastic relaxes. An extender can be used in the early weeks to make the bra more comfortable while it breaks in. This way you don't lose the longevity of a band's elasticity and you don't have to suffer an excessively tight band while the fabric relaxes.

2) If your ribcage measures an odd number, 33 for example, then you might find that the band size up (34 in this example) is too loose or stretches out too quickly and the band size down (32 in this example) is too tight. The bra extender allows you to turn a 32 band into a 33 or 34. The extender can then be removed when the band stretches and you don't lose any life of the bra.

3) Lots of women experience weight fluctuation and bra extenders are an easy way to maintain a comfortable band fit without having to buy bras in a bigger band size.

4) Many pregnant women find that their cup size doesn't alter in early pregnancy but that their band starts to feel tight. This is due to the increase in fluids and sensitivity around the upper abdomen. Rather than buy new bras that will fit for a matter of weeks you can use a bra extender to give you more breathing room in early pregnancy.

5) Some of our customers have told us that they use their bra extenders on days when they have pain flare ups. From arthritis to fibromyalgia, there are conditions that can cause increased pain. On those days the bra extender allows for a looser fit while still retaining some support. The extender can then be removed for better support on days of lesser or no pain.

It's important to remember that your band is the most important foundation of good support. It needs to be snug so that it can support the weight of your breasts. Don't forget to remove the extender from your bra as the band loosens and you can use the bra's own hooks. Bra extenders are a great way to have more size flexibility without compromising on fit. Let us know why you use your extenders xx

3 Responses to Our Bra Size Calculator Explained

Last week I posted a link to our Bra Size Calculator on Facebook and it was kindly shared by quite a few people. I read some of the comments under the links and realized there are 3 consistent responses to the calculator and they are so telling about bra fitting as a whole. Here are 3 common responses and what they tell us about bra fitting:

1. "The calculator says I'm a 30H! That can't be right!"

When our calculator returns a size that is much smaller in the band than you're used to wearing or a cup letter that much higher in the alphabet it can be a shock. Considering that most stores and online boutiques fit women into bands that are too big for them so that they can sell them a size that they carry it's not surprising that many women don't know sizes like a 30H or 28GG even exist. The key thing that most people still don't know is that cup letters mean NOTHING without the band size. Lots of people still think that all F cups are enormous and all C cups are average. Georgina at Fuller Figure, Fuller Bust explains the myth of cup letters so well. She says "a cup letter without a band size is like saying it's half past without saying an hour" and she's so right. Half past 3 is quite a different time to half past 9, so too, a 30F is quite a different cup volume than a 40F (5 cup volumes different in fact).

Related Article: Not All D Cups Are The Same Size

If you're wearing a band that's too big for you but your cups 'fit' then your cup letter will be lower in the alphabet. For example, a 38DDD (or a 38F in UK sizing, which we use at Butterfly Collection) has the same cup volume as a 36FF, 34G, 32GG, 30H and a 28HH. If you measure 30 inches around your ribcage then our calculator will recommend a 30H and it looks like a big shock but in reality the cup volume is the same, only the band is more proportional to your body.

2. "This is way off for me, it says I'm a 40F and I'm a 42C."

This is rarely talked about but body fat and height make a difference to bra fit for some people. Here are some generalized correlation between body proportions and bra size:

• Women with little body fat often add inches to their band size to improve comfort
• Women with a lot of body fat often need a smaller cup and smaller band than a calculator can account for as part of the measurements are body fat and not breast tissue.
• Women under 5ft 5" often need more cup volume than a calculator can account for as the ratio of bust to torso length alters the volume.
• Women over 6ft often need a smaller cup volume than a calculator can account for as the ratio of bust to torso length alters the volume.

3. "The cup size is way too big for me. It says a 36FF and I wear a 36E."

Taking two measurements can never tell you the whole story about someone's breasts. The most important things it can't tell you are the shape of your breasts or the shape of your torso. If you have a flared torso or have shallow breasts then the results of a calculator are going to be wrong. Very often if the results come back at a larger cup volume than you're wearing then your torso shape or breast shape plays a significant part in your bra size. Calculators are only ever a starting point, they are NEVER gospel, how could they be when women are so infinitely different?

There are lots of bra calculators out there and lots of them are rubbish and some of them are good (I hope ours is still on the whole good!) One thing is for sure; every single bra size calculator will be wrong for lots of women. They are one bra fitting tool that needs to be used in conjunction with other tools to arm you with the knowledge you need to understand your unique breasts and bra fit xx