Bra Fit Help

A symptom-by-symptom checklist. Find what you are seeing and jump to the fix.

If every bra you buy is wrong, the cause is usually one of five things. Here is how to find yours.

Almost always a band that is too big. How to confirm it and which size to try next.

How to tell a properly firm band from one that is too small — and when the cups are the real culprit.

Why bands roll or fold at the bottom edge and which band designs stay flat.

Gaping does not always mean the cup is too big. Three causes and how to tell them apart.

Overflow at the top, sides or bottom of the cup: what each means and how many sizes to go up.

The bulge over the top of a cup that is too small: what causes it and how to get rid of it.

Wrinkles at the bottom, top or side of the cup each point to a different mismatch.

How to fit a bra when one breast is larger, and the styles that even out the difference.

Where the wire digs tells you why. Front, side and underneath each have a different fix.

What "tacking" means, why the centre of your bra floats, and when that is fine.

A wire that is too wide or too tall for your frame, and the styles that solve it.

Straps that hurt are nearly always doing the band's job. How to move the load back.

What a badly fitting bra can and cannot do to your back, shoulders and neck, and what research says.

Which marks are normal, which mean the fit is wrong, and when skin needs a different fabric.

The five-point fit check — band, cups, gore, wires and straps — and what a good fit actually feels like.

Pick your size and see which neighbouring sizes hold the same cup volume on a tighter or looser band.

The ten-second habit that puts all your breast tissue in the cup — and often reveals a bigger cup size.

A short test that separates the two, and the common case where the answer is both.