8 comments

• I struggle with the same thing for my band and bust. It could be the air, your posture, gained/lost weight and whether the measuring tool you are using is too stretched as well.

• Oh yes, me too, completely unreliable :D For as tight as humanly possible USB cable works for me :D Tape measure doesn't cut it :D

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• How old are you, and how much have your boobs grown the past 5 years? It seems weird to me that they "never stop growing". At some point they have to, but if you're really young I understand why you phrased yourself that way.

• You sound pretty much like me. All my life, ever since I was 13 and got my first cup sized bra, I felt like I had 'big boobs'. It may have also had to do with the fact that my mum is reasonably busty too, and thus better clued into correct sizing, so instead of getting cute, moulded 10B/12A bras like my friends, I had the full coverage 10C bra which she took the band in on. Ooh- it's even on Bratabase here http://www.bratabase.com/browse/berlei-australia/sweatergirl-non-padded-bra-y50275/ Yes, it was comfy, but what with my tiny ribcage and loads of projection, I just felt like my breasts were massive. Her preference for full cup bras and my lack of opinion (so I just wore what she picked for me) probably helped cement this idea in my mind.

  Ever since then, I've just kept growing. It wasn't too bad until I hit about 20, when I stacked on 15kg (30 pounds??) in 9 months (I went from borderline underweight to borderline overweight by BMI, so it's not as totally nutty as you may think), and since then, I've pretty much been going up a cup size every 6 months.

  So now, at 24 (25 in August), I have breasts which displace about 2.3 litres each, and have gone from tolerating a 30 band, to needing a 28 band, to having a 28 band ride up, not so much because of weight loss, but in fact just because my breasts are so heavy, and cups aren't cut right for me. I didn't want to deal with being larger in cup than a 28K for months and months, and so I kept trying to shove myself into my old bras. I think if bras were cut properly for me, I'd need a 26L (or maybe a 28KK if I could get something with a super-supportive band). I still don't know if my breasts have stopped growing though. I don't want to buy too many things (and never have), because I grow out of them in 6 months or so.

  What I have to keep telling myself, and I think it's very true is that 'It's not you, it's the clothes'. Your body is fine just the way that it is! It's just unfortunate that companies don't recognise the diversity in women when it comes to clothing.

  The one positive about this is that life is an adventure for me again, trying to get things to fit. And I really need something in life to keep me engrossed and occupied, because I have some serious struggles with my mental health (not related to body image, but other things). I have used my sewing machine more in the last 2-3 months than I have ever before, and I have been learning new skills. :)

  Of course, if I got an official message saying 'your breasts have stopped growing now, at least unless you get pregnant or something', I would rejoice and buy many, many, many bras.

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6 comments

• Don't have a tape measure handy, but I quadboob when I flex.

• Lolz, is this the goal? :D
  http://youtu.be/wLdaDXIsaDs

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Conical ribcage - in profile - warning, triggery!

This is the difference I get with pecs muscles flexed vs standing normally straight. No bra on in any of the pics. 103 cm around the bust vs 108 cm.

I've known for ages I have the figure of a plush Bettie Page. And I have hated it to death and blessed the gods I at least was fat so that ... I didn't have to look like Bettie Page. And then I slouched. To hide how I looked.

I know my ribcage is very concave. But I have never really realized that it's also another way to have an hourglass figure. The ribcage is like conical but from the sides, like this; http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/63/6328/YIX7100Z/posters/bettie-page-kiddie-ride-archival-photo-poster-print.jpg And then comes boobs and yet another set of concave bones up to the collarbones.

I always hated the fact that my waist was nothing but a hole straight into my stomach and that my boobs would be so much in other peoples face. Until I last summer decided that No More! If I could learn to love my fat body then goddamnit I'm going to learn to love my bones.

And so I did. I know how to un-brainwash my perceptions of beauty; I just look at what I think is ugly and I look and look and look and see it through the eyes of people that like it. And so my view is changed. I did it with my fat, I did it with my cellulites, I did the same with soft boobs. Look and look and look and find others and realizing that it's not bad.

It's kind of sad how we go through life hating who we are and want to be different when we're just unique. And what's makes us unique is what makes us beautiful, not the reversed.
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Posture pics

Sets let you organize your photos on Flickr. Explore the 2 photos in this set.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96373516@N07/sets/72157634304880581/

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Shared on Jun 24, 2013 Flag this

8 comments

• It's amazing what a difference the posture makes. This makes me think I need to stand up straight more too. I'm totally a sloucher, which I think is partially because I'm a bit self conscious about how projected my breasts are. Also, you have the most amazing boobs out of a bra! Mine just hang down because of the projection they have.

  You look like some kind of sexy bumblebee in the photo (I hope I haven't ruined this top for you so you can never wear it again).

  I struggled a lot with the way that I look in the past, because as much as I am hourglass shaped which apparently is 'what people aspire to', firstly, as far as I can tell, clothing tends to be cut for people with minimal curves, and secondly, I just felt so out of proportion with everyone else. Clothes shopping made me cry (and actually still does sometimes). I measure up at 43-28-42 these days, so basically a slightly smaller Curvy Wordy, though my hips are a different shape to hers (mine are very wide, and my full hip is the same as my high hip measurement, but I have quite a flat bottom). So I just felt very out of place.

  I came to the realisation though that I will probably never have a flat tummy, and short of surgical procedures, my breasts would be very large for my frame, but that's just the way I was made. I think that getting involved in the bra fit community has really helped, as I see all kinds of different women, and while I haven't really found someone who I'm the same as, I think that the diversity in humans is what makes us interesting and attractive.

  "And what's makes us unique is what makes us beautiful, not the reversed." This is totally a statement which I agree with.

• Cheers to you! This post made my day.

  To hell with Bettie Page, Courtney Stodden, Barbie, and Twiggy too.

  (And that photo of you looks better than all of them! Seriously! Enjoy your gorgeous self!!)

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17 comments

• You know what the worst part is? I really think I'd enjoy skipping ropes if it wasn't for my boobs! I've always liked skipping ropes, it feels "cleansing" to me to stand outside and skip ropes, look at the blue sky and feel the wind brush my cheek. I was just thinking about it a few days ago but I can't because that'd hurt too much :(

• Ooooh! I found something I might do! :D Hula hooping! Please come with suggestions if you have some ^^ Also, weight loss stories of your own would be veeery appreciated! :)

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• I think yes. Your band size will definitely shrink, but your cup volume may or may not change that much for subtle weight loss/gain. However, I think since you are looking at 100lbs+, your breasts will lose volume like the rest of you.

• Maybe. I lost 60 pounds and at first my boobs shrank, only a little bit. Then they actually got bigger.

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31 comments

• I'm confused. You did this to yourself? I'm sorry this happened.

• blingmom Yes, breast migration is fat moulding. Moving fat from back and armpit to boobs. The same way a tight jeans will push your fat up to form a muffin top.

  When moving fat up on boobs when there's not enough glandular to support them the only thing you get is a mess.

  But that's not what people say, instead everyone raves about bigger and firmer boobs. Not here. I spilled out of every single bra.

  When I take on my too big bras that were made for my old root, means they spread the boobs more, boobs are again firmer. But without a bra they hang like two pair of dog ears or something.

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• I'm really pleased to hear that! Congrats on your weight loss journey!

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9 comments

• I used to, but now that they are migrating back home, I have notitced the space between them is shrinking. I'm down to 1 finger flat.

• It's called splayed boobs, I have them as well. It might look as they are separated but they really are not. You can see it on Bettie Page as well. http://papericons.com/bettie_page/jill_session/bettie-page-jill-session.jpg She looks mega separated, doesn't she?

  https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRXCWeLywZCzl_CBooxuDvoWWH10Q_ycJLSQmDn285NrobiogcJpQ

  There's no room in between her boobs what so ever.

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Just had some surgery

I've not really mentioned it, but I get cysts all the time at my armpit, and quite often they get infected too... My previous doctor didn't think much of it, each time giving a diffrent reason for why, and just gave me penicillin to treat the infection.. Everytime I get a cyst, it's very painfull (also very painful with the ... bras, since the wires are often right in my armpit), and if they have been close to the surface of the skin (sometimes they sit realy deep), they leave horrible scars. Well, now I have a new doctor (because I've moved, I'm not gutsy enough to demand a 2nd opinion!), and I decided to be more pushy, so when he also wrote me another prescription for penicillin, I said "Great, then I can just wait for the next one". Well, he's sure that it's the sweat glands that's the problem, so he reffered me to a surgeon.. He has now removed the cysts I had right now, and I will go back tomorrow, and see if I am to have my sweat-glands removed, but he said probably not yet, we'll have to seek out if there is a less drastic method to deal with it. Of course I hope there is, but I don't want it to be brushed off anymore... If my sweat-glands is the problem, just remove the damn things already... *sigh* But yeah, just a little update - I'll lounge around in my only wireless bra for now, then........
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Shared on Jun 04, 2013 Flag this

XLhourglass

1002 reputation

83 bras

9 comments

• poor thing! I also have hidradenitis now but the surgeon just told me to use chlorhexidine wash without any tablets. I have lumps now and I'm so afraid of surgery
  

• Sounds painful. I can totally understand your frustrations and not wanting it to be brushed off, having chronic health issues myself that have had that response at times, it is very frustrating.
  I wondered when reading your post if there is a possibility of your cysts being caused by a condition called Hidradenitis Suppurativa. It is a condition where you get cysts forming usually associated with the sweat glands from what I have read and can sometimes affect areas other than the armpits too, but the armpit is apparently most common.

  Good luck with getting to the bottom of it.

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10 comments

• I noticed the same thing recently. Made me think of Branarchist's thoughts on possible symmastia.

  For me, it's toward the "top" of the main bulk of my breast tissue - like a little bridge that connects them? When the center gores are too high, that's where the redness and 'omg'-pain hits.

  :(

• http://www.bratabase.com/browse/ewa-michalak/s-fresh/75H/pictures/ Image 2/11. That's how it looks, right?

  Compared to my seriously tall boobs that gore is low.

  I actually think that on me it's a logic here; I shouldn't wear a tacking gore. I shouldn't try to separate what doesn't want to be separated. I will have a bra adventure up about discussing gores quite soon.

  But your boobs are separated, right? It might have to do with softening and also that persistence thing. Constantly wearing low gores might simply unseparate your boobs.

  drownedsalad Yes. I have that both on top and underneath. I still don't know about the amount of glandular in it. It could be non existent. But I'm really not sure.

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21 comments

• I did this- a couple of times and could see no real difference between the two results. I got very round, full boobs with next to no separation with both methods.

  Things I know about my boobs- tissue is predominantly in the right spot- I've mostly worn roughly correctly fitting bras for the past 5-6 years. I think I have fairly dense tissue and a reasonably narrow, short root (except for my tails which go up to my collarbone). I have oodles of projection, even comparing to someone of a similar size. My breasts are very close-set, I can't even get my little finger between them at the top without moving tissue. Other stuff about me- I'm a little overweight, though the excess weight is more in my tummy (or went to my breasts haha) than anywhere else. I'm reasonably short and my breasts are very high-set on my frame.

• My results :

  - standing up : my boobs are too wide and too tall for my hands, no breast wants to escape, even if I don't hold they firmly. My boobs look big from the front, but flat from the side, and round everywhere.

  - after leaning over : now, I can fit almost alll my boobs in my hands (I just have some breast tissue on the top of my chest that is not covered by my hand). The shape is TOTALLY different : now, my boobs are conical/pointy/empty everywhere but projected, the top is fuller/rounder when my hands are not, and they look very small from the front (narrow root). I feel my breasts want to return to a wider and shallower shape because I have to hold them firmly in my hands, if I do not, they escape.

  Branarchist : You and me have a similar result with n°1, but not with n°2. I am sure (97% maybe) am a "shallow with wide root", you say you are too. But I am muscular and not overweight, so when I bend over, my ribs-back-tummy-fat don't fall with my breasts. Maybe it exlains the different result ? You get some "natural" scooping and swooping ?

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3 comments

• Hang in there drownedsalad ! I'm rooting for you!

• Thanks DarianaWheeland !

  I knew exactly what I wanted to try on, so it wasn't a big deal. It was just sad that the bra lady didn't understand how to fit someone that doesn't have the "standard" shape that people seem to think boobs are supposed to be.

  I had to explain to her a half-dozen times that... no, really, the bottom of my boob is that wide and I really need the wire that wide. She seemed to not comprehend that the wire length and gore height were different fit issues than wire width.

  Once she saw my tape measure, she stopped telling me I didn't know what I was talking about, but I'm sure that she didn't believe a thing I said. :D

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6 comments

• I think I have the opposite :/

  When I lean over, I have narrow rooted omega shaped boobs (they still point away from each other though) and when I stand up I have a much wider root, pointer boobs etc...

  Leaning over definitely gives my bottom have more projection and I know exactly what you mean. The only bra where I don't get that kind of crease is in my Piper.

  Have you seen this?: http://i.imgur.com/zeP3dZF.png

  I'm 2/4, which do you consider to be tear drop shapes.

• @jillsas I've been looking again at your pics. I'll try to take a standing pic in the same angles as you on Venusian glow and make it into a sketch to compare.

  When I think of teardropish I think it has more to do with the chest than the boob shape. I think any boobs with a tall top of 2 is teardropish kind of.

  Standing up I nowadays am something like 2/5 mostly. Sometimes even 2/6.

  But then I include the tail in my thinking. My chest has the 2 shape in itself and since my boobs starts up there it feels more logic to include it.

  So therefore I see us both as teardropish.

  Now; if I've been wearing Ariza 34J I'm sometimes bordering on a 3 on top because that bra is my migration devise. But on a more sagged day I look like a 1 on top with that projected part then doing the turn of a 3.

  However compared to you I look separated when standing up. But on my back I look almost like a copy of you standing.

  So I make out of that that you and I are quite similar but that you're younger and firmer than me? :)

  Or how do you look on your back?

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8 comments

• I have this problem with the Lucy too. The gore is quite wide and tall, so it causes problems for a lot of people. :( I personally have close-together boobs with some breast tissue in between them, so this gore is a bit of a nightmare for me. I love my yellow one so much though (and my pink one... I have a problem), so I make it work! Here's what I do:

  -Bend the wires on the center gore outwards, away from your body. I hear that Cleo has somewhat stiff wires, but it can be done. Be careful not to break the wires!

  -If that fails, maybe taking in the center gore will help. Keep in mind that this will change the shape of the cups a bit. (it opens them up on top, which is great for me because I'm full on top anyway!) Here is a post where I did this: http://thatbradoesnotfither.com/post/49146263096/i-measure-31-inches-around-my-chest-and-then-38-over-my

  Hope that helps a bit!

• I had this same exact problem :( I think it's because the gore is too wide for me. I eventually ended up selling it because it had other fit issues for me as well, namely the straps tried to saw my arms off. But what a cheerful shade of pink it was! Oh well.

  I've had better luck with Cleo's other non-padded bras like the Meg and the Natasha.

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14 comments

• I have no idea because I never stuff bras, but I'm just really curious as to why you want to do this? (Not to be judgemental, I'm just really interested in the thought behind it)

  Brainwave: 'fat suits' have sculpted stuffing!

• Honestly, I originally just wanted implants but didn't have the money and I wasn't sure what size I wanted to be yet either. As it turns out, as strange as it sounds, I have been enjoying just using padding so much. So, basically, it's just to look bigger.

  Hmm fat suits! Interesting idea! I will have to look into that. Except I only want one part of me to be "fat" :)

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42 comments

• Yup, agreed.

  I seem to have managed to push some tissue that was spread out on my ribs into my breasts; but I actually believe it's got something to do with hormones and fat tissue redisposition in my case as I've never consistently worn too small bras.
  I also base my theory on witnessing the same thing happening to my bottom half, where I do not wear bras. I've out-curved my jeans.

• "The more we learn about bra fitting the less fitting bras we find"
  Yes, yes, yes! And yes to the boob moulding/building thing.

  Here's a word nobody likes: vanity.

  I am well aware of mine. I do not care if that fluff on my back is migrated breast tissue or not. If I can get rid of it by scooping, I will.
  But If I like a too small bra too much for some reason, I will not scoop as vigorously.

  To a point, I do think it's adjusting boobs in a bra, but after that it's all boob building/molding.

  And on TallSkinnyCurvy s note -
  I think my lovehandles are the product of tight low rise skinny yeans and hipster panties. And I think that women 50-60 years ago didn't have them because they wore highwaisted everything.
  So here's to fat moulding!

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Do you get really annoyed too?

I get so annoyed reading things like this.
I really do get that (some) women feel pressured to wear this or that. But I get so annoyed when they do these art pieces about how horrible it is, when they are clearly in a wrong size. A correct size would probably help a lot with the discomfort, and we all have ... various discomforts, but its not all society or men's fault. I'm sorry if a lot of women can't stand up for themselves and wear or not wear what they like, but really, I just don't think we're being forced to wear bras. I wear bras because I want to. Not because I feel pressured. Sure, sometimes I wish I could just go out without a bra, but no one but me is holding me back. I'm the one saying that I don't feel comfortable going out without one. Honestly, no one is going to notice or care much, and if they do, so what?
So, it just ruins pictures like this, when all I can focus on is how annoyed I am about the ill fitting bras!
And this is not the first of these kind of art photos I've seen. There's also one with ridiculous wire marks an inch below her breast crease, and poking into her side boob.



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Justin Bartels, Impression. ‘The series focuses...

“Justin Bartels, Impression. ‘The series focuses on the clothing that women think they should wear, or are told what to wear, to impress someone in a sexual manner. There is a physical mark that is...

http://bonkerscreed.tumblr.com/post/50987750845/justin-bartels-impression-the...

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Shared on May 21, 2013 Flag this

Peggyko

307 reputation

31 bras

7 comments

• I agree with you. I wear a bra because I'm in pain if I don't wear one, not because I'm "expected" to. There are some other expectations about the female appearance that I don't conform to because I don't see any need and don't have any desire to do so. I think it's great if women who don't want to wear bras don't.

  I acknowledge that there is some pressure which goes beyond mere peer pressure; women may be harassed in the workplace for not wearing a bra (told their clothing is 'inappropriate') and that is something I'd like to see addressed. But I think that's part of the fight for equality which we still need to work on (it irritates me that pictures of female breasts are tagged 'NSFW' while male chests are not) and I don't think pictures of ill-fitting bras *which don't have to be that way* are the best way to tackle it.

• I think the "art pieces" is case of "intellectual masturbation" as I call it. Reading too much into things that don't exist to make oneself feel more intelligent.

  C'mon. I'm sure men's clothing and underpants leave marks on their skin too! You don't hear them whining about how they're trying to conform to societal norms by wearing pants!

  Not to mention, that woman was totally wearing the wrong band size!

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• I'm in the same kind of size range, and I can get terrible pressure sores from bras. My skin integrity directly below my breasts is kind of bad but I'm not really sure what to do about it, as wearing a bra is kind of compulsory.

  I theorise it's happening because of a combination of factors. Firstly, bands which may not be firm enough like you said. I currently measure about 26 inches super tight, so my preference would be for either really snug 28 bands (like stretched length of ~27"), or a loosish 26 band (not that they make those). I do think that adds to the rubbing.

  I think that other reasons though are strap placement and wire width. I find that straps are way too wide-set for my body, so I have to angle them in, and that creates a point of pressure on the very edge of my torso. Also, the wires tend to be far too wide, and so they're forced to bend in ways which they should not bend. Even in a bra which had an otherwise correct band, the wire/strap issue has come into play.

  What's helped a little? Moving my straps into a more natural position, and narrower wires, either by purchasing Polish brands or substituting in old wires. Bending the wires is also very good, like you've done. Altering my bras is a kind of enforced experimental thing, as they've gone through an insane growth spurt and definitely cannot fit into a 28K any more. Some of the things I've found though, I wish I'd been doing to my bras since I was about a J cup.

• If I don't bend my wires I get sore from pressure too. The wires and straps aren't too wide for me in my Arizas thankfully. As for alterations, I have to do at least one or two (often three) for every bra that I decide to keep, but I don't expect my bras to be perfect (I wish). Needing a small band and big cups is getting more and more frustrating each time I grow, which has happened pretty consistently every few months since I started wearing bras that fit (2 years ago). I guess that's one of the joys of being in my early 20s :P I just wish they'd pick a size and stay there. I'm really hoping to get some decent wear out of my 28K/30JJ Arizas before I grow again.

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