About Me -- My Story » All bra adventures

About Me -- My Story

My name is Emma, I'm 18 years old and in university. I decided to make an account here because I discovered that my "true" bra size isn't stocked in stores near me, except for specialty boutiques (I'm from Canada), and ordering online is so much cheaper than paying the markup at a privately owned boutique. I would love to be able to support local small businesses, but on a student budget, it really isn't possible.

All of this started when I was 16, which was when my boobs really grew. Before that, I was very small (A/B cup), and I was a HUGE fan of Aerie by American Eagle. At the time, I thought I was a 32 band size. Before long, I was popping out of their 32C (at the time, they didn't carry any larger sizes in a 32 band size). I had that ugly, unsightly quadraboob, but the staff there never said anything about it. They told me that I looked like that because I was wearing a push-up style, and then told me that I should try fuller-coverage bras. And just like that, my life became a world of black, white and nude. That still didn't fix the fact that the wire was still cutting into breast tissue. And I thought that this was how things should be.

Eventually, I got to the point where I couldn't wear Aerie bras anymore. And that REALLY hurt because they were so damn cute and affordable. But the staff at Aerie eventually got to the point where they couldn't pretend that their sizes fit me anymore, so they told me to give VS a try because VS apparently has a wider size range.

So I went to Victoria's Secret, and they in fact do carry 32D's. And this was a major revolution to me because there were no more digging wires, and the gore actually tacked. No more quadraboob or stuff spilling out everywhere. But then I realized that the cups weren't the only problem when I bought this strapless bra from VS. I was constantly pulling and adjusting it because it felt like it was about to fall off of me. It kept slipping down because the band was too loose to really have any grip. That's where my love of VS ended. I asked them for a 30 band size, and they didn't have it. And then I asked La Senza, and they told me that Victoria's Secret might have a 30.

I was done with all of these corporate giants, so my mom recommended that I try The Bay. I'd heard from people that The Bay has all sorts of brands in all sorts of sizes. I got my hopes up a little too high because when I asked them for 30 bands, they automatically assumed that I wanted a 32. My mom was there with me, and she and the sales lady persuaded me that the bras fit, when I felt that there was still a lot to be desired.

Guess what? I went back to Victoria's Secret because their sales were better than The Bay, and their styles were cuter and more colourful, which is important to a teenage girl. But I was still so sick of being told that my body type was unnatural, or that my size didn't exist. So I went into a bra boutique to get properly fitted and to try on some styles that would actually fit me because I was THAT desperate to feel better about myself just for that one moment. I really wanted to be able to buy some of the bras in that store, but I didn't have the money as a broke college student. The sales people were a little pushy because I was reluctant to buy, even though the styles they were giving me to try on obviously fit properly.

But that opened my eyes to a completely new concept: ordering bras online. I have had mixed successes and failures in the world of online bra shopping because I still have yet to find an everyday bra that is perfect for me. That's why I'm always reluctant to buy online because most sites that have free shipping (and sometimes free returns) to the US or the UK, do not have such generous policies for Canadian customers. That being said, I love many of the UK brands like Freya, Panache, Fantasie, Curvy Kate, and others. When I have more money to spend, perhaps I will invest in more of these bras. But for now, it's hard for me to go back to brands like Aerie and Victoria's Secret, just because I think that the D-K cup UK brands promote a much healthier body image for women, because they provide sizes for a much wider range of body types. Still, to this day, I have not purchased another bra from Aerie, although they have since slightly expanded their size range, just because of how their bra fitters destroyed my perception of beauty and femininity when I was a young teenager.

But now I feel that I'm ready to put the past behind me and work on finding clothing that complements my body just the way it is. Because I've realized that there's nothing "wrong" with me. Having a 28/30 back size and a D+ cup doesn't mean that I'm humongous and therefore I must have implants. This is such an important issue to me now, given the struggles that I've been through with body image and my friends telling me that I'm crazy because I don't look bigger than a B or a C. It's sad that for me, my breasts were the primary source of my self-esteem issues for so long. And it shouldn't have to be that way because everyone's boobs look good in a proper-fitting bra. Imagine what the world would be like if 80% of women wore the RIGHT bra size. I bet you we'd drive these companies like Victoria's Secret out of business, and there would be a lot more 28 and 30 bands on the market. It doesn't seem like much, but if I stop supporting brands like that, it's a step in the right direction.

Filed under Boob and body issues

Shared on Dec 30, 2014 Flag this