• Sorry this bra did not work out for you! Just a question, if your size recs are 30DD or E, why did you want to try something that was so much smaller?

• I got the 30c before I registered for Bratabase. A Nordstrom fitter fitted me in the 30c in the Chantelle and Natori. I registered for Bratabase the next day and only found out the size was wrong when Bratabase calculated my Recommendations. I thought this size felt small since I've been fitting myself in 30d and 30dd, but haven't actually found one that I wanted to buy. I've been buying 32c because they're easier to find, but the band always stretches out and the sides sometimes cut in.

• Oh right! Yes, if 32C cuts in at the side you are probably a 30DD (30D being the same size cup as 32C).
  What often happens in your size range is that the person is trying to eliminate gapping at the center, near the gore. So if you're not super projected and/or if you are wide set, this can lead you to size down into too-small cups because the cup design is too open at the center and the cups are more close-set than you need... i.e. you really need more volume but not at the center. You will find it easier to fit yourself if you can locate styles with nice wide gores. I'm not sure if there have been blog or Reddit posts with entire lists that would help, but just by searching by measurements on Bratabase you might be able to find stuff.

• Thank you Wendy, this was really helpful. It reminded me that I need to stand firm about the bra fitting well everywhere instead of making allowances for poor fit. I really wanted this one to work and even thought about keeping it as a strapless bra but I know that would be bad for my chest in the long run. I noticed there are wide set styles in the help section of this site so that was kind of helpful to flip through those. I have a follow up question: I'm kind of nervous now about buying bras with high gores and I noticed that the wide set bras still had higher gores. Is a high gore ok if it's wider set? I feel like I'm pretty bony in the middle so setting high underwires into the middle makes me cringe. I understand the gore stabilizes the bra but I just can't do it right now, especially with the bruise I still have from this bra.

• If everything is sized right and the gore sits flat on your torso, for most people it doesn't matter if it is high or not. What makes a gore painful in most cases is when the whole bra is too tight (this can be due to too-small cups, too-tight band or both--in the case of the 30C the cups were way too small, consequently the whole bra would be overly tight on you) or, paradoxically, when it is too large: a loose band can allow friction and angling in of wires (poking, in other words) and overly large cups mean that there is not enough boob "pushing against" the tension of the band. But if you're in a well-fitting bra, those conditions shouldn't apply.

  A few people do have trouble with gores even in the right size and wire shape but it isn't very common... the torso is not normally a sensitive area despite being bony (sort of like shoulders and back, which can be quite bony on a leaner person but that doesn't make them sensitive). The most typical problem with tall gores is actually something that affects women who have a lot of center fullness and are so close-set: there is literally no room for 2 wires to sit flat between the breasts, so they can't put on a high gored bra without crushing breast tissue. This anatomical issue is basically unique to people who are the opposite of your shape, so it shouldn't apply to you.

  Anyway, tl;dr with wide-set breasts, it is fairly unusual to have gore pain IF you are in the right size. I'd say give it a try and see.

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