So after a few years of hating the majority of my bra's, falling out of some and others digging in because they just didn't sit under my boobs I went and got measured again.
Turns out I'm not the D cup I thought I was (d'oh!) and am a DD. But after putting on a balconette bra in both the D and the DD and it not fitting I was told that because I have no sag/droop in my boobs the best and only cuts are the plunge style ones, as other cuts such as the balconettes are too rigid and don't allow for a 'pert' shape.
Is this right?
I mean the bra's she found me fit better than any I have worn over the past few years.
The good news is that you're getting better fitting bras and you have a standard to work to. The less good news is that the right size for you will vary from make to make and from style to style. There really is no alternative to being properly fitted or being patient enough to try the internet and return bras that don't fit you properly.
I thought I was doing quite well, particularly as a male bra wearer, until I had my first fitting. Now I get fitted whenever I can, and I return anything I've bought that isn't right if I can't be fitted into it.
I doubt if you are really restricted to plunge bras but you do need to be very careful when switching from one style to another to make sure each style works for you and you get the right size. You could easily be one or even two cups different between a plunge and a balconette, depending on make and styling, so if one style fits you in a DD cup, it doesn't automatically mean another style will.
Patience is everything, but if you're prepared to find a good fitter and listen to her, you should find your horizons broadening quite nicely ...
My lady is very good but since she sells mainly Chantelle (which I love) I have to limit my buying as they are quite costly.
BTW, I am a 38C usually, but I have bras that fit me in 38B, 38C, 38D, 36D and 36DD, so you do need to be open-minded when you try bras on.
I worked in a very exclusive lingerie store years ago and had to try on every bra with another sales assistant and compare cuts and sizes (I was a large cup size and she was small so it was a really good way for us to understand fits) and I could vary from C to DD and even an E in quarter cup bras. I always go by fit now, every brand and shape is different. I'm also quite short and the strap length can make or break the fit for me.
Should the wires on a bra fit uder your arm or sit more at the front of your chest, as a male wearer i recently purchasd 36a bras, but i have come to realise the band is not tight enough to stop the back of the bra from riding up, i have tried a 34a and 34b to get a tighter fit, the 34a is a smaler cup than the 36a so looks better when you dont have much to fill the cup with, but the 34b seems to sit better as the wires go more under the arm but there is to much slack in the cup, also im not intrested in using pads to fill cup etc as i want it hidden, can not decide to go with the a cup i fill better or the b cup that maybe the wires sit properly.
The problem you describe is typical for male wearers as a man's chest tends to be wider and the volume of boob smaller than a woman's. As you've discovered, to get the wire to fit you need a bigger cup, which you can't fill with your own breast tissue.
There are two things to do about this: first, all the fitters I've been to are adamant that you pull in all the flesh from the side that you can, so the cup has all the loose flesh in it ('swoop and scoop'). Seconds, I've realised that in my case at least a pair of 'chicken fillet' inserts can hlp to fill up the cup of a bra with a big enough wire.
I'm about a 38B in volume, but I wear a 38C as a rule becasue the wires fit so much better. Hence I use the inserts to fill out the cups and give a better shape. When I'm all done, about two-thirds of the final cup size is me, most of the rest is the inserts and the bra's padding rounds it all off and gives a better shape. In all honesty a 38C fits me better than a 38B even without the inserts, but the whole thing is even better for me with them.
But don't forget that bras vary, and you may find a brand that gives a little less cup room for the wire size you want. That's just a matter of trying lots of bras on. Can't be bad, eh?
I have the same problem with perkiness ruining the way certain bras fit and I have found that just trying them on in store is the best bet, pretty sure the lingerie team at my local department store think I'm mad 'cause I always go in with a handful of the same design in different sizes.
The bit that really annoys me is not really being able to purchase underwear online unless I'm 100% certain it will fit. All the beautiful bras in sales that have been missed :(
Plus is you ever get really annoyed just go Frankenstein on the bras, I for one have found that the band and straps on balcony fit better than the plunge band and straps while the plunge cups fit better than the balcony. True you can only really do this for plain coloured underwear but comfort wins out for day to day for me!
I have tiny boobs 32a on a good day although I think more like AA. I can only wear certain bras like push ups, found the best bras for me are from another certain sex shop. I can't wear balconette bras as I have nothing to put in them, there is so much of a gap.
I am a bra wearing male with a nice little pair of female shaped/looking breasts which seem to be developing quite nicely each year.My wife/Mistress has suggested i go for a bra fitting at a lingerie shop for my next few bra’s.I am so looking forward to this.I wonder have any other of our lingerie wearing males on this page tried a bra fitting before?