Any other women on my Flist have Very Small Boobs?

[enismirdal]

I have extremely small boobs. A 34A bra is too big for me. I ought to get properly measured but based on past experience I usually fit in something around the 34AA size.

By and large, I'm fine with this - unlike my more generously endowed girlyfriends, I never get breast-related backache, I can sleep on my stomach very comfortably, and I can jump up and down without a bra and not have any discomfort.

However, there is one activity I dread with a passion: bra shopping.

Most shops have almost no bras in a AA cup, and of those, some are just scaled down versions of ones designed for normal-breasted women and therefore have interesting things like underwires (why the hell do I need underwires?! There's nothing to support. It would be like putting an underwire in...a sock...or the waistband of some jeans...or something...). Others are made for women with cone-shaped boobs. Which I don't have (does anyone?). Still others are massively padded, which is fair enough for women who are small and want to be bigger, but actually I'm quite happy to be small and just work with what I have. In general, I buy nice stretchy elastic jobbies so I don't need to worry about cup shape or anything like that.

However, I have recently developed a desire to own some actual pretty underwear of the lacy/feminine/sexy/black-and-red variety.

And, of course, that was my big mistake. M&S apparently now do about 2 bras in an AA cup and neither of them have lacy bits. Camille seemed entirely lacking in anything below a 34A. I admit I haven't hit Ann Summers yet. I'm reluctant to buy online since there's no opportunity to try on and even if I was 100% confident I had the right dimensions, boobs can vary considerably in shape whilst still being classed as the same cup size.

Funnily enough, small-breasted women may also want to have sex, turn men on and wear pretty undergarments. I'm just rather confused as to why the world doesn't seem to have noticed us yet. I know for a fact that I am not the only flat-chested woman in the world so I'm not being that special/unusual, am I?

I don't know if anyone else here has run into similar problems and found a good solution? If so, tips will be vastly appreciated. I am currently possessed by a great desire to own a few sets of irresistibly gorgeous lingerie, but this plan is currently being foiled by the fact that I haven't found any bras to fit yet. All ideas welcomed, and I'm willing to splash out a bit (not excessively!) on something gorgeous as long as it fits perfectly!

In short: Anyone know which UK high street stores have actual pretty lingerie that comes in AA cups?

(In better news, today's shopping trip did acquire me 3 new pairs of trousers and a new coat, so it wasn't a total waste of time.)

ETA: Oh god, that's just special. I have entered the same numbers into 2 different websites. One tells me I'm a 34AAA. The other tells me I'm a 30D. I have decided that bra-fitting is actually a mixture of Pixie Magic and a formula invented by a Trinity Mathmo on crack...

Comments

[rjw76]

Hi! I should confess before I start writing this that I have unusually large breasts. However the time I have spent investigating "outsize" (how I hate that term) lingerie has found me some places that sell small cups too.

Firstly, online, even though I know you asked for high street: www.littlewomen.com . Horrible name, but has a good choice of bras in size AAA-B. Also sometimes you can look at a bra on the high street and order it online cheaper. Figleaves.com is another good site, and it allows you to search for all bras that exist in a given size. :)

In the real world, I've found John Lewis have a consistently wide range from the very small to the very large, had some styles in AA last time I looked, and though it's not relevant for you they even go down to a 28 back size, which not many places do.

As for measuring, my advice is: DON'T. Back in the days when 34B was the average size and most women didn't deviate too far from it in any direction, it worked. However, trying to use circumferences to measure 3D objects is always doomed to failure, and the further you are from that magic 34B, the more doom ensues when you try to use the formula. Even if it *did* work, it doesn't take into account that some breasts stick out more than others, even when the same size, and that boobs are different distances apart on different people.

So. Guess at your size. I'll admit I haven't seen you in the flesh for a few years, but 32A or 34AA seem like reasonable places to start. Then adjust band size and cup size to suit, remembering that for every band size you go up, you need to go down one cup size for the same size boobs, and vice versa. You will probably have to repeat this process for each brand of bra, and you are quite likely to discover that some brands are Just The Wrong Shape For You.

Finally, if you get *really* stuck and turn out to be an AA cup, go down a band size, get an A cup, and John Lewis (and probably decent haberdashers) will sell you a little extender thingy.

Hope at least some of that's been useful...

[aduial-peredhel.livejournal.com]

I'm not as small as you. I can go to Target and buy 34A size bras and know that they will fit me. However, I think I'm more of a 32A, but those bras always seem to fit more tightly than I am comfortable with.

While I can get pretty bras at the local places, the more specialized places (in the US, that would be Victoria's Secret) does not carry anything below a B cup. I have complained to my mother about this before, and she can do nothing but shrug considering she is probably just as flat chested as you are and detest underwires.

The only place I've been able to find bras sized for small chested women is on Etsy.com, where they are handmade to your measurements (in fact, almost everything on Etsy is handmade). Unfortunately for me, I need a bit of padding and they don't offer that. I would try there and see what you can come up with.

[girlofthemirror.livejournal.com]

As I'm sure remember, I have quite large breasts.... But Steph is quite similar in size to you. We've never really had much success in buying pretty bras for her. We did have a better time of it when we looked at a shop in France. Women there tend to be more petite and consequently they have a few more things in small sizes. Not sure that will help much though!

[naath.livejournal.com]

Eh, measuring sucks. On the other hand buying online can be easier in unusual sizes, you can usually return stuff easily if you don't like it.

I'm assuming you're confident of being a 34 inch back, if not you could definitely go to Actual Shops and try on various back sizes to find which fits you even if they don't sell the cup size you want. If you find a 32 more comfortable you may find you fit a 32A, on the other hand you may find that a 32 is much too tight and hate it.

figleaves.co.uk has some pretty non-wired things (er, fsvo pretty of course) in a 34A although actually specialised shops might be a better bet.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess places with a good return policy would be OK. Might be worth me trying back sizes a bit more...I'm reasonably confident about my size in that respect but it wouldn't hurt to double check I guess! Thanks!

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

It could come in handy if something brings me to France for other reasons, actually - then I can hit the shops while there is an opportunity. Bah that she's having similar difficulties though; but thanks for the tip!

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I'd also go with the idea of making sure of your back size and then playing around with cup sizes till something works. And ignore the online sizing advice --- no two sites ever seem to agree.

I've put on weight since my twenties, but reading down the responses here I was reminded that for years I went to a speciality shop and bought gorgeous bras imported from France. I was a 32C or something equally awkward and nothing else worked.

Ahhh, those were the days!

(edited because lj is feeling a little frisky tonight and got playful with the formatting)

[illusive-shelle.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'm fairly close to the average and I still find it worth trying on bras in the shops when they're other than the value-pack-comfy-sports bras. Definitely anything that is made to be pretty, I'll try on something in the shop so I know how their sizes come up with reference to me.

Sadly I have little to suggest in the way of bright ideas for where. :(

[deborah_c]

I'm a 36AA, possibly AAA, and I know how you feel (except 36 is possibly even less extant than 34...)

In Cambridge, M&S do actually sell 36AA bras. However, their stock is allocated by head office, and they have no ability to tell them what they need. Consequently, they get three 36AAs per week, which are all sold (so I'm told by a rather frustrated department supervisor) on the morning the come in. For the rest of the week, rather grumpy flat-chested women wander around looking for them and grouching at the staff.

In theory, they can be ordered on the computer, but in practice they're invariably marked as special stock that can't be ordered in. Head office see no reason to send more bras as there's clearly no call for them -- after all, the shop never seems to sell more than three of them a week. *headdesk* (See also "size nine feet".)

The upshot is that it might be worth grouching at a supervisor in your local store and finding out when they get their deliveries.

(M&S also deserve a dishonourable mention for bra measuring; they persist in telling me I'm a 38C (I wish!) in the face of my having to choose styles of 36AA carefully in order actually to touch the inside at all. Bra fitters who point me at the AAs that are reliably in stock, with Cute Embroidered Bunny Rabbits for the discerning pre-teen, also deserve a Special Mention.)

La Senza don't do AA at all, or at least they don't think they do, and I have had assistants there openly laugh at me when I asked. However, assuming you can cope with being patronised horribly, their sizing is ridiculously small, so I actually find there are quite a few of their alleged "A" cups that fit me tolerably. They're the only place I've ever actually managed to buy pretty underwear (as opposed to functional^[1]).

Some Wonderbras come sufficiently small to work for me on a good day. They don't tend to be pretty, but I at least enjoy the illusion of having a figure sometimes. On the other hand, you've mentioned you're not really looking for padding.

Ann Summers sell, IMNSHO, overpriced badly made tat, and don't believe that people with small breasts deserve a sex life anyway, I think. ^[2]

Every time I ask this question, I get pointed at Little Women. Given that I have to choose carefully even when there are bras my size, though, and that I'm horribly disorganised, I suspect I'd end up paying for lots of bras that didn't fit through Not Getting Round To sending them back.^[3]

And now your entire friends list knows more about my underwear than any of them really wanted^[4] and I should shut up...


^[1] Why oh why do manufacturers think that we need acres of elastic to hold up all the weight of a AA cup? When you can have pretty straps in all the bigger sizes? *snarl*
^[2] Not that I do, but it's nice to dream. Sigh.
^[3] Also, I'm not sure I could stand the shame of getting them delivered to work and accepted by our receptionist, who is about 5 foot tall and... well, the packages say Bravissimo.
^[4] ... unless any of them are cute, single, and in Cambridge...

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Huuuuge thanks - this is actually really helpful and just the kind of real-life experience I've been hoping for. Tip about La Senza sounds good - might give them a try (I suppose by making their bras tiny, women believe they have bigger busts than they actually do and this makes the women excited or something...?); closest branch is in Maidstone or Bluewater but probably worth making a trip to one of them anyway!

Whining at M&S could work. My local one is an outlet so sells a funny selection anyway, but again - could be a job for Maidstone or Bluewater.

I might give Little Women a try and tell you how I get on - it does at least look like they are nice about returning stuff so that's something! One of the other sites I was looking at didn't seem to want to do returns unless the items were still unworn, which makes sense for knickers I guess but sounds like a recipe for disaster with anything that is relatively unlikely to fit perfectly 100% of the time!

Thank you sooooo much for the advice. It's greatly appreciated.

[cobalt-skye.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the BHS range, but I had a positive experience there recently which foiled the bra-sizing plot. I went in, got measured, tried on a few bras and was told which ones fitted best. Then I bought four in the same size and of the same design, but different colours. Problem solved, hopefully for a while!