Dumb Bra Question

[McLegs]

Hey Ladies,
I'm a Larger Gal, 6'1', 210 lbs. When wearing a bra where should the band actually sit. I thought being tall, the straps would have to be as long as possible, this sorta made my bust look like it was headin south. Shortened the straps looked better, but how short should I have them. If I fold my arms in front of me should my forms be above my arms or is that too high. I'd like to just get them the right height.
Thanks for all your help,
Michelle:heehee:

[Lanore]

Hello Michelle
Over the years I've found one thing to be true. There are never any dumb questions. What I have found very helpfull is to go to a mall and find someone about the same size as you. You'll be able to see how their cloths fit, how they walk, all sorts of helpfull ideas. I know you won't get to see their bras, but you can get a good idea about where the breasts should be. You are sure to see someone who is your shape and size. It works for me. Have fun.

Lanore

[Robertacd]

Hey Ladies,
I'm a Larger Gal, 6'1', 210 lbs. When wearing a bra where should the band actually sit. I thought being tall, the straps would have to be as long as possible, this sorta made my bust look like it was headin south. Shortened the straps looked better, but how short should I have them. If I fold my arms in front of me should my forms be above my arms or is that too high. I'd like to just get them the right height.
Thanks for all your help,
Michelle:heehee:


You breasts should sit about halfway between the top of your sholder and your elbow to look natural. Your bra band should be level all the way around, not up high on your sholder blades or down by your kidneys. Both are classic signs of wearing the wrong size bra.

As for sag or perkyness... Well thats up to you. Women come in all shapes and sizes, some like lots of support some like little or none. So it is a matter of personal preference too.

I would say go with what looke the most natural and fell the most comfortable to you.

[sandra-leigh]

I'm a Larger Gal, 6'1', 210 lbs. [...] If I fold my arms in front of me should my forms be above my arms or is that too high.

I'm only a little smaller, 6' and 195-205 lbs.

At the moment, I have my forms attached via adhesive; I centred the forms to match the nipple of the form against my own nipple, which places the peak of the undercurve of the form at the peak of the curve of my natural breast.
With this location of my forms, when I lay my arm naturally across my chest, the top of my arm is just under the bottom of the form on one side; slightly less clearance on the other side (people's arms are not exactly the same length on the two sides.) If, though, I cross my arms (one hand over on the elbow of the other arm) then both of my arms are held outwards by my forms, including the upper arm resting along the outside edge of the forms and pulling upwards slightly.

This is with my size 6 forms, which is about C cup. The experience would differ with a different size of form.

Note that for a natural woman who was not "flat-chested", the edge of the breast fullness starts a bit outwards from the side of the torso, so for your forms to look like natural breasts, the edge of the forms should be to the side a bit -- e.g., part of them would be visible from behind.
This in turn has implications about form shape and about how big of a form you should get for a natural look: you need a form large enough that when it is centred over your nipple, it protrudes a bit to the side, but not too much so (unless it is designed to taper to the back).

As you are fairly close to my size, for a full natural look, you probably you should be using a form no smaller than size 6, and size 8 or 9 is probably about the upper limit.
On me, a size 6 comes out appearing fairly believable, a realistic size for a woman you would glance over at and peg as "average". wikipedia says that the average size for US women is 34B, average UK is 36C. I get my height from mixed English and Scottish heritage, so on me 36C is slightly smaller than would be proportionate to my body. Size 7 forms (about a D) look pretty natural on me as well; size 8 is on the "big boobs" side, and size 9 is too wide for me..
The size 6's, although roughly a C cup, do not attract attention unless I wear something tight or stretchy: people mostly just don't notice them, even when I'm more or less in drab -- they get "pattern-recognized" away from active attention.

On you, 6 or 7 would probably be about the most natural.

[DAVIDA]

[QUOTE=Robertacd;575148]You breasts should sit about halfway between the top of your sholder and your elbow to look natural. Your bra band should be level all the way around, not up high on your sholder blades or down by your kidneys. Both are classic signs of wearing the wrong size bra.


Robertacd has it exactly correct!

[sandra-leigh]

You breasts should sit about halfway between the top of your sholder and your elbow to look natural.

Hmmm, that's not where my natural breasts are. My natural breasts are closer to 2/3 to 3/4 of the way down, and in order for my forms to sit halfway down, I'd have to place them about 1 1/2" to 2" higher than aligned. That's enough of a difference that the forms would not fit the curve of my chest smoothly.

Perhaps my arm proportions are unusual. My arm lengths are possibly about 1/4" longer than a woman's would be -- close enough that the great majority of sleeve lengths are fine for me. Furthermore, according to a suit salesman, my size is one of the common male sizes, likely to be in stock in most places -- so my overall arm length is pretty standard for a male.

[MarinaTwelve200]

As an artist, I can say that when I draw the female figure, the NIPPLES of the breasts are on a line TWO heads down. (counting from the top of the actual head---and the second "head" down from the chin).

Where that puts the band depends upon the diameter of the breasts.

BTW, the waist (and elbows) are 3 heads down and the widest part of the hips--the trochanters of the thigh bones, is 4 heads and the knees fall BETWEEN the 5 and 6 head line---the total height being 7 1/2 to 8 heads tall.

[AmberTG]

A most interesting way to measure the human body, Marina! From an artist standpoint, I can see what you're describing, it's a good reference measurement.

[Kate Simmons]

Depends on how big your "boobies" are Hon or how big you want them to be.:happy: Ericka Kay

[sandra-leigh]

As an artist, I can say that when I draw the female figure, the NIPPLES of the breasts are on a line TWO heads down. (counting from the top of the actual head---and the second "head" down from the chin).
[...]
BTW, the waist (and elbows) are 3 heads down and the widest part of the hips--the trochanters of the thigh bones, is 4 heads and the knees fall BETWEEN the 5 and 6 head line---the total height being 7 1/2 to 8 heads tall.

It's a bit difficult to accurate measure those on oneself by oneself.

Measuring leaning in to the edge of a door, I come out as 180 cm tall (losing about 2 cm due to the lean); the bottom of my chin is 21 cm down. 21 cm below that is about the top of my natural "valley", and my nipple line is about 7 cm below that -- about 2 1/3 heads instead of 2. With sag, the nipple line of my forms is about 2 cm lower, thus at about 51 cm down (2.4 heads) instead of the 42 cm predicted by "2 heads".
Elbows are hard to measure by oneself, as it depends on the terms of reference. On me, if I put my arm out at 90 degrees, the inner elbow is about 58 cm down; but when I measured the lowest portion with my elbow bent more sharply upwards, it was about 70 cm down; elbows in the vaguely "three heads" range (63 cm) is somewhere in the middle.
Total heigh of 180 cm is over 8 1/2 heads.

The "halfway between the top of the shoulder and the elbow" comes out for me as pretty much the same place as the "2 heads" prediction, 30 cm halfway is 15 cm and that's the top of my valley; the additional 7 cm to get to my natural nipple line places my natural nipples at pretty close to 3/4 of the shoulder/elbow distance rather than 1/2.

With my size 6 forms, raising the form's nipple to be at about the "2 heads" or "halfway" position would leave the bottom of the form just covering my natural nipple area. That seems much higher than reasonable.

[Ashleigh Beth]

Maybe it's because I'm a blonde today, but what size, or how long, or what is the measurement of a "head?" Not even quite sure how to ask the question! Sorry!

[Karren H]

Well since a bra is "underware" then who cares how it looks? I mean it should 1) hold your breasts in the correct location and 2) be comfortable..right? How it shows through your clothing shouldn't matter...if you look at GGs its all over the place. High. Middle Low... Doesn't matter to them. And I've seen no rule that a bras has to lie on the back about 8.5 vertabra below the neckline!! Heheheh

Love Karren

[KimberlyS]

I centred the forms to match the nipple of the form against my own nipple

Tess is basically correct, look at your chest and line up the nipples. While the natural breast is generally in one area, they can be higher and lower than that. Do you think GG's can move their breasts? With out medical help that is. So start with this first.

But a few additional things to note starting with Tess again:


Note that for a natural woman who was not "flat-chested", the edge of the breast fullness starts a bit outwards from the side of the torso, so for your forms to look like natural breasts, the edge of the forms should be to the side a bit -- e.g., part of them would be visible from behind.
This in turn has implications about form shape and about how big of a form you should get for a natural look: you need a form large enough that when it is centred over your nipple, it protrudes a bit to the side, but not too much so (unless it is designed to taper to the back).


In general the natural breast will taper up and to the side and not just be a lump in the front. The larger the breast form the more it should taper around the side and up, in general for a more natural look. Most forms will have a taper up. A plus for triangle forms as they help with the side taper also. I use silicone enhancers along with my teardrop forms to simulate this side taper.

Younger girls have generally have perkier ones while after child birth, middle age and older gals tend to fill out and get more full. And the larger the natural breast, the more gravity pulls them down. So in general the larger the forms the less perky, fuller and more saggy they should look. Unless you are doing a corset look.

[McLegs]

Thanks Gals for all of your input. I knew there would be a wealth of info out there. Just to note, the forms I got as a gift from another member are an 8. I know someone said 6 or 7 but hey a gift is a gift. I'm very comfy wearing a 42D. I really don't think they look overly large. I love em & that's what counts. I guess I asked because the longer I dress or the more I dress, I now look more closely at the details. Thanks for all your input.

Hugs to you all,
Michelle

[shawnaraylynn]

I know alot of girls are saying that you should wear a smaller size. But i totally devoted to my 42 D's and I am only 5'6( but 205), Wear whats comkfortable pS I like my bra to ride just under my naturall breast.:be: