I can appreciate every word Danae wrote in her article. It’s unfortunate that very little love is being shown for the various body types with which women are so beautifully blessed. Thank God I didn’t give up after years of discouragement about my abundance. I went to a local lingerie boutique that educated me on the proper fit for a bra. Even though this particular boutique carried larger sized bras, they didn’t have anything that could fit my girls. But what they gave me was even more valuable – names of companies that I never knew existed that specialized in bras far beyond the DDD.

With some research I was able to settle on a wonderful bra by Panache that is not only beautiful and stylish, but IT FITS!!! It is actually comfortable and I am not constantly trying to adjust myself. Better still, the straps don’ cut into my shoulders!

I now order all my bras through http://www.lindasonline.com. The choices for those seemingly elusive sizes beyond DDD, even with the smaller bands, are extensive and Linda’s staff is extremely helpful.

I am a petite, full-figured (African American) woman with an inverted triangle body type (thanks to igigi.com for defining my body type for me). I love Ashley Stewart for their stylish offerings but that Butterfly bra was not the answer for me.

Why is it that the European market has a much better handle on this situation than the US where I population is generally much larger anyway?

They sized me at about a 40 or 42 G…can't remember the band size for sure. I ordered 4 bras though them (they didn't have the sizes in stock) and when they arried they still were too small. They said I was hard to size and sent me to a specialty shop. The shop sized me at a 40 H and for the first time in my life I walked out feeling more supported then ever. I am now at a 38 K. My bestfriend and I joke they are stealing food. She is in the same boat as me.

the end…

I have had doctors put me on major heavy pain pills and muscle relaxers because of the pain and muscle spasms in my back. At 17 yrs old I was only a size 6, very physically fit (played nearly every sport, weight lifted, power walked/jogged 3-15 miles a day, etc.), into modeling and yet even then at times I felt like my boobs were controling me. Though I doubt the markers of the Butterfly Bra read these I hope they do (yeah I know…keep wishing) because I would love to see them come out with something useful for me and people close to me whom I care about very deeply and could use this too. I must say though I don't think the entire problem rests on lack of options for us bigger chested women. The other problem is that too many women don't understand how the right bra should fit. I didn't understand it till I was nearly 30. I refused to believe I was any bigger then a 36-38DD till about 2-3 years ago (I never knew about being sized till then). I was looking around on Lane Bryant's website one night and sized myself a few times. Because I refused to believe the size I was getting measuring myself through instructions on the site I went into the store.

Now that I think about, that’s probably why they are cheaper than what they were back then. So I’m not even going to waste my money on one of those. Besides I’m completely satisfied with the 2 bras I purchased from Catherines. They’ve change my life for the better.

Danae, I understand the point you were making about the whole DD and DDD thing. I mean why not just continuously go down the alphabet instead adding D’s to I guess pretty it up and to make us feel ashame to go up any further. I don’t mind saying I’m an F. Its my rightful size and I’m comfortable with it. If you are really trying to represent full figure woman then barriers need to be broken. The strings need to be cut. No more hiding behind D’s trying to make it sound smaller or more presentable.

Just because you can buy a DDD at Lane Bryant doesn't mean it's a proper bra size – a DDD should really be something like a EE or an F, but you can see how adding more D's on to the size stops making sense — what if someone wears an H cup, does that mean that they are a DDDDDD? The point that we're trying to make is that sizes like EE, F, G, H, I, and J are all sizes that women wear, but the Butterfly Bra doesn't acknowledge them, despite being designed especially for these sizes. It's a disappointing opportunity missed.

Thanks,
Danae

You are exactly right!! I am so frustrated, I have been attempting to educate my sales person when assisting me with my bras. I have yet to find a bra that properly fits me. I have been telling the people in the store that I do not need a bra that is larger in the band. For instance, in the Goddess brand, I would wear a 48DDD or 48F, however, what I really need is a 46, possibly 44 G H or I. I have very very large breasts and they are heavy!! I have sought to get a breast reduction, however, the doctors say that I need to loose weight. I agree however, it is a suffering to wear bras that are so uncomfortable. Many of you know how it feels to wear bras that do not compliment you. When I saw Jill Scott designed a bra, the Butterfly, I was so excited. Then I became frustrated because they did not have a bra that went up to my band size or bra size. What is a girl to do. I know there are so many others who are in my shoes. However, I am encouraged because I know a change is going to come!

90% of women are actually wearing the WRONG SIZE BRA so in the first instance this needs to be corrected BEFORE buying any new bras no matter how good the claims are.

Go to a few stores and get them to measure you, they wont all get it right, personally i went to Intimas purely because they had a nice range in there and straight away she knew i was wearing the wrong size without even touching me, what she said was and its the GOLDEN RULE that

“if you go BIGGER IN THE CUP, YOU GO SMALLER IN THE BACK!” – by one size at a time.

Also you should do up the bra on the looser fastner that is comfortable and as it stretches with general use/washes, use the tighter fastner til of course you get to the one further in. – i started on the middle fastner!

It WORKS i was orignally wearing 38D so i tried a couple of different back and cup size combinations, but i found that i was actually 36E. so i went BIGGER IN THE CUP AND SMALLER IN THE BAND as i stated above.

Trust me my original bra was digging in the shoulders and my boobs just slouched down inside the cup and were dropping out of the bottom.

Before you buy any bra find your size as its 90% likely you got the wrong size to begin with, if you gain or lose even a small amount of weight you need to check your bra size too.

Also you have to remember some manufaturers are not great with sizing some are smaller than others and the style is also important to remmeber, always go for full cup to really see how it should fit as that is where the full support is.

As for the video i noticed STRAIGHT away that the model wasn’t in the right cup it isn’t BIG enough and squashes the boobs against the chest rather than allow them to fill the cup. I was shocked she made this CRUCIAL mistake, and quite frankly its CRINGEWORTHLING EMBARRASING that she has made it.

ALL bras should sit next to the skin NOT HOVER as it is in the video 56secs as indicated on this article. braS should seperate the breasts not squash them next to each other. The butterfly fasten at the back looks a nightmare to do up on your own as one set is higher up i dont know if anyone else manages it.

Why is she using an obviously slim model to show off the back on her bra its not the same model as the one with the traditional bra with the fat showing??? to me this is suspicious i want to see how the “back fat” would look in this bra if i was going to buy it. on ashley stewart website it doesn’t even offer you a picture of what it looks like on their STRAPLESS VERSION which seams very odd to me?

Gel Straps – RUBBISH not necessary the point is, the CUP AND THE BAND is what supporting the breasts the straps are just extra.

It reminds me of my mums old style LONGLINE bras from 50′s which also pulls you in, but she always had to fasten it from the front and pull it around as its impossible to do it from the back with so many fastners, it straightens your posture a bit as well, but all in all its just an upgrade of this other than this i have no further comment on the new back fasten styling.

The other thing is the stupid extra DDDDD’s cup sizing lets keep this simple people and keep it to the way it is that way it is impossible to confuse yourself. I have never heard of this crazy sizing extention in UK so why this starts up is ridiculous and i couldn’t begin to imagine what size it looks like.

My advice to Jill Scott is to keep the simple sizing system already in place and i can tell you the people are DEFINATELY wearing the wrong size and possibly the wrong style. You must first understand about bras and breasts before you start thinking about designing a bra. correct the cup your model was wearing and use a maniquin that is obviously fat not a slim one.

In my best fighting bra the one I can almost breath in. I am 52″ around at breast level. Above my breasts in the same plase I was 47″ with out a bar I am 51″.

So I figure I have about 56″ around. Why is there no bra out there for me?

I knit so I thought I would make my own but there is no pattern so no….

If a star is big and needs a bra the hire some one to make one. But what dose a real person to it the just want a bra and to be able to breath.