Put on a Bra
You may think that bras are a necessary evil—an uncomfortable undergarment that helps support your breasts while making you feel trapped or itchy. But if you are wearing the right bra size and learn how to put on a bra in a way that actually makes your breasts fill the cups, you'll not only feel much more comfortable, but your breasts will also look their best. If you want to know how to put on a bra the right way, just follow these steps.
Contents
Steps
Picking the Right Bra
- Look out for obvious signs that your bra is the wrong size. The majority of women are wearing the wrong sized bra—believe it or not. If your bra isn't the right size, then you will have trouble putting it on because it won't fit your dimensions correctly. Here are some easy signs that say that you're wearing the wrong bra:
- If your breasts spill out of the top of the bra
- If the straps of the bra cut into you
- If the band of the bra cuts into you
- If the bra feels incredibly tight, like you can't breathe in it
- If the bra is so loose that the straps fall down no matter how much you adjust them
- If you can comfortably fit two fingers between your side and the band of the bra
- Try to measure yourself before getting fitted professionally. Independent boutiques are generally the best places to get fitted, though they can be wrong. Department stores are the worst places to get fitted, as the employees often aren't trained well and use outdated measuring techniques.
- To get an idea of your bra size, measure your underbust in inches, making sure the tape is snug, but not tight. If it is below 30", round up to the nearest even number. If it is above 36", round down. Above 40", bands get very stretchy so you may need to go down another band size after rounding. This is your band size.
- To work out the cup size, lean forwards at 90 degrees and measure your bust loosely. Take the difference between the bust and underbust measurements, and convert into cup letters - A=1" difference, B=2" difference etc. Be warned that this method can overestimate cup size for people with under busts over 36" or so (if this applies to you, take a bust measurement while lying on your back and average the two bust measurements, then calculate the cup size).
- If you do go to a professional fitter, and you find their results are very different to the results you get from this (eg 2+ band sizes larger, 2+ cup sizes smaller), they are probably using an outdated fitting method, and you should ignore them.
- Trust the band size. You may think that the band size you've been told to use is too tight, but the bra should fit a bit snugly. Know that a cup which is too small can make the band feel too tight; try on a bra backward to assess band tightness. Also, know that cups do not hold equal volumes on different band sizes - a 32C is a cup size smaller than a 34C. To change band sizes but keep the same cup volume, go up a cup size for every band size down, and go down a cup size for every band size up.
- Don't be stubborn. You may have thought that you were a 36C all of your life, only to be told that you're really a 34D. Don't think, "This can't be right"—instead, try wearing a bra in the correct size and see how much better you feel. If you really aren't sure about the results of the fitting, try on as many bras as you can, or, if you're very stuck, get a second opinion from another professional (though take this advice with a grain of salt—your comfort is the top priority, and if they disagree with that, they aren't doing their jobs properly). But you must come to terms with your correct bra size, even if it means you haven't been wearing the right bra all of your life.
- Measure your size once a year or so. You should get measured at least once a year to make sure that you're wearing the right bra size. There are a variety of reasons the size of your breasts can change, whether it's because your body is still growing, because you've experienced significant weight loss or gain, or if you're pregnant. Measuring regularly is a good habit to keep up if you want to wear the right bra and be able to put it on correctly.
Putting on a Bra
- Put your arms through the armholes. To put on a traditional bra, the first thing you should do is to place your arms through the armholes. A traditional bra will have two straps that attach the bra cups to the back of the bra and run up and over your shoulder to the back.
- Clasp the bra. Most bras have clasps in the back that connect the right side of the bra to the left. These clasps will typically have either two or three hooks on one side that will connect with two or three loops on the other side. Your goal is to get all of the hooks into the loops. Many bras have two or three settings of tightness, so you can adjust the bra a bit to make it tighter or looser around your body.
- If your bra is new, it should fit closely on the loosest hook. This will allow you to tighten the bra over time as the elastic wears and stretches. If a newer bra can be fastened on the middle or tightest hooks, you may need a smaller back size.
- To make it tighter, hook the bra on the eyes which are further in. If you can comfortably wear a new bra on the tightest hooks, consider going down a band size. You should wear new bras on the loosest hooks except when pregnant.
- Some bras have a clasp around the front or side instead of the back. The clasp in the front typically just has one setting, so it's easy to clasp it. The clasp on the side can also have multiple settings which you can adjust just as you would adjust the clasps on the back.
- Some women have trouble hooking the bra in the back and like to clasp it before they put on the straps. To do this, place the bra backward over your breasts, clasp it, move it around to its proper position in the back, and then place your arms through the arm holes. Be gentle if you use this method, as the movement of the bra could damage the elastic and misshape the wires in the cup.
- Adjust the straps. Once you've put your hands through the loops of the bra and clasped it, you'll need to adjust the straps so they fit perfectly over your shoulders instead of being too loose or too tight. If they're too loose, they can fall down off your shoulders, all the way to your elbows, and if they're too tight, then you'll feel uncomfortable and the bra cups will be pulled up too high. Here's how to adjust the straps on your bra.
- Figure out if the straps are too loose or too tight. If they're too tight, then you'll feel constricted near the straps, and may even feel them digging into the skin of your shoulders. If they're too loose, then they won't stay comfortably on your shoulders and will be hanging off them a bit.
- Find the clasps. The clasps are the plastic things on the back of the bra—each strap will have one.
- If the bra is too loose, simply pull down on the clasp so it moves closer to the back of the bra and then pull up the extra strap that will hang loose to straighten out the straps. Pull down both clasps to an equal length.
- If the bra is too loose, then pull up the clasp from the bottom, moving it up, toward the front of your bra. You'll need to pull down on the straps while moving up the clasps.
- If you see that you need to adjust the clasps significantly, it may be easier to unclasp and take off the bra to do this, so you can see what you're doing more easily.
- Feel the bra to make sure it's positioned correctly. Once you've put on the bra and adjusted the straps, you should just gently pull at the straps and the sides and back of the bra to make sure that it fits reasonably well. After this, you can begin to make sure that your breasts fill the cups, which is the trickiest part of putting on a bra. Check the straps and band of the bra to make sure that nothing is twisted.
- Bend down. If you're not already standing, stand up and bend down so that you lower your back about two feet, towards the floor. This will help you move your breasts in the right direction.
- Move your breasts into the cups. First, feel the sides of your breasts for any additional tissue that is hanging off the sides of each breast, below your armpit. If you're in front of a mirror, you may be able to see this extra tissue. Feel for this tissue with the opposite hand from each breast and then move it in, so that it fills the side of the cup. Then, use the same hand to lift up the breast, so that you've moved the sides of the breast in, and then up.
- Repeat the same process with your other hand and other breast. The sides of your breasts should have been gently eased into the sides of each cup and then lifted outwards.
- When you've adjusted your breasts, you can stand straight up again.
- Ideally, the underwire of your bra should be positioned right along the bottom of your breasts, without leaving any extra space for them to hang down. Your breasts should be perky and moving upwards, not hanging down below the underwire.
- If you find that loose skin (not the same as breast tissue) now pokes over the top of the bra, you can tuck it in and smooth it down for a smoother silhouette. If there is breast tissue coming over the top of the cup, then the bra does not fit, buy a larger cup size or find a bra with more space at the top.
Tips
- Experiment with different types of clasps; some are easier to hook than others. A single hook-and-eye clasp is always easier to hook than a double one, although it tend to unhook itself more often when you pull your arms back or do other, similar movements. The more rows of hooks there are, the more support a bra will give.
- Practice the "on the back" method: it can be done without taking your clothes off, in case your bra unhooks itself at the wrong moment.
- Try bras with the clasp on the front, but beware: they might cause itching or even hurt your skin.
Warnings
- Your bra should always be comfortable—if the bra is uncomfortable, it doesn't fit.
- If you are able to slide the bra on over your head while hooked, the band is too large. The band provides 80-90% of the support for your breasts, and should be snug on the body; you should not fit much more than two fingers between the band and your body.
