Being Female | Getting Measured For A Bra

Ah the joys of being a woman, not only do we get to deal with the misogynistic realities of the working world (and world in general) get paid a joyful visit from aunt flow every month and feel compelled to wage war on our weight, faces and general appearances day to day but now we have to worry about the migrating state of our 'nunga nungas'. Not that this is exactly news to the female population it's just the sad state of affairs that come hand in hand with womanhood, but a recent bra fitting in my good old local British Home Stores has given me (and my boobs) 'the fear' and today I would like to share why.

Recently I noticed a gap, more specifically, quite a large gap between my actual chest and my bra (a size which has suited me just fine since I was 18 years old) and I got a shock. Given that I have been working my bottom off in the gym I suppose I should have expected this, but being the curvy lady I am never expected to lose all of my weight from my chest first. For the first time in 4 years I was clueless (and bra-less) and after seeing a sign in BHS for a bra fitting service, something I have never ever had done before, I leapt at the opportunity for a bra revamp!

The girl who measured me was so helpful and informative and because some of you, like me, may not know how a bra is measured I'll just go over that quickly. First you are measured under your bust to get the circumference which helps workout the banded part of your bra for example I was shown to be between 36 and 38 (typical!) Then you will be measured at the fullest part of your bust to get the cup size (I believe that your band measurement is subtracted from your bust measurement and that gives the cup size) The results revealed to me that I was wearing a bra that was miles too big for me, and I mean by something like 3 or 4 sizes too big, which in turn got me thinking of the repercussions of wearing the wrong size of bra and what it really means for my general health, well-being and my 'nunga nungas'  

Wearing the wrong size of bra doesn't just effect how they look or the way in which your clothes hang (poorly if anyone was wondering) as I found there are a multitude of problems that can occur from wearing the wrong size of bra and the world has to know:

• Stretched boobs; wearing the wrong size can cause your tissue and skin to stretch resulting in, you guessed it, saggy boobs!
• Back pain; a bra that is too big doesn't offer you the support you need and you'll find yourself more hunched over with poor posture resulting in back pain.
• Back fat; yes the dreaded back fat which I thought was just a disgusting thing I had and therefore had to live with - nope bra is too tight!
• Bra gap; if you have a gap your boobs will just straight up fall out of there - thigh gap - yes please, bra gap - no thank you!
• Indigestion; strange one but I have heard that if your band is too tight it will dig into your ribs and upper stomach and can cause indigestion.

So really what began as a simple days shopping turned into a real learning experience for me and I'll be damned if I wear the wrong sized bra ever again. I feel much better in myself knowing I won't have any of the above problems (for a good while at least) and that I'm doing something small to actively benefit my own health as well as of course reaping the benefits of my clothes hanging better and generally feeling more comfortable day to day, ladies you never know the true joy of a well fitted bra until you have been measured properly, so I urge, if you do one thing in these next couple of weeks take 10 minutes to go and get yourself professionally fitted!

I hope you have enjoyed this rather school teachery, PSE esque post and at least come away knowing something you perhaps didn't know before. As always I appreciate any and all comments so be sure to leave yours below, come share your thoughts with me on Twitter, or if you'd like to stick around and see more Granite City Girl posts you can follow me on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, holding up my 'nunga nungas'

H.Elizabeth x