The American sizing confuses me, but I could probably find a dozen online guides or so (with "our" sizing), in a couple of minutes.
Yeah, it didn't really work for me. According to the video I fit perfectly into my 13 year old sisters bras. I know my boobs aren't the biggest, but come on! I don't think I would be able to breathe wearing those.
HELLO LADIES STOP BEING STUPID. Since when have you ever worn a size 8 jean in
every brand you can find? Do you buy a size 12 dress from every store you ever shop at? When was the last time your shoe size carried across to every brand you happened to like? Sizing is not universal; it's how different companies keep you in their brand. Back in the 20s and 30s, a certain record company produced the absolute cheapest record player anyone had ever bought, and no one could figure out how they managed to sell it for less than half the price of everyone else's. Then they all realised that the pin that sits in the center of the record on this particular brand of player was actually larger than the standard, which meant that once you had this record player you could only play on it wax and vinyl produced by this particular company, as they were the only records that would fit on this turntable.
I wear a size 6 dress from David's Bridal, but I wear a size 4 from Dillard's, and when I make my own dresses I wear a size 12 or 14. I wear a size 2 in Levi and Victoria Secret jeans, but I wear 3s (sometimes) and 4s in everything else. I wear a size 8 in New Balance, a 7 from Chaco, a 7.5 from Qupid, and a size 38 in Doc Martins.
The point of the video was not about the sizing, it was about the fit. Regardless of what size the bra you are looking at RIGHT NOW happens to be, it should still do all those things like laying flat against your chest between your boobs and against your ribcage under them and the band should go across the smallest part of your back (which is pretty much the middle) and not ride up and you should be able to take the straps off your shoulders and have the bra still stay up because the band should be doing 80% of the supporting. If you buy bras from Macy's, then that sizing standard is great for you to use, especially if it works for you. Otherwise, you have to do it the old fashioned way and just guess and try them on until you find the one that works.
If I were to use that sizing method I would be a 32A, because my boobs do not stick off my chest that far. However, I am generally a rather full 32C (sometimes a 32B, depending on the brand), because I have more boob mass than a lot of people. See? It doesn't even work for the person you thought was advocating it! It is a great place to start, sure, but the be-all-end-all of bra fitting is when you have found one that does all of those properly-fitting things.
All of them.
Like Liz said,
It's not that bad, really. You measuring around your ribcage, that gives you the band size. Then you go around ribcage+boobs. The difference between the two generally dictates your cup size, 1"=A, 2"=B, etc. This method isn't always perfect, but it gives you a good starting place.
That video Katie posted is pretty nice, but it definitely doesn't cover every problem. A lot of the problems I have with my boobies are apparently opposite problems. One thing is I so have spillage. Major spillage. But then the sides of my bra (the cup part closest to my armpit) bags. I think mine are closer than average or something. And you can very rarely get cute contour bras in my size, and a lot of the ones that are there are minimizers.
The perfect bra is something I don't think I'll ever find. Maybe I'll go into there though to get sized... though I have at several other places too which never helped.
I am pretty sure you can solve that with a different style bra. If your boobs are really soft and a teensy bit (or a lot bit) saggy or even if you have pancake boobs, balcony-bras and balconets (or whatever else they might be called) help give you a little lift and even out your cup fillage. Demi-bras work pretty well for this type of boob, too, although they don't provide the even filling thing. For instance, I have talked this to death with Heather. Remember Heather? She has the most amazing collection of bras I have ever seen, but they are all balcony bras, so I can't steal any or copy them, because I fall over the top of balcony styles. Her boobs are enormous and beautiful and their size kind of drags them down, so they are a little saggy, and so the balcony styles work wonders for her.
Try an underwire balcony bra with some pads that you can try putting in the cleavage sides of the cups to push your boobs toward the center of the cups.
Also, remember, if you can't find a good bra, corsets came first, and those ALWAYS work.