#bratabase

Bratabase: Bra database where you can compare bras and see how they'll fit you. Read recommendations, reviews and pictures of your bras.

   Online shopping for most items that fall under the intimates section header can be expensive and if you can't return or exchange things that don't fit quite right you can end up with a stack of underthings that you cannot wear or exchange. So how does one go about being more successful in their endeavors to shop online for their unmentionables?

Start with figuring out your sizing range; a good place to begin is with reddit's ABraThatFits size calculator. Another option is http://www.sophisticatedpair.com/bracalculator.htm

Want to get opinions on whether something fits? Browse through brands, sizes, and styles? http://www.bratabase.com/

It might just help their bottom line - getting companies that make bras to recognize - and maybe even start to add to their size range - that what they might call "niche sizes" or "unusual sizes" are people who they might just need as customers to stay profitable as retail businesses.

The perception of how a certain size bra should look is influenced by celebrities and the media - truthfully, these influences are just a bit off. Human physiological variability is almost infinite, which is why we can have five women who have all been correctly sized as wearing a bra size of 28E yet their breasts each look different and they can't all wear the same style bra and have it fit. You can see some actual visual examples at  http://www.brabandproject.com/.

The sizing system used for bras varies internationally- UK, U.S., Europe, Italy, France, and Australia have different sizing systems; http://www.breasttalk.co.uk/size_charts.aspx.

When I am considering a bra that is made by a company that I have no previous experience with, I know that I am playing "bra buying roulette" if I buy a bra without trying it on in the dressing room of a retail brick and mortar location. Bra manufacturers are under no obligation to mention that they have made design/construction changes to their collection of continuity styles (the styles that they keep from season to season, and generally the most basic ones that the company offers). Then there's the secrecy that surrounds how they determine and construct each size offered by an individual company. Sure, I understand the practicality behind a vague reference to "trade secrets" by a business. They don't want their ideas and design specifications to be used by another business and thus take from their total profits. Why don't they just establish a standard system of sizes then? It won't help address the issues in shape and other physiological aspects, but a standard sizing system for bras would be a good start.