The easiest way for the Grail team to assist folks with their bra issues is in person here at our boutique, where all 7,000+ bras in our inventory (actually 7,336 bras as of this post) are just a few feet away. We’re well aware that geography doesn’t always make that possible, though, especially for a large portion of the people who first discover us through social media. If your circumstances prevent you from getting bra help face-to-face, you’re likely to end up looking for answers online. There’s a lot of misinformation and dubious advice about bras on the internet, so I’d like to point anyone reading this to the single best online bra fitting resource: Reddit’s ABraThatFits community.

If your primary bra problem is uncertainty about your size, drop everything and use this calculator right now: https://www.abrathatfits.org/calculator.php
In fact, if you think you know your baseline or average bra size but your current bras don’t seem to be working, use the calculator anyway. I promise, you will very likely see a size result that surprises you.

However, size alone doesn’t guarantee that a bra will fit properly. Bra shapes are just as important, and the r/ABTF forum includes a number of resources for identifying your breast shape characteristics and matching them to a well-suited bra style.

You might be wondering, if the r/ABraThatFits calculator and forum are so great, what purpose does a professional bra fitter even serve? The knowledge that our fitting team brings to the table and the information that a would-be client can get from ABTF are two sides of the same coin and actually complement each other really well. I love it when a customer comes to us with an ABTF calculator size because we can jump straight into trying bras and troubleshooting the fit. There’s no need to take new measurements because the calculator size gives us a starting point that’s at least as accurate as our own measurements, assuming that the measuring instructions above were followed correctly. The thing is that bras are quirky. Some styles run a size large or small in band, cups, or both. They vary in their cup width, depth, & height. Gore structure, coverage, material construction, firmness, sensory attributes… I could go on and on. As bra fitters, we’re trained to be knowledgeable about both the body and the garment side of the bra fit equation. When customers walk in with a thorough understanding of their own body characteristics, that’s awesome, because we can help bridge the product gap with understanding of different bra styles.

For our existing clients who have already been fitted in person by the Grail team, you might have noticed that our measuring process doesn’t follow the exact steps outlined by the ABTF calculator. “What gives?”, you’re thinking. The short answer is that working in person allows us to bypass some steps that would be impractical or uncomfortable for many of our clients because we have the benefit of being able to immediately evaluate the technical fit of the bras you try on in-store and make any necessary size or shape adjustments right away. We do, in effect, compare different band measurements by adjusting the tightness of the measuring tape; however, there isn’t a really viable way to take a bust measurement with the customer laying down in the fitting room, especially when some of our customers have mobility limitations.

We don’t require our clients to be measured bare-chested either, although we can definitely do so if that’s their preference. We provide fittings for underage youth, abuse survivors, and plenty of folks who are just extremely self-conscious. Many wouldn’t accept fitting help at all if they were expected to disrobe. The Grail team feels that it’s more important to respect a client’s personal boundaries and tailor the process to their comfort level than it is to get slightly more accurate measurements. We have the opportunity to correct sizing at the “test fit” stage of the fitting anyway. The secret… which isn’t really a secret because I say it directly to all of my clients… is that I always take those quick initial measurements with a grain of salt. I expect them to get us in the general ballpark of your size range. I square that size with what my eyes are telling me, bring you a test fit bra (sometimes called a “diagnostic” bra in the ABTF forum,) and then I can assess the result. If we need to go up or down in the band/ cups, I can bring you the adjusted size and compare the fit between both. This is effective because we have every size right there at arm’s length and the ability to provide instant fit-checks. As an aside, though, beware of any bra retailer that measures you over your clothes, spits out a size, and leaves you to figure out the rest on you own. That’s not how any of this works.

If you’re trying to find the right bra on your own, you really cannot do better than r/ABraThatFits. Check it out and thank me later.