Comfortable Support: The Best Bra for Large Busts, Tricky In-Between Sizes, and Bendy Bodies

This one’s for the ladies—men, kindly scroll on by. Thanks!

I just want to clarify that this is not an ad, no one is paying me to write this. I just found a solution that works for me and hopefully will for you too.

Bras are one of the more annoying parts of womanhood. It’s no wonder some feminists talk about burning them. While some women can get away with going braless, if you’re large-busted like I am, it’s not just about looks—it’s about pain. Skipping a bra (or wearing the wrong one) can leave your back screaming. A properly supportive bra is essential, especially if you have back issues. I’ve literally been scolded by my physical therapist for showing up in an old, stretched-out bra because it only made my cranky back and shoulders worse.

But getting a good bra that fits my body is not just challenging—it has become downright near impossible, not to mention a fortune (and a headache).

After getting yelled at by my physical therapist about needing to replace my bra, I started thinking that it was quite possible I was wearing the wrong-sized bra. My rib cage was always hurting, and it felt like the underwire was digging into my underarms. (I’d assumed that meant it was too wide of an underwire, but I soon learned otherwise.)

I decided to check out the website Abrathatfits.org, which I’d heard lots about as being the best way to figure out what size you should wear. It told me that instead of wearing a 40 DDD, I should be wearing a 42 I or J. This seemed ridiculous to me—weren’t my underwires too big for me? But I found out via discussions on the “A Bra That Fits” subreddit that if underwires poke into your arm or underarm, it often means the bra is too small, because the cup isn’t sitting flat against the chest but instead higher up on the breast tissue, which makes it stick out and be pokey.

I noticed after that that my bras were all sitting on my breast tissue, not under it, and concluded that the size it gave me was most likely correct or close to it.

I went to one of the two stores in my area that are known for having good quality bras in larger sizes and are experts at fitting, and they gave me a 42I (I think), which was the right size and shape cup, but they sewed on two bra extenders to get it to fit around my ribcage. It was the only one they had in that size and cost me a good $160.

Youch.

But I can’t just manage with one bra. And paying that price for another one or two made me nauseated. So I looked up online which bras were good quality and available on Amazon in my size, and ordered ones that were only $50 each—each a slightly different size so I could see which had the best fit. (Getting one and then attaching bra extenders didn’t seem like what I wanted.) But of the four I bought, none of them fit right. (And then I had to deal with returning them, which was a headache—and then I missed the return window.)

I tried going to the other store that supposedly also measures bras correctly (but they were the ones that sized me in those incorrectly fitting bras), and I told them what I wanted based on the measurements from “A Bra That Fits,” and they only had a few bras even remotely close to the size, and they said they could order different ones for me, but weren’t sure it would fit me.

I was bummed out. I needed bras.

In the meantime, I had gotten myself a gym membership and was loathe to work out in a $160 bra, so I just bought myself a few different sports bras from Amazon, figuring that since they didn’t have underwire it would be a little more flexible, and hoping at least one would work.

And wow, I am not going back.

Of the sports bras that I bought, one type is hands down my favorite bra, period.

This Truekind Sports Bra by Shapermint is all I could ask for in a bra.

It pulls over your head, is stretchy in the right places, but because of how the seams are built in, it is extremely supportive even though it has absolutely no underwire. (There are seams that seem to work in place of underwire.)

Because it is stretchy, there is flexibility with sizing—so even though I don’t fit a specific size exactly, it doesn’t matter. In fact, I can wear both 3X and 4X in this bra.

They have a huge range of sizes—from Small to 4X. Small fits from 30B or 32A, up to 4X (44I or 48F), which is amazing.

Since you pull it over your head, if your wrist or shoulder hurts too much or is too stiff to put your hands behind you to fasten or unfasten it—not an issue. (And no, closing a bra in front of you and turning it around is not something you’re supposed to do, since that is the fastest way to destroy them—and with $150 bras…)

And they don’t press on my ribs and end up hurting my already sore EDS body.

They only cost $28, or 2 for $50 on Amazon. And many of the models have free international shipping if you spend more than $49.

Anyhow, I like this bra so much that I’ve decided to get rid of all my other bras and just stock up exclusively on these. I have six by now, but I’ll probably get more—because, why not? They are machine washable too, which makes life a lot easier.

And did I mention supportive? Physical therapist approved. I didn’t even ask her opinion on it—she just commented that it was wonderful for my back since it was so supportive. And this is without a single piece of wire anywhere holding up anything. And that is holding up a size H/I bust. Which means it is super strong.