Your “Sister” Bra Sizes & Your Bra Size Neighborhood

Transcript from "Bra Fitting Secrets: Why Are My Bra Straps Slipping?" Video.

In our HerRoom survey of over 400 thousand women, 52% claimed having narrow sloping shoulders. They think that’s causing their bra straps to slip. So what’s going on here? Well, the reality is that many of these women are in a band size that’s too big.

So first, here’s a quick and simple test to see if your bra band is too big. Take your straps off your shoulders and see what happens. Too big, and the bra falls down and off. Just right, and the bra stays up. Bra straps should only slightly help support your breast weight – the bulk of your breast support should always come from your bra band.

When your band is too big, the band first rides up your back. So, in the morning, when you put on this bra, if feels fine, but during the day it creeps up your back like this, your breasts start to sag, the straps loosen, and fall off your shoulders.

This mannequin has on the same bra but in 2 different band sizes. See how the strap placement moves out towards the shoulders. But remember, when you go down a band size, you need to go up a cup size just to maintain your same cup volume.

Now if you’re short or long- waisted, or are less than 5’4” or taller than 5’8”, you really need to look at a bra’s strap adjustability. Many bra straps only adjust in the back like this. This obviously reduces the amount of adjustability. Instead look for straps with full adjustability both in the back and front.

For those of you with sloping shoulders, how the straps are attached to the bra is key. At HerRoom, we show you strap placement for every bra.

Here is a balconette bra. See how much further out the straps are located?

Bras with center pull straps are a great choice for sloping shoulders. A center pull strap is sewn closer to the center of the cup, and less toward the shoulder. A center pull strap is sewn closer to the center of the cup and less towards the shoulders.

Women with sloping shoulders can wear a balconette bra or other wide-set strap bras as long as the straps are “kicked in.”

See how close the straps come together in back on this balconette bra? This is what I mean by “kicked in.”

Having the straps angled instead of coming straight down does a great job of keeping bra straps on your shoulders.

Bras with a leotard back design, also called a U back, can also help keep straps on your shoulders. Here’s a traditional or camisole bra back next to a leotard back. The circular nature of a leotard back pulls the straps more towards the center to help keep your straps on your shoulders. But, beware; not all bras claiming to have a leotard back do this.

Here’s an example of a wide leotard back bra with straps set widely apart. This would do little to help keep your bra straps up on your shoulders.

Of course, Racerbacks t-backs v-back and other special bra backs will be a great solution for keeping straps on your shoulders.

And now, many manufacturers are including what’s called a j-hook on the back of bra straps that easily allow you to pull your straps closer together.

So you can see, if your bra straps keep slipping, you can remedy this by either finding your correct bra size, or selecting a bra with the right features.