I’ve been wearing the wrong bra size my whole life — why you probably are, too
Karsen Murray says she feels like a boob after discovering she’s been wearing the wrong bra size her whole life.
The 31-year-old was fitted for a bra for the first time in her 30s — and was stunned to find herself going up two cup sizes, from a B to a D.
The copywriter and podcast host posted a video to her TikTok last year recalling her first fitting experience at Nordstrom — and the footage has recently resurfaced with viral status.
“Anyone else wear the wrong bra size your whole life or are you normal?” she wrote as the caption of her TikTok post, eliciting a barrage of commenters who were equally shocked the first time they got fitted.
Murray said it was her sister, whom she had just picked up from the airport, who suggested they both get fitted at a store.
While shopping, Murray asked a saleswoman for “the trifecta” of a “T-shirt bra, a pushup bra, and a really good strapless bra.”
“She’s like, ‘Okay, I’ll come back. I’m gonna bring you a D,” the employee told her.
“I was like no. I was like I’ve been a B my whole life. That thing’s gonna be gaping open,” Murray replied.
The saleswoman said, “Trust me.”
“She comes back, I put it on and it fits like a glove,” Murray exclaimed.
“Why do we know so little about our bodies as women? Like, I’ve been wearing the wrong bra size my whole life,” Murray said, clearly amazed.
“I didn’t know it wasn’t about the fullness. In fact, the width of your boobs is your cup size,” she said. “Getting professionally fitted is mandatory at this point.”
Murray’s followers also had some things to get off their chest about getting fitted properly for the first time.
“They had me at a 34 G!!! I had no idea that even existed lol,” wrote one woman.
“Yesss been a C forever and my husband of all people told me to go for it (when someone asked if I wanted to get professionally fitted) and I’m a D!” said another.
“It’s life-changing!” said a third.
Murray isn’t the only one spreading the bra-fitting gospel. Lingerie model Madison Alexandra posts videos on her TikTok educating women on how to wear the proper bra size in a series she calls “Bra School.”
She said women can have the same bra size but have different breast shapes and shared a DIY “calculator” that can help women fit themselves at home.
Wearing the wrong bra size has more consequences than potential unsightliness.
The wrong brassiere size can lead to back pain, stretch marks and bad posture, according to Britain-based lingerie retailer Pour Moi, which created a 3D model to show what the wrong fit can do to the body.
According to the company, there are serious health concerns associated with ill-fitting bras, such as chafing, back pain and skin indentation.
And should one want to avoid having to be fitted altogether, they can join Gen Z in the “no bra” trend that encourages women to free their breasts.
Gen Z women are embracing going braless, and the freeing move has taken the internet by storm.
The hashtag “No Bra” has over 600 million tags on TikTok, where women are sharing their outfits and looks without any underwire in sight. Being braless has become such a thing that #nobrachallenge has received over 9 million views.
The trend involves women showing what they look like in different outfits while not wearing a bra, with the added goal of normalizing different breast shapes.
One creator, Vaninileon, went viral sharing that she would attempt to go braless for a whole week.
“I have big to medium-sized boobs, and I want to try and go braless for at least one week,” she said, explaining that she didn’t like wearing bras during summer.
“Honestly, with every cute top, they are visible,” she vented.
The TikTok got millions of views, and people were very invested in following her fashion journey.
“Let them be free!” one commenter urged.
— with Post wires