Hi

I was wondering if due to the difficulty in finding nice bras in the right size if you all sometimes compromise with the band size?

For example if you were a correctly fitted 26d and you saw a gorgeous bra that only went down to a 32 band would you get it in a 32a?

The cup size would be the same but obviously the band size would be too big, but I am sure a lot of people on here are used to that over the years.

I've heard you can alter the bra band, but I've never had it done so I can't tell you from experience. I went to one of those shopping mall "we have every bra for every woman" type stores, and of course they didn't have my band size, but they said they would alter one that fit in the cup down to fit my actual band size.

Altering down a 32 to a 26 may be a bit complicated, since so much material would have to be removed that I'm sure the shoulder straps would have to be moved quite a bit. But if you really love this bra, it may be worth looking into. =)

I wouldn't suggest buying a size 32 if you really need a 26 and just wearing it without some type of alterations because it will drive you absolutely nuts. The band will ride up your back, causing your bra straps to slip down your shoulder seemingly every second and you will go insane. I know THIS from experience.

i recently got two bras altered from a 30 band to a 28, at a specialty bra boutique. (i went to three different specialty bra boutiques, and they all told me i had to do this, because TLBC and several other petite bra manufacturers don't make anything bigger than a c-cup on a 28 band, and the bras that are made by most other companies in 28d and above have full-coverage cuts, triple-row hooks, and extra-wide straps--i call them "industrial strength" bras--even though 28d is really not large enough to warrant that!) in retrospect, i wish i had just left them the way they were, because even though my under-bust measurement is 24 inches (25 if i don't exhale), the underwires dig uncomfortably after the alterations, making the bras feel too tight. and now that they've been altered, i can't return them.

to do the alteration, the bra seamstress rips off the panels containing the hooks and the eyes on both sides of the band and re-attaches them closer to the straps along the band. you will be limited in the number of inches you can take off because 1) you can't place the hooks beyond where the straps are attached, and 2) the band usually gets vertically wider the closer you get to the straps, so depending on the design of the bra, the band may become way too wide to attach the hooks that came from the narrowest part of the band.

i think it might be difficult to take that much fabric off of an already small band, but if you can find some bras in a 28c, you should definitely be able to alter it to a 26.