Let me be a cheerleader for Wacoal. It’s all I wear now. And yes I bend of and get all the girls in there. A good bra makes you look like you’ve lost 10 lbs when you’re large busted. They also have a strapless with sticky stuff that keeps it from sliding.
I highly recommend the sales people at Intimacy boutiques (owned by co that makes Marie Jo and Prima Donna). They know this fitting stuff really well and usually have quite a selection of bras to work with. Good, quality bras are not inexpensive. Cheapo bras such as the ones sold at VS disintegrate after a few wears, but my Marie Jo beauties last several years. When you know your size and styles in the brand that fits you, you can take advantage of friends and family sales and clearance, which is what I do. Oh, and proper care is important. Just this morning Mr. commented how pretty our bathroom looked with all my bras hanging on the shower enclosure - I handwashed them last night with the special dry soap powder I got at Intimacy. Even though I have a handwash cycle on my washer that can handle delicate things well, I still wash my bras in the sink. It does not take long. 
My D uses a salad spinner to wash her bras!
Wow, that is the most unusual use of salad spinner I ever heard of!
I got fitted in the boutique, then ordered the same Wacoal bra thru herRoom, in another color.
I had to do the same with bathing suits. My g/f, petite an an A cup, looked great at Bloomies, saving 70%. I only saved 30%, but got bathing suits where one Could remove the padding, covered the “girls”. The saleswomen really knew their merchandise. Now I’m set for the next 10 years.
I’ve heard you should replace your bras after about 6 months.
My issue with the tighter band, frankly, is how hard it is to just get the bra on. I do go to two specialty shops, where they know their biz, where that’s their primary duty. And where the quality is high.
Prima Donna is my fav. Not cheap. Second fav is Elomi. At least that one goes on sale. Neither is padded (though my busty D loves the shaping that offers.) I won’t wear any bra that looks like knee pads on a hockey goalie. Has to be pretty.
“My issue with the tighter band, frankly, is how hard it is to just get the bra on.”
I need DH’s help to get on the strapless bra I mentioned in post #16. Fortunately, I only need to wear it once (and for dress fittings). I couldn’t wear an everyday bra in that band size.
Acollegestudent- check out the Natori Feathers bra. It is on sale at Nordstrom during the Anniversary sale.it has no padding and not a molded cup but does have underwire.
I’m ok with the tighter band but the bra boutique tried to get me to go down a band size and literally made it uncomfortable to breathe, so that was rejected. Ugh!
I’ve read about breast tissue migrating, including under arms and elsewhere from wearing the wrong size. If that’s true, I sure hope the breast tissue will migrate back to the breast. I’ve had excess tissue near my armpits since I was 12 and really dislike it–makes me very cautious that sleeveless things cover that area.
Have been refitted for bras a few times but so far, no migration of tissue from under the arms anywhere. I’m supposedly my ‘perfect’ weight and don’t have excess tissue anywhere else.
I think how long bras last is directly related to quality of materials, how you care for them, how long you let them rest between wearings, and yes how much strain we put on them DD cups generally putting more strain than A cups, for example. Have read that each of these factors have an influence on bra longevity.
The bra just needs to have enough structure on the sides to keep the girls up and out front. The Wacoal that I posted has an extra support panel inside. If you look at the close up picture you can see a faint contour line running around the side and bottom. That is the shape of the internal structure. As I age I finally understand why they call it the “foundations” department. That was one of life’s great mysteries for me as a kid. 
Bras that use a multi-panel construction offer more support than molded 2-yarmulka-on-a-sring style ones. This is my fav at the moment (notice that it also takes care of the cleavage issue by wrapping the “girls” individually):
http://m.herroom.com/prima-donna-016-2690-gracious-full-cup-underwire-bra.shtml
That is a stunning bra @bunsenBurner. I will be chuckling for the rest of the day over your ‘2-yarmulka-on-a-string’ description of some bras.
I also have the Natori bra mentioned in post #2 and like it very much. I used to be an F or G cup but made one of the best decisions I’ve ever made to have a reduction. My insurance covered everything…The indentations on your shoulders will be cited by your physicians as evidence that it’s medically necessary. I also had back pain that was helped significantly by the surgery. No harm in going for a consult~
I do often have to wear underwire, just cause most bras in my size have it, but since the reduction, I can also wear bra tops/dresses that just have an elastic band!
I even could pass the pencil test for years after the surgery, which was such a change. I had gone from flaf to about a DD almost overnight when I was about 16 & I would’nt have considered implants, unless maybe I was completely flat, but it is so much easier to be dressed appropriately now.
I used to wear minimizer bras, which helped, although they weren’t very delicate looking.
I have a front closure bra that doesnt have shaping, I think it is Wacoal, but it looks like the new ones have shaping.
I never go to Victorias Secret, they are the worst!
This site has lots of reader reviews.
http://www.bratabase.com
I’m not nearly as large as some of you, but I LOVE Spanx bras. I just bought several at the Nordstrom sale. I actually tried a couple of other brands this year, including Natori and Wacol (or whatever the W one is, I can’t remember). I bought a couple at Lord and Taylor, so I wound up keeping them, but when I was telling the Nordies lady, she said absolutely bring it back, so I brought one unused and one used back. Ah, the beauty of Nordstrom…
ETA, they are not particularly attractive, but very comfie. They don’t have adjustable straps, but they work just fine.
Fascinating behave been fitted and told I’m a 34DD but used the reddit calculator that says I’m a 30FF with sister sizes 32F and 28G. Hmmm, really confusing.
It isn’t easy finding these sizes, tho sometimes I have lucked out with the 34DD at Ross and Macy’s. Will have to see how things go if I try the new sizes. The bra boutique where I tried on a few sizes did try me in a 32, but it felt too tight–perhaps due to wrong cup size.
I have IBTs, so I have no experience with reduction, but I remember a friend from college having it done. She said “no matter how well the bra fits, sometimes you just don’t want to carry around all that flesh.” Made sense to me!
Buzzfeed makes me slightly nuts but this thread reminds me of this article: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchirico/no-one-can-figure-out-my-bra-size#.ksvoWKVq0
What I found most interesting is that the “correct” size varies so much with the different styles and manufacturers.
OK, sounds like I should give Norstrom’s another try, especially now during their anniversary sale which ends soon.
Maybe I’ll be in luck and have a helpful salesperson, who knows?