I have been on a quest recently. A long term exploration of the internet and various stores to find the perfect bra. Here's what I have discovered:

It doesn't exist!

According to the History of the Bra on National Geographic women have been binding themselves in some way since the 13th century but it wasn't until 1928 that the modern, and I use that term loosely, sizing system was created by William Rosenthall, a man. Oh, his wife helped. Unfortunately sizes are not standard and vary internationally as well as from brand to brand. According to one "bra store" owner 8 out of 10 women wear the wrong size bra.

Isn't that helpful?

The most useful information I found was compiled by someone else in their blog. Here I found a couple of useful sizing charts as well as someone who obviously knows my pain.  

http://www.epbot.com/2013/04/everything-you-never-knew-you-needed-to.html

It's not enough to discover your band size. That's the part of the bra that sits on your rib cage. It's not enough to know what your cup size is. If I need to explain that you probably don't need a bra. You also have to know if you have top heavy breasts or bottom heavy. Think round with nipples in the center or pendulum with nipples on the top. There are bras made for both types but they don't tell you which ones they are!

You have to try them ALL on.

I have had at least 50 bras on in 10 or 11 different brands and I purchased...wait for it...0. Not one bra fit properly. Part of the problem is that manufacturers seem to assume that if your cup size is bigger then your band size must be as well. WRONG!!! Don't even get me started on how all plus sized women must be 6ft tall! Stores generally carry 36D but jump to 38DD or 38DDD. Can't get that because bras stretch out over time and I actually want it to be on the last set of hooks so I have somewhere to go. If you don't fit it tightly then as it stretches you are relying on the straps to hold the girls up and you WILL look saggy.

Online isn't really any better unless you have a lot of cash to spend on a really good bra or, 2) you don't care if it looks like something from the 50s.

So if you are a smaller size, and your breasts aren't sagging from age the you get TONS of options like this cute stripey one at a decent price point.

But if you have a larger cup size and gravity has taken a hold then cute bras cost a fortune and what you can afford looks like this: (and this isn't even all that bad, just boring!)

What's the point? Well I STILL don't have the right bra. I have ordered 4 online and have to wait until they come in to see if they fit. If they don't I may go back to the way they did it in the 13th Century - strips of cloth wrapped tightly and tied. At least I know it will fit and it might even look cuter than some of the options I have now.