The Bra Size Epidemic You Need To Stop!
Ladies, drop your bras. There is an epidemic in the lingerie industry that we need to talk about for the greater good of women everywhere. Your bra doesn’t fit. bra size calculator
There I said it.
How many times have you visited a Victoria’s Secret and left with an A-DD cup bra in tow? I bet you thought that those were the only standard bra sizes. I bet that when you picture double D’s you think of HUGE cups. I even bet that half of you have left the store disappointed because nothing seemed to fit perfectly. Don’t worry girls, I was like you once.
I was like you until I realized that there was a whole side to this industry that I had never known about. I was perfectly content buying beautiful lingerie to hold my 34B boobies and didn’t even give it a second thought. That was until I was introduced to the wonderful world of UK bra sizing and my life changed forever. After you read this, I hope it will change your world too.
Since we were young it’s been engraved in our North American minds that average band sizes range from 32-38 and cup sizes range from AA-DDD. It has created this ideal that is so incorrect that bra companies should be ashamed of what they have been doing to breasts all these years.
In North American culture, we measure for bras based on methods that were developed in the 1930s. Before then, bras were considered a “one size fits all” item. Realizing that not all women were the same size, S.H. Camp and Company created four cup sizes, A, B, C, and D, which were not based on cup volume but rather how they hung. Band sizes weren’t even created until the 1940s. They measured the band size by adding on approximately 4 inches due to the lack of stretch in the materials used to construct the garment. Back then, women were working and needed to be able to move more freely in their undergarments — much unlike the Victorian corset eras.
Why the history lesson? Because most lingerie shops today still use this method of sizing. With the introduction of stretch materials, you can start to understand why a 34 band size might not be the most optimal fit. Getting measured at a shop usually means that the fitter will take your under bust measurement and add on 4 inches to match their brands’ sizing. A larger band size means a smaller cup size, because the capacity of the cup is dependent on the width of the band. Hence, 34C’s are born.
But what if I told you that your 34Cs are actually 30Fs? F!?! Yes, there is such a thing, and it’s much more common than you think, and no, your boobs have not magically sprouted overnight.