Visualizing the Sheer Number of Bra Sizes Out There...

I got to thinking, last night, about the sheer number bra sizes out there--at least 400--and how few are actually available to the general (shops at bricks and mortar stores) public in the United States--between 50 and 100.

Can you imagine if there were stores that carried all the sizes?  It could even be multiple stores, owned by the same company kind of like Chico's FAS has two stores that cater to different demographics but either can shop in both.  (Was that confusing?  It sounds confusing when I read it back.)  Chico's FAS owns Chico's (which caters to (and features in their ads) the 40+ year old woman who likes to be put together but not necessarily "businessy") and White House Black Market (which caters to the mid-20s to early 40s "businessy" demographic).  They used to also own Boston Proper (which catered to a whole different--more "vacationy" and sexier--facet of women's lives) but that went by the wayside.

Anyhow, back to the bras.  You could have one store with 26-40, AA-HH; one store with 42-56, AA-HH, and a third with 26-56, J-PP.  Hell, make it a whole multi-floor department store with sections for each size.  Call it the Bra Emporium.  A girl can dream about a world of bras with very well trained fitters.

Wow!  I got a bit off track from my original thought: visualizing all those sizes.

So, here is what we "see" at most any Victoria's Secret store:

Not in all styles but, for the most part, their bras, IN STORE, fall into that chart range.

And this is what contributes to people thinking that a D cup is HUGE.  It's not.  By any means.

What if you go to a midrange department store like JCPenney?  You'll probably "see" this:

I have to caveat this photo.  I kept my items square for ease of cropping.  You're not likely to find the upper Ds in a lot of midrange stores for size 30 bands; A-C cups, yes, but not much above that.  Same goes for the A and B cups in the 40+ bands.  (I fixed the erroneously colored in purple on my original product but all the pictures in this post are from the same photo, just cropped accordingly.)

And folks are still thinking a D cup is quite large.  Nope.  Still isn't.

Okay, so what if you go to a place like Nordstrom?  If you're lucky, you might have choices like this:

Maybe.
And you might be thoroughly confused because "Is it a UK size or a US size or a EU size?"  "What size am I?"  (I used UK (with a slight US overlap) on these charts.)

But those are still a lot of bra sizes, right?  You shouldn't need more than that, right?

WRONG.  That's not even a quarter of what bra size needs actually are.

Oh, and see where that "HUGE" D cup falls?  Not even in the middle now.  And, realistically, we need to get over this "Huge" and "Tiny" thing.  Breasts are just breasts.  And, in many cases, they cause great consternation to the person to whom their attached because of how American society reacts to them, no matter where they fall on a size chart.

For those who fall into the coming chart, they won't be surprised by the range of sizes but a lot of other folks might be.  So where does the remainder of the 400 sizes that I alluded to come from?

Here:

A whole gamut of bra sizes that are not sold in bricks and mortar stores; mainly, I think, because it "costs too much" to make that many bras.  I think we'll get there but it's going to take time and lots of education, on the part of the consumer.  The more that we educate people on their real size, the more they'll place a demand on bra manufacturers.  Is that DD from Victoria's Secret really your size or are you buying it because it's the only thing that you knew existed, that seemed to fit your breasts?

Hell, if Barbie, an icon for generations who had only one body type for decades, can get tall and petite and curvy, then bra manufacturers will provide when the demand is placed on them.  Even if they don't get to all the other Aspects of Fit, in all the sizes, just providing more sizes IN STORES is 

a start.

Want to find out what size you measure?  Check out the calculator here.  All you need is a soft tape measure and something to capture your numbers as you take them.  

What If I Don't Have A Tape Measure?

The first part of finding a bra that fits, is determining your band size.  The band is the measurement off which everything else is based.  You can't be specific about your cup size until you get your band size because your cup size is X inches larger (or smaller) in circumference than your band.  You could, feasibly, determine your shape without your band size but you'll have better success in determining which new bras to try with that first piece of information solidified.

So...what if you don't have a tape measure...but you do have some fairly new bras?  How can you use them to determine your band size?

Put one of those puppies on upside down, cups over belly.  Like so:

For modesty's sake, I kept my Chantelle on while I put the Elila on upside down.  You will want to ensure that the bottom of the band (which is at the top now) is all the way up in your IMF (aka boob crease) vs being pushed down by the underwire like you see above.

Now, how much space is between you and the band?

After having surgery in January and not getting much activity (but enjoying tasty food) there isn't much space between me and the band of my Elila so I haven't been wearing them at all in the past two months but...I digress.

If the fit is loose, the bra band is too large and you should go down to the next one.  If you can fit a whole hand width between you and the band, you might need to go down more than one band size.  If the fit is uncomfortably snug--like my Elila is to me currently--you will need to go up in the band.  If the band is comfortable, it will stay the same but you may need to adjust for cup size.

You can also check for snugness by checking how much tension is on the upper and lower hooks of the bra.  If they're straining, go a little larger so that you don't warp the shape of the cup in front.

So...if it's comfortable, flip the bra right side up and swoop and scoop.  That will determine the next step in your journey.  Bon voyage!!