Ask Lemmy

Trying to buy bras for my wife has been an eye opening experience.

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned here yet is the Wild West of standards once you get to big cup sizes. Apparently DD is the same as E, DDD is an F, and I've even seen a DDDD, which would be a G. Depending on cuts, brands, and styles, her size can go from a DD to an I.

Not to mention these things are like $100 for a "cheap" one. The amount of engineering it has to take to design that shit is probably a few years of grad school.

Just now.

They're definitely defined differently between some countries. Japanese cup sizes are different to US ones

They aren't?

Well, today years old. Thanks.

Clothing sizing in general is just arcane at this point.

I'm sad I missed the days of girls wearing no bras. Must have been nice.

Today years old.

I'm gay, so current age I guess

It's also the fact that cup size is not necessarily independent from band size, that's where the trick is. I used to think I'm an A with a high band size as I'm huge with no booba, like a 39A or something but those never fit that well.

According to ABraThatFits methodology I'm actually 36C, which somehow does fit and super well, though by common and dudebro methodology I'm most certainly more of an "A cup" if that makes sense.

Most of the bras that my girlfriend gets fits on her first try, although she does tend to prefer sister sizes over her real size. If your girlfriend is having issues with bras fitting, it might be worthwhile to read up on how bra sizes are actually calculated and do a measurement yourself. Funny enough, most girls don't seem to know how the bra size system works either and they just get their sizes through trial and error, which seems like what has happened here.

The letter by itself is fundamentally meaningless. A 32D is equivalent to a 34B! And most girls severely underestimate their actual size. What would colloquially be called a B or C is actually an E

Have her go and get fitted. Many women don't know what their band/cup size really is.

Also, IMO, women's pant sizes are where the real absurdity in sizes is.

Wut

The cup size SHOULD be the difference in inches between the circumference below the breast and circumference around the breast.

3" difference would be a C cup

5" would be DD.

Why they double up some letters and not others, I couldn't tell you. 🤷🏻‍♂️

My ex used to sell underwear.

This is the case with all clothing.

There are plenty of brands that follow mostly standard sizing, as I understand it. But popular brands in the US (like Victoria Secret) generally don’t.

I fell down the r/abrathatfits rabbit hole one day, years ago. It’s fascinating.

Just now

Grade 9- girlfriend at the time was "blessed" so to speak. Learned e women have a much more difficult time finding bras and underwear that "work" than most men do.

It was a long time ago that I realized that women’s clothing sizing was largely fiction. Trying to buy clothing for a girlfriend or (later) my wife based on the tag of something they already owned was an exercise in futility.

No clothes shit in my country is standard so why would the bra's be?

Teenager. I'm an artist. I was drawing some characters. Had to find some references.

I just learned today since I've never been compelled to look up any sort of conversion chart, but I had a hunch because dress/pants sizes are all over the place. One brand's mostly-honest 12 is another brand's flattering 4, shit like that

I'm both fat and tall. None of my fucking clothes have consistent sizes that fit. I'm not the least bit surprised that the clothing industry's greatest minds were defeated by breasts.