The Bra Fitter Diaries: Measuring Bra Size

Welcome to the Broad Lingerie blog! I’m Shavaun, and as the store receptionist I’m often the first face you’ll see when you visit us. But that’s not all – I’m also training as a bra fitter under Sam, Broad’s owner and fit expert. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into fit training. I know I’m not the only one out there who’s spent years confused about her bra size, so I hope that by sharing what I learn I can clear things up for you, too!

On my first day at Broad I mentioned that as a 34D, I wouldn’t fit into our size range of DD to JJ. Sam glanced at me and said she thought I was more like a 32E. Lo and behold, when I had a fitting a few days later, she was right. This superpower is one that fitters develop over time…must be fun at parties! Until then, I’ll be measuring bra size.

First, I’ll measure for the band size – I’m working with a volunteer model here. I wrap the measuring tape around her body, just under her bust. I’ll make sure that the tape is level all the way around, not dipping or riding up at the back. Then I pull the tape til it’s snug against her body and note the measurement. In this case, it’s 30”. Because our model is pretty slender, there’s not a lot of cushioning around her ribcage. This could make a very snug band uncomfortable. She’s also not especially full-busted, so she doesn’t need the extra support a very snug band would offer a fuller-busted person. For those reasons, I’m going to add 2” to that measurement, bringing us to 32”. (For a person with more padding around the ribs, or for a fuller-busted person, I would stick with the original measurement of 30”.)

Next, I’ll measure her bust. Again making sure that the tape is level at the back, I wrap it around the fullest part of the bust. I’m not pulling it tight this time; instead I’ll leave it a little loose because pulling it snug would only compress breast tissue and result in a too-small cup size. Our model’s bust measures 37”.

So, how do we get from these measurements to a cup size? I count the inches between the two measurements. If there is no difference between the two (i.e. underbust is 30” and bust is 30”) then the cup size is A. If there’s an inch difference, it’s a B cup, and so on. Since our model’s measurements are 32” and 37” respectively, I calculate her cup size like this:

30    31    32    33    34    35    36    37    38    39    40    41    42    43    44    45    46    47

                A      B      C      D     DD     E      F      FF     G     GG    H    HH    J     JJ

 Now we know that our model measures as a 32E. But what does that really mean? And what happens next? Check in next Friday, when I’ll explain the true meaning of Christmas – I mean, cup sizes.