# Please explain women's bra sizes to me
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 6, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734 "2005-05-06T19:25:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/1 "2005-05-06T19:25:34Z")
Not being very yabo-motivated, I’ve never really understood women’s bra sizes. Is a triple C bigger than a single D? I assume the number is the woman’s measurement. I know they’re not one size fits all, but is there anyway to estimate a woman’s bra size? (I overheard my reclusive mother saying she needs some new bras and I’ve no idea what her size is, but I wanted to get her some for mother’s day.)
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### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/2 "2005-05-06T19:28:49Z")
You don’t want to get your mother new bras for mothers day. Because cup sizes are different by manufacter. Get a gift certificate.
Generally, you measure below the breast - that’s the number (34, 36, 38). Then across the nipples. If the number across the nipples is one bigger its an A, 2 bigger a B. Generally AA are smaller than As and DD are bigger than Ds and you seldom see BBs or CCs and Es and above are special order.
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/3 "2005-05-06T19:32:52Z")
Honey, ain’t no such thing as a triple C.
The way bra sizes work is this.
AAA, AA, A, B, C, D, DD, E and so on. I’ve never seen anything bigger than an E cup commercially available, and believe you me, I’m in a position to have to look. Generally speaking, very small-breasted women don’t wear bras unless they have to as part of a uniform or under see-through clothes or whatever.
The number is just the measurement around the woman’s ribcage, under her breasts.
The Master has, of course, spoken [here](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_087.html) and [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000714.html).
Robin
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/4 "2005-05-06T19:33:47Z")
Thanks. I wasn’t sure if it was anything I could deduce or not. (Out of curiosity, are there bras specifically for older women [my mother is 70- she used to be fairly top heavy, but age and gravity and weight loss and what have you she’s gone down a bit in both meanings).
Totally out of curiosity, would somebody like, say, [Aretha Franklin](http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/gallery/2003/02/24/ArethaFranklin.jpg), be able to find what she needed at a large women’s shop in most towns or would she have to special order?
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### Author:  [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/5 "2005-05-06T19:36:29Z")
Women’s breast sizes start at ‘big enough’ going up through ‘Wow!’ and range all the way up to ‘still within acceptable parameters.’
I’m sorry, I got distracted. What were you saying?
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/6 "2005-05-06T19:37:00Z")
One thing even bra manufacturers don’t seem to realize is that your ribcage measurement and your cup size _have nothing to do with each other_.
You can be a 32-DD or a 42-AA, but try and find those sizes . . . They all assume if you have a big ribcage (say, 42"), you also have huge boobs, and vice-versa.
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/7 "2005-05-06T19:37:50Z")
> [@Sampiro](#):
>
> Thanks. I wasn’t sure if it was anything I could deduce or not. (Out of curiosity, are there bras specifically for older women [my mother is 70- she used to be fairly top heavy, but age and gravity and weight loss and what have you she’s gone down a bit in both meanings).
>
> Totally out of curiosity, would somebody like, say, [Aretha Franklin](http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/gallery/2003/02/24/ArethaFranklin.jpg), be able to find what she needed at a large women’s shop in most towns or would she have to special order?
I’ve never seen bras specifically designed for older women, but given the fact that she’s changed over the years, she might want to go to a department or specialty lingerie shop to be fitted. I do this every few years, and it’s nice to have bras that fit well.
As for Aretha Franklin, I don’t know what her bra size is, but there are stores for, ah, larger women that carry bigger bras. I’m sure she doesn’t buy her clothes off-the-rack, though, but I don’t know for sure.
Robin
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### Author:  [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/8 "2005-05-06T19:44:50Z")
I wrote a long post here but I see the question has already been answered. However:
> [@MsRobyn](#):
>
> I’ve never seen anything bigger than an E cup commercially available, and believe you me, I’m in a position to have to look.
I know they do at some specialty stores. I went to the Town Shoppe\* in Manhattan last winter with my mother to get professionally fitted. My mom ended up being an F, I think (she had been wearing D’s or DD’s!), and she bought some bras there. Try shopping online.
\*I thought that was the name of it, but I can’t find the web site for it anywhere. It’s near Zabar’s.
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### Author:  [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/9 "2005-05-06T19:53:37Z")
Maybe if I spell it correctly: [Town Shop](http://www.townshop.com/press.shtml)
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/10 "2005-05-06T20:00:05Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#):
>
> The number is just the measurement around the woman’s ribcage, under her breasts.
>
> The Master has, of course, spoken [here](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_087.html) and [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000714.html).
Cecil apparently disagrees with you:
> [@](#):
>
> For a good practical treatment of the sizing process, you can’t beat Victoria’s Secret, which gives the following explanation. First, one measures around the rib cage below the breasts **and adds five to the result**. This gives us the band size–the numerical part of 34C.
So which is it; plus 5 inches, or not?
In any case, a 34D is going to be much more impressive than a 40D, right?
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### Author:  [@Agonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agonist)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/11 "2005-05-06T20:11:24Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#):
>
> I’ve never seen anything bigger than an E cup commercially available, and believe you me, I’m in a position to have to look.
I’d also like to weigh in on this comment. In most stores, even plus-size stores, it’s hard to find a cup size larger than DD (or E). This is one reason so many large women have horribly-fitting bras.
I’d been wearing a 44DD when I went to Nordstrom’s and got fitted. The lady pegged me as a 42G (or DDDD), and then trotted out the \*two \* bras she had in that size. I bought them both, then went home and looked online for more. I highly recommend wearing well-fitting bras for both comfort and looks.
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### Author:  [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/12 "2005-05-06T20:20:59Z")
Not to be creepy, but is there a way you could get a look at one of your mother’s–while doing the laundry or something? I’m assuming she wants new ones because they are worn out, not because they don’t fit right anymore.
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### Author:  [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/13 "2005-05-06T21:35:43Z")
> [@cher3](#):
>
> Not to be creepy, but is there a way you could get a look at one of your mother’s–while doing the laundry or something?
If you go this route, there is usually a tag on the back of the bra, that contains the manufacturer, the style number, and the size. But as others have said, the meaning of 38D can vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. I really wish buying women’s clothing was as straight forward as buying men’s.
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### Author:  [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/14 "2005-05-06T22:05:59Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#):
>
> Cecil apparently disagrees with you:So which is it; plus 5 inches, or not?
>
> In any case, a 34D is going to be much more impressive than a 40D, right?
Depends on what you consider impressive.
Yeah, 40Ds may _appear_ smaller, but if the breast itself did not shrink, and the woman lost weight enough to wear a 34, she’d then be a 34DDDD, or F which is the same thing. With every inch you go down in bandsize, you go up in cup size.
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/15 "2005-05-06T22:14:51Z")
Get her a gift certificate to a good department store. They will assist her in fitting, if a bra is indeed what she wants for Mother’s Day.
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### Author:  [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/16 "2005-05-06T23:32:43Z")
I had a friend who went up to an F while she was pregnant. In an emergency, perhaps a maternity clothes store would be able to help, since she had no problem finding one of those there.
Finding As, that’s tricky too. And finding unpadded and ununderwired As is even harder. Jerks. _sigh_ According to the inches=cup size thing I should be able to wear a 34 B but the cups are always wrinkly. I’d rather wear a slightly-small A cup than have wrinkles on the front of the girls.
As for Mother’s Day, I’m voting for the gift certificate idea. The only way to find a bra is to try it on, in my experience.
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### Author:  [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/17 "2005-05-07T00:14:49Z")
My buddy’s wife, when pregnant, went to an H cup. She mentioned that one evening while late in term, and he and I said as one voice, “HooAh.” She proclaimed us both pigs and went to bed. We laughed and had another beer. 😃
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### Author:  [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/18 "2005-05-07T05:33:17Z")
I’m just here to say that the add 5 inches thing is bunk. Or if it isn’t, then I’m totally on another planet, cause supposedly I am supposed to wear a 42AA. Which doesn’t exist.
So the girls get put into 36Ds and everyone is happy.
Bra manufacturers are crackheads.
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### Author:  [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-womens-bra-sizes-to-me/302734/19 "2005-05-07T05:48:27Z")
Every single bra size is different between manufacturers, and even between styles. It should not be, but it is. Look at the sizing as a suggestion and a guide, not as an absolute.
The stretchiness/firmness of fabric makes a big difference, as does the shape and style of the cup.
The vast majority of bras are never tested on “real” breasts - only rigid plastic dummies. Larger sizes are just the smaller ones scaled up. So for a bigger woman, the bra may well fit, but it may not support. Impossible to tell from the picture whether it’s going to fit AND flatter.
So when buying a bra for a woman, make sure she is able to return it and exchange it.