Cup Sizes Depend on Band Sizes

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Cup sizes aren't fixed. The volumes of a cup actually depend greatly on the band that supports it. Butterfly Collection has written a great comprehensive description on how cups relate to bands, clearly explains the math and reason behind it, and even created a fantastic chart that makes it all easy to understand! Here's an excerpt:

"One of our most popular blog posts is ‘Not All D Cups Are The Same’ which explains that the volume of D cups (all cups in fact) gets bigger as the band size gets bigger. This is why a woman wearing a 32E can also wear a 34D because the cup volume is the same, only the band is different. 

Lots of women were interested in the topic but asked for some more explanation. Today's post goes into more depth about why the volume of the same cup letter gets bigger as the band gets bigger. 

What Would We Look Like If All Cup Sizes Really Were The Same Volume?As regular readers will know, cup sizes simply acknowledge the difference between a woman’s ribcage measurement and her full bust measurement. So for example both these women have D cup breasts because they both have a four inch difference between their ribcage and full bust measurements: 
Woman A is a 30D (Ribcage = 30 inches, Full Bust = 34 inches)
Woman B is a 38D (Ribcage = 38 inches, Full Bust = 42 inches)
So why does Woman B with a 38D bust look bustier than Woman A who has a 30D bust? The answer is that Woman B's bust is PROPORTIONALLY bigger than Woman A.
To put this into context let's take the 30D breasts from Woman A and put them on women with 32, 34, 36 and 38 bodies to see what it looks like..."

Read the rest of this brilliant post on their website: http://blog.butterflycollection.ca/2012/09/why-do-cup-volumes-get-bigger-as-band.html

Be Your Own Bra Fitter

You already know how important it is to wear a well-fitting bra in the correct size. If you haven't gone to see a bra fitter and don't have plans to go any time soon, then consider taking a moment to measure yourself! You'll be glad that you did.
Good Housekeeping has a brief bra fitting guide here: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/fashion/best-bra-guide-0800

Taking Your Measure
Not only will a properly fitted bra feel more comfortable, but it will make your clothes fit and look better. First step: Learn how to do the math, so you can figure out your own dimensions.
1. Stand straight and relax. Don't inhale and expand your rib cage as if you're about to blow out candles.
2. Using a soft tape measure, measure all the way around your body, placing the tape measure right beneath your breasts (example: 30 1/2). Add five to that number, rounding up if necessary to the next even number (36). Congratulations: That's your band size.
3. Next step: The cup. While wearing a bra, measure completely around the fullest part of your bust (across the nipple) without pulling tight. Make sure the tape measure goes around your entire back (38).
4. Subtract the number from your band size (38-36=2). The result will indicate your appropriate cup size, based on the following guide:
0=AA  1=A  2=B  3=C  4=D  5=DD  6=DDD

Read more: Bra Fitting Guide - Find the Right Bra Size - Good Housekeeping 

A Perfect Fit

No woman is average, and that is why True & Co is on a mission to create the perfect bra fit for women's unique figures. They studied the secrets of lingerie experts who are able to analyze the bra sizes of women at a glance and came up with a formula to determine the perfect bra fit! And it's all measuring tape-free.

See a bit of the work behind the algorithm this company is creating for making bras that fit the woman rather than the measured and predetermined definitions of bra sizes (as hazy as they are) here:
http://www.limelife.com/blog-entry/Forget-the-Measuring-Tape-A-Scientific-Formula-Now-Creates-The-Perfect-Bra-Fit/139483.html

"So what did they do? The pair began researching the untold secrets of lingerie experts around the country, many of whom never even use a measuring tape to determine a woman's bust size.
'We went to bra fitting after bra fitting and spoke to experts, and the best ones didn't use measuring tape," Lam said. "They had these unwritten rules where they could look at a woman’s body and say, we think this would be best. We were able to take these rules and distill them into code.'
All you have to do is fill out a short survey about your size and problems with your current bras, then make an order. Once you get your new bras, try them on and report back to True & Co. about how they fit. The site then recalculates your needs accordingly.
Want to try it out? Head over to the website now to get free shipping."

Variation of Bra Size by Brand

Do you find yourself needing bras of different sizes depending on the style, material, or brand? The variance of bra sizes among brands makes finding the perfect fit feel like a guessing game. Finding your size through rough estimates makes finding the correct bra size challenging for some women.
Lucky Magazine investigates this by observing 5 bras from different brands, measuring them at identically marked sizes and comparing results.

"To help figure out which size you are at what brand, we measured the end-to-end length of T-shirt bras from five popular lingerie lines—Calvin Klein's Level 3 Seductive Comfort Customized Lift, Victoria's Secret's Full Coverage, Gap's Favorite T-Shirt, Bali's Back To Beautiful and Elle MacPherson's Bare & Bold—to compare proportions. Consult the charts below to see how you size up. (Or down!)"

See the charts here: http://www.luckymag.com/blogs/luckyrightnow/2012/03/sizing-up-your-5-favorite-lingerie-brands#slide=1 

Why Lingerie Retailers Don't Carry More Sizes

Women are left very disappointed when they find a lovely piece of lingerie, but soon learn that the retailer doesn't carry their size. What's even more disappointing is that for most of these women, this isn't a rare experience for them by any means.
Lingerie retailers usually carry sizes only within a certain range, making it necessary women of different sizes to resort to specialty stores for their intimate apparel.
Why is it that lingerie retailers don't carry a wider variety of sizes? Catherine from Kiss Me Deadly has done a lot of research and pondering on the subject and has shared her theory with The Lingerie Addict. Read it here:

"Catherine:I once wrote a huge thing about this containing some basic stats ideas, and I’m going to return to that, but because it’s pleasingly simple and very gross, let’s talk fingers first. A small amount of people have no fingers. Some people have less than 10. And a very few people have extra fingers (depending on your definition of fingers). This means that the average number of fingers is less than 10. But would you make gloves with less than 10 fingers? No, because the average isn’t always the same as the most common – which, in this case, is 10 ( or 8 fingers and 2 thumbs, for the pedants)."

Read more: http://thelingerieaddict.com/2012/03/why-do-lingerie-retailers-not-carry-more-sizes.html

Your Bra Transforms Your Body

Wearing the incorrect bra size can really do some damage on a woman's silhouette. With the right bra size, a body can be completely transformed into a smoother, leaner figure with breasts held upright in the right place. These women's before-and-after pictures show how drastic of a difference a bra fitting can make.

See the Shape Magazine before-and-after bra fitting collection here: http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/beauty-style/change-your-bra-change-your-body

Alleviating Back Pain

Having large breasts causes back pain for many women, even after a proper bra fitting. This blog on Venusian Glow has bra tips that'll help ease back pain caused by heavy breasts and/or bad posture caused by them. More hooks, a tighter band, and wearing a soft, lightly supportive bra to sleep are all ideas that can help.

"For a lot of people, finding the proper bra size is enough to prevent back pain. Unfortunately,this isn’t the case for everyone. Some women will still experience those discouraging backaches no matter how well-fitted their bra is. There are many causes for back pain, but having heavier boobs, or posture that is bad because of them, can really exacerbate these issues.
   Breast reductions are often touted as the only solution for breast-related back issues, and for some women, they are the best choice. But if you DON’T want to have a reduction, there are a few other tricks you can use to ease your pain."

Read more: http://www.venusianglow.com/2012/02/back-pain-even-after-proper-bra-fitting.html

Linda's Bra Problem Guide

With more than 80% of women wearing the wrong bra size, it's no wonder why there are so many issues and questions regarding their fit and appearance floating around. For the most common bra problems among women, Linda The Bra Lady has the reasons why they happen and the answers to help you find your correct size!
Check out her Bra Problem Guide if you have any questions regarding the fit of your bra's band or straps, breasts, any medical problems, uneven sizes, or anything else.

"It's important to care for your bras properly. Every woman knows how painful the wrong bra can be. Learn how to solve your bra problems here, once and for all."

Read it here: http://www.lindasonline.com/bra-problem-guide.html