Measure your body size by placing the tape firmly under your bust. This measurement should be similar to the blouse size that you wear. 2. Measure your cup size by placing the tape firmly (without squashing) around your chest at the fullest part of your bust.
Stand upright without a bra on, and using a measuring tape, measure around your back and under your bust, where the band of a bra would usually sit. Make sure the tape is going around in a steady, even line. It should feel snug, but not tight. Measure in inches: if you land at an even number, that is your band size.
All you need to do is a little bra math: Subtract your band size from your bust measurement to find your cup size. “The difference in inches corresponds to your cup size,” says Iserlis. For example, if your bust measures 37 inches, and your band size is 34, the difference will be 3.
Bra sizes in Australia and New Zealand are based on measurements in centimeters, with the number representing the band size and the letter representing the cups. Band sizes are measured tightly under bust, cups are measured loosely over the fullest part of the bust.
Is D or DD cup bigger? There's no difference in the spacing between single and double letter sizes, a DD is one full size larger than D, just like E is one full size larger than DD.
For less than one inch you are a AA cup, for one inch you are an A cup, for two inches you are a B cup, for three inches you are C cup, for four inches you are a D cup and for five inches you are a DD cup.
41% of women said that a C cup would be their ideal size, followed by 25% who said that they would prefer to have a D cup, and 22% who favoured a B cup.
As a guideline, you should be able to comfortably run two fingers under both sides of the bra at the same time. If the bra pulls away from your body easily, it is too loose. If you have trouble getting your fingers under the band and it feels uncomfortable, it is too tight. The band should be level front and back.
In the United States cup sizes range from A to N. The cup sizes get larger as the letters go up in the alphabet. Size D is bigger than A, and H is bigger than D. Sizes are as follows: AAA, AA, A, B, C, D, DD, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, and N.
If C cups are the midpoint or medium breast size indicator on the cup size scale, then D cups mark the transition towards larger breasts and DD cups are the exact opposite of A cups.
Bra band size
When bra sizes were first conceived in the 1930s, the materials used for bras were a lot stiffer and less flexible – women were only just out of corsets – so manufacturers used to recommend adding 4 inches to your actual size to get the correct band size.
Wearing the wrong band size is the most likely reason your bra is riding up. If it's too loose, the bra can move around. It can ride up at the back or the front, both of which can be very uncomfortable. To find your accurate band size, you'll need a soft tape measure to hand.
The most obvious signs to look for is any kind of bulging, whether at the front or sides, which is a sure-fire sign the fit is not right. The bra should always sit smoothly on the body. And when you take your bra off, check for any marks on the skin, most typically on the shoulders.
A 32C is one cup size smaller than a 34C. That also means a 34 is two cup sizes bigger than a 30C, and so on.
According to a survey conducted between 1992 and 2013, the average bra size in the U.S. has increased from a 34B to a 34DD, and now just six years later, the average has shot up to a DDD — that's the largest compared to any of the other countries studied.
It turns out, over half of women polled thought a C cup was the perfect fit. At the same time, close to 26 percent preferred a B cup. Nearly 2 percent said an A cup was their preferred breast proportion.
Sister sizes
Remember, when you go up and down band sizes your cup size changes. For an example, a 32C and a 34B are the same cup size. The only difference is the band size. The 34 is a bigger band size than a 32.
Remember: if you go up a band size, you need to go down a cup size, and vice versa. (Ex: A 34C cup is the same as a 36B. A 40E(DD) cup is the same as a 42D.)
Bra Cup Sizes
The further down the alphabet a letter is, the larger the cup volume, starting with AA as the smallest.
So sure, a DD can be classed as a big cup size, but only if it's on a bigger band size too! And frankly, it's not even that big – the average US bra size is 36DDD and from experience, with more than 90% of the population wearing the wrong size, it could be that that is just the best-selling size.