What? So they can loose money where women actually buy the right size?
Studying this from a diff. perspective, the bra industry in general really has no interest in "getting it right" because there is no "right" to get. Women's breast size and shape follow multiple different paths, each one with different characteristics.
So being the geeky nerd weirdo I am, I put this to Chat, and got this back:
- I'll use US sizing and assume:
- Band sizes: 28 through 56, in 2-inch increments
→ 28, 30, 32 ... 56 = 15 bands - Cup sizes: AA through O, treating each cup step as a distinct size
→ AA, A, B, C, D, DD, DDD, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O = roughly 16 cup levels
(manufacturers get delightfully inconsistent here, because apparently standardized sizing was considered too peaceful.)
So: 15 band sizes×16 cup sizes=240 possible bra sizes15\text{ band sizes} \times 16\text{ cup sizes} = \boxed{240\text{ possible bra sizes}}
But let's make the body range broader
If we allow an unusually broad but physically conceivable adult range:
Band: 24–60 in, every 2 inches:
60−242+1=19\frac{60-24}{2}+1=19
Cup: AA through O ≈ 16 levels:
19×16=30419\times16=\boxed{304}
So I'd give the answer as:
Approximately 250–300 distinct conventional bra-size combinations within a very broad human range.
And that's only the
label space.
Now comes the sneaky part
A bra size doesn't actually describe breast size by itself.
A 32D and a 44D are different breast volumes because the cup is calculated relative to the band/rib-cage circumference.
Then add:
- underbust circumference
- bust circumference
- breast volume
- breast width
- breast projection
- breast height
- breast shape
- tissue distribution
- left/right asymmetry
- body-fat distribution
- rib-cage shape
- measurement error
If we treated those as continuous physical variables rather than rounding them into commercial bra labels, the number of
distinct possible breast/body configurations is effectively enormous, potentially millions or more.
For example, suppose we discretized just four variables:
[th]Variable[/th]
[th]Reasonable increments[/th]
[th]Approx. possibilities[/th]
|
| Underbust | 1 cm | 90 |
| Bust circumference | 1 cm | 100 |
| Breast width | 0.5 cm | 30 |
| Projection | 0.5 cm | 30 |
Then:
90×100×30×30=8,100,00090\times100\times30\times30 =\boxed
8,100,000And that's
before accounting for shape, asymmetry, breast height, tissue density, etc.
So the fun answer is:
~300 commercial bra labels, but potentially millions of physically distinct breast/body configurations that could map onto those same labels.The bra industry takes an extraordinarily complicated three-dimensional biological object and says,
"34G. Close enough." 😏
