Now I Know My A, B, Cs

I’m a 34 what?! She exclaims, with her hands over her chest and her eyes protruding in amazement. She shakes her head no, displaying her distrust towards your measuring tape. This is a typical reaction of many women after a bra measurement. Our society perceives breast sizes incorrectly. From the time we idolize large, perky chested celebrities as teenagers, to our adult years; we’re constantly misconstruing what breast sizes truly look like. And the truth is, no size looks any specific way.

Dolly Parton is well known for her voluptuous breasts, which most people assume are DDs. In reality, Dolly looks more like she’s around a 30H — big difference. And Parton is not the only celebrity with a mislabeled bust. Ample chested women everywhere are labeled as DD cups at most. This incorrect inference of Parton’s cup size leads young girls and women everywhere to believe their chest is much smaller, dismissing the idea of going up a cup size, and unfortunately resulting in wearing the improper bra for far too long.

To understand cup size in relation to breast size, let’s get a few things straight. More than just the look of your breasts factor into your cup size. The shape, perkiness, and band make a difference as well. And although most retailers in the U.S. do not go past DD or DDD, there are larger cup sizes out there. Most women fear going past a C-cup, but you’re really not moving into uncharted territory, cup sizes are infinite.

Shape: There are about four different breast shapes, and each can vary depending on the woman. The shape of your breasts can make you appear smaller or larger, but don’t let this deter you from trying on multiple sizes.

Perkiness: Similar to shape, the perkiness of your breasts can impact your cup size. Some women need to go up a cup size simply because their breasts are round and perky, and that’s okay!

Band Size: This is where most women get confused. Band sizes factor into your cup size, so even though you and your friend are both D-cups, a 30D and a 38D are far apart. A simpler way to understand this is learning the equivalence. To find this, go up in the cup and down in the band, or vice versa. It is not recommended to wear the equivalent. Here we break down 30D and 38D to truly see the range in size.

30D= 32C/28DD

38D= 40C/36DD

32C= 34B

36DD= 34DDD

34B to 34DDD shows the tremendous size difference from a 30D to a 38D. Basically, a 30D bra can fit inside the 38D bra.

Before freaking out over your huge new cup size and refusing to try on the bra remember these tips:

• Don’t compare yourself to others.

My Aunt is a D-cup, and she looks huge! I can’t possibly be the same size as her. Yes, you can, and you are. Comparing yourself to another woman is foolish. Everyone is shaped differently, body wise and breast wise. Plus, everyone holds their chest differently as well. You and your best friend can be the exact same cup size and one girl can appear larger chested than the other. Breast shape makes all the difference.

• Don’t worry about what your boyfriend thinks

Unfortunately, men have also been mislead by the media and society when it comes to cup sizes. They assume a pair of D-cups are round, enormous cantaloupes, but they are sadly wrong. So don’t let your boyfriend — or anyone for that matter — diminish the size of your breasts. It doesn’t matter what size they “think” you look like based on celebrity size guesses and previous (most likely improperly fitted) girlfriends.

• Don’t look at the letter on the tag.

It can be difficult to get used to seeing yourself as a larger size after being accustomed to society’s standards, but this should not prevent you from wearing the correct bra and feeling confident. So if ignoring the size of the bra eases your nerves, don’t pay attention to it. You’re better off feeling secure and supported in a bra, over succumbing to society’s stereotypes and stuffing yourself in an unflattering size. At the end of the day, size does not matter, how you fit and feel in your bra does.