h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: How to measure your bra size - A3887184
Author: Catwoman - U166251

I've been told that since the author of A2098668 has been inactive for a year I am free to write on the same subject. According to my sources the information on cup sizing was inaccurate anyway. This references a non-Edited entry, but one that looks like it should be up for editing sometime soon.

So, what do you think?

I'm afraid I don't know anything about measuring busts, so I can't comment on the content of this, but I'll have a detailed look for spelling errors later.

I'm afraid the picture will have to go. The editors reserve the job of putting pictures on entries for themselves.

Oh well. I'm not too attached to the picture really.

I promise the content is all true. It's spelling/grammer/writing style/layout that I need help with really.

Thanks for looking!

"Many guides say that measurement should be done with your bra on, but I disagree"

Regret you can't say this in the EG - you can't use the personal pronoun, 'I'. You'll have to rephrtase this.

Presumably if you have a well fitting bra, the easiest way is to read the size of the label.

True - but I think our target audience is people whose bras are less than perfectly fitting.

I would make it really clear that what you're getting from these numbers isn't your actual bra size, but merely a starting point for what size bras to try on.

For example, if someone measures out to be a 36C, they should try on a bra in that size, but probably also try a 36D and a 34D as well -- people have a tendency to overestimate their band size and underestimate their cup size when measuring, not to mention the tremendous differences between manufacturers.

The main reasons for band size overestimation are that: people don't pull the tape measure tightly enough, they measure over clothing, and they have become accustomed to too loose fitting bras.

The reasons for cup size understimation should be obvious. First, if you overestimate your band size, your cup size measurement will come out too small even if your chest is measured correctly. Second, depending on the degree to which the breasts are supported vs squashed or sagging, chest measurement can vary quite greatly.

Inches are also used for US bra sizes.

The "if it is even add four, if it is odd add five" isn't a constant -- again, this varies by manufacturer. Same thing with the 1 inch per cup size -- this is a general guide, but I don't know of a single bra manufacturer that goes strictly with this. The algorithms for both band and cup size actually change as the sizes go up -- the number you add for a band size changes, and the difference in inches between cup sizes changes. "While all manufacturers are supposed to make bras the same" is not correct -- there is no guideline out there saying that manufacturers are supposed to make their bras the same way -- the onus is on the customer to read the fitting guidelines of the particular manufacturer, or to rely on a professional fitter.

This is an excellent link:

http://www.sizes.com/people/brassieres.htm


Mikey

This is a fantastic subject for a Guide Entry! Practical and useful

This sentence can go: "I don't know how it works in other countries, but if someone would like to tell me that would be great." Sizing works the same way in the US (which is odd, as the sizes of everything else are always different between the two). If it works differently in other countries that information can be added later if anyone comments on it.

The part that you have called the 'back measurement' or 'back size' I've always heard referred to as the 'band measurement' or size.

"Therefore a B cup with a back size of 38 will contain a larger mass of breast material than a B cup with a back size of 32." >> This sounds a bit clunky, could you just say that a 38B will have a larger cup than a 32B?

You might want to mention a couple more things:
Even women who *know* their size should measure every couple of years or so. Many women get into the habit of buying their size bra that it never occurs to them that their size changes over the years.
Most bras (most rear-fastening ones, anyway) have multiple rows of loops to fasten the hooks on. When new, a properly-fitting bra will feel comfortable on the *loosest* row of loops. As a bra ages and after multiple washings the elastic wears and starts to slip, this is when you should move to the next row of loops.
Even if you are wanting to make your breasts appear smaller, it is important to get an accurate measurement. Minimizer bras are made to reduce the difference between band and cup sizes by structuring the cup differently. Most specialty bras should be manufactured on a true size and structured to achieve whatever it is the bra is supposed to do.

With just a little bit of work, this will be a valuable addition to the Guide!

I've changed it to say simply that sizes vary, rather than saying that manufacturers SHOULD do anything. Even though I think they should. I haven't known any manufacturer to give specific fitting guidelines. The disclaimer has been changed into 'variations and omissions' and added to.

"I don't know how it works in other countries, but if someone would like to tell me that would be great." This sentence was more a prompt for nice people in PR than for the entry itself. How bizarre that it works the same in the US. I'd probably end up being a different size anyway. Gap clothes are marked with US sizes and supposed UK equivalents, but I have to buy smaller jeans than it says I should.

I've added to the intro, explaining why you would want to measure yourself.

Okay, what next?

I would add some more about how to tell if the bra you're wearing fits correctly or not -- the link I posted above has some good info in that regard.

I agree with Mikey - it would be helpful to add something about what an ill-fitting bra looks like.

"It might also be worth mentioning that another sign of an ill fitting bra is when the back strap rides up, so it's higher than the bottom at the front. A properly fitted bra should be all at the same level."

That's what I wrote in her RR thread - a rising strap at the back shows your bra is too big - the lower the back strap, the better the support. If the material on the cups is wrinkly, that's too big. Breasts can also bulge out of the sides of the bra as well as the top if it's too small, they can even fall out underneath if the band isn't lying flat against the chest as it should be. If the centre of the bras isn't flat as well, that's too small. Red marks under breasts show it's too small, red marks or indents on shoulders show the straps are too short or too narrow. If you can't lengthen the straps any more the bra is too small. If the straps slip off, or your boobs droop, the are too long. A good bra of the right size will also still support your breasts if you take the shoulder straps down - although probably not if you're running a marathon or disco-dancing.

I've found some links that might be interesting to add to the article:

Here's a link about bra-fitting services not being all that helpful, so shows all us women need to know that really we should rely on fit as well as measurements - http://www.tiscali.co.uk/shopping/which_reports/which_bras.html

Here's a bra size conversion site - http://www.breasttalk.co.uk/size_charts.asp

Apparently most women (around three quarters of us) are wearing the wrong sixe - we buy too big in the back and too small in the cup.

And it's best to measure yourself (of get measured) a week before your period.

There's quite a lot of info there, and I know it's not entirely within the range of the title that this entry has, but if women (or anyone with an interest in buying underwear for women) don't recongise the signs of a bra that doesn't fit, then they won't know that they should go and do it properly.

Sorry, I forgot to say that although I think there are some things that can be added, I can't argue with any of your content that's already there.

Maybe I should be writing 'how to measure your bra size and buy a bra that fits'

How about a section on measuring, and a section on actually trying things on, how it should feel, etc?

At what point do suggestions become co-authoring?

I think adding some more sections can't be a bad thing.

Co-authoring - often very personal, although if you use a lot of suggestions from one person the subeditor will sometimes credit them, even if the original author doesn't. One or two sentances or ideas probably wouldn't need a credit.

Personally, if there is already more than one name credited I just add everyone's name if I've used something they said. If it's a solo entry I'd have to use entire paragraphs to make me think I should credit someone.

Bear in mind when co-authoring that the researcher with the lowest user number gets listed first in the list of authors.

That's why I kept this account running and always use it to comment in PR, just in case...

At the moment I'm crediting the writer of A2098668, since that gave me the idea that an article on bra sizes was needed, but she's not around at all, and very little of that article is in this one. so I may remove her.

I'm going away for the weekend, but if there's lots of posts when I get back that will be A Good Thing.

Cheers.

If *any* at all of that earlier entry is in the current (or final) one, you really do need to credit that author.

It's one thing when people like us are offering our comments freely here in Peer Review -- we offer them without any expectation of showing up on the final entry. But anytime you use another person's entry as the basis of a new one, it really should be credited - for me, the only time in which I wouldn't credit the earlier author would be if the other entry was only an inspiration, and there was not any content or writing in common.

Erm, would you like to check it out and see what you think? There isn't a phrase the same between the two, and the cup size ratios are wrong in the other. It's very short, the method for measuring around the bust is different, and the author has been inactive for over a year.

I don't want to upset or offend anyone, but I also don't want the author list to be inaccurate.

How long an author has been active or inactive is never a criteria - or shouldn't be. However, the overlap in content here is minimal enough that I don't see anyone deciding that you *must* credit the original author.

My would be that if you end up adding in adding in credits to anyone else besides yourself, I would also go ahead and add in the original author for good measure.

BTW, you're still going back and forth between "band size" and "back size" in places, which can be confusing.

Also, links in footnotes are discouraged. Plus, the entry as it is seems to imply that measuring yourself will be more likely to be accurate than having it professionally done, which is not correct.

Also, the entry as it is currently written seems to imply that bras only go up to a C cup....