International Bra Sizing Differences

International Bra Sizing Differences

Bra Sizing

There are a number of reasons why you may need to determine your correct bra size:

·         You need to measure for a first bra

·         Your current bras are no longer comfortable

·         You are expecting a baby

Apart from the differences in cup size notation, there is another major possible difference in international bra sizes: US standard cup sizes tend to be calculated on half-inch boundaries whereas UK manufacturers tend to use one inch boundaries. For an explanation of this, please refer to the following table which shows a snapshot of UK and US bra cup sizes (A cup, B cup and C cup).

Cup Size	US	UK
A	0.6" - 1.5"	0.1" - 1.0"
B	1.6" - 2.5"	1.1" - 2.0"
C	2.6" - 3.5"	2.1" - 3.0"
nb: measurements are expressed (in inches) as bust size minus adjusted band size (see Bra Size Measurement)

It can be seen clearly from this that, if your measurements show a band / bust size difference of 1.5", your US cup size is A and your UK cup size is B. If your band / bust size difference is 2", your US and UK cup sizes are both B.

This may not always be the case. Some manufacturers in the USA may determine their cup sizes on inch boundaries.

International variance and equivalent sizes

It is common for manufacturers of any country to attach size labels to their garments which quote their equivalent sizes in a number of different countries. Unfortunately, these are often inaccurate. An example may help explain the problem. A bra made in Europe which corresponds to the European size 75B, for instance, will most probably be labeled as 34B (USA) and 34B (UK) and, as the method of calculation for cup size differ in these countries, it is possible that the physical size of the cup may differ also. In some cases the band size may also differ.

In order to counteract this effect, the 85B Bra Size calculator calculates the results for each national standard separately using the correct method for each.

Try entering these measurements in their respective fields of the 85B Bra Size calculator:

1.    Band Size : 30

2.    Bust Size : 36

3.    Above Bust: 34

When you click on Calculate you may be surprised to see that, in this particular instance, the US and UK sizes are shown as 34B but the European size is 75C and not, as you may have expected, 75B. So what did the calculator do? It converted the inch measurements to centimeters and then calculated the European size according to standard EN 13402. At the same time it calculated the US size using the standard US method and the UK size with the method used in the UK.

A General Note

In general, it is always a good idea to have your bra size measured by a professional bra fitter and to try a bra on before purchasing and this is especially true for plus size bras. In this case, the results from our bra size calculator and converter should serve as a guide and a good starting point before actually trying and buying.