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Concept
Bra size
Summary
Bra size (also known as brassiere measurement or bust size) indicates the size characteristics of a bra. While there is a number of bra sizing systems in use around the world, the bra sizes usually consist of a number, indicating the size of the band around the woman's torso, and one or more letters that indicate the breast cup size. Bra cup sizes were invented in 1932 while band sizes became popular in the 1940s. For convenience, because of the impracticality of determining the size dimensions of each breast, the volume of the bra cup, or cup size, is based on the difference between band length and over-the-bust measurement.
Manufacturers try to design and manufacture bras that correctly fit the majority of women, while individual women try to identify correctly fitting bras among different styles and sizing systems.
The shape, size, position, symmetry, spacing, firmness, and sag of individual women's breasts vary considerably. Manufacturers' bra size labelling systems vary from country to country because no international standards exist. Even within a country, one study found that the bra size label was consistently different from the measured size. As a result of all these factors, about 25% of women have a difficult time finding a properly fitted bra, and some women choose to buy custom-made bras due to the unique shape of their breasts.
On 21 November 1911, Parisienne Madeleine Gabeau received a United States patent for a brassiere with soft cups and a metal band that supported and separated the breasts. To avoid the prevailing fashion that created a single "monobosom", her design provided: "...that the edges of the material d may be carried close along the inner and under contours of the breasts, so as to preserve their form, I employ an outlining band of metal b which is bent to conform to the lower curves of the breast."
The term "cup" was not used to describe bras until 1916 when two patents were filed.
In October 1932, S.H.
Official source
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