Why are some bras 2 to 3 letters in measurements?

[Filthy_Immigrant]

my mom was a female underwear/lingerie retailer when I was a kid and I was always curious about the measurements bra use.

thanks to my mom's customers I learn that the number represents the measurement of the upper body; clearly no different than pants while the letter represents the actual size and volume of the woman's boobs. obviously the higher the letter is the bigger the boobs are (totally the opposite of a report card if you ask me)

till then at first I always thought they when from A, B, C, D etc but then I started realizing that there are bras that are D, DD, and DDDs etc. so I was wondering wth does it mean when a bra has more than one letter. does this mean that DDs are the same as E, if so then what does DDD equal to? or does this mean that DDs are "almost" as big as Es but not quite as big? making DDD slightly closer to E?

[Lliam]

This from a professional bra fitter from the UK who educated me here on GAG.

Cup sizes are supposed to be based on the number of inches difference between a woman's bust and under-bust measurements.

In UK sizing
A = 1"
B = 2"
C = 3"
D = 4"
DD = 5"
E = 6"
F = 7"
FF = 8"
G = 9"
GG = 10"
H = 11"
HH = 12"
and so on.

In US sizing it goes, A B C D DD DDD F G H I J K L M and so on.

I have no idea why they use some double or triple letters instead of going straight down the alphabet.

[Lliam]

Thanks for the MHO, you Filthy_Immigrant. 😉

[Zestyassmf1997]

Cause just one letter isn’t good enough to describe some women’s racks.

[Sirenboobzilla]

Legit had someone tell me, YEARS ago, that I must be a DD cause mine ate DOUBLE DAMN! I couldn't help but laugh, it was a good one 😆

[Zestyassmf1997]

I wonder what a DDD would be.

[Sirenboobzilla]

No idea. I've never heard one. I'm an F (DDD) so I've been waiting for a long time 😆

[Zestyassmf1997]

F is supposed to be a failing grade. But you’d never guess, huh?

[Filthy_Immigrant]

@Zestyassmf1997 nah in the world of bras F is not for "failure" its for "fantastic"

[Sirenboobzilla]

The reason behind it is quite funny.

Bra sizes were standardized in the 1930's. In the 50's manufacturers realized that bustier women would buy smaller bras (we all know illfitted bras are problematic) so as to notnbe seen as too big. They would buy D cups when they should be getting E or F. So manufacturers rebranded E-F as DD-DDD respectively as D is better than EF (mentality).

Me personally, I hate having to ask for DDD. If I go anywhere and ask for F and they don't know what it is, I'm walking out.

[Lliam]

And they also try to push bands that are too large in order to sell smaller cup sizes.

How many women with a 35" bust and 27" under-bust measurement are wearing 32C bras?
And almost everyone thinks C is medium, D is large, and DD is humongous.

In reality, C is small. E and F are actually medium.

[AndreaTwo2]

Here in the UK, most bras in regular stores have just one letter, A being the smallest. The main exceptions seem to be AA which is mainly for teen bras and DD.

I imagine that AA came about when manufacturers decided to target the teen (or even pre-teen) market with bras smaller than an A cup.

Not sue how the DD came about as E and F cup bras are widely available.

[NathanDavis]

it means more D