I really appreciate your post. The more I seem to find out about women and their clothing the more interesting it is.
I don’t think there’s been any reliable studies done on average bra sizes.
I'm surprised that the manufacturers haven't done any research on this. (or maybe they have) Bearing in mind they're sell more of the average size than any other.
If I was to guess, I’d say the average (UK) bra size is somewhere around 32-34 D-F. But I would not be surprised if it was something like 28-30G.
From my own anecdotal observations I'd agree on those sizing.
firstly, most women are wearing the wrong bra size (probably a 34 or 36D). This is a huge problem that could be resolved with education in schools.
I think that is a good idea - at least some basic concepts of how to size a bra. I still find it odd that at point-of-sale there isn't more information.
It’s not like average height or weight. You could be a 32 back and a J cup, or a 32 back and a C cup. You could be a 28 back and a D or a 28 back and a K.
I'd like to see a reclassification; where the cup size is expressed in volume and not distance. I know it'll never happen - but I'd like to think a 28/300cc would make more sense than 28DD. In the same way that implants are categorised in volume.
I’m fairly sure there is research carried out - most commercial entities would be insane not to do basic market research, and act upon which sizes are their best-sellers (or try to understand why certain sizes don’t sell as much etc). I’ve participated in university research (a long time ago) which was a questionnaire about bra sizes/fit/purchasing habits etc. I don’t know what the outcome of it was though. And, I’ve participated in research with bra companies based in London - which generally took the form of inviting a lot of women of diffeeent shapes and sizes to try on lots of different bras, so that the companies could perfect the design templates across a range. It’s very much cat-and-mouse - because of the never-ending variances in the shapes and sizes of women.
I’d love to see some proper research carried out though - like a bra size census. It would put paid to the nonsense about 36DD (or whatever) being the “average” size.
I admire your idea about volume - but the other thing not being taken into account is shape and set. Some women have teardrop shaped boobs, some have rounded boobs, some women’s boobs pull west-east, some sit low, some sit high. Some are oddly-shaped. Volume is only part of the many issues with bra sizing/fitting.
The closest thing I can think of is being fitted for contact lenses - you can just about get the “power” of the lens correct through vision testing, but the shape of eyeballs vary from person to person, and until you can create a lens that adapts dynamically to the shape of an eyeball, you have to go with set spherical sizes and pick the closest one.
I remember years ago (around 2000) there was a documentary on UK television where two engineers tried to design the perfect bra - they worked with a bra model to do all manner of testing with her (plaster casts of her boobs, 3D modelling, computer-assisted design etc) and they created a bra called the Bioform (I think it was made by Charnos, a bra company that I liked when I was younger). I bought one out of curiosity, but it wasn’t the most comfortable of bras - it had plastic contour inserts and was very firm and rigid. It did a nice job with shape and projection, but it was like wearing a chest plate. Nice looking, but it didn’t catch on. I’m sure the documentary will be somewhere on YouTube - or there will be links to read about it if you search for “Charnos Bioform bra” on Google.