Meet June
June, just like the majority of people who have boobs, wears a bra.
When June is feeling her most rebellious and wants to shock people. Like on days when life is too much. She feels like the craziest thing she could do would be to turn up with no bra on.
How shocking. How casual. How avant-garde. It’s a whole step beyond not wearing deodorant. Which pair of eyes would people look at that day.
But it would be worse for her. It would be uncomfortable. Her boobs would bounce about. Her back would start to ache. She’d sweat in more places.
For June, most of the time, a bra is a necessary evil. That she wishes would fit just right.
June isn’t the only one who feels this way
A survey of 210 bra wearers highlighted their relationships with bras.
June represents their bra experience.
The Struggle to Find the Right Bra is Real.
When trying on bras June hates feeling the gross feels when it doesn’t fit. It’s too loose and her boobs flop around or the cup is too small and they runneth over or the cup is too big and suddenly it feels cavernous.
The feeling is an odd mix of embarrassment, discomfort, unease, and shock. There’s nothing like it. And it’s very personal. When it doesn’t fit, she feels like there’s something wrong with her.
It’s tiresome and tough and with everything else going on in life, an ok fitting bra works for now. Now being always and forever.
Reasons bra wearers struggle to find the best bra for their current body
Source: You and Your Bra Survey, Jan-Feb 2024, n=210, Q: “Do you struggle to find a bra that works for your current body”, A: “Yes”, Q: “If yes, why; select all that apply”
June just wishes it would be a one and done thing. For life.
But she knows it’s an ongoing cycle and she seems to be on an endless hunt to find the best fit and best bra that will do the job.
It’s not just that her old bras (RIP) have seen better days. She should probably renew those every year. Because of all the changes her body goes through. Because that’s the life of a boob owner.
Body changes that impact boob size, which impacts bra size, over a lifetime:
Source: You and Your Bra Survey, Jan-Feb 2024, n=210, Q: “Have you recently gone through a “breast milestone” (something that has caused your breasts to change) within the last 12 months? Select all that apply”
It’s a lifelong continuous investment.
As for many bra wearers the combination of body changes and bra wearout means June buys new bras each year. The general rule is to have three day-to-day bras in rotation at any one time.
This is an additional life cost for all bra wearers, not an and / or in their lives compared to the non-bra wearer.
Source: You and Your Bra Survey, Jan-Feb 2024, n=210, Q: “How much (approx.) did you pay for (your) bra?”
All June wants is a bra that fits her.
One that covers her boobs, material that’s supportive and breathable, straps that don’t dig, that don’t make her nips into frips. One where, if she has to run to her car, her boobs won’t jiggle like jello.
To her it’s not a sexy thing. Sexytime bras are not everyday bras. June is really not one who needs to go everywhere in some silky number. Comfort and support are the golden desires of bras. Especially since the elevation of WFH in her life.
(Frips = frozen / cold nips)
Most popular bra types worn
Source: You and Your Bra Survey, Jan-Feb 2024, n=210, Q: “What type of bra is it?”
For something that she wears everyday, and so important to keep her boobs (and body) feeling good, it’s sometimes surprising to June that it’s so hard to find the right bra for her body.
Sometimes June thinks insanity is prevailing when it comes to bras and the bra shopping experience.
June, like most bra wearers, really hates the bra shopping experience. It takes so much effort to figure out what could work.
And she does this over and over again in her life, expecting a different result with each experience. Leading her to feel a little insane about the whole thing.
June needs her quiet time for each bra shopping experience.
These are seven things she needs to figure out each time about herself, and about bras. And it’s not just all about fit.
An analysis of 16 bra brand websites and 4 bra store websites along with the survey results highlights how incredibly apparent it is that these seven elements are not substantially supported in the bra shopping experience.
It’s not surprising that June has this feeling of faux insanity. The following shows how opposite of insane June really is.
June’s not insane reason #1: Sizing
Just starting with size, June thinks there should be bra size reveal cakes, just like for gender reveals. It’s like it’s one of life’s great mysteries. It just seems to change each time she goes shopping for a bra. It’s the same with all her friends. Though they rarely share their actual size. It’s their personal secret.
Anyone who hasn’t been sized in a year likely doesn’t know their current bra size as our bodies continue to change.
How bra wearer determined bra size
Source: You and Your Bra Survey, Jan-Feb 2024, n=210
Age of bra wearer’s bra
There’s a basic legacy formula to bra sizing.
Measure under your bust, that’s your band size.
Measure around your bust (overbust) for your cup size.
The difference between the overbust and underbust is your cup size. If it’s 1 inch, you’re an A, if it’s 2 inches, you’re a B etc.
The weird thing is, if you look at these bra sites, they all have different size charts using different formulas.
Many sites use bra calculators where the user answers questions to determine their size. The results from these online calculators are not consistent.
It’s also not a great formula to use because it’s only based on two size measurements.
Say a bra wearer’s size is 36G which was determined through a bra fitting plus an intensive exercise of trying on many many bras. To test these calculators, the underbust (band) size of 36in was entered and overbust (cup) measurement of 41in was entered into the online calculators.
Only two* had the correct result: 36G
If a bra wearer relied only on these online calculators, she would be ordering all the wrong sizes.
Taking this into account, it’s more like 74% don’t know their bra size.
(74% = the 67% above and the 7% who used online calculators with bras bought in the last 0-12 months).
Outputs from online bra calculators by brand based on 36G measurements
June’s not insane reason #2: Shape
Your boob shape is important to know because it impacts the type of bra that suits your body. For example plunge bras work best for east-west boobs.
But at the same time boob shapes are kind of made up. There’s no official standardized list of shapes that all the sites use.
In fact only 6 out of the 20 sites mention boob shape. And they all have their own definitions.
A standardised list of boob shapes used as guidance in choosing bras would massively help June.
Side notes:
One online calculator used on independent bra store sites does include boob shape. It is by a company called “Sizelytics” and based on 15k fittings. It gave June the correct size. (It’s referenced in the resources at the bottom).
HerRoom.com was not included in the graph as it is an outlier with an extensive description of boob types detailing 5 classifications, each with 3-5 specific boob elements and a further 14 considerations. Very detailed. Overwhelmed June.
Boob shapes mentioned by site
Size = Number of brand websites mentioning shape
June’s not insane reason #3:
limited support for body changes that affect boobs
Bra wearers endure many changes over their lifetime which require new types of support for their bodies.
No guidance is provided on how to think about bras if you have gained or lost weight which is the biggest change our bra wearers have experienced.
Over half of the sites that sell bras for body changes like pregnancy and breast cancer don’t provide any guidance to support their product.
Providing guidance based on body changes would massively help June.
By site, support provided for the body changes that impact boobs
June’s not insane reason #4:
So many bras
Across the 20 sites analyzed, there were over 20,400 bras to chose from. The volume per site ranged from 47 to over 7,000.
And within these crazy numbers, there were 49 types of bras.
Faced with all these options yet not enough guidance, it’s not surprising June hates the bra shopping experience.
Volume of bras by bra type available across sites analyzed
June’s not insane reason #5: Fit
15 out of the 20 sites provide guidance on fit.
They all agree that there are four key areas where a bra should fit:
the band
the cups
the straps
and, if you’re wearing a bra with underwire, how the underwire sits.
How the guidance is provided differs either by advice on how a bra should fit or issues on why a bra isn’t fitting. Some sites list up to 10 issues to check. When she reads the sections about the issues, June feels bad. She knows if a bra doesn’t feel right. She wants to know why it’s her body that’s having these issues. She’d prefer it if she knew what she’s getting right.
Fit guidance provided by bra websites
June’s not insane reasons #6 and 7:
Durability and Cost
Little to no guidance is provided on durability and cost. Little meaning a hidden paragraph here or there mentioning bras should be comfortable throughout the day. Groundbreaking.
These garments have a huge role in a bra wearers everyday, supporting precious assets and helping them feel comfortable. Everyday meaning all day. Sometimes all night. Many hours. Durability matters.
The cost of bras range massively from tens to hundreds of dollars yet there’s no guidance as to why. Bra wearers must travel to the land of assumptions to determine why one costs more than another and how it could impact the fit.
What can June do?
The best thing June can do for herself is to physically go to a bra fitting. It can be hard to find the time and could be confronting given her body will have changed. But a good bra fitting session can do wonders. And remember bra fitters have no doubt seen boobs like June’s before. And if they haven’t, she’s adding a nice surprise to their day.
Not all bra fitting experiences are great. To prepare yourself:
This video is a quick guide from Caralyn Mirand Koch on what to look for: bra fitting video
This lady also has a really helpful Instagram for all sizes of bras and boobs: The Irish Bra Lady
There are also two online size calculators that can actually help find your size:
A complicated one: A bra that fits
A more simple on: Sizelytics (used on The Rack Shack)
A couple more things:
Fill in the survey! I would like to continue to keep a pulse on bra wearers relationships with their bras. If you’d like to participate, please fill out this survey: You and Your Bra Survey (the part two version)
Make sure you check yourself: Breast Cancer Self-Check
Support the cause:
Notes on the data
Data used was as follows:
Dataset 1: Survey “You and Your Bra” which explored the relationships people have with their bras. Data was collected January-February 2024. n=201
The survey respondents were sourced through social media and an email newsletter and therefore is not a complete representative sample of all bra wearers. To improve this data, please consider completing the survey (link above).
Dataset 2: Web Scraping across 16 major bra brand websites and 4 bra store websites (that sell multiple bras). Sites chosen were sourced through identifying the top selling bra brands in the US, from department store sites, and identified through the survey.
Sites were: Sites: Bare Necessities, Berlei (AUS), Bravissimo, Cacique (Lane Bryant), Chantelle, Cuup, HerRoom, Maidenform, Marks & Spencers, Nordstroms, Panache, Prima Donna, skims, Soma, Spanx, Target, ThirdLove, Triumph (UK), Victoria's Secret, Wacoal
This analysis does not include all bra brand websites, and focuses on the online experience only
Further supporting data was sourced from:
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/14/1196978231/find-a-bra-that-actually-fits
https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/47866-american-women-describe-their-experiences-with-bras
Please note that all recommendations are made by me and have not been endorsed by the site / person mentioned. I do believe these people mentioned are legends.