Mar 25, 2017
My head is going to implode trying to figure out these dadgum bra sizing charts!!!! =(
Herroom's international sizing chart is different than the brand sizing charts I'm looking at for Ava and Gaia. And THEN, when I do receive the bras (which are POLISH, which is EU sizing, right??), they have what is American sizing (acc. to Herroom.com's chart) on them!!
What. the. what.
Can someone please point me to a better chart or HELP me figure out how to navigate this freaking crazy system a little better?? I want to punch something right now. I'm sick of spending many hours researching and ordering bras that don't fit me right because the dadgum sizing is so unpredictable!!
HALP PLEASE!!
Filed under Bras ups and downs
4 comments
Sorry its so frustrating! You do really have to figure out each bra maker's sizing separately. If you want, you could do a fit request and get help figuring out what size you should wear.
also before ordering, you can post here asking for help getting the right size.
Herroom really wants to universalize, but it just doesn't work that way, sorry! The best way is to figure out band sizing first and then determine what increments each brand uses for cups and then ignore the letters and look at the index number.
Gaia, for example, uses EU band numbers 60, 65, 70, etc. which are designed to fit approximately in cm, plus ten. I wear a 30GG/32G in Freya, Cleo, Panache, etc. as I am 30.5 inches and prefer a tight band. In Gaia I wear a 65 or 70 band because 30 inches is 75 cm and 32 inches is 80 cm. As you know, each individual band fits slightly differently. Plus, Gaia, like some of the other smaller brands are slightly inconcsistent with their manufacturing. I have a Gaia 65 that closes perfectly, a Gaia 70 that closes perfectly, and I have tried on a Gaia 65 that would not close even with a full extender and a Gaia 70 that was too big. Generally, I have found that Gaia fits slightly tighter than Panache, Freya standards. Gorsenia, for example, generally fits me slightly looser than Freya/Panache standards. Ava bands, generally fit me the same as UK standards, but I have one Ava 65 that is tighter (needs a full extender) and one Ava 65 that closes perfectly.
Most French brands use cm without adding the ten extra which is why bratabase equates Fr/Belgium 75 with Polish 65.
Once you have the band size, then you need the cup size. Freya/Panache etc. size in one inch increments. A 30:10 (30:GG) fits about one inch bigger than a 30:9 (30G). Each brand decides how big their A cup will be for each band size and then makes a B cup one increment bigger. Usually, each band size's A is one unit bigger per band size so a 30:10 has the same cup volume as a 32:9 -sister sizing. Some EU brands increment in 2.5 cm units or essentially, inches. You can tell because the charts talk about 5 cm ranges. Ava uses inches. Most EU brands use 2cm increments and so the bigger you get, the more disparity between the sizes. So a Panache 30:10 (30GG) is ten inches bigger than a 30:1(30A) but a Comexim 30:10 (65J) is 20 cm bigger than a 30:1 (30A) which is only 8 inches. Consequently, people who wear 30:10 in UK standard can need two cups bigger in Comexim.
Unfortunately, this rule too is only a generalization. My experience is that Comexim is pretty standard with the 2 cm increments so I wear a 70K (32:11 - sister size of 30:12) in padded and a 70J (32:10) in unlined as I find their bands tight and find the unlined a little bigger than the padded. Gaia, on the other hand, tends to fit me best in a 65K (30:11) with one hook on an extender because the shape is such that I can cheat a size down in band and cup with my prefered tighter band. Ava fits best in a 65J - 30:10, as does Gorsenia. Ewa Michalak uses UK letters, but usually fits in 2 cm increments. I fit 70H in Ewa Michalak padded bras and 70GG in unlined - but because I prefer a tight band and narrower wires, I wear a 65HH in padded and 65H in unpadded with a hook on an extender.
I have tried many other Polish brands and they do not fir from a shape perspective, but these are my size observations:
Nessa, Gorsenia, Wiesmann -same as UK index 65J (30:10)
KrisLine - 2cm increments on the small side 65HH (30:12)
Gortex, Nipplex, Gaia - not quite 2 cm increments so I wear 65K (30:11) or 70J (32:10)
Additionally, this is all in my personal size. Unfortunately, different size ranges can fit differently depending on how the brand scales them.
One piece of general advice, use Bratabase reviews (in your size range where possible) to see what people's impressions of the comparative sizes are more than the strict numerical measurements. Measuring cup depth is probably the most difficult thing to measure consistentently between people and bras except for maybe stretched band length. Unless there are enough measures, like for a Cleo Marcie in 32F (50+ bras entered), it is hard to trust the averaged numbers. People are often better at saying "this 30G fits more like a 32GG" than at measuring the numbers.
Good luck and stay sane!
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