1
Oct 09, 2013
I've just returned from Europe. I needed a new bra, and was amazed to discover that measurements are not universal. I gave a shop assistant my US measurements. No dice. Nothing she found came close to fitting snugly even though the label identified the size. Is this common?
Filed under Bra sizing and fit
Well, if you have a small underbust, it can be hard to find bands in your size anyway. It could also be due to the fact that there are two measuring systems used in Europe.
28 = 60 (EU) = 75 (FR)
30 = 65 (EU) = 80 (FR)
32 = 70 (EU) = 85 (FR)
and so on.
The system in most of Europe (excluding France, Belgium and a couple of other countries) has an automatic "+4" built in. You find your size by subtracting 10 cm. Or you simply learn the conversion: a band which is labeled 34 UK will be labeled as a 75 in the main European system, although 34 inches is not 75 centimeters. If you look at the labels on UK brands like Panache, you'll see that the conversion is never a direct inches to centimeters conversion.
If I want to calculate from my usual size (34 UK, 75 EU, and I measure 85 cm), I simply count increments from the size I know. To answer the question "What size is a 28?" I note that a 28 is 3 sizes smaller than a 34 (2" increments), so I subtract 3 sizes from a 75 to get 60 (5 cm increments).