#uk sizing

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of people learning their US size and becoming terrified.

“I've never even seen a 30 band before, let alone a 30J!! Even Lane Bryant doesn't carry a J cup!”

“I'm a freakin' O cup?? What does that even mean? I did a Google search and I can't find one anywhere.”

“I don't want to get fitted because I know they'll just say, 'sorry, we can't help you and your DDDDDDDDs.'”

Do you want to know why these people can't seem to find their US sizes anywhere?

It's because no US company makes them.*

But do you know who does make those sizes?

That's right, UK Companies. And they don't use US sizing, they use UK sizing.

“But that doesn't help me, I live in the US! I don't want to order bras internationally. I'm sticking to stuff that's available in the US.”

I'm glad you brought this up, hypothetical frustrated being, because this is a common misconception. Believe it or not, UK bras are commonly shipped to US stores. In fact, here is a list of brick-and-mortar stores in the US who carry these sizes (meaning: they carry UK brands), and here is a list of US-based online retailers that carry these sizes (again: UK brands). Not only that, but of the few US brands that do go above a US DDD/F cup*, many of them use UK sizing.

Another problem that US sizing presents is inconsistency. This is mostly a problem for those in the (US) E-G range:

Brands who use US sizing can't seem to agree on when they should stop adding Ds and start using other letters. (Apparently there are even disagreements within a brand! “I'm a 32DDD or F. Which one? I don't know!”) On the other hand, brands who use UK sizing are pretty much in universal agreement about exactly what each size is called:

They may not agree on which size to stop on, but there is no confusion on what someone means when they say “E,” “DD,” or “F.”

So, if measure above a DD+ cup (especially below a 32 band), I hope this convinced you to start looking for (or trying out) your UK size. It's really not a matter of what country you're in, or whether you want to order online/internationally, it's a matter of being able to find a larger, more consistent collection of bras in your size. (Or being able to find your size at all.)

Sorry I took a while to answer this, my phone kept saying it got posted when really it didn’t? Not sure what that’s about.

Well, brastop uses UK sizing, so here is the way the sizes go after D:

D DD E F FF G GG H HH J JJ K.

So, depending on how small your 34Ds feel, you could need a DD, E, or possibly even F. Some people say a US D is like a UK DD, but that is debated. It depends on the brand, I think. There’s a site called Bratabase that has measurements for a lot of bras, and you can compare those measurements to your current bras to see which size you need. It’s awesome! :)

If you aren’t sure how many cup sizes to go up, you could always try re-measuring yourself too.