Are 8 Out of 10 Bra Wearers Really Wearing the Wrong Size?

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Walk into a Victoria’s Secret, and the hundreds of colorful, lacy options lining the walls and piled upon tables—bralette, demi-cup, wireless, T-shirt, racerback, sport, strapless—will swallow you. But before you grab a few bras to try on, you need to hedge your bets on what size you wear. The staff at Victoria’s Secret, along with many scientists and even, famously, Oprah, say that you have a 20 percent chance of choosing right. That number—the idea that 80 percent of bra wearers are wearing the wrong bra size—has been ingrained in the minds of shoppers for decades, becoming a puzzle that no one can seem to solve.

That’s because the statistic is bunk. And you don’t have just one bra size.

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There are no size standards

Researchers and retailers acknowledge that the 80 percent number isn’t foolproof, but they often use it to illustrate a widespread problem: ill-fitting bras. “We were actually encouraged to talk about that statistic,” said Carrie Gergely, who worked as a Victoria’s Secret bra fitter and store manager from 2003 to 2008. Gergely recognized that the size on the tag wasn’t the real issue at stake—knowing how to look for the right fit was. “They didn’t know how the cups were supposed to fit, they didn’t know where the chest plate between the boobs was supposed to lay, they didnt know how the straps were supposed to rest, or where it should hit on their back,” she said. “They just had no concept of how they were supposed to wear the bra.”

Regardless, the “wrong size” became a mantra. One person, the late plastic surgeon Dr. Edward Pechter, gets credit for it. He first published the statistic in a small 1998 study, writing that 70 percent of women or more were wearing the incorrect bra size in an article in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery that outlined a new method for measuring breasts, hoping to standardize sizing for augmentation and reduction surgeries. But Pechter didn’t reach his estimate through surveying a large and diverse sample size. Instead he used anecdotal evidence from publications such as Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, and the Playtex Fit Guide. (He also studied only people who reported wearing cup sizes AA through DDD/F. Today, you can find bras in sizes up to an O cup.)

Jenny Burbage, PhD, a sports biomechanist at the University of Portsmouth, has made studying breasts (and how to support them) her life’s work. In one of her studies, “Evaluation of professional bra fitting criteria for bra selection and fitting in the UK,” Burbage notes that “it has been suggested that 70-100% of women are wearing the wrong size bra,” citing Pechter’s work along with few other small studies to reach that range. “There aren’t many scientific papers available which have effectively looked at issues with bra fit and the number of women who may be wearing the wrong size bra,” Burbage said in an interview. Anecdotally, she sees “hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of women” who come through her lab struggling with fit issues.

Like Gergely, Burbage said the issue was not that people were simply wearing an incorrect size, but that they often didn’t know how to check for the best fit. “Women are going to be different sizes in different bras,” Burbage also pointed out. “I might have three or four different bra sizes that I currently am based on what bra I’m wearing and what manufacturer that comes from.” The lack of standardization can be frustrating, but it also offers more chances for people to find styles and shapes that work for them.

The “right” size

If fit is relative, why are retailers still fixating on the idea that the right size exists?

Online bra-selling direct-order companies such as ThirdLove and True&Co. promise that shoppers can find the perfect fit from their bedroom instead of a fitting room. Both ThirdLove and True&Co. boast inclusive sizing and encourage people to shop via their respective online Fit Finder and Fit Quiz tools, which recommend bras based on one’s unique breast shape, with names like “teardrop” or “bottom happy.” It’s a new approach for the lingerie industry, with gender and size inclusivity outpacing hyper-sexualized marketing. But, like Victoria’s Secret, they insinuate the same thing: that you’re wearing the wrong size and that they can help you find the right one.

“We’ve always focused on this idea, ‘Are you wearing the right size?’” said ThirdLove co-founder and CEO Heidi Zak. According to Zak, the company has consistently used the concept that people are wearing the wrong size in its marketing. She considers the statistic an invitation for shoppers to find bras that work, not an admonition. “I think that we’re actually trained as women to be like, ‘If you don’t wear a cookie-cutter size, then there’s nothing for you,’” she said. To combat that sentiment, ThirdLove sells bras in cup sizes AA to I, including some half-cup options.

Cora Harrington, author of In Intimate Detail: How to Choose, Wear, and Love Lingerie and editor of the blog The Lingerie Addict, eschews the oft-repeated 80-percent-plus number in her own book. She couldn’t verify it, and she is not interested in repeating a figure that makes people feel like they’ve failed before they even start shopping. “I’ve heard that stat for at least as long as I’ve been writing about lingerie, which is going to be 11 years this year, and it hasn’t changed,” she said. “I think that phrasing bra fitting as a chore, or as something you’re doing wrong, or as you don’t really know your body very well, [doesn’t] invite people to come in and learn more about bras,” she added.

Think beyond the size on the label

Harrington recognizes that bra shopping can be difficult but says there has never been a better time to do so. Online shopping means that people aren’t limited to the options in their neighborhood, and brands are consistently debuting lines in a greater range of sizes beyond D cups (even Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty lingerie line is doing it). When you’re shopping, Harrington recommends reading reviews on blogs or forums, trying on as many bras as possible, and going to specialized lingerie shops where expert fitters can provide feedback and new options in real time. Harrington said that once you find a style you like, you can look for discounted colorways from previous seasons, but she also encourages people to support boutiques when they can.

Finding a bra that fits well is tricky not only because sizing varies by brand but also because of how sizes are related to one another. LaJean Lawson, a scientist and consultant for Champion’s sportswear brand, explained that the cup size is usually based on the difference between the band and bust measurements (below the rib cage and over the fullest part of the breast). The cup is measured by volume, and confusingly, that volume can stay the same between similar sizes as you move down a band size and up a cup size, or up a band size and down a cup size. This is called sister sizing, and it means that, theoretically, a 34C could have a similar volume to a 32D or 36B. But bras might fit differently based on the shape of the bra and the band measurements, how your breast volume is distributed on your body, and again, by brand.

With all of those variables at play, you might be surprised to find that a pretty different size than what you’re wearing works better for you. To ease label shock, the site What Bra Sizes Look Like, an offshoot project from the A Bra That Fits community on Reddit, displays visitor-submitted photos to show how different sizes can look. When you’re shopping for yourself, stay open to trying various sizes. Harrington said, “I think one of the most important things in the American market is to remember that there are sizes beyond a DD.”

Because there are so many variations in bra styles and sizes, finding a comfortable and supportive fit simply involves trial and error. (We have recommendations for how to shop for bras and check for fit.) But it may also mean accepting that as your body changes during menstruation, pregnancy, or regular weight fluctuations, your bra size may change too. Experts such as bra fitter Linda Becker of Linda’s Bra Salon recommend rechecking bra fit every six months to a year.

Through it all, said Harrington, if a bra doesn’t fit, “the fault is not you.” There is no shortcut to finding a good fit. “I feel like if more companies and more brands were saying that, it might be easier for people.”