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Comment by thaumasiotes | Hacker News Reader

>> It doesn't help that I think most women would prefer (or perhaps think most men would prefer) that their bra says 32DD instead of 40A.

> I think you overestimate how many women care about the letter associated with their cup size.

I would have thought women cared at least as much about the circumference number. That's what they worry about in every other item of clothing; that's why the same clothes are a smaller size at high-priced stores than they are at low-priced stores. The letter is a measurement of whether you have a flat chest, but the number is a measurement of whether you're fat!

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It's also not practical to fit into a size 32 if one's true band size is 40, any more than someone with a 40 inch waist can wear size 32 pants.

You can go the other way more easily and in my understanding/experience that's typically what happens (i.e. someone who's true size is 32DD wearing a 40A due to a limited set of options available in many brick-and-mortar stores).

Picture trying to fit an orange into a cup that's too small — there will be space between the orange and the cup, which could make it seem like the cup is too big. If you can't get a cup that's big enough for the orange to fit in, a flat plate (i.e. 40A) is the second-best option since at least it won't have weird gaps. This leads to women underestimating their true cup size.

> Picture trying to fit an orange into a cup that's too small — there will be space between the orange and the cup, which could make it seem like the cup is too big.

I'm not saying this is a good idea, but it seems like that space between the orange and the too-small cup depends on the orange being rigid, and the analogy runs into trouble there.

Breast tissue varies wildly in terms of density and mold-ability. Breast tissue can absolutely fight a bra and win slash refuse to conform.

The band size is essentially the circumference of your rib cage, which, sure, can change if you're severely overweight, but generally isn't nearly as affected by weight gain as, say, your waist measurement.

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