The actual shape of your breasts can have an enormous impact on how a bra will fit and look on you. Basically, there are five breast shapes. Some are very common, and others are more unusual. When making a bra selection, it is very important that you know your breast shape and take it into consideration.
- TOMIMA
This archetypical breast shape is just that – the standard. The breasts are full and round, coming to a small point at the nipple. This is the shape most sought-after, and the shape most bra manufacturers use when developing new bra designs. Most women with breast implants have this breast shape.
Uneven breasts mean your two breasts are not of equal size. This is very common if the size difference is one cup size or less. It is more unusual if the size difference between your two breasts is greater than a cup size.
In this case, the cause could be attributed to a bodily injury or illness during breast development. Uneven breasts sometimes also occur during menopause when hormones can cause your breasts to expand unevenly. If you are an athlete and use one arm more than the other, this too can cause uneven breast sizes.
The base of the breast is typical, but the breast shape is more cone-like than round with the conical breast shape. Women with this conical shape can have issues filling out the front of the bra cup. A cup will look like it’s too big, while the underwires fit the breast base just fine. Conical breasts are a little unusual, and tend to exist in the smaller cup sizes (C cup size or smaller).
If the bridge is not shaped like a triangle, the bottom of the bridge will not be wide enough. This could cause the underwires between your breasts to tip outward and away from your sternum.
Women who are splayed and have large breasts can find their breasts extending past their sides and getting in the way of arm movement.
Thin breasts occur when the bases of the breasts have a smaller circumference than standard breasts. Also called tuberous breasts, this smaller breast circumference causes the breast shape to appear slim and long. Thus, thin breasts tend not to fill a bra’s cups completely.
Standard underwires have a built-in diameter that is too wide for this breast shape. Therefore, standard industry bras have a tendency to rest far below your breast crease line. This, in turn, is uncomfortable. Thin breasts are rather unusual and are usually a C cup size or smaller. In the second row of the images to the right, the tan lines tell the story – the underwire is resting well below the crease line. Most women with thin breasts will also have wide-set breasts as well. So, touching breast cleavage is not possible.
Breasts with reduced projection have a traditional breast base circumference, but the breasts themselves do not have adequate breast tissue to fully fill out a bra’s cups. For example, the breast base fits perfectly in a C cup underwire bra, but does not fill out the cup; the cup looks puckered and wrinkled. Going to a smaller cup size means the underwire will not be wide enough, will rest on breast tissue, and will thus feel uncomfortable as well as be ill-fitting.
Reduced projection can also be the result of breast reduction surgery. The surgeon reduced the breast mass, but did not also reduce the base size and under-bust crease of the breasts. So, the original breast crease is there, but not enough breast tissue remains to fill the bra’s cups. Reduced projection breasts are rather unusual.
