Exploratory Study on Breast Volume and Bra Cup Design

Authors

  • Abbey Peterson NC State University
  • Minyoung Suh NC State University

Abstract

Due to a lack of understanding in breast and bra size, there have been chronic complaints from many bra consumers about the difficulties in deciding which bra size and style will provide the best fit. Despite several attempts from diverse disciplines, the issues remain unresolved and there are a lot of uncertainties regarding how to estimate breast and bra cup size. Aiming at a revelatory insight into a more accurate and scientific size measurement of the breast and bra, the current research takes an exploratory approach to investigate breast volume and bra cup size, and demonstrates the effect of bra cup design on the bra cup size. A participant with a bra size of 32D was recruited for an in-depth case study. After producing a series of bra prototypes for the participant, the bra cup volume was measured and compared with the breast volume. Pressure measurement were obtained to support the findings. An approximate bra cup volume was estimated to be 50 to 70% of the breast volume for 32D, and bra cup volume changed up to 13-17% when seamlines were altered. However, the conflicting results were found depending on the methods used to measure the volume. Bra pressure was influenced by the different cup designs. The pressure data corresponded better with the cup volume measured by the direct method, where a smaller pressure was observed with the larger cup volume. The research findings suggest the necessity to develop a standard method to measure the volume of breast and bra cup to advance the research and development in bra design.

Author Biographies

  • Abbey Peterson, NC State University
    Graduate Student Department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management
  • Minyoung Suh, NC State University
    Assistant Professor Department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management

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Published

2019-05-15

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2019)

Section

Peer Reviewed Article

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