AA Bra Wars

In this timely rant, UK lingerie blogger Catherine Goddard goes on the bra warpath and asks: why does sexy only start at a B cup?

“Lovely jubbly J cup puppies,” snorted The Sun when Marks & Spencer launched a sexy J cup bra range, marking a defining moment in the history of lingerie: big boobs had gone mainstream. And now Selfridges is following suit – announcing last week that they will be selling bras up to a K-cup size.

Well-endowed ladies used to be forced to choose between expensive, specialist bras or granny style ‘over the shoulder boulder holders’. But now there are lots of glamorous bras designed exclusively for big-busted women, including gorgeous collections from Bravissimo and Fantasie.

So, why the stampede to support women whose cup runneth over? It’s all because British busts are getting bigger, with the most popular bra size increasing from 34B to 36D in the last decade. Which means there are big bucks to be made from ample bosoms.

But what do you do if you’re one of the nation’s small-busted women, with an A cup size or less? A trawl on the high street yields a handful of the plainest bras imaginable, some with the humiliating label ‘training bra’.

I haven’t always been an AA-cup size. My journey from A to B was easy: I got pregnant. While nursing, my boobs visited uncharted territory: the C cup. The return trip was a white-knuckle ride — I weaned my baby and watched my boobs deflate.

A shopping-spree was in order to make myself feel attractive again. I envisaged my tiny assets proudly packaged in sophisticated lingerie… So imagine my horror when the only bras I could find for my AA-cup curves were pastel pink cotton numbers.

Most lingerie brands seem to deny the existence of women like me. It’s a struggle to find an A cup in many ranges and AA cup bras aren’t even on the production line at specialists like Rigby & Peller, Agent Provocateur, Janet Reger, La Senza and Wonderbra.

In the UK, it’s slim pickings for AA-cup girls who want to be fashionable and sexy in their lingerie choices. Marks & Spencer offer some fun, flirty styles that fit the bill in its Limited Collection. Other than that, a trawl of the Internet is in order, with Little Women, Lingerie Please, Know Knockers and Dainty Lady flying the flag for petite-up-top ladies.

An oasis in the desert, they dish up a selection of bras sized A-cup and below that are made for women, not teens.

The bottom line is that small-breasted women are an unprofitable minority group. A survey carried out by Lingerie Please last year showed that just three per cent of women are AA-cup size. And, with increasing numbers seeking implants, the demand for A-cup and smaller bras is diminishing.

There’s also a widely held view that it’s unnecessary for women with small breasts to wear a bra. Gillian Proctor, co-author of A Century of Lingerie and leader of the Contour Fashion course at De Montfort University, says, “If you’re AA cup size, you can choose whether to wear a bra or not.”

She continues, “However, I like to compare bras to shoes – sometimes you want to be bare foot, sometimes you want to wear trainers, but there’s also a moment when you want to dress up in stilettos. And AA-cup women should be able to make that choice.”

A number of my small-busted friends agree. One says, “I love looking sexy and hate my nips showing through a t-shirt, so a gorgeous bra is a must.” Another argues, “I still need support. Try jogging without a sports bra – ouch!”

My own feeling is this: I enjoy the cheeky feeling of knowing what I’m wearing under my clothes might raise a few eyebrows, for the right reasons. I want to wear grown-up underwear that does more than just prevent nipple rub. I want access to the same provocative, fashionable styles available to curvy women.

Lingerie brands need to get real – women come in all shapes and sizes. If we can feel good about our naked bodies, why should our self-esteem take a bashing only when we begin to dress?

Copyright 2010 by Catherine Goddard. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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