HerRoom's universal sizing chart demystifies larger bras

DD, DDD, E, F, FF, G, GG, H, I, J -- seem like a less friendly version of the alphabet? For women with large breasts, it is.

And with the average American bra size now a 36DD, vs. a 36C about a decade ago, according to several top lingerie retailers, the demand for larger bras is increasing — but so is confusion over what size to buy.

Tomima Edmark, president of online lingerie retailer HerRoom, hopes to change that with a new universal sizing chart launching today on HerRoom.com that groups more than 150 different brands' different cup sizes for size D and up into one letter and one number. Once a woman knows her universal cup size, from D1, D2, D3, and up, she can shop on the site using that single designation rather than having to figure out the size depending on brand.

Since brands designate cup sizes larger than a D differently, a woman may wear a 36G in one brand but a 36FF in another brand, Edmark says. The problem is that most women don't know there's a difference, she says, and will shop only for bras in size 36G, limiting the selection they have to choose from and setting them up to buy bras that won't fit them depending on which brand they buy.

"It's been my experience from servicing these women that they feel like they only have one or two choices out there," Edmark says. "They kinda feel beat up a little bit."

With HerRoom's Universal Cup Sizing system, bras size D and larger are designated by D1, D2, D3 and up. A woman who wears a 36G in a specific brand enters the size and brand into a drop-down menu and finds out that her universal size is a 36 D4. She can proceed to shop for bras on the site based on that designation. To make universal sizing work, Edmark and her team recategorized each bra HerRoom sells in size D or larger to conform with the new system.

Edmark hopes the universal sizing system will bring a "sense of relief" to the increasing number of women dealing with the process of consulting size-conversion charts, returning ill-fitting items or just making do with bras that don't fit.

HerRoom already skews toward larger-breasted women, with G and H cups the most popular sizes it sells, Edmark says. At another online lingerie retailer, BareNecessities.com, 45% of the bras it sells have a cup size of DD or larger, says spokesman Dan Sackrowitz. Even Victoria's Secret has started selling size DDD online, and will begin selling the larger size in stores as well, says Jennifer Black, CEO of Jennifer Black & Associates, a retail research firm that follows Victoria's Secret parent Limited Brands.

With universal sizing, larger-breasted women will see that there are more options to choose from, Edmark says.

"When you explain to them there are more than two bras to choose from … a whole new world opens up," she says. "She might actually get a strapless bra in her size. She might actually get a pretty lace bra that doesn't look like a harness in the back in her size."

Rebecca DeSantis, a project manager for a furniture store in Dallas, says she's "too thrilled" about HerRoom's cup sizing. Last month, the 49-year-old responded to a Craigslist ad HerRoom posted asking for large-breasted women to come in and pose in different bras.

DeSantis, who walked in wearing a size 40J bra and says shopping for bras has "always been a chore," learned that she's actually a 36HH, or a 36 D9 in HerRoom's universal sizing.

"I didn't realize that a lot of brands I thought were my size don't even fit me really," she says. "This way I can see what my size is in all the different manufacturers and I'm ensured that whenever I order a bra it's going to fit, and that's amazing for me."