So my knitting group thinks I’m crazy…and if the FBI checks out my search history, they probably will too! As the title suggests, I’ve been wondering about the location of breasts. I know…that sounds ridiculous. But here’s the thing: when you’re tech editing patterns and you’re setting up grading tables, you start wondering this sort of thing. There’s all sorts of information out there on standard sizing…the most common measurements given are bust, waist, and hip circumference…plus a whole lot of others if you do some research. But having rather large breasts myself, I tend to do a lot of shaping in sweater torsos, and, while I know how to use my own body measurements to place that shaping correctly, I couldn’t help but wonder why there doesn’t seem to be any standard for where the full and under bust circumferences fall vertically on a torso? For example, standard armhole depths are nearly always given, often standard vertical measurements from either the back neck or shoulder to waist, high hip and full hip are given (although these are a bit trickier to find and there’s a lot of wiggle room for designer preference). But I could not find anyone discussing where on average (for a standard B cup size across different bust measurements) does the full bust and under bust fall and how many inches do they take up vertically? I’m only asking because I could possibly need to make sure that a sweater with princess seams does not take those seams too far up the torso and create arrows right to the nipples. I know, like me, anyone who needs specialized shaping, is likely to be altering patterns for their own measurements, so this might not really be an issue for someone with a cup size larger than D…but just out of curiosity, WHERE ARE THE BREASTS?
Believe it or not my best answer so far came from several sites advertising breast enhancement services. These sites had tables listing the sizes of their implants, and it seems that size B cup implants have a diameter of 4”. So at the moment, that’s what I’m going with….if the breast is 4” in diameter, then the full bust should be about 2” below the upper bust and the under bust about 2” below the full bust. Since the upper bust measurement is at the same location as an armhole depth with no ease….it’s now possible to create a grading table with a standard for how far princess seams should extend vertically…However, I’m still not totally thrilled with this reasoning because breasts really aren’t perfectly circular. So I’m not convinced that the diameter measurement really works….but maybe I’m overthinking this.
Of interest, during my search for this answer, I also came across a map of the world color-coded by boob size! According to this map, the United States has the largest boobs in the world, averaging an F cup. If this is true, why is it impossible to find my bra size at regular department stores? (I’m not vouching for the statistical evidence of this map. I have no idea how the site compiled its data).
P.S. I’ve decided not to include any photos relating to this post…you can probably see why…(though I did briefly consider photos of breast implants….)
