Boobs are back. Also, they never went away.
This is part of Boobs Week—read the whole thing here.
If Barbie were real, she would topple over.
She also would have a hard time finding a button-up shirt.
Greta Gerwig’s portrayal of the doll might have grappled with the perma-flexed feet and the impossible beauty standard, but it left aside the fact big boobs and a small frame often just don’t really fit clothes sold in stores.
People think Sydney Sweeney’s boobs are super big—they are not—in part because women with bigger boobs are, some portion of the time, sizing up to fit their chests, obscuring their bodies and frames altogether.
Or else we’re smushing them down with minimizer bras, which can make clothes more wearable.
Sometimes, of course, breasts are just out there.
Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan, a self-described “member of the perfect-breasts community,” appeared in a Skims campaign, wearing a lime-green spaghetti-strap dress showing the other mode available to those with large chests: just go skintight.
Fun! But tough for anything where you don’t want to wear something skintight.
Whether they are straight or extended size, clothes are typically made to fit women whose chests maintain certain proportions to the rest of their bodies.
A garment is usually created using fit models meant to represent average customers, with patterns scaled to offer a range of sizes.
But this approach doesn’t account for varying body proportions.
Kristen Allen, a fashion entrepreneur, points out the typical piece of clothing is often geared toward those with about a B cup.
Allen, herself sporting a 32H, realized early on she would face challenges shopping for clothes.
“I loved shopping at Guess,” she told me, “yet trying on their shirts was such a mess, and I thought, 'Why can’t they make this for larger-chested women?'”
Many women, like Allen, are taking matters to the next level after feeling adrift by most major clothing retailers.
After years of struggles, she started her own brand, Exclusively Kristen.
Using herself as the model, she crafted patterns for button-up shirts, ensuring they wouldn't pop open or leave excess fabric at the waist.
Her designs utilize princess seams, which trace the body’s curves from armpit to hemline.
This approach emphasizes the figure “without being inappropriate for work,” Allen explained.
She took her shirts to specialty bra shops, gathering feedback from customers who would shop for larger sizes, tweaking her designs based on their insights.
Those candid conversations highlighted the gap between what people often think of as the “normal” breast size and the reality many women experience.
“Talking to bra shop owners, I often asked, 'What sells the best?',” Allen said, “and they’d consistently say sizes like 34H or 34G.”
Even seasoned shoppers find the hunt for clothes to fit ample chests challenging.
Alice Kim, who spent years as a buyer for renowned brands and even as vice president of merchandising at Diane von Furstenberg, still struggles to find clothing straight off the rack.
“I can’t find anything fitting my body without tailoring,” she recounted, noting her experiences led to the creation of PerfectDD.
Kim, who describes herself as 28I, often calls her size “DD” for simplicity.
The PerfectDD line caters to women with chest sizes from DD to M cups, offering items like scoop-neck tees and jumpsuits she says fit perfectly.
Trying on the initial sample, Kim recalls, “I literally cried; finally, I looked my size instead of drowning in something oversized.”
Once plagued by the idea of getting breast reduction surgery, she now wishes to embrace her curves more than ever.
Looking for clothes reflects broader themes of confidence and self-acceptance.
Leah, who has been writing about fashion for years, often solves her fitting dilemmas by sewing or altering her own clothes.
She advocates using patterns with multiple darts—preferably more than just one terribly placed on the side—for better fitting.
“I focus on finding shirts with darts both by the armpit and at the back waist,” Leah explained, emphasizing the importance of additional fabric across the chest.
Shopping for more complex garments can be more difficult.
Consider suit jackets, for example.
Caroline Andrew, a bespoke tailor based out of London, emphasizes adding plenty of darts helps achieve the right fit.
She shared strategies for customizing blazers, incorporating both princess darts and chest darts beneath the lapel.
While bespoke pieces can be costly, starting from scratch often proves necessary as women’s body shapes vary significantly.
Leah’s figure transformation during pregnancy opened her eyes to another dimension of fitting challenges.
She discovered maternity brands rarely accounted for the changes to breast size alongside growing bellies.
“The entire maternity clothing scene stinks,” Leah stated bluntly, expressing disappointment over shapeless, ill-fitting designs.
Exploring faux wrap dresses and high-waisted styles yielded better outcomes for her larger bust.
Even fantasy representations struggle to find solutions for all bodies.
Taking Barbie as an example, even her pregnant version falls short of fit and cute attire.
Plus, as regulatory norms shift, consumer demands change.
Changing attitudes about wine labeling mirrors some of the frustrations faced by women searching for proper clothing.
Consumers deserve transparency—including information about ingredients and nutritional content.
For years, advocates have pushed for ingredient labels on wine, facing resistance from the industry.
Recent efforts, though, seem to be gaining traction, with overall demand for more information growing.
What may seem simple—a list of ingredients—becomes complicated when mixed with the realities of production and marketing.
According to wine expert Randall Grahm, resistance lingered largely due to attitudes prioritizing artistic expression over clear consumer information.
This concept suggests wine immunity to basic labeling standards—an odd argument when compared to consumer goods like ketchup.
Grahm highlights issues stemming from the disinterest expressed by the wine sector itself.
“There has been little appetite for this sort of transparency,” he noted.
With current shifts in wine sales and evolving consumer preferences, the industry might have reached a tipping point, recognizing the need for clarity.
“It’s time we started talking about what’s hidden inside our bottles,” Grahm said.
Looking forward, interesting progress may pave the way for greater accountability.
