Bras are important. If you don’t want to see me, a plastic surgeon, to lift and tighten your breasts as you age, it is important for you to get a well fitting bra. Yup. Support the girls.
I constantly see women in the wrong bra size or wearing bras which give no support. I have many blogs on the subject. See them here.
In my wanderings around the internet, I found this website for a bra brand Third Love where they classify the breast into 9 different shapes, and they state they have specific bras for each shape.
Their classification of the “breast shapes”:
- Asymmetric (one bigger than the other)
- Athletic (wider, more muscular)
- Bell shape (slim up top, fuller at the bottom)
- Relaxed (lax tissue with nipples pointing down)
- East west (nipples point out)
- Round (think Target bullseye ad)
- Side Set (Wide space between breasts)
- Slender (Thin breasts, nipples point down)
- Tear drop (Round, but slightly less full at top)
I am not going to analyze their bras at this time. I loved their bra finder, which asked questions like “is the band too tight?” or “are you overflowing the cup?” (both classic symptoms of an ill fitting bra). When I looked at the asymmetric bra shape, their bra didn’t have different sizes or padding for right versus left, so I am unsure why it is a good one for breast asymmetry. And I saw many shapes were recommended the same bra. But their thoughts are good.
I really liked how they bring to light breasts have different shapes.
We as plastic surgeons may draw up a slightly different list:
- Asymmetric (most women have some asymmetry. This can vary from a hair of difference to a cup size)
- Droopy (nipples hang below your underwire)
- Deflated (loss of upper pole fullness, seen especially after breast feeding a couple kids)
- Constricted (narrow breast, short lower pole, so the breast frequently looks “pointy”- one of my patients called hers “party hats.”)
- Tubular (a true genetic change, with a narrow base breast and large areola)
- Classic (Think the Target bullseye ad).
- Small (little to no tissue, can be athletic)
Breasts come in all shapes and sizes. There are surgical fixes for many of these if they are truly bothersome or noticeable.
Bravo Third Love to highlighting women, and their breasts, come in all shapes and sizes. Support yours with the love and thoughtfulness they deserve.