I know that there are more combinations of factors that go into sizing women's garments than men's garments, but it seems to me that women have been letting the fashion industry push them around when it comes to measurements and consistency.
In the USA, male pants are measured waist size by inseam (both in inches). So after I lose weight someday, I might be 36 x 30.
Male dress shirts are measured neck girth by sleeve length (both in inches), so I would be 16 x 34.
And almost all garments with a specific size measurement are the same size. There's almost no need to try anything on, just grab your size from the rack, pay, and go home. Manufacturer's who vary too much from accepted sizing don't sell anything and soon either get with the program or go out of business.
A woman, on the other hand, can wear a size 10 dress at J.C. Penney's (mid price store) and the same woman would be a size 6 at Neiman Marcus (wealthy people's store). So I guess that it's true that the rich are different.
Back to bras, if all men wore bras, if the chest measurement was 32 and the bust was 38 the size wouldn't be 36B the size would 32 x 38. Easy peasy. None of this "add 4 if even and 5 if odd" or "2 inch difference between bust and calculated band (the plus 4 or 5) is a B". If only it were so. Ok, some breasts are fuller than others, so that factor could be suffixed to the size giving something like 32 x 38 small/medium/large or slender/average/full or some similar terminology.
*Cringing in a corner expecting a deluge of negative comments*
In the USA, male pants are measured waist size by inseam (both in inches). So after I lose weight someday, I might be 36 x 30.
Male dress shirts are measured neck girth by sleeve length (both in inches), so I would be 16 x 34.
And almost all garments with a specific size measurement are the same size. There's almost no need to try anything on, just grab your size from the rack, pay, and go home. Manufacturer's who vary too much from accepted sizing don't sell anything and soon either get with the program or go out of business.
A woman, on the other hand, can wear a size 10 dress at J.C. Penney's (mid price store) and the same woman would be a size 6 at Neiman Marcus (wealthy people's store). So I guess that it's true that the rich are different.
Back to bras, if all men wore bras, if the chest measurement was 32 and the bust was 38 the size wouldn't be 36B the size would 32 x 38. Easy peasy. None of this "add 4 if even and 5 if odd" or "2 inch difference between bust and calculated band (the plus 4 or 5) is a B". If only it were so. Ok, some breasts are fuller than others, so that factor could be suffixed to the size giving something like 32 x 38 small/medium/large or slender/average/full or some similar terminology.
*Cringing in a corner expecting a deluge of negative comments*