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Like a snowflake, a fingerprint, and your go-to custom Starbucks order, every pair of breasts (and the cutesy names you call them) is unique.
This can make finding the comfiest and most flattering bra for your bust a challenge, particularly if you’re dissatisfied with the current selection of intimates in your closet. A little-known fact is that in addition to breast size, breast shape also plays a critical role in finding the perfect fit for your bust.
As such, we’ve put together a list of eight different breast shapes and paired each with a bra style to flatter your exquisitely unique build.
>The 8 Most Common Breast Shapes
No listicle could ever encompass the staggering, beautiful, horizonless variety of the human figure. That said, having a general understanding of your breast shape can come in handy when shopping for your next best bra.
Here are the 8 most common breast shapes and the types of bras to follow up your form with the perfect fit.
#1 Round
Round, orb-like breasts have an equal ratio of breast tissue below and above the nipple. Women with this breast shape should look for bras designed for ease and comfort, as opposed to lift and sculpting. Triangle bras, T-shirt bras, and wireless brass like the Callie Wireless Lace Bra offer a relaxed feel with minimal spillover and a gentle, snug fit.
#2 Teardrop
In teardrop-shaped breasts, breast tissue and fat tend to collect in the southern hemisphere of the breast, below the nipple, with a shallow slope up top. To even out volume, women with this breast shape should opt for bras that promise some gentle elevation. Go for an underwire push-up bra, like the Simi Lace Underwire bra, to balance the support you need with a delicate balconette neckline.
#3 Tapered
Tapered breasts have a conical rather than rounded shape, where breast tissue tapers towards the nipples and forms a soft point. Women with tapered breasts will feel most comfortable in a bra that offers some gentle compression. The Paige Microfiber Lace Print T-Shirt Bra lightly compacts your breasts to your chest with comfortable and breathable material.
#4 East-west
East-west or “compass” breasts are angled away from the midline of the body, leaving more space between tissue mounds. The nipples of east-west breasts often favor opposite directions. T-shirt or gentle underwire bras like the Chloe Essential Microfiber T-Shirt Bra can offer an assist by collecting breasts closer to the equator (if you will), and away from the armpits.
#5 Relaxed
Women with relaxed breasts tend to have more flexible breast tissue, which gives them a:
- Broader bust surface area
- Steeper slope up top
- Lingering drape at the bottom
Avoid underwire bras, which can lead to pinching and discomfort.
Like east-west breasts, women with this breast shape should look for bra styles that gather their girls closer to the midline—the Ava Wireless Push Up Bra would be an ideal option to integrate the sweet feel of comfort and support with a dash of push-up spice.
#6 Cinched
Cinched breasts tend to be fuller and snugly set towards the midline of the body, with little or no space intervening between them.
With the wrong bra, women with cinched breasts may be prone to chafing or an excess build-up of moisture between their breasts, particularly in steep temperatures and warm climates. To settle the score, seek out wireless bras that hug closer to the torso—the Delilah Wireless T-Shirt Bra has removable inserts to give you some breathing room and adapt your style as you fancy.
#7 Athletic
Women with naturally athletic builds, or who are highly physically active, tend to accumulate more muscle tissue in the region that upholds their fat and breast tissue.
Athletic breasts may be firmer to the touch and sit further apart on the torso. Wireless bras like the Alysa Wireless T-Shirt Bra give a relaxed fit while offering some sculpt and lift.
#8 Gemini
More than half of women have some disequilibrium between their two breasts, but the asymmetry in Gemini breasts is more pronounced. Women with this breast shape will be most comfortable in designs that use foam or light padding to even out their shape, like the Cora Convertible Strapless Bra, which will keep you supported whether you decide to go with or without straps.
How Your Breasts Shape Up
As we said, breasts are unique, without equal, and one-of-a-kind. Most often, breasts exhibit the most variation in the following categories:
- Fullness
- Slope
- Placement on the chest
- Nipple size
- Nipple direction
- Symmetry and asymmetry
- Muscle to breast tissue ratio
In total, these characteristics determine the overall shape of your breasts. However, most women experience fluctuations in the shape and size of their bust throughout their lifetime, due to a few key variables:
- Your age – Like every other part of your body, it’s par for the course to see changes in your breasts as you get older. As we age, the collagen in our bodies has less bounce-back and elasticity. As a result, all breasts will eventually lose some firmness, lift, and volume, leading to a change in shape over time.
- Your weight – Breasts are composed of glands, tissue, and fat, but every woman has a different ratio between the two. Weight fluctuation typically affects the size and shape of your breasts but depending on how your unique pair is composed, some women may see less variation than others.
- Your level of physical activity – Beneath every pair of boobs lies a pair of pecs—specifically, the pectoralis major. Most women don’t see a noticeable change in the tissue that sits on top of the pectorals, but certain types of exercise (e.g. bodybuilding) can diminish body fat and make breast mounds appear firmer against highly developed pec muscles. This can also give the illusion of a different breast shape.
- Your hormones – Hormones like progesterone and estrogen involved in menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and menopause can all affect the shape of breasts. Women see the most magnified changes in their breasts during pregnancy, but whether or not childbirth will change their breast shape in the long term varies from individual to individual.
While these four factors can subtly alter your breast shape, in the end, the shape of your breasts is largely dictated by your genes.
Discover A+ Fits with Lulalu
Your breast shape is impeccably individual, and you shouldn’t have to make compromises when it comes to dressing them.
Visit the Lulalu online showroom to browse bras and undies made especially for women who wear AAA, AA, A cup sizes. Our lighter-than-air intimates are built to contour to your body and your life, so you’ll never have to regret the day’s bra choice again.
Sources:
WebMD. Age-Related Breast Changes: What You Should Know. https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/older-breasts-what-to-know#2
5 Factors that Determine Breast Shape. ttps://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/5-factors-determine-breast-type
Healthline. What Are the Most Common Breast Shapes? https://www.healthline.com/health/breast-shapes#shapes
