1514 Paranormal Racktivititty.

The title could have been paranormal racktivity and been fine, but I decided on a dangerous DOUBLE PUN!! Don’t try this at home. I am a pun expert. A Pundit, if you will.

I had to do so much research about bra sizing on this that all the targeted ads on the site were for bras for a week. By coincidence the Teen had recruited me to help her get better bras the week before, so I had asked all my facebook contacts that have similar builds about where to get the best bras for the best price versus quality ratio online. Most of them are used to me suddenly asking questions about girl things out of nowhere, but some of the newer ones were probably disturbed and it didn’t occur to me that they would be until much later. Of course Natasha has known me long enough that she was all in and said she’d guide the Teen in the ways of bras. My mom is all about function and the teen likes style. This fundamental disagreement causes a lot of friction, but I kind of expected Natasha to walk the line between the two because she’s that kind of sassy lady.
Bra sizing is a hot mess. Since it’s trying to be everything to everyone it’s a bit vague until you actually start building around an actual human. At least this is what my research suggests. Plus there’s not a worldwide standard, which causes a lot of friction for people who are unbound by the borders of the world. What I’ve noticed is that it basically breaks down into 3 main standards. American, British, and Asian. The question that this made me wonder was is there a south American standard, African, or any others from large parts of the world that are less connected to the US. Africa is a huge continent, comprised of many countries; do they use the British standard? My guess is that colonialism makes the british standard the one for Africa in general. It’s not like this is a burning question, but I’m very curious now. International trade is complex, so there must be people whose job it is to try and get bras into every market. It’s just something that all the calculations got me thinking about.
My general standard for Carol’s measurements is that she had a 36 to 38 inch chest depending on weight, bloating, or what have you. I’m not sure of her exact height, but Thomas is supposed to be 6’1″. Her cup size is generally agreed upon as G. The thing is, I’ve seen lots of women with those supposed measurements that do not look to be the same size at all. I took my best shot at plausibility though. Anyway, based on that vauge series of numbers I’m guessing that her hips are around 45″ to 48″. Is any of that important? I have no fucking idea, but I worked it out anyway because people used to ask about it a lot.

Thank all of you for the well wishes for the shared anniversary of the comic and its creator. I’ve missed a few goal over the years, but I’m still trying. Hopefully the next few years will see the improvements I’ve always wanted to make once I finally heal properly. I’m already faster than I used to be versus the damage done by the hospital stays, so when I’m well again it should be like Goku dropping his weighted training gear. Or at least I hope it will be. I struggle with the art, as you well know, but I keep trying to push my limits and learn more. It’s all anyone can do and I hope you stick around for another ten years of me failing and trying again.

55 Comments

Wow 10 years now xD Lotta work in that time. Guess I gotta reread the whole thing in tribute again. I salute you sir and thank you for your hard work!!

Happy Birthday to you and Between Failures! I really enjoy not just your work, but also your musings/thoughts/rants. I don’t comment very often, but there’s a lot of quieter readers like me that believe in you and your work.

May this year be better than the last :)

A person’s build can drastically change how a bra size will “appear” on her body. I’ve known lots of women with DD or higher sized breasts who if you just looked at them you would guess smaller. We tend to guess smaller anyway since most women wear too small of a bra. It goes the other way too, of course, especially with heavier women since the assumption tend to be that heavier women will have significantly larger breasts than the rest of the population, which is not always true…

Anyway, congrats on the anniversary! I love this comic and I’m always happy to see an update, so I hope things go well for you and you continue to share your stories with us :)

Playing with the “boob slider” on the long-gone game City of Heroes made it very evident that “bustiness” is a ratio and proportion thing comparing boobs to the body they are attached to. Case in point: I would have pegged Carol at E/DD, at most F.

For a real hormone rush, imagine Carol’s boobs hung on Nina’s or Joline’s frame. Jackie could do one or both for Patreon and I would be very happy….

It was Jackie’s ad with Carol boob-wrapped was what first got me to this comic. I stayed for the story. I’m picky. I can get enough big cartoon boobs from different places that I can afford to be picky and I love good writing.

Happy 10th, Jackie. Here’s to as many more years as you would ever want.

Aah, the boob-slider.

How many times did I forget to play the game because of it?

I think it contributed to 80% of my characters being female. :)

I had some characters on every server but my home server was Liberty.

I’d probably like the change, but:

If Carol-sized boobs magically appeared on Jo’s body, then the new weight of Jo’s boobs, would probably make her fall right over! ;D

Strangely enough I have an image of that, sort of.

I look forward to when you drop your weighted training gear (healthy) so someone can make the obligatory “it’s over 9000” reference.

I’m more of a quiet reader, but I figured I’d come out of the shadows because bras are my jam. As a gift to Between Failures, I will try to sum up bras in a nutshell. Disclaimer: My knowledge is in American sizing, as that is what is available to me as a North American.

When measuring for a bra, there are two components: the rib cage and the chest. The rib cage is measured first, then the chest. General rule of thumb (and the best place to start) is that for each inch of difference between the two, the chest measurement goes up a letter. So if Lady A has a 34 inch rib cage (quite common/standard), and her chest is 38 inches, she will be a D cup. Interestingly, this creates what are known as “sister sizes.” As your rib cage gets larger, the cup sizes will also hold more volume. If one feels like they’re spilling over in a 34D, she can move up to a 36C; or, if there is gapping along the top of the cup, she can move down to a 32DD. The rib cages for these sizes are actually all the same. I’ve included a lovely chart here: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b0/f2/8b/b0f28b23dceff822c0b65aa4537fd317.jpg

Still following? I know. It’s really dumb.

To make things more complicated, there’s actually a particular way to measure a bra, as well as put it on. Rib cage is easy enough. For the chest, however, one should lean over so they are parallel to the ground, and measure the chest from that point. This pose mimics how a bra would actually hold breasts to give lift and support. For particularly pendulous ladies, a measurement should be taken both standing normally and leaning over, and an average taken between the two. This is why in-store sizing isn’t usually accurate, as measurements are taken standing up *with an existing bra on.* Blasphemy!

So let’s say we’re Carol and we’re buying a bra. Hooray! However, based on the measurements you’ve given, 7 inches above a 36 rib cage is actually a 36F. Based on her image in this comic, her breasts are definitely larger than her hips. Let’s pin her with 45″ hips. As such, to accomplish her shape, it is more likely she is a 38G. However, this makes her chest 9″ larger than her band size. The sister size for this, at 7 inches from the band size, is 42F.

Tragically, generic bra stores like Victoria’s Secret and even Walmart and the like drop off quite quickly with larger bras. Many women squeeze themselves into ill-fitting bras because that’s what’s available. Carol likely orders her bras online, or has a nearby specialty shop. It’s a huge point of frustration among the well-endowed.

So let’s roll with the specialty shop, because this is our first time trying on bras. After we’ve collected a couple 42F bras, maybe a 38G or 40FF, we can hit the change room. When putting on the bra, there are multiple sets of hooks at the back: the lowest (or loosest) one should be used for a new bra. All those other hooks are for when the band has stretched out from, you know, living and moving and breathing. So we clasp the bra, in whichever way is easiest (some women like to clasp it in front so they can see the hooks and then spin it around, others are just naturals and doing it behind the back) and then pull it up to our rib cage. Pull on the straps. They should be firm, but not digging into the shoulders or leaving red marks. I believe two fingers under the straps is the general rule, but I can’t remember right now. The band size should fit similarly: snug, but not tight. Bra is on now, right?

Haha, no. Now is the time to lean over and perform the aptly named, “swoop and scoop.” Swoop over, grab a handful of that breast tissue, and scoop it into the cup. Breasts tend to migrate into the armpit; this movement ensures everything gets into the cup and sits as intended.

Now is the time to call over one of those lovely change room ladies. They do know how the bra should fit in the end, but the process for getting there is a bit more ambiguous.

And now you know why the phrase, “She was so big, like a double D!” makes me want to punch people in the face. A 28DD is WORLDS AWAY from a 42DD. *The more you know.*

Happy birthday!

Good Gosh!

I’m a guy, BTW, but-
After reading all of that- talk about putting a square peg in a round hole. [Not that I wanted people to think of pegs + holes at the same time as bras]. O-o
I wish that the types of women’s undergarments was much easier, + much more practical, than that. Dang.

If I ruled the world, one of the first things I’d do is make all clothing companies standardize their sizes. . Especially lingerie, as from what I’ve heard, bra companies are the absolute worst about varying sizes from company to company.

But, size 40 jeans would be size 40, regardless of the company.

I would sort of do the opposite if I ruled the world. There would be no such thing as standard sizes. All households would be given their own body scanners to be used on naked bodies. The measurements would then be sent to the manufacturers in the most impersonal/unsexy way possible (hopefully just numbers, maybe a computer graphic so vague that it makes a dressmaker’s dummy look sexy in comparison) and then everyone will get perfectly tailored clothes.

… or you could just do what your older relatives did, and get your clothes tailor made.

For some that’s the only option. :(

Only a 7 inch difference? Ha! I’ve got a 10 inch difference.

Nobody likes a braggart, dear.

She’s grown 3 inches just as a gift to Thomas.

My wife was a C-cup when we married. We’ve had 2 live births, and she grew a cup size with each. Just for me.

At least that’s what I told her. She wasn’t so sure.

I’ve got a website for sourcing up to and including JJ/KK cups (and some of those will do custom sizes up to last i heard VV or WW? (yes thats Double V and Double W cups.)
Just don’t wander off that particular link. because the URL is linked further up its directory to a fetish site. give me an email here at this name on google’s mail service and ill send it to you.

@kennedy what you are describing is “sister sizing” and its Incredibly inaccurate. passed a smaller sizes due to the volumetric cubed rule.

(to double the size of something you need to CUBE its volume)

For instance a B cup to a D cup is a doubling of size but a Quadrupling in volume. ( Going from an A to a B similarly is cubing the volume)

for instance at the extreme end to go from a D cup to an H cup (a doubling in size) requires almost 3000 CC of saline/Silicone. to go from an H to say a J requires almost a the same amount.

if she keeps gaining weight, she might have good chances to continue growing an inch per year for quite a long time.

An inch per year? That would be some guys’ dream.

Hmm… Women I’ve gone out with whose bra sizes I’ve known… Well, back in the late ’70s, there was a 5’0″ lady who was a solid 36D, but she was definitely on the curvy side. In the mid ’80s, the two I remember were a farmer’s daughter type who stretched the tape at 39DD (well, she was a mom) and a more willowy sort with a 34C bust.

I sort of stopped paying attention to the numbers and letters in my thirties and forties, but the most recent are the former GF I keep in touch with, another strapping farmer’s daughter at 6’2″ with a magnificent pair of 43Ds (she says she can’t wear a 42, even in a larger cup size, and a 44 makes her uncomfortable); and my current lady friend; at 5’3-3/4″ she’s a 32B. They’re roommates, and they’ve dragged me off brassiere shopping a couple of times. Pfaugh. Not like they were going to model them in the store for me…

I know…
Drives me crazy (which is probably the point):
If they are dragging You off to Victoria’s Secret, You should at least be in on the whole fitting…
…instead of having to wait until You get home.

I’m impressed. A double pun could easily be a bust, making you look like a total boob. But you turned in your breast performance here.

Yessasssssssssssassasassssssss.

I’m late to this party (you might say I’m having trouble keeping abreast of things) but it seems to me that you are clearly punching above your weight – and if you keep racking up brazen puns like this you have a real potential to be a title holder. I raise my cup to you sir! Bravo!

(I also hope your health continues to improve – please keep taking care or yourself!)

I envy or sympathize with the stable sizing that the people here have apparently had, depending on whether that stability worked for their benefit or detriment. Most likely that’s envy, because bras tend to be made to fit more common profiles, even in the upper range. Each bra brand tends to pick an under-served niche, as they have less real competition that way. But there still remain some people who are in between the well served populations.

Now, I certainly agree that there are completely different sizing models for America, Britain/Europe, and Asia. However, my experience with getting my ex bras (back in the day when I was getting my ex bras) was that each brand had fiddly different sizing, and even within a brand, there could be different bra size characteristics for different lines of bras. Ultimately, this is actually overall a good thing, because breasts of the same overbust and underbust pairings are generally quite different, unless those measurements are basically identical. But it would be much better, IMHO, if there was a standard way of measuring the durned things. At one point, my ex had four bras that all basically fit, which ranged from a 26 DDDD to a 32 H. Granted, the four bras were from four countries, but they were all marked with US sizes in addition to their various other sizes, and those were the supposed US sizes I gave there. The bras clearly didn’t agree on which countries had which standards, apart from the US always being measured in inches and Asia always being measured in cm (supposing Asia even *was* a standard listed.)

Admittedly, the bra store she usually used openly stated that bra sizing above a DD is basically chaos, and they stocked a wide variety, rather than following what they said was the more traditional approach of picking one brand, or maybe two or three that were fairly consistent with each other, and pretending that most of the bra manufacturers don’t exist. But my ex had enough trouble finding bras that we had previously gone to a variety of shops to find what fit for her right then, so we already knew about that.

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