My co-bloggers and I recently had a lively discussion over what each of our definitions of full busted was and whether or not we considered our own selves to be full busted.
Personally, being in the 30G / GG UK range, I just don’t consider myself to be full busted. I wear ‘full busted’ bras and swimwear, but I feel that is only in the sense of the bra cups being larger in contrast with the bands being smaller. That plus (in my area) anything below a 32 band is available only in a specialty shop. Sure, G for Ginormous and all that, but on a 30 band? Its not all that and a bag of chips if you ask me.
According to this article from Medical Daily, the average American woman wears a bra size of 34DD. If you sister sized me into a 34 band (I realize that wouldn’t fit, but just for argument’s sake…), I’d be not much over that average size.
According to Wikepedia, the definition of a full bust is having a cup size of at least C. I have a question for Wikepedia. C what? C28? C48? There is a difference and the difference is real. Real big.
So if we go with 34DD as the average size, then are most women full busted?
To me, I equate being truly full busted with having difficulty in finding clothing that fits properly, with having back pain, with struggling to find a bra that offers adequate support, coverage and comfort, having shoulder straps that dig in painfully due to breast weight. My issues are limited to occasionally struggling to find fitted dresses that fit properly. The small band / larger cup bras and swimsuits are out there and easy enough to obtain so I don’t count bra / sport bra / swimsuit issues. Back pain? Never. My issues sounds pretty petty, don’t they?
I’ve asked a few of my co-bloggers to tell us their thoughts…
Baby:
I view full busted as more along the lines of proportion. The bust being fuller in size compared to hips and shoulders, not necessarily just the ribcage/band measurement. I fit the definition of full busted but I actually feel I am in proportion with my hips and shoulders.
That said, I do have some problems finding clothing but nothing extreme that I can’t get around by ordering online.
Yoomee:
I more look at the “big picture” when I think about bust size and if I would consider someone (including myself) full busted. Purely looking at the numbers (proportion and cup size), I would be considered full busted. My bust is wider than my waist and hips and I wear a GG to H cup, though my band is 28-30. However, I personally don’t think I look like I have humongous boobs at all. I also think there is a difference in the appearance of “big boobs” if you look at most natural breasts compared to enhanced. In comparison, I think my boobs look very comparable to natural DDs. So am I full busted? Yes. Do I perceive myself as full busted? Not really.
Treschic:
I agree that breast size is relative to the body they belong to. I am 5’9 and almost 200 lbs, I’ve been called ‘statuesque’, ‘amazonian’, and ‘big boned’ but the reality is I’m a big girl 🙂 I was a 36B prior to my surgery, and received 800cc implants. On a smaller woman, 800ccs can look huge, but in my opinion I just look well proportioned. I now wear a 36Gish UK, which most would consider full busted, and I suppose I am, but I don’t have any problems finding clothes or bras. I think a lot of that is due to the fact that, unlike many of my fellow bloggers here at AEE, I don’t wear a small band. I also wore a larger clothing size prior to my augmentation, so all my clothes still fit fine…better even!
Tanzilove:
The terms “full busted” and “projection” seem to get thrown around quite loosely. I agree with my fellow bloggers and their opinions on being full busted. I am a 36I US. I am what most women would consider to be full busted. Do I have problems finding clothes that fit properly? No. Are my breasts constantly exposed because my tops are too tight or too small? No. Don’t get me wrong. There are some things that just wont work. Some things will not fit well and won’t look good but these things are easily replaced with other styles. Like my fellow blogger Treschic, I am not a smaller band size. I wear an average band size. My bust size is pretty consistent with the rest of me. I do have a smaller waist, but I have hips and booty. Definitely curvy.
Let’s look at the other end of the spectrum. My daughter measures at a UK 28FF. Is she full busted? My opinion, and hers: absolutely not. She is tall and thin. That still doesn’t put her in the “full busted” category as far as we are concerned. She can wear whatever she wants; string bikinis, bralettes, etc. She doesn’t experience back pain or limitations because of her bust size. She is comfortable with her natural size and doesn’t feel the need to exaggerate it, or play up the fact that she is a 28 FF. She considers herself normal. No one stares at her, no one asks her about her “huge boobs”.
***
We’d love to know what you think? What is your definition of full busted? What do you think the definition should be?
Until next time,
Jelz and the AEE team
An Enhanced Experience 
I never comment (even though I love all of your posts!) but I agree with you 100%. I’m a 30FF which might put me in the “full bust” territory but you can’t tell I’m “full busted” just by looking at me. They look completely average in size (and maybe even a little small!) and I have no problems buying clothes. However, I identify at the smaller end “full busted” because I have some issues (mainly with finding bras) and mostly because I don’t fit in the matrix that most stores push.
LikeLike
Thank you so much for your comment Gratia. I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy our blog. I thought that this would be an interesting subject for some Sunday discussion.
LikeLike
I think full busted means your outside of the normal bra matrix, if you can go into a store and buy your bra size off the rack, then no, your not full busted. So full busted depends on where you live and how available your size is. In the USA at a 38H/40GG uk I can’t buy American bras because they just don’t come in my size. My hips and bust are the same measurement, so I’m not disproportionate, I don’t have breast related back pain, so in my head, I’m full busted merely because I can’t go into a store and buy a bra where I live.
LikeLike
Thank you for taking the time to comment Claire. It has been refreshing to see different perspectives.
LikeLike
I’m in the ~30G range and although I don’t get pain I do have difficulty finding and wearing clothes that fit and flatter. This might depend on where you live. An inner-London lady might have fewer problems than someone like me who lives in a small, remote town of northern Australia. I would have to travel 1600km to find a bra in my size. Anything fitted or tailored needs to be purchased online from the other side of the world.
For those lucky ladies who don’t have problems finding clothes that fit / flatter I wonder if it was always this way or if it has evolved over time. For me it was much worse as a teenager trying to fit into the fashion of the day that all my friends were wearing and being upset that the majority of items in the high street stores wouldn’t fit. I’m much more relaxed about it now that I’m older and happy to disregard “fashion” for styles that I know work for me, plus there are now brands that specifically cater for my shape and I also have the income to support expensive international online shopping!
An alternate view would be to consider how it affects you on an emotional, not just physical level. Perhaps if you’ve ever been self conscious about your large breast size, received unsolicited comments from others, felt that it compromises your professional image, or if it impacts on what clothes you buy and how you buy them – you are full busted.
Ultimately it doesn’t really matter. People can think of themselves however they want and I don’t think it has any positive or negative connotations, it just is. Personally I think it helps me identify with a supportive community of women with similar difficulties and experiences and for that I am grateful! 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you for your comment Penny. All great opinions. Very true about how when you live in a rural location you don’t have easy access to bras and clothing although in this day and age we do have the internet bring us shops from all over the world, which as you say can be expensive habit to support! As you point out how much worse it was for you as a teenager, it makes me consider a big difference with my situation. I had augmentation surgery close to three years ago now, in my mid 40’s. Had I worn my current bra size as a teen, my opinion today might well be different. When I was a teen, there was no internet, for both support or shopping. We are all molded by our own experiences. And I agree – ultimately, I don’t think it matters, but I thought it was fun to talk about and hear from all sides.
LikeLike
For clarity, I think it’s the easiest way to talk about full-bust when talking about sizes above DD. I look at it the same way as ‘plus size’; clothes above size 12-14 are not sold on regular stores as straight sizes, so anything above that 12-14 is plus. Usually core sizes in bras are A-DD or sometimes E and anything above that is full-bust. I must say that maybe the way you perceive this matter is different from gals that have natural breasts. For you, to take the plunge on going under the knife must have something to do with preferring bigger breasts and with many women who have augmented breasts, they have the operation done several times to achieve even bigger breasts, as they soon start to feel they didn’t go big enough with the first operation. It’s definitely a perception thing, so I would say “on paper” it’s always best to have some kind of strict logical criteria for terms like full bust and plus size.
LikeLike
Hi Sophie! Thank you for taking the time to comment. When you say full bust is talking about sizes above DD being full-bust, do you think band size comes into play at all?
I think that in general an augmented woman’s opinion may be different in that she didn’t grow up being the size she became post surgery. Our experiences as a young person play a big part in how we view ourselves today.
Women who choose to have breast augmentation do so for a huge variety of reasons. Preferring bigger breasts would be the reason for some but I’m certain not all. For example there are quite a number of women who have one breast significantly smaller than the other, and they choose to have augmentation to correct this issue. My own cousin chose to be augmented after having a bilateral mastectomy due to breast cancer. For myself, I didn’t mind my natural breasts, but my husband really wanted me to regain the appearance that they had when I was younger (before the four babes, gravity, life, etc.). I decided it wouldn’t be so terrible to have the surgery and make him happy and so I did. I just didn’t think it was really a huge deal. I still don’t.
I do agree it is totally a perception issue but perhaps it would be nice to have a proper definition. For example, here in Canada, if you see a Petite Section in a clothing shop, you know that means for ladies 5’4″ and under. That is a pretty strict definition. It isn’t for if you think you might be petite (under those guidelines), or you feel petite, its either you are or you are not petite. Black and white, so to speak.
LikeLike
As a feminist, I feel terrible about you getting an augmentation because your hubby wanted it. The fact that he would even say something like that about your breasts is appaling. I am so sorry for you, truly. I thought first not to comment back at all because I know it’s none of my business and it might upset you but then again… I just hope he is not abusive towards you. I genuinely care.
LikeLike
You are sweet Sophie, and your comment made me smile. Thank you. I knew saying that could cause a reaction. It often does, except with people who know my husband. I did agree that perhaps those parts of me looked somewhat worn and perhaps due for maintenance. It just wasn’t something I would have looked into without some prompting, but I have to say that I feel my new shape made a nice improvement, and I’m happy that I had the surgery. I have been happily (most of the time) married for almost 25 years now. Sometime I will tell the full story of my surgery and I hope that you will read it.
LikeLike
I will definitely read it! And I honestly didn’t mean any harm with my comment. I have had terrible body image issues myself and know how my boyfriends comments on my body have affected me, both in good and bad. I hope you are happy with your decision and I would love to hear all of your stories why you decided to make such a change ❤
LikeLike
Thanks Sophie! I will definitely share my story at some point. I’m sorry to hear you had terrible body image issues. I have been lucky to have always felt quite self-confident. I am happy with my decision and I really enjoy being one of the eight co-bloggers on this forum and hope I can sometimes help other women, augmented or not.
LikeLike
Also, I am a 30H and definitely consider myself very full-busted. I also did consider myself full-busted when I was 28F. To me, I always felt like the girl with huge tits compared to my friend, who were 28E tops or 36E tops. I have had so many people confuse me to be bigger than I am because of my boobs that I have no doubt my boobs are exceptionally big.
LikeLike
I agree with the opinions above – I feel “full-busted” because I haven’t been able to walk into anything other than a specialty store and buy a bra (since I had a proper fitting anyways). I’ve also consider myself full-busted because I’ve been teased about the boobage since I was 10.
I thought I was “only” a 34DD (because that was the smallest band size and largest cup size at the mall) until the bra fitting and walked out with 30FF more than 10 years ago. Thanks to hormones I’m now up to 30JJ/K, at approximately the same weight. I hide them well (mostly), being I’m 5’7″ and reasonably well proportioned. I’ve always had issues with clothes.
As a manufacturer of clothing for women with big boobs (morefrontroom.com), this wording dilemma is the bane of my existence!! Most of the keywords I would use to help my ideal customers find me fall into porn territory and get creepster traffic. Curvy/ curvaceous doesn’t mean what it once did, the broader usage is great but less useful. Buxom? Busty? Big boobs? Voluptuous? Well-endowed? Big bust? Full bust? Just shoot. me. now.
I get knocked for using cup size sans band size (clothes for DD+) but we marketers only have so many words to use to describe ourselves 🙂
LikeLike
Hi Melanie!
Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I’m willing to bet that a huge number of ladies who are actually sized out of mall store bra shops get told they are a 34DD lol.
I can understand your marketing issues. Some things are hard to put a label on and this seems to be one of them for sure, which is why I thought it would be fun and interesting to do a blog piece on the subject.
I love the name you chose for your shop and will definitely check it out.
LikeLike