Grading a bra wing

Wings on a bra unlike the cup are not sister sized, knowing that all the same underband sizes should measure the same helps you work out what a wing should grade by.

I go through step-by-step in the grade book , but shall go through an overview look at grading the wing look at a soft bra with no cradle.

Bras grade from size-to-size with a 5cm grade (apart from in France where it is a 4cm) so if you split the bra into quarters (2x cups and 2x wings) that would 1.25cm on each part and 2.5cm on each half.

If our base size is 34B and you want to check if you’re grading is right I imagine my base size to measure 10cm laying down (2.5cm each wing and each cup) so I can check if i have my grade (what I am adding) is correct.

So if we wanted to grade a 34B to a 36A we would do the following:

To grade the 34B to a 36B you would increase by 5cm, so the cup would grade by 1.25cm and the wing 1.25cm (so total 5cm), so looking at the diagram (if the underband of a 34B is 10cm) the wing is now 3.75cm and the cup is 3.75cm, so times 3.75cm by 4 will equal 15cm.

So there is your 5cm grade.

All underbands measure the same so in this instant all 36s measure 15cm .

The cups are sister sized (a blog is a 32DD the same as a 34D can be found here) so by that we know:

1. a 34B has the same cup size as a 36A (so in this case 2.5cm)

2. we also know that all 36 bands are the same

3. we also know that the grade is 1.25cm

So if the cups are 2.5cm (5cm in total) then the wings need to be 5cm (10cm in total) to add up to 15cm.

WHAT DO WE KNOW

A 36A wing will have a smaller cup but a bigger wing than a 36B

A 34B has the same cup size but a smaller wing than a 36A (this is why you go up a “cup size” and down a wing if you’re bra is too big around your back)

A 36B has a bigger cup and bigger wing than a 34B

For further information about grading see below:

E-book: How to grade a bra and brief