Understanding Root Width and Breast Shape

Below are images of uncovered, censored female breasts. If you are uncomfortable viewing such media or in an area that is less-than-private, consider skipping the images or this article.  

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In our conversations with customers about finding a bra that fits well, supports comfortably and looks good all at the same time always involves the same theme: breast shape. So, we thought it a good idea to write another article to directly address that topic and raise awareness about what it is and why it's so important to bra fitting.

This article focuses on the breast root specifically, as it determines wire profile, placement and width. 

In the above photo, the pink lines outline where the breast tissue attaches to the chest. The lighter sections are behind the breast tissue and are the "inframammary fold," also called the IMF. That is where the underwire should sit and trace along precisely. If it sits above, below, or cuts into the breast on the inside or outside—it will not support well and be very uncomfortable. 

The "root width" takes into account how wide the breast is on the chest. This can be narrow, average or wide. Importantly, it considers the width of each entire breast individually. Tissue that comes close to or at the center along with tissue that extends to the outer/side rib portion equals wide. Tissue that starts away from the centerline of the chest and stops well before the rib/side/armpit area is typically considered narrow.

It's important to understand that a bra's underwire should match your breasts' root. If you have roots that extend onto your sides, but there is measurable distance between the roots at the center, some call that "wide" since the root extends wide on your body. 

This can be confusing so look at the matrix below:

As you can see, looking at only one side of a breast isn't a good measure of how narrow or wide the root is. The entire breast's width, from the center to outer, must be considered. And as in the photo above, breasts can be different from one another. One may be narrow or average and the other wide. Asymmetry is very, very common!

An important note here is that breast tissue can extend from the root in a variety of patterns; the above table is specifically and only referencing the breast root. The tissue can be inner-, even- or outer-full, slope and point outward in an east-west shape, be ultra projected with outer- and inner- fullness in an "omega" shape, or a combination of these. 

Roots are where the breast tissue originates, where it goes from there is a different topic. 

Above, you an see the IMF where the breast meets the ribcage. That is where the wire should sit, and where you should measure. Breast tissue can sag or hang below that point, hiding the IMF behind it. The outer root is traced in purple and extends just onto her side. Since her left breast also begins at or very near to her chest centerline (see first photo), her left breast is on the wide side of average. Her breast tissue attaches high on her chest near her collarbone, which indicates a tall root height. 

In this photo, the IMF is visible and is hidden behind breast tissue as viewed from the front (see first photo). The outer root is traced in purple and sits out the corner of her front and side, which indicates average root width. Again, her root height is tall as the breast tissue extends all the way up to near her collarbone. 

So her breasts are: tall root height, asymmetric root width (average on right, average-wide on left), with projection and soft-tissue ptosis/sagging. 

Hopefully this helps you evaluate and understand your breast shape better, though yours will likely be unique to you and differ from these examples. 

If you'd like a shape evaluation/map like is shown in these photos, send us an email or read about our Breast Mapping Service HERE. We will happily trace and map your shape for you. 

You can reach us with questions or your photos at hello@billysbras.com