People wondered is it a fashion who or a boob show. Back in the 1990s, when the show started as a staid industry affair in New York City, the average bra size in the United States was a 34B. Twenty years later, the average size is now a 34DD, by some measures.
Women having big boobs has led to an increased demand for bigger bras. Wacoal America, one of the biggest bra brands, told the New York Times in 2009 that its most popular size had reached 36DD, up from a 36D the year before and a 36C two years before that.
And yet the models in the most recent Secret Fashion Show, which now broadcasts bras and lingerie outfits for millions of viewers in a nationally televised event, looked different. People craved to watch that.
The visibly smaller chests of this era’s Secret models is undoubtedly related to smaller model bodies in general. The bodies of the ’90s weren’t necessarily more attainable, but Secret show showcased a more varied vision of beauty based on a curvier norm: Some women were curvier with thick thighs and athletic builds, while others were more slight.
But the lack of “boob diversity” is its own challenge, as anyone who’s shopped for a DD+ bra knows. Breasts have their own cultural beauty standards to fit, and the norm today — outside the Maxim world, of course — veers smaller and perkier. Women are even having their breast implants removed or opting forsmaller implants to begin with. As Wacoal reported in a survey, “There is a stigma about wearing larger cup sizes.”
