How to Shop for a Bra When the Brand Is International

Most women have learned, through experience, that their bra size is not a fixed number. It moves depending on the brand.

This is not a fitting problem. It is an industry reality — and it is more pronounced when the brand is international.

Why sizing varies across brands

There is no global standard for bra construction. A 10C from an Australian brand is cut to different proportions than a 70C from a French label, even when the measurements that produced both sizes are identical. Cup depth, wire width, strap placement, band stretch — each is set by the designer’s own house standards.

Add to this the variation in how different brands interpret different body shapes, and the result is a sizing landscape that can feel genuinely confusing. It is not you. It is the system.

The sizing systems you will encounter

At Primary, the labels we stock come from Turkey (Else), South Africa (Nette Rose), France (Maison Close and Nany Blouses), and various international origins. Each uses a different sizing convention.

EU sizing is the most common internationally. As a starting guide:

• EU band 65 ≈ AU 8
• EU band 70 ≈ AU 10
• EU band 75 ≈ AU 12
• EU band 80 ≈ AU 14
• EU band 85 ≈ AU 16

Cup letters are more consistent across systems, though individual brands grade their cups differently. A C cup in EU notation is broadly equivalent to a C cup in Australian sizing — but individual brands may run slightly larger or smaller than this.

UK sizing uses the same band numbers as US sizing but different cup grading. When shopping UK brands, treat cup letters as a guide rather than a certainty until you have tried the specific label.

The practical approach

The most reliable method is to treat each brand as its own system until you have worn it. Your size in Else is not guaranteed to be your size in Nette Rose.

This is why we at Primary present all brands in the same, consistent sizing system, the Australian system. We also describe our pieces with as much fit detail as possible — and why we introduced Try Primary At Home. Ordering across multiple brands, at multiple sizes, becomes something you can do from home without the commitment of a final purchase.

If you know your underbust and overbust measurements in centimetres, our fit guidance can translate those into a starting size for any brand we stock. It is more reliable than working from a size label alone.

A note on fit across stages

Body shape changes. Pregnancy, age, weight change, and hormonal shifts all affect how a bra fits — and they affect different brands differently. It is worth revisiting your measurements when you notice a fit changing, rather than assuming the size itself is wrong.

We are here to help with this. Sizing across international labels is something we think about carefully, because it directly affects whether the pieces we curate actually work for the women who wear them. Please be in touch if you have any questions.