"Goodbye, full cleavage!" or why are so many women now having their breasts surgically reduced?
From "potato" to silver
Hellsten's wanted surgery for ten years. Her first consultation with a general practitioner, during which she felt that the person in question "disgusted" her, took place eight years ago. The doctor told her to forget about shrinking and instead build muscle. She has now decided to go down the private care route and spend £5,500 of her savings to get rid of the breasts her genetics have gifted her.
And she's not alone. Surgeons say breast reduction is experiencing a real boom, with Harley Street-based The Plastic Surgery Group reporting a "boom" in enquiries for January 2025. According to the latest figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), almost as many people underwent breast reduction as augmentation (also known as augmentation or 'boob job') in 2023. Specifically, there were 4,641 and 4,924 operations.
This is the smallest recorded difference between the two figures since the BAAPS audits began in 2009. Breast reduction is now the second most popular surgical procedure in Britain. Previously, it was around fourth place with a significantly greater difference between augmentation and reduction. For example, in 2010 BAAPS reported approximately twice as many breast augmentations (9,430) as reductions (4,959). By 2023, the numbers were almost the same.
The ideal cleavage? Smaller than before
It's not just the popularity of reduction, but also the extent of the procedure in terms of cup size. In a New York Times article that reported that the breast reduction boom is being seen in the United States, one Salt Lake City surgeon noted that his patients used to ask for C cups but now want B. The article also mentions how patients bring in pictures of celebrities with smaller breasts, such as Bella Hadid, Miley Cyrus and Keira Knightley, to illustrate their aesthetic ideal. Meanwhile, the popularity of cleavage-accentuating lingerie has also declined, with retailers reporting a long-term decline in sales of push-up bras, which have been replaced by an increased preference for soft and underwire bras.
This is not so surprising. Whether they wish to make them bigger or smaller, women simply generally want their breasts to look different. The 2020 Breast Size Satisfaction Survey reported that 70% of women worldwide are dissatisfied with their breast size. "Breast commodification and exploration can affect how women feel about their own bodies," the same study noted.
When breasts attract (annoying) attention
As an example, consider the treatment of American actress Sydney Sweeney, whose breasts have regularly become a topic of public debate in the past year. Sweeney's breasts were branded "the double D that heralds the death of the woke" by Canadian media outlet The National Post - after the actress dared to wear a low-cut top while hosting Saturday Night Live. She didn't mention so-called "woke-ism" or anything like that, but it didn't matter. The entire news cycle now focused on her breasts.
Zdroj: Giphy
The increased (and often unwanted) attention that comes with larger breasts is something Hellsten can identify with. "The fact that I can't expose any part of my chest without being sexualized is pretty hard to handle," she says. "If you wear something too tight, you feel like you're revealing too much. And with something too loose, again, you look more angular and like you have no shape because you're just wide everywhere."
Hellsten remembers enjoying the attention a bit when she was younger, but those days are gone. "When I was younger, [boobs] helped me get [free] drinks . But now that I'm getting older, I'm like, 'F*ck it! I can pay for my own stuff. And I'm not here to look good for other people!'"
Is "heroin chic" style making a comeback?
While most women who desire breast reduction usually do it for pain relief and because of personal choice, some commentators warn that it may still be part of a trend. "Small breasts may not attract as much attention on the subway or on the street as larger breasts, but they are also fashionable," clinical psychologist and best-selling author Lisa Miller wrote in the New York Times last year as part of her observations of the American breast reduction boom. "While large breasts signal motherhood and sexual availability, smaller breasts can convey youth, girlishness, puberty, thinness, androgyny." This is especially trendy in 2025, when one half of catwalks is dominated by "flirty" fashion and the other by androgyny.
Plus, small breasts are a well-timed accessory for the supposed return of "heroin chic." Plus-size models are disappearing from catwalks, weight-loss injections are fueling the ultra-slim bodies of contemporary A-listers, clothing brands like Next are facing discipline for showing "unhealthily thin" models, and everyone but Sydney Sweeney is virtually breastless.
It's the feeling, not the look, that counts
These factors don't escape Hellsten, even though she had her breast surgery scheduled before the era of "anti-Kardashian" body types. "There's a part of me that's like, 'Hm, why am I changing my body to fit this ideal of what a supermodel should look like?' I don't regret making an appointment, going through a consultation, any of that stuff, but it's expensive and it can feel like I'm doing it for other people," she says. "But when I stop and think about the mental and physical strain on me, it's a lot."
After all, as Hellsten herself says, there's one thing that always reminds her that she's not doing the breast reduction for anyone else, nor for any accepted beauty ideal: " It's less about how I look and more about how I feel."
© The Standard Ltd
