A Girl’s First Bra – When and What?
Let me get this off my 36C chest – I’ve always hated the phrase "training bra." What are we training? Breasts don’t need to be trained. It’s not like a bicycle where you eventually remove training wheels and you’re off. It’s hard enough for a girl to actually put on her first bra, so let’s not make it worse with a dumb name like training bra! Okay, my rant is over. Thank you.
It’s pretty much universal as to when a girl needs to get her first bra – middle school. It was for me, but it was called Junior High. Up until my first gym class, I had always worn an undershirt. But then I found myself having to undress in front of my peers, and everyone was looking at each other to see what was being worn. I ran home and informed my Mom that I needed a bra.
As a mother to two daughters, it pretty much went down the same way. My oldest is now 13, but has always been fascinated with wearing a bra. I was able to find some for her when she was around 8 – they didn’t really fit, but she wasn’t really wearing them either; they just made her feel grown up. Then, during the first week of 5th grade, we had to get serious about finding bras for her to wear every day. Now, my second daughter is in 5th grade, and as reluctant as she is to grow-up (she once told me she wants to take her childhood slowly) even she has informed me that the peer pressure is on and she needs to be wearing a bra too.
Now I know what you’re thinking; I’m in the business, so it should be simple for me. I honestly thought the same thing. But boy, it wasn’t. My older daughter was my foray into this difficult project. She measured a 32AA. So, I went on my site and looked. About a dozen styles appeared. I bought all of them and brought them home for her to try on.
Here’s what I learned. Wacoal makes a really fabulous line of petite bras. But they do not fit young girls properly. The underwires fall on the wrong part of their body, and the cups don’t look right. The Wacoal petite bras really are designed for a petite woman – not a young girl. Any bra with an underwire is problematic, and frankly unnessesary. Yes, my daughter liked the look and the idea of wearing a bra with an underwire – very grown up in her mind. But again, the wires tend to fall in strange places, and without enough breast tissue, tend to move up the chest.
Here’s another mistake moms make – they buy white bras for their daughters. The girls don’t want white. They want nude and/or black, or a cute pastel print. To them, a white bra looks too much like underwear. They are growing up in a world where seeing a bra strap or parts of the bra showing feels natural. If it were white, it would look like a mistake.
Remembering that several bra styles on my site come in only a band size, I returned to HerRoom and bought several of these. Definitely, more success with the soft-cup or wireless bras rather than bras with underwires.
So, after this exercise of trying to match fit with the taste and desires of my daughter, here is the list of bras that worked the best for her:
Elita 3076 Incognito Triangle Bra
Elita 8838 Silk Magic Crossover Bra
Pure Lime Fitness Sports Bra 0097 (expensive, but looks great on her)
A recent addition to our site has been some adorable bra and panty sets from CC Girl. Both of my daughters love them and have snatched them up. They are not that expensive, and it’s the first time the girls have actually had matching bras and panties. They simply love that.
So, all you mothers (and possibly fathers) with young daughters out there. I hope you take advantage of this hard-fought knowledge I’ve gained. Trust me when I tell you it will save you countless hours in research, returns and most of all, arguments.
Find more bras at HerRoom in these departments: Bras
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