We all wish hitting puberty was a one-time growth spurt. In truth, puberty is notoriously that “awkward stage” for everyone, and it can last a few years. But what if it didn’t have to be awkward? Most young women discover that as their bodies develop, their clothes don’t fit comfortably, they fall between sizes, and things are tight in some places and looser in others.
You might be scrambling trying to find something that is suitable for your daughter. When does a tween need to wear a bra? Most preteen girls start wearing training bras or bralettes when they’re around eleven, but it’s never too soon or too late. These milestones are individual, just like your daughter!
Finding the right undergarments orlingerie for tweens can be tricky. Some stores have bralettes that remind you of something your grandmother would wear, and others feel like something out of a boudoir photoshoot.
How to Measure Bra Band Size
The female hormone cycle shifts and changes several times every month. Have you ever put on your favorite bra and it doesn’t fit right, but the next day, it’s comfortable again?
It’s not because you skipped lunch yesterday–our bodies fluctuate throughout our lives, and we can do our best tofind the most accurate bra size to help mitigate frustration and discomfort. There are a few important aspects of finding your daughter’s true size.
Find the Band Size
The band of your daughter’s bra is the part of the bra that runs around the back and goes under the breast. The band size is represented by numbers. To determine this number, wrap a measuring tape snugly around her ribcage, running the tape underneath her breasts. Whatever this measurement is, add three inches. In the event that the measurement is an odd number, round up to the next highest bra size.
Find the Cup Size
Wrap the tape loosely around the fullest part of your daughter’s bust, then subtract the band size from this measurement. If the difference is zero inches, her cup is AA. If it is one inch, her cup size is A, and so forth. At five inches, her cup will be DD or E, and at six inches, her cup will be DDD or F.
Some other factors to consider are if her breasts are two different sizes or if she is in between sizes. If her breasts are sisters but not twins, so to speak, cater the fitting to the smaller breast. If she’s between sizes, experiment with going down in band size while going up in cup size, or the other way around.
Find Her Style
Your daughter can see hundreds of styles and influencers in just a few swipes of her phone screen, so she’s probably already thought about her own style by observing others. This is why Yellowberry’s First Bras collections are perfect–with a range of styles and colors, your daughter will feel relieved to move out of “little kid” stuff, and you can rest easy knowing that she’s having an appropriate, girl-power-focused transition into womanhood. She can choose between strappy, fun camisoles for under her shirts, or comfortable, athleisure style training bras.
Media and culture are full of messages telling girls how they should look and feel. Set your daughter up for empowerment and comfort by helping her find what feels right for her development without sacrificing style. Your knowledge, support, and empathy will bring you closer together during these changes and transitions.