Bra shopping for an 11yr old

[BlueJellie]

Ok I need some advice - tomorrow I'm taking my neice to get her first bra, she doesn't want to go with her Mum as her Mum just took her to Primark n picked a couple up, then it all exploded in an arguement at home when my neice insisted they did not fit her.

She very embarrassed about the whole issue as she is one of the first if not the first in her class going to get one.

My main questions are where are the best places to take her? Would La Senza be too grown up, would M&S be more appropriate? How can I make the whole experience better for her so she doesn't see it as an embarrassing stage of her pre-teen yrs? My first bra was an awful off white hand-me-down and I was mortified, I want to make sure my neice has better memories!

Marks and Spencers do some nice teen bras. The brand is called Angel. No under wire, they do the in pink, white and tan.. Also think they do some a rather snazzy print. You buy them in packs of 2.

from my experiences with DD M&S will measure her properly if she will allow it and that is advisable! they also do a great Teen Angel range which should appeal to her but you might need one of the larger stores. IMHO the most important thing is that she doesnt have an underwired bra for a while yet as the developing breast tissue is fragile and growing quite rapidly, so proper teen bras should just be moulded not underwired. Don't know about La Senza, would also suggest TopShop. what a fab auntie you are!!!

I took DD (almost 11) to John Lewis where the staff were lovely and made her feel it was a special occassion without being overwhelming. Also nice range of cheapish bras. have always found the measuring service there really good.

M&S also v good.

She will need re-measuring every few months.
Have a lovely time

After my experiences with my own bra shopping, I did not and would not trust M&S to measure my daughters, although I think they are probably the best place to buy bras for young teens.

Personally I would take her to be measured at John Lewis, then, once you know what size she is, buy from M&S (or George at ASDA who I have also found to be good) for everyday plain bras. Make sure she tries them on though as styles in different shops (and even different styles within the same shop) fit very differently, and as she is presumably quite a small size the difference will be more pronounced if you get slightly the wrong one.

B x

My dd1 is 11 and wears crop tops rather than properly structured bras. They look a bit like this. No need for really precises measuring, and there are some very nice styles around. They're a good way of easing girls into the whole bra-wearing process. Obviously when the breasts grow a little more they need to move onto something more moulded, but I agree with BCBG that growing breasts are sensitive things.

We got ours from Woolworth and C and A for less than a fiver, both stores you don't have in the UK any more, but I imagine most places will stock them.

Ooh, my link isn't working, for some reason, but you can Google crop top bra and get the same page.

I would only add that it's worth getting some beige/pink plain bras to go under a school shirt as a white one will be seen very easily.

M and s but have a look online, I ordered about 10 different packs so my dd could try them all on at home, we had a bit of fun and she found some she was happy with, I sent the rest back.My dd was 13 before needing a better bra, before that she just wore crop tops.We did struggle though whenever we tried bra shopping on th high street as she didn't want underwired bras and mand s do plenty but never seem to have them in store.

Have been through this with my dd12 recently. We (she?) had a bad experience at M&S when the stupid sales woman told her she didn't really need one and to come back in a few months. In fact if i remember correctly, the woman talked to me, the parent. V patronising. Not what we wanted to hear, and not the rites of passage mum/daughter experience i had planned.

We then went to Debenhams - lovely sales assistant, measured DD and made it all special. We came away with 2 aa cup teenager bras, one black, one white, and one very proud DD!

I wouldn't recommend M&S for measuring- and the problem with being measured elsewhere is that she will come up a different size in M&S anyway, as they are a bit of a law unto themselves iyswim. Stick to Debenhams or John Lewis, I reckon.

I bought some lovely Maidenform ones for DD (only 10 but an "early developer")from Debenhams. They had a good range from the bra-shaped crop-top type, through to proper moulded cup bras. All attractive and acceptable to both mother and daughter!

DD now 13 has needed a bra since she was 11. Now a 32DD so needs proper fittings. She is self concious but we joke about big boobs (it is inherited) and we have long discussions over bra makes etc. We have always used John Lewis and go at quiet times. They are always really good with the young ones really understanding.
Latest fashion in her school is to wear bright coloured bras under white shirts. As it is a single sex school I am not sure why and she has a pale one for school.

I would like to buy my niece a bra or bra style top as part of a present - she's coming up to 12, and is a big girl, who really needs one.

Unfortunately though, most of the family noticed this at Christmas but her mum doesn't seem to realise and her dad doesn't feel at all comfortable with this type of discussion. Rather than offend by having a gentle chat (I don't get on with my sister in law at all) I thought a present would be a a nicer way to encourage her to wear one.

I have read the other threads re teen bras, but the problem is that I live 200 miles away so a girlie day out to get fitted isn't really an option. By big, I mean she wears an adult size 18 top, although she's obviously just developing boobs, so she's probably somwehere around a 38A, but i don't like the idea of buying a specific sized bra and getting it wrong.

I've been hunting for non underwired, pull on or soft bras, preferably sized by dress size rather than bra sized, and everything I can find in a big enough size is a sports bra (she understandably won't want to wear something frumpy) or overly sexy.

Can anyone help? She can't be the only oversized teen around, but unless I can find something all I can think of is getting a voucher for somewhere which includes appropriate styles and writing a very carefully phrased note to go with it :(