Maria Law shares her thoughts on helping your daughter choose her first bra

Getting your first bra is a memorable experience. Sharing this moment with your daughter will let her know how important it is to wear a bra that fits properly and is therefore comfortable.

Most mums have fond or funny stories about their first bra experience.  On the Miss Dolly Sweetling Roadshow last year we shared many of these stories with mums and their daughters and all found it an amusing and very gentle way to approach what can sometimes be an embarrassing topic.

Young girls breast buds usually start to form about two years before their period begins. This gives mums plenty of time for all the open chats necessary during this exciting, yet possibly worrying stage.  As mothers of 6 daughters between us, Sophie and I know how normal all of these stages are, but for first time mums, a certain amount of apprehension is only natural.  We believe it’s very important to celebrate this special time as it builds confidence.  Confident young girls with a healthy self-image are much less likely to fall into worrying teenage traits usually associated with low-self image.

After a few weeks in a jersey cotton crop top, your daughter will be ready for her first soft bra.  Correct measuring is important and ensures that a good snug fit is achieved; a soft bra should feel comfortable after a couple of hours wear.  Avoid buying any bra that is under-wired or enhanced with pads/moulded cups at this early developmental stage; they can cause irreversible over-stretching of the ligaments.  If you stretch the ligaments (which hold the growing breast tissue) they will become saggy.

Re-measure regularly as her breasts grow (every 3-4 months).   Miss Dolly Sweetlings measuring page will calculate her size. Alternatively visit a lingerie shop or underwear department in a large retail store, which should offer a free fitting service without obligation to buy.

Your daughter’s first bra will have a band and a cup size; this is part of the new government guidelines highlighted recently during the debate about the ‘non-sexualisation’ of young girls.

The following fitting tips will ensure a correct fit:

The back band should be parallel to the floor with enough give in the elastic band to slip two fingers under comfortably. The shoulder straps shouldn’t leave any marks, they are not part of the support system; they keep the bra in place not the breasts.  Breasts should not be ‘pushed’ into any position they should sit quite naturally within the cup.

A good bra design is very important.  We spent over 2 years designing and then perfecting our Sweetling range – luckily we have 6 daughters, who, along with their friends, didn’t mind being our testers.

We developed the bras using the bias of the material to ‘give’ and ‘support’ in all the right places, this can involve up to 30 separate pieces being used for each bra. These are very complicated for the seamstresses to put together and take a long time to make but it does mean that we have produced a naturally supporting bra that is beautiful and comfortable to wear.

Maria Law runs Sweetling with Sophie Law. Family and sustainability are important to their business – the office, workshop and suppliers are all within biking distance of home and the children help name new ranges. Sweetling are keen to support the manufacturing industry in the UK and are involved in the “Let Girls be Girls” campaign. You can find out more at www.sweetling.co.uk

Sweetling recently won ‘Ethical Brand of the Year’ at the UK Lingerie Awards 2011.

http://www.uklingerieawards.com/05/ethical-brand-of-the-year/