
A training bra (also trainer bra, starter bra, or first bra) is a lightweight
brassiere
A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, ; ), is a type of form-fitting underwear that is primarily used to support and cover a woman's breasts. A typical bra consists of a chest band that wraps around the torso, supporting two breast cu ...
designed for girls who have begun to develop
breast
The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...
s, at
Tanner stage II and III. The training bra is intended to be worn during
puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...
when the breasts are not yet large enough to fit a standard-sized bra. Training bras often provide minimal or no support, and may serve aesthetic purposes to fulfill cultural norms and local beauty standards.
Training bras are usually made of a lightweight material. They are unlined and feature a soft, elastic bra band and soft bra cups. Some have begun wearing
sports bra
A sports bra is a bra that provides support to the breasts during physical exercise. Sturdier than typical bras, they minimize breast movement and alleviate discomfort. Many women wear sports bras to reduce pain and physical discomfort ca ...
s, which are similar in construction, as their first bra. Prior to the marketing of training bras in the 1960s, a preteen or young teen in Western countries usually wore a
camisole
A camisole is a sleeveless undershirt typically worn by women, extending to the waist. The camisole is usually made of satin, nylon, silk, or cotton.
Historical definition
Historically, ''camisole'' referred to jackets of various kinds, incl ...
.
Receiving one's first bra may be seen as a long-awaited
rite of passage
A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of social status, status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisa ...
in one's life,
signifying one's
coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
.
Bras for pre-teens and those entering puberty were first marketed during the early 20th century, and sales spiked in the 1950s and 1960s.
[
]
Styles
Training bras are usually a lightweight, soft-cup design, unlined, and may resemble a crop top
A crop top (also half shirt, midriff top, belly shirt or cutoff shirt) is a top that reveals and exposes the waist, navel, or abdomen.
History Women
The origins of the clothing are unknown, but midriff tops go back to at least the Bronze Age, d ...
. They are often made of a mixed cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
spandex
Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether- polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont.
Name
The name ''spandex'', which is an anagram of t ...
or cotton Lycra
Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity (physics), elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont.
Name
The name ''spandex'', which ...
fabric with thin straps and elastic under the growing breasts to hold the garment in place. Training bras may be sold in small, medium, and large sizes,[ and may be used to conceal nipples and breast buds under outerwear. Some are built into camisoles. They are made in a variety of colors and prints, including lace. As the breasts continue to develop, usually around Tanner stage III, regular bras are available in sizes 30AAA to 38B. The initial training bras offer little if any actual support.][ Some styles are padded to hide developing breast buds or to increase the perceived size of the breasts.]
History
Prior to the 1950s, girls in Western countries
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...
typically wore undershirts until their breasts were large enough to fit an adult bra. During the 1940s and 1950s, Western media created a "mammary fixation" that shaped teen perceptions of breast size. Boys noticed girls who were more "busty," and particularly American girls were more aware of breast size and their weight.[ Popular American culture in the 1950s was notable for its focus on full-breasted women like ]Lana Turner
Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...
and Jane Russell
Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, model, and singer. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s and starred in more than 20 films throughout her career.
R ...
. The emphasis on the female figure came from several sources: girls wanted bras at an earlier age than ever before, while their mothers felt they should help their daughters develop a "good" figure; doctors who valued maternity over all other female roles; and companies who saw a profit in persuading girls and their parents that adolescent breasts needed support.[ In some social circles, a girl's ability to fill a bra became central to her status and sense of self.][
During the 1950s, doctors in the United States wrote that teen girls needed to wear a bra to prevent sagging breasts, poor circulation, and stretched blood vessels.][ In magazines like '' Seventeen'' and ''Compact'', adolescent girls were encouraged to purchase undergarments like "Bobbie" bras, Formfit girdles, and "Adagio" by ]Maidenform
Maidenform Brands is a manufacturer of women's bras, underwear, and shapewear founded in 1922.
History
The company was founded in Bayonne, New Jersey in 1922 and sought to appeal to the flapper subculture of the time.
Maidenform converted ...
that were "teen-proportioned".[
It became common in the 1950s for pre-teen girls in the United States to begin wearing training bras even though their breasts were too small to actually require support.][ The American Academy of Pediatricians published ''Puberty: Information for Boys and Girls'' in 2002. In it, they advised girls:]
The author points out that young girls are socialized to be more concerned about what other people think about their wearing a bra rather than their own feelings.[ As a result, young girls may be anxious to acquire their first training bra before their breasts actually need support, if only for social purposes. Girls are then faced with the challenge of keeping current and wearing the latest, fashionable bra. Some young girls avoid wearing a bra, fearing an end to their childhood freedoms, such as going ]topless
Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is known as barechestedness.
Social norms around toplessness ...
. Girls who develop breasts earlier than their peers may be sensitive to comments and teasing. Because bras are built to manufacturers' standards, if the girl's body does not conform to the shape and size of the bra, she may blame herself.[
Firm, upright breasts are typical of youth. As such, they may not physically require the support of a bra. A pencil test, developed by ]Ann Landers
Ann Landers was a pen name created by ''Chicago Sun-Times'' advice columnist Ruth Crowley in 1943 and taken over by Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer in 1955. For 56 years, the ''Ask Ann Landers'' syndicated advice column was a regular featur ...
, has sometimes been promoted as a criterion to determine whether a girl should begin wearing a bra: a pencil is placed under the breast, and if it stays in place by itself, then wearing a bra is recommended; if it falls to the ground, it is not.
Oleg Cassini
Oleg Cassini (11 April 1913 – 17 March 2006) was a fashion designer born to an aristocratic Russian family with maternal Italian ancestry. He came to the United States as a young man after starting as a designer in Rome, and quickly got w ...
made a provocative "Room at the Top Bra" in nylon and Lycra spandex for Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...
. In the early 1960s, bra makers marketed to girls 13–19, and later in '60s they targeted pre-teen girls age 10–12. New labels like Teenform, Teencharm, and Heaventeen catered to their market. Some companies' advertisements showed girls waist up wearing only a bra. Mercy Dobell, editor of ''Corset and Underwear Review'', wrote that "the bra has joined lipstick and 'heels' in becoming one of the beloved symbols of growing up." Mass media encourages teens and tweens to begin wearing lingerie at a younger age, before or as soon as their breasts begin to develop, as a way to advertise their sexuality.[
The DeBevoise Company in 1904 ran an advertisement for the "bosom supporter" and named it "brassiere" for the New York advertisement copy. The term brassiere is a Norman French word to describe a child's undershirt.] Two weeks after the advertisement, the Norman French term "brassiere" became popular in the United States of America.
Social issues
The design of some training bras do not provide actual support of any kind, and may serve aesthetic purposes to fulfill cultural norms and local beauty standards.
Young pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe:
* people or animals undergoing puberty
* plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes
* insects that are covered in setae
In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-lik ...
girls may have ambivalent feelings around the experience of buying and wearing their first bra. Some girls avoid wearing a bra because it means they must deal with teasing and other issues with the onset of puberty. Other girls welcome the experience of being able to show the appearance of a bra through their clothes.
The young girl may feel pressured to wear a bra before she actually needs any support so she can "fit in". Once she begins to wear a bra, she may also be pressured to wear clothing that makes her appear older than she is.[ Girls may experience the opportunity to begin wearing a bra with mixed feelings. On one hand, they may feel "grown up", but with that status comes a host of expectations about keeping up with the latest styles or colors. Some girls hesitate to accept that some of their childhood freedoms, like going without a shirt or engaging in certain kinds of boyish activities, may be ending.][
Some girls are embarrassed about wearing a bra and resist parental pressure to take this step, turning the event into a potentially traumatic experience. If a girl is one of the first or one of the last among her peers to begin wearing a bra, she may be teased. Some welcome and others dislike the new attention they receive because they are wearing a bra. Because bras are mass-produced to fit industry standards, a young girl may not understand that an ill-fitting bra is not her fault and may blame herself, thinking something is wrong with her body.][
]
Opposition to training bras
Training bras and the age at which girls first wear bras is sometimes controversial. Some people regard training bras as a way to sexualize young girls, and that training bras serve no functional purpose, that businesses benefit financially from, and even encourage, precocious sexuality in girls by exploiting their fears about self-image and social norms. Still, others recognize developing tissue in breasts as sensitive and, at times, needing cover to maintain comfort, even if only psychological, for the wearer.
Bra opponents believe that training bras are used to indoctrinate girls into thinking about their breasts as sexual objects. In their view, bras are not functional undergarments but simply exist to make the body more sexually appealing. They believe that training bras exploit young girls and encourage precocious sexuality.
Within Western cultures that place great value upon youth, bras are marketed to emphasize their ability to preserve a youthful appearance. The design of fashionable rather than solely functional bras has been influenced by changing fashions in outerwear and undergarments. The bra is sometimes viewed as an icon of popular culture that eroticizes girls' breasts as sexual objects.[
]
Marketing to young girls
In 2006, Target
Target may refer to:
Warfare and shooting
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artille ...
stores began stocking Bratz
Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment, which debuted in 2001.
The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin (Latina), ...
bras and others for 3- to 4-year-olds, Saddle Club bras for 4- to 6-year-olds, and a padded Target brand bra for 8- to 10-year-olds. In the same year, Bonds released the "My First T-Shirt Bra", aimed at girls aged 8 and up, with Australian retailer Big W
Big W (stylised as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of the Woolworths Group and as of 2024 operated 179 stores, with around 18,000 emp ...
adding a Just Girls padded bra for 8- to 10-year-olds and a My Little Pony
''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature ...
-themed bra for 2- to 3-year-olds around the same time. A Sydney clothing company called Hot Springs offers Lil' Bratz themed "tiny" bras.
See also
* Bralette
A bralette is a lightweight bra without an Underwire bra, underwire, designed primarily for comfort. Bralettes are also sometimes worn as List of outerwear, outerwear Top (clothing), top,Linda DyettThe Bralette Is Back. This Time Blouses Are Opti ...
* List of bra designs
There are many brassiere designs suitable for a wide variety of business and social settings and suitable to wear with a variety of outer clothing. The bra's shape, coverage, functionality, fit, fashion, fabric, and color can vary widely. Some ...
References
{{Lingerie, state=collapsed
1950s fashion
20th-century fashion
Brassieres
Children's underwear
Undergarments