Early development

Training bras are a big thing with young girls these days. We're all getting bigger nowadays, and not just in girth or height. Increasingly younger girls are starting to need that little bit of support that a 'starter bra' can offer. And even if they don't, peer pressure from bra-strap-snapping pre-teen boys will send any young girl running for the lingerie department. After all, what's worse than having that cute boy try to snap your bra and finding that there's nothing to snap? Exactly!

Whatever the motivation, the retailers are catching on to the trend. Companies like Sara Lee Corp have invested heavily in starter bras and some of the larger department stores have begun training their staff to fit bras for "first timers", writes Reuters. The shocking news is that girls as young as six are starting to develop breasts, according to Iris Prager who has a Ph.D. in health education and runs www.beinggirl.com, a Procter & Gamble sponsored website. The average age for Caucasian girls to develop has been shown to be a little over age 9, while African-American girls average at age 8, according to a 1997 study.

No one knows exactly why girls are reaching puberty so much earlier these days, although people have come up with extreme theories like the abundance of hormone-laced food in average US diets and the influence of sexual themes in television and film. The bottom line is that they are and they need bras.

Sara Lee came up with an answer a few years ago. "When we introduced 'Barely There' three years ago, we immediately found it appealed to this whole category of customers," Joanne Kaye, director of merchandising for Sara Lee, told Reuters. "This customer is very modest...and not ready to wear the underwire." Offering the bras in blue with yellow or pinek and green with cranberry helps appeal to a young girl's sensibilities, says Kaye.

Maidenform, an established name in the US with legendary bra ads dating back to the 50s and 60s, also successfully introduced its sportsbra "One Fabulous Fit" in 2001. Abercrombie & Fitch was not as successful. It introduced a range that was far too sexy for its target group. Parents and child advocacy groups were outraged and the company withdrew the line. The rule of thumb with training bras is to keep it simple and innocent.