For many women I know, buying their first bra as a girl was a mortifying experience. When I was 11 or 12 even walking past the underwear section at a department store gave me serious anxiety. What if my mom picks this day to drag me into one!? Today we’re sharing some hilarious (and painfully mortifying) first bra stories in partnership with ThirdLove, an innovative bra and underwear company specializing in half-cup sizes (!), a mobile sizing app, and Try Before you Buy program.

Pull up a chair guys, lots of crazy stories ahead…

Happy to be working with ThirdLove for this campaign. First off, I was excited to hear about the fact that they offer half-cup sizes. Why has no one done this before? Hooray! Finally a more precise sizing system. Also, their mobile app was really easy to use. You do all the sizing through the app, then pick your favorite styles (I love the t-shirt and lace ones the most), and your selections are sent to you. The Try Before You Buy program gives you up to 30 days to test out your new bra and make sure it’s just right. And, in all honesty, I can’t stop wearing the black lace balconette bra they sent. It’s amazingly comfortable and feels sexy!

But let’s back up a bit here. I wasn’t always a fan of bras. Like many of you, I was mortified to buy my first bra. Here’s how it went down:  In our family growing up we watched a lot of old musicals and did a lot of second hand shopping. My mom was always really generous with whatever clothes we found at second hand stores, as long as they were a good brand that she recognized. So it always felt like a shopping spree! We still do a lot of second hand store shopping when our family gets together. Anyway, I also danced ballet growing up and one day when I was about 13 I was browsing the leotard section (dangerously close to the bra section) at our second hand store. My mom snuck up from behind and popped the question, “Do you think we should get a bra for you?”. NO. “Whatever”, I said. I was so embarrassed to even talk about it I could barely breath. So, she grabbed one from the bra bin (the USED bra bin, guys!). And that was my first bra. From a thrift store. I hid it under oversized sweaters all winter. Not because it was used from a thrift store, but because ahhh…it was a bra! So embarrassing! I think it was several months before I confidently wore a tee with a bra.

I asked a few other friends to share their first bra experiences as well…

My dad took me shopping for my first bras. My motorcycle racing, golf loving, jumbo jet pilot dad took me shopping for my first bra. I was certain it was going to be terrible. In retrospect, aside from a handful of goofy + uncomfortable jokes from my father and turning every shade of red as the sales lady sized me up, that little piece of fabric did the trick. Turns out I actually prefer shopping with my father to this day! Go figure. –Gaby

The first time I bought a bra was horrifying for me. I seemed to have gotten boobs overnight—as my best friend and sister pointed out—and was super embarrassed. My Mom told me she would take me to get a bra and even the conversation made me super uncomfortable. So we went to Mervyn’s, I believe it was at the time, and I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. My mom picked them out for me and I went and tried them on and cried the whole time. I guess I was a bit of a tomboy. -Alisia

I had to beg my mom for my first bra. I was 12 and really wishing I had boobs. My two older sisters needed C cups by the time they were 12. I was completely flat and felt desperate to fill out a bra. It took probably 3 months of pleading until my mom finally took me to the department store in the mall. I was so excited to go pick out a bra but then when we got there I was instantly super embarrassed and couldn’t even look at them. I just randomly grabbed the first one in the tiny no-boobs section. I hid behind my mom blushing deeply while she purchased it. I eventually hit a C cup when pregnant in my thirties.  -Pepper

I had to get my first bra in the fourth grade. I was devastated! Being the only girl in my grade with boobs the same year that we did the reproductive unit at school meant lots of teasing from the boys and questions from the girls. My mom tried to be cool about the whole thing. She took my cousin and me to Nordstrom to pick out The Bra. She promised to follow the bra portion of the trip up with a visit to the candy store in the mall. (I was so little! Candy still worked to appease me! Wait…candy still works to appease me.) It was all going pretty well, until my cousin started laughing and called my new bra an “over the shoulder boulder holder”. For some reason, even after all the teasing and questions at school, this indignity was the one I couldn’t bear. I hid in a clothes display and cried until my mom was done paying. The candy helped. A little. -Meg

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