The history of the brassiere tells us that the modern bra evolved out of the corset. In the late nineteenth century, concerns about corsets’ health risks and physical restrictiveness led to the invention of a new, supposedly more comfortable undergarment. This new underthing was like a corset split in half, with the bottom part cinching in the waist and the upper part supporting the bust. Over time, the waist corset evolved into the lighter, elasticized girdle, which in turn fell almost completely out of usage in the late 1960s, when control-top pantyhose rendered it obsolete. Today, of course, most women’s below-the-waist undergarments consist of nothing more than panties. The top half of the corset, in contrast, changed very little over the course of the twentieth century; most bras retain the corset’s boning (underwire) and rigidity (padding). The brassiere’s function, as well, has remained the same as that of the corset: the reshaping of the breasts into a desirable, artificial shape. The bra remains, essentially, a corset for the breasts.
If the top half of women’s undergarments had kept pace with the bottom half, then today, instead of brassieres, most women would be wearing the upper-body equivalent of panties: camisoles. Why did it not happen that way? It seemed for a time that it might: in the ‘60s, some women stopped wearing bras, and many continued this trend into the 1970s. In the ‘80s, though, the switch to “power dressing” and a backlash to feminism caused the bra to regain its status as a crucial foundation garment, which it retains today.
In my opinion, wearing a bra is extremely uncool. Apart from being shockingly old-fashioned, bras are uncomfortable, prudish, ugly, and expensive. So why do most women still wear them? I’ve heard large-breasted women say they find going braless uncomfortable. There’s also the aesthetic factor: bras can disguise the appearance of breasts that are droopy or asymmetrical. But why do women with nice-looking, regular-sized breasts still wear bras?
It all has to do with sexual repression. Un-bra’ed breasts are very sexy; they have shape, personality, and a natural bounciness. Breasts in a bra are comparatively much less sexy; molded into perfect, geometric hemispheres, “supported” and held in place, they are sanitized, and, I think, desexualized. The contemporary “hottie,” with her skintight T-shirt over her Victoria’s Secret bra, has transformed herself into a safe and unthreatening visual treat for men. Her cartoon breasts—nippleless and immobile, like Barbie’s—give no hint of their actual functions as secondary sexual characteristics or milk-producing organs. Bras do the same thing to breasts that corsets did to waists: they objectify them, turning them into symbols of femininity by distorting and destroying their natural, feminine shape.
I think it’s time for women to stop wearing bras. It’s “been time” for a while, but I think American culture might actually, finally, be ready for it. There aren’t that many clear signs that the trend is coming—the most obvious is American Apparel’s promotion of the no-bra look in its ads and online product photos—but I think that bralessness would extend and resolve too many existing, long-term trends in fashion not to become a fad. For one thing, the women most visually associated with fashion—models—do not wear bras. That's partly because they don’t need them because they’re so skinny and have small breasts as a result. But it’s also just not the convention for models to wear bras on the runway. Why should it be any different in real life? Women are getting more and more interested in high fashion, and wearing clothes just like runway models do would be another way of being authentically stylish. Secondly, I think that small breasts in themselves should become trendy because of their above-mentioned association with thinness—which, of course, continues to be quite the fashionable body type for females. A bralessness trend would give thin women yet another way to show off how thin they are. Finally, I don’t understand why bralessness hasn’t been “in” despite being so inherently rebellious and punk. In a society where we are constantly searching for the new, hip thing, the no-bra option is just too obvious of a potential fashion statement to be ignored.
Something is currently brewing in fashion regarding women’s underwear, and it’s all bound up in this transparency thing that is so big for spring. I predict that within a year, that theme will be carried to the next level. Underwear has been revealed and examined, and next it will be cast off as an unnecessary artifice standing in the way of fashion’s reimagining of the body. But I suggest adopting this trend now, before it happens, when it is still weird, naughty, and utterly cool.
3 comments:
This is a very interesting, and I'd bet correct, prediction. There does, however, remain the question of those people who "need" to wear a bra, either because their bust size requires support in order to prevent back pain/problems or because they want to prevent (or curtail) "sagging." Will these people just have to suck it up and be left out of the trend loop in the way that overweight people can forget about the whole "skinny jeans" fashion trend? Or will bras take on more of a medical/functional role, like eyeglasses, arch supports, and support stockings? I wonder whether the discrepancy between those who "need" bras and those who wouldn't be caught dead in one would allow for such a trend to go mainstream. I also wonder whether the multi-billion dollar lingerie industry has the power to effect the trend change (e.g., by launching big camisole campaigns) and/or to prevent it altogether (e.g., Victoria's Secret might not be willing to risk parting with its brassiere sales and therefore might push hard for keeping a mainstream status quo). One way or the other, you raise a very smart point and perceptively bold prediction; I am eager to see what happens.
Very interesting thoughts, Michael. I especially like the idea of bras becoming akin to medical devices; as you point out, their function is already quite similar, and the real difference resides in people's perceptions. As for large-breasted women, I think that at first they will certainly be left out. However, like you say, if the trend really catches on, it's likely that bra manufacturers will respond. When bralessness was trendy in the 70s, Warners came up with the "no-bra bra," which was made of some kind of stretch netting. Apparently that bra was still only well suited to small chests. Clothing technology has advanced considerably since then, though, especially in sports apparel, and it's quite possible that advancements in that area could make a better-performing "no-bra bra" possible. Such a bra would only give the "look," and not the convenience and comfort, of bralessness, and would therefore pretty much defeat the purpose.
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