Women Are Giving Bras the Burn

A bralette peaking out of a shirt with a side slit. Photo: @shopatblutboutique/Instagram

Last time feminism was such a hotly discussed topic, women burned their bras to prove their point. This time around they’re just ditching the underwire. Instead of supportive undergarments, bralettes are all the rage.

“They are so much more comfortable,” Taylor Roy, 23, says of the bralette. Her bra size, 32A, means she doesn’t need to wear anything to keep her breasts erect. Instead, she can wear a thin piece of pink lace fabric from Hanky Panky—her favorite—which she can wear both while she sleeps and when she goes out, underneath a loose shirt that might offer a peek at the lace. “They are kind of like a sexy, cute, comfortable sports bra,” she says, noting that she can’t remember the last time she wore a “real” bra. “I hate the wire in bras. It’s so restricting.”

Natalie, 17, agrees. She’s similarly flat chested and when she’s not wearing a bralette — she favors Nasty Gal’s offerings with their interesting straps and variety of colors — she’s simply going braless.

A Victoria’s Secret bralette. Photo: Courtesy

“The bralette trend in the market is undeniable right now,” Monica Mitro, Executive Vice President of Brand Communications & Events at Victoria’s Secret, tells Yahoo Style. She adds that women are looking for fashion, comfort, and fit. While the company has always offered an assortment of bralettes, the design team recently added new styles and colors to fit within any wardrobe.

The most obvious difference between bralettes and bras is how much structure each has: bras push up and round out using thick padding and wiring, whereas bralettes are really just triangles of fabric, acting as more of a superfluous piece of protective lace or cotton as opposed to foundational gear. Modern-day suffragettes unhooked the clasps of their confining lingerie and set them aflame in the name of feminism in the 60s and 70s. Today’s feminists use social media to make their grand public displays of defiance, but ditching uncomfortable bras for flimsy triangle tops that keep breasts, no matter the size, in their natural, pointy pose, is another kind of statement; it’s #freethenipple light.

A multi-strap bralette from Nasty Gal. Photo: Courtesy

On the other hand, bralettes’ popularity can also simply be attributed to the current fashion environment. They started popping out of revealing shirts with side slits and cutouts, silhouettes requiring something other than a basic nude bra. Lace styles from brands like Free People and Roy’s favorite, Hanky Panky, paved the way, but now you can find jersey versions, too, or an endless array of criss-crossing straps and patterns that are most definitely not supposed to be invisible. Whereas bras are supposed to be hidden under clothes, “These new bralette styles are definitely made to be seen,” Mitro says.

Adore Me, a lingerie subscription service, has seen bralettes top their list of best sellers since June. Interestingly enough, theirs are very popular in large and extra large, even though they’re lacking in the push up department, possibly indicating that customers are buying them simply because they’re following a fashion trend.

Marissa Moshkovitz, 24, is a 34 DDD and is one of these people, but has not become a convert. “I mean I have one but it doesn’t work,” she says. “Naturally big boobs, even if they’re perky, ultimately still sag, and they need support.”

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