Bra Fashion!
May. 12th, 2004 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zdashamberSo, this is going to be a much easier question than the last few, and I expect you all to have an opinion, because in this post I'm going to be talking about fashion!
Yep, I'm under the impression that, unlike most forms of underwear, bras impinge enough on the conscious of society that there are meanings attributed to the various wearing a bra/not wearing a bra choices. But I don't know what the heck those meanings are. I get the impression that bra meanings have changed in the last 50 years, perhaps several times, and I'm not sure what's currently in ascendance.
What is is that you're saying when you don't wear a bra? Is it "I am a skank", or "I am not a skank"? At what point does the plausible deniability engage--is it ok to go braless if people would have to be looking to notice, like if you were wearing a silky shirt that would normally show the bra back when you folded your arms? Is it good, or bad, to wear a bra under one of those tank tops with thin straps that won't hide the bra straps?
Is the purpose of a bra (leaving aside the "holding up boobs" thing) to disguise the fact that you have nipples? I'm confused about how terrible it is to have nipples. I've gotten catalogs that offer fake plastic "always pointy" nipples... On the very same page as nipple-flattening sticky things. On the other hand, I get catalogs that offer underwear with pockets for you to add butt enhancements. I just can't trust the fashion consciousness of the catalogs that come to my zip code.
But I'm sure I can trust you, my wise and perspicacious friends. When is it ok to not wear a bra? Speak, I entreat thee! [hee hee hee hee...]
Yep, I'm under the impression that, unlike most forms of underwear, bras impinge enough on the conscious of society that there are meanings attributed to the various wearing a bra/not wearing a bra choices. But I don't know what the heck those meanings are. I get the impression that bra meanings have changed in the last 50 years, perhaps several times, and I'm not sure what's currently in ascendance.
What is is that you're saying when you don't wear a bra? Is it "I am a skank", or "I am not a skank"? At what point does the plausible deniability engage--is it ok to go braless if people would have to be looking to notice, like if you were wearing a silky shirt that would normally show the bra back when you folded your arms? Is it good, or bad, to wear a bra under one of those tank tops with thin straps that won't hide the bra straps?
Is the purpose of a bra (leaving aside the "holding up boobs" thing) to disguise the fact that you have nipples? I'm confused about how terrible it is to have nipples. I've gotten catalogs that offer fake plastic "always pointy" nipples... On the very same page as nipple-flattening sticky things. On the other hand, I get catalogs that offer underwear with pockets for you to add butt enhancements. I just can't trust the fashion consciousness of the catalogs that come to my zip code.
But I'm sure I can trust you, my wise and perspicacious friends. When is it ok to not wear a bra? Speak, I entreat thee! [hee hee hee hee...]
no subject
Date: 2004-05-12 04:43 pm (UTC)Personally I think that bra straps sticking out from under spaghetti strap camisoles are pretty skanky-looking, but I may be using an obsolete standard; my mother passed along HER standards, which were formed in the days when co-eds at Emerson actually had to sign a permission book if they wanted to wear slacks on a date, saying they were going bowling or something, because the Back Bay matrons thought it lowered the tone of the neighborhood to have young women strolling around in slacks. And that's what they called them, slacks... NOT just pants, and Heaven forbid you wore jeans.
When I'm not in my work uniform, and not in the flannel pants and T-shirts I wear around the house, I wear a bra if the clothes are relatively close-fitting, because I don't pass the Pencil Test, and I think I look prettier if I counteract the effects of gravity a little. The only bra that fits me comfortably and shapes me more than a sports bra costs $53. I have weird-shaped boobs, I guess, and this irrational demand that the bra actually TOUCH my breastbone in between instead of standing an inch away. The $53 bra is not especially pretty in and of itself, but it gives me amazing perky rounded Barbie-boobs, and it's almost as comfortable as a sports bra, and if I could afford several of them, I might wear a bra more often.
I refuse to pay any attention to whether my nipples are visible. If I were really upset about it, I suppose there's always gaffer tape.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-13 03:33 pm (UTC)See, it's the "uncomfortable" issue that gets me, too. I think pretty much anything designed specifically for women is designed terribly.
So do you just not wear tops with thin straps, or do you just go bra-free when you do?
My mom tells me that the dress code at Boulder High School in the late 60s forbid women from wearing pants... They'd all carry jeans with them and change as soon as school was out. If anyone is sad that the younger generation doesn't appreciate feminism, send them to me. (Forced skirts? God!)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-13 04:13 pm (UTC)I will have to ask my mother about her high school's dress code, in New Jersey in the late fifties and early sixties (she was class of 1961). I know there were some real doozies.
The funny thing is, I don't mind skirts, really, and will happily wear them if I want to dress at any level fancier than jeans -- it's all the stuff that goes WITH skirts in a business environment that I hate. Namely, pantyhose and pumps. Ick. I wear my skirts with boots, or sandals, or, if absolutely necessary, a pair of Capezio character shoes, which are designed to be neutral, unobtrusive, and comfortable despite their heels (they're essentially adult tap shoes without the taps), and which are not BUTT UGLY the way that most women's shoes since about 1993 have looked to my eyes.
Maybe I'm just getting old.
Dress Codes
Date: 2004-05-13 07:35 pm (UTC)No shirts without collars (buttondown or polo shirts okay).
No jeans -- slacks only (in the hot months, such as late May, Bermuda shorts/walking shorts were okay, but only after the date the administration said it was okay). At the time, the fashion in the rest of the country was short shorts for both genders, btw. The heathens!
No sneakers -- most people wore penny loafers or some such.
And here's the gender-specific kicker: no hair long enough to touch your shirt collar (remembering that we're dealing with real collars, not t-shirts here). Also no beards, mustaches, or sideburns below the ears.
On Fridays (when we had guest speakers), it was mandatory coat and tie. In the hot months, again after specified dates, we could take the coats off after assembly (which was still called "chapel," although no religious services took place).
At my school, we had no hippies, freaks, goths, punks, or any other subculture based on dress.
My senior year, I grew my sideburns so that they reached just below the ears, by about a half-inch, to see if the administration would ding an A student. They didn't, but my fellow students kicked in with lots of peer pressure, calling me "Elvis" and such (which I found rather amusing, actually). I eventually got bored with baiting the administration and shaved them off. Looked better that way, anyway.
But when I got to college, boy did I wear jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers, lemme tell you!