Copyright metro
Going no bra was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made (Picture/ Metro) I’ve never really been a bra girl. When I was younger, I used to dread the annual trips my mum and I would take to M&S, where I’d stand in a cold dressing room and a woman, typically called Jane, would measure my boobs. As I got older, I tried bralettes for a while, pairing little lacy things with my River Island t-shirts. But, again, all they ever did was annoy me. I found them restrictive and personally thought my nipples looked far better unbridled by fabric. So, about six years ago, I decided to ditch bras altogether. I chucked all my Victoria’s Secret dupes away and embraced the braless mentality. Have my boobs become less perky? Probably. Do I care? Nope. I love not wearing a bra. It’s as though my areolas have become another set of earrings – decorating my outfits and boosting my confidence. I’m also very aware that as a D cup girly, I’m incredibly lucky to not suffer from any boob-related pain. I massively feel for all my big breasted sisters who’d love to go braless but can’t. There are also girlies of course who love bras. For example, one of my best friends, who has porn star stripper boobs to die for, often refers to her set as ’emotional water bottles strapped to [her] chest.’ For her, a bra is not only a non-negotiable, but also a lifelong bestie. ‘I would honestly wear a bra to bed if it was socially acceptable,’ she once told me. The few negative reactions or criticisms I have received regarding going braless have always washed over me. In reality, the only person who really kicked up a proper fuss when I started raw-dogging shirts was my mum – a woman who has always found the sight of nipples objectively offensive. But, I’m 26, so she lets me get on with it (for the most part). Would you go braless? Hell yeahCheck Absolutely no wayCheck Recently, with so much going on in the world – conservatism on the rise and a regression towards thinness culture – I’ve felt as though my random decision to rock the no bra look now feels radical. When I first started going braless, I was in good company. Society was still on a high following the explosive body positivity movement of 2017 and people were throwing caution to the wind when it came to their fashion choices. But now, women who may’ve gone braless alongside me six years ago, potentially feel as though that’s less socially acceptable – less demure. To me, it feels as though the body positivity movement is less and less valued and our once progressive attitude towards women’s bodies and the way they dress has seemingly gone straight in the bin. In 2017 the body positivity movement was gaining a lot of traction (Picture: Getty) When I started thinking about this topic, the first person I wanted to talk to was Chidera Eggerue, aka The Slumflower – one of the first women who made me feel encouraged and inspired to embrace my saggy boobs. Chidera is an author and activist who played an incredibly important role in dismantling archaic, sexist, and racist, beauty standards in 2017. Her iconic online campaign #SaggyBoobsMatter, a breast positive awareness movement, caught the attention of the entire internet. Talking to her about her campaign’s impact, Chidera told Metro: ‘I think that if I decided to create the #SaggyBoobsMatter movement in 2025, people probably wouldn’t be as receptive, because people are now in a place where we’re prioritising body alterations and thinness. If we’re living in a culture where thinness is glorified then I don’t think anything to do with saggy boobs or saggy skin would be glorified.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bieqt3ODB7q/?utm_source=ig_embed&img_index=2 When I decided to start going braless six years ago, I felt as though it was an extension of me trying to come to terms with my weight and body shape. I’ve always been insecure about my size, but when I’d wear certain tops or dresses without my bra on I felt more confident and sexier – more like myself. It was also during this time when I was beginning to see a lot more mid-size women with different kinds of bodies going viral on social media and developing massive followings. This wave of creators did a lot of good for my self-esteem. But now, only a few years later, it feels as though a lot of those people have faded away – either switching niche or unknowingly participating in some of the more harmful rhetoric around weight loss. In Chidera’s eyes, there are a lot of different reasons for this, one of them being the rise in tradwives and more conservative approaches to sex and relationships, where women are openly declaring their desire to please men. And, we can’t forget, we’re living in a time where body modification and weight loss drugs are constantly on the up. ‘I never judge women who opt for the body modification route, but I do think it’s important that we ask ourselves these questions of where these choices are coming from and who we intend to please,’ the author noted. Bras go hand in hand with a particular vision society has for women and their appearance (Picture: Getty) ‘I’ve seen some influencers who have pursued the weight loss medication and now they’ve gone to get surgery to remove sagging skin because of the rapidity of how fast they lost their weight. The next thing you know it’s a spiralling chain of surgeries for body modification to correct what the previous person did and it’s almost as if you have to create your internal system of stop means stop,’ she continued. You might be thinking: what does this have to do with bras? But in reality, all of this pressure and emphasis on sculpting and tightening your body directly contradicts what going braless is all about. Letting your girls hang free doesn’t mesh well with perfection. Are bras back? It’s hard to know exactly how much of an influence and role bras still play in society. The recent buzz surrounding the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show might’ve reinvigorated some consumers desire for a push up bra. But it once again also highlights how bras have become synonymous with the unattainable – the figure to aspire to. And, according to the internet, some people don’t think even Victoria’s Secret gets it right when it comes to bras: I think its so funny the bras don't fit the girls properly. if Victoria's secret a lingerie brand can't figure out how to fit a bra then what's the point https://t.co/tC6cWoY9ul— Mazza (@YaaMazz) October 17, 2025 Plus, over the past few years there are a mammoth amount of brands jumping on the ‘no bra top’ trend, releasing lines of clothing designed specifically to allow women to go braless but still maintain some shape. However, this innovation comes with its own specific restrictions. Chidera’s thoughts on this are clear: ‘I think the concept of no bra tops is interesting because there’s usually some sort of like compression fabric and particular technique of sewing the garment so that it creates this illusion of lift or it creates a firmness around the bust area which obviously makes the boobs look rounder.’ She continues: ‘I think that even no bra tops that have been designed to look like a bra tend to suit people who have a smaller chest to begin with. It’s really hard when you think about someone who is maybe like a 36 double G trying to wear a cute no bra top that’s engineered to support smaller boobs.’ There have been a number of bigger boobed creators on TikTok complaining about just this – specifically calling out retailer Abercrombie for not taking different boob sizes into consideration when creating their bra-free collection. @itsjenwarnes genuinely don’t understand what they were trying to do here 😩 #abercrombiehaul #abercrombietryon #largechestproblems #shoppingstruggles ♬ original sound – Jen Warnes So, in reality, there still remains this ‘unspoken rule’ about which bodies are allowed to embrace and accept themselves. The world is the definition of chaotic right now. And it constantly feels as though we’re going backwards. Now, there could be a thousand different reasons why women who once burnt the bra are now heading back to the high street to re-stock their drawers. But for me, it’s a decision I’ll never regret. Newsflash boobs, you’re staying uncaged forever, deal with it.
