Lockdown & the demise of le bra?

Are we witnessing lockdown & the demise of le bra? We’ve had plenty of serious issues to contend with over the last few months. A global pandemic. Lockdown around the globe. Who would have thought that the humble bra would prove to be such a hot topic? Women, all over the world, it seems, have stopped wearing bras. What’s more, they like it, but not everyone approves.

Yes, I know the that we’re all still living under the shadow of Covid19 but honestly, people are getting très hot under the collar at the mere suggestion that going braless could be the new normal. Social media has seen comments shaming women for abandoning their undergarments. Articles have been written on the pros and cons of bralessness. Journalists have been asking if going braless can make your boobs grow. Forget the pandemic, these are the questions we’ve been concerning ourselves with. A quick glance at the hashtags #FreeTheNipple, #NoBra, #Nobrachallenge #JeKiffeMonDecollete #saggyboobsmatter gives you an idea of just how much coverage (couldn’t resist, sorry) the bra has been getting. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

To bra or not to bra

In France, a recent poll found that 18% of French women under the age of 25 now prefer to go bra-less. Compare that to only 4% before lockdown. The reason for no bra? Comfort. I’m old enough to remember male comedians dressing as women and resting their ample bosoms on the nearest surface as they gurned and chatted trivia (because, obviously, that’s what us ‘gals do). Or, watching real life Beryl Cook incarnations using their breasts as a shelf. Unarguably, you always need somewhere to balance a cuppa. Anything over a C cup and your quids in for surface area and storage.

The war against bras

As many women will attest. After a hard day at work, the second thing to be ditched, after your shoes, is your bra. Then there’s the increasing popularity of athleisure wear during lockdown. In our house that used to be known as couldn’t be arsed to get dressed. It’s war and the bra is in the middle of it.

After what feels like a lifetime of work Zoom sessions and meetings I can now certify that with the right angle, against an appropriate background, your upper body merges into the decor. The humble bra becomes redundant when you’ve rendered yourself invisible from the neck down. A braless chameleon, if you like.

A new no bra normal?

Still not convinced? I’ll leave you with a 15 year study from researchers at University of Franche-Comté. They found that bras don’t reduce back pain and they won’t make you perkier – they might even, gasp, make you sag. In fact, Researcher Prof. Jean-Denis Rouillon says that bras are a “False necessity” adding “Medically, physiologically, anatomically – breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity,”.

J’accuse, bra manufacturers. Ad mendacium. I’m calling the necessity of bras out as urban myth, or ‘fake’ news, if you will.

I could launch into the research around sagging and bralessness but I won’t. I don’t really care. It’s no secret which side of the underwired fence I’m on (and if you’d ever been the casualty of an errant wire, you wouldn’t either). Everything sags, eventually, and just like going braless, that’s quite liberating.