Bra – one of the most essential parts of a lady’s closet, is something that most women would own and use, right? Well, did you know that wearing a bra could be harming your health?

Now, most women, start using bras anytime between the ages of 10-14, when they begin to develop breasts, at the onset of puberty.

From that age on, they will have to wear it throughout their lives! So, obviously, as bras are an essential need for the women, over the years, they have been seen mostly as a fashion accessory that can help women make a style statement!

However, the actual function of a bra is to provide support to a woman’s breasts, and make then look firmer and perkier, through her clothes.

Every bride wants to look and feel her best on her wedding day, from finding a super- flattering wedding dress to perfecting her hair and makeup with a trial (or two!). For many brides, that also means finding the best smoothing, supportive shapewear to make her wedding dress fit and fall properly and flaunt her figure. But while shapewear may make you look your best, those suck-it-in garments are not always so comfortable. If “beauty is pain” is a mantra you have no desire to adhere to (or you just want to be able to eat your wedding dinner comfortably!), do you have to wear shapewear under your wedding dress? Here’s what our experts have to say.

Shapewear is 100% optional, on your wedding day as well as any other day of your life. If you love how it makes you look and feel, go for it! But if the thought of squeezing into something constricting beneath your already structured, boned, zipped, and buttoned gown makes you shudder, skip it! The smile on your face will be much more genuine if you’re comfortable in — and under — your dress.

When you’re trying on dresses, keep your undergarment opinions in mind. Let your consultant know if you’ll be skipping the Spanx so she can help you find a style of dress that will look fabulous on your body no matter what. We love the way gowns with fuller skirts allow you to wear whatever underwear you’d like. Bring on the cozy cotton! And if you have a bustline that needs some support, either look for silhouettes that allow you to wear a bra or consider styles that have boning and structure built in.During your fittings, your seamstress will want to make sure you have the underwear
you’ll be wearing on your wedding day. Consider shopping for a few different styles in case what you thought was seamless and no-show is actually visible beneath your gown. If the dress you fell in love with didn’t have enough structure or support already included in the design, your seamstress can help you add cups (or even sew in a strapless bra!) and adjust the seams and fabric so they are as flattering as possible.

Then, instead of bracing yourself for the moment you’ll have to shimmy into your shapewear on your wedding day, revel in the fact that you won’t have to peel it off at the end of the night!

But lately, bras are becoming more and more fashionable, making us question their purpose. Did you know there are a few ways in which wearing a bra, for prolonged hours can harm your health?

Raise your hand if your bra is the first thing you want to take off when you get home. That’s probably because some 75 percent of women are wearing the wrong bra sizeand are feeling the effects—whether suffering from back pain or considering wholly unnecessary breast reduction surgery—or aresimply frustrated with limited, unattractive design options in their size. Granted, we’ve come a long way. Before 1889, when French designer Herminie Cadolle introduced the concept of shoulder straps and invented the modern bra, women had to rely on the cumbersome corset for breast support. Madame Cadolle’s soutien-gorge changed all that forever. In her day, she outfitted clients from Mata Hari to Wallis Simpson; 125 years later, her business is still going strong.

We’ve come quite a long way with what we wear — or don’t wear *wink wink* — in the bedroom. From corsets to teddies to bralettes, this is the history of women’s lingerie:

The bell-shaped hoop skirt became vogue in the early 1700s in France and was considered quite a scandal. Contemporary conservatives of the time thought they were a display of vanity and therefore sexuality – especially since it was thought the hoop skirt originated from hiding unwanted pregnancies.

Hoop skirts, however, prevailed throughout the century and towards the mid to late 1700s, became so wide and uncomfortable that they were condemned by published pamphlets in England as being a public nuisance.

In the mid- to late 1800s, women’s fashion channeled its inner Kim K and put more of an emphasis on the backside, adding rear bustles to outfits.

And the OG waist trainers were corsets, which were used to thin out and one’s shape waist. These garments would be set so tight that it wasn’t uncommon for it them to cause fainting o,r, in extreme cases, broken ribs.

These days there’s a new movement afoot, with young, fashion-loving women getting hooked on the idea of having custom bras made or investing not just money but time learning to sew their own. Some are chasing that perfect fit; others are addressing a unique situation, whether maternity, nursing, or mastectomy. “Not many options exist in the market for high-quality bras that fit, flatter, and feel amazing,” says Ruhee Rajan, who hosts Cupperware parties for her business, Rubies Bras. She’s not talking about custom-fitted bras, “where you go into a specialty store and they alter a ready- to-wear bra for you, but a true made-to-measure bespoke bra,” she explains.

“It becomes like a girls’ night,” Rajan says of the parties she hosts at her apartment. Wine and cheese accompany her informal presentations, covering everything from what to look for when bra shopping to, most important, how to wear a bra, because, as she says, many women simply aren’t doing it right. (One tip: Stoop and scoop.) As Rajan points out, there is already a booming market for custom suits and shoes (and for good reason), so why not custom bras? Guests are invited to order her own design, what she likes to call “the Cadillac of bras, made to perfectly fit and flatter your body,
using only the best (and prettiest) fabrics so that your bra lasts you years, not months, if washed properly.”

And for those who are truly serious about DIY bra-making, well, welcome to boob camp. Women (and some men) come from all over the world to Beverly Johnson’s industrial Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario, to take her bra-making classes, held in the back room of her Bra-Makers Supply store, past long rows of colorful stretch fabrics and other accoutrements. The classes are not for sewing novices. “You’re not learning to sew. You’re learning to sew a bra,” says Johnson, a thoughtful, witty, purple-haired 60-something who has become known as custom bra making’s “fairy boob mother.”Johnson offers two tiers of sewing instruction. Her two-day course is no frills. Literally. It’s about learning the basics. “A basic white that fits is sexier than a sexy black bra that doesn’t,” is one of Johnson’s mantras in a crash series of workshops that consists of a fitting; pattern making; and the students sewing, tweaking, and altering the finished product until it’s just right. Along with the bra students will make during the course, they take home a personalized pattern and the skills to make more. Her more intensive five-day boob camp does all that and guides students through frills and flourishes, too. Details are all important. Tweaking a custom bra is “much like how an optometrist measures each eye,” says Johnson.

As to the question of why so many women complain about fit, Johnson explains that when bras are only determined by cup size and band size it’s little wonder that few fit right: “Cup size doesn’t really tell you anything. All that cup size refers to is the amount of projection from the chest wall. If your breast sticks out four inches from your chest wall, you’re a D cup; two inches you’re a B cup, because every inch is a cup size. But if you’ve got a tiny rib cage and a bigger bust, then there can be spillage.

With a custom bra, though, “you might not have 20 in your drawer. You have three or four that really fit you well. The more people are making custom bras or altering bras to fit, the more the average woman realizes they are a thing to be appreciated and not something that’s frivolous,” says Johnson. When she hears a student say after trying on her finished product, “OMG. I don’t even feel like I’m wearing a bra,” that’s a pass with flying colors. For those who can’t make it to Ontario, she offers online tutorials at craftsy.com.

In the early aughts, Moulin Rouge was released along with the new version of “Lady Marmalade,” sung by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, and Pink. In the song’s music video and in various performances of their rendition, the women wore lingerie and corsets. Obviously they made a nod to the film, but they also used their corsets as empowering symbols of their sexuality.

Although many of us don’t wear corsets, I think it’s encouraging to know that they’ve been reclaimed by many women who feel empowered and proud of their sexuality. You might find a corset super restrictive, and feel more confident in an unlined bra, no bra, or boxer style shorts. The point is, there arguably isn’t as much pressure for women to wear certain types of underwear in order to fit in with society’s beauty ideals. And that’s a great thing.

Chances are when you dump your gym bag into the laundry, you don’t think too much about its contents. There are a couple of sweaty gym socks in there, a cute racerback top, leggings that have seen better days — but what about the sports bra? The history of the sports bra is an interesting one, where strapped-in boobs signaled a rise in equality, which is surprising when you think back to the bra burning days of the ’70s. But as it hits its 40th anniversary this year, it’s impossible to overlook how closely linked it was to women muscling their way into locker rooms and earning their spot on sports fields.

But the rise of ponytails on fields and courts didn’t happen because of a natural evolution; there wasn’t a women’s league boom in that era because girls decided they were no longer content taking Home Ec classes and waving team flags from the bleachers. There were specific social forces at play that lead to them joining teams en masse, and requiring the bra to show up in their underwear drawers. In honor of its birthday, ahead
is the fascinatingly feminist history of the sports bra, and the very real struggle it went through to get into our hampers.

When you finally find the best high-impact sports bra you’ve ever come across, oh boy, will you know it. The difference between your average everyday sports bra and one designed to support you through rigorous activity is extraordinary.

Before you shop for high-impact sports bras, it helps to know which features you should keep in mind and some of the common mistakes many of us make when choosing these bras.

First, one of the most common sports bra mistakes is sporting a smaller cup or larger band than we need. As a result, your breasts are not being fully supported as you run, jump, and kick butt in the gym, and you might even end your workout feeling a little achy on top. Make sure to check your measurements and compare them to each brands size chart to find the perfect fitting bra.

Another feature to consider, especially if your cups size is a C or larger, is an encapsulated sports bra. It works to protect each breast individually, as opposed to traditional compression bras which treat two breasts as one. Because the encapsulated styles protect each breast separately, it’s able to prevent the crossover movement which can damage your Cooper’s Ligaments.

Once you’ve found the right size and style to support you through your workout, there are tons of other features you can benefit from, like moisture-wicking, anti-chafing, and breathable fabrics. No matter what you are looking for, these are 12 of the best high-impact sports bras worth checking out.

Women have been cinched, pinched, and strapped into bras for hundreds of years, so it’s a little surprising they only had the sports bra for a mere 40.

But before they even joined a field or a pitch, they had to tackle the deep social stigma of letting their bra straps show, making it that much harder for women to go outside and sweat it out. “Before you stepped outside, you first had to figure out tops that would hide the straps — the bra you used to workout was a piece of intimate apparel that was never to be seen out in public,” LaJean Lawson, Ph.D., Sports Bra Science and Marketing Consultant to Champion Athleticwear, shares with Bustle. Once you found a way to tuck your straps, you then had to find a manner to join the team — which
was easier said than done.

Take the All-American Girls Baseball League in the ’40s for example. It was started during Wold War II to replace Major League Baseball, which was cancelled since most of the batters were off fighting the war. But even though the players had a peak of 900 thousand people attending their games, it still ended in ’54 as interest in girls playing ball declined to nearly nothing after the men came home. Then in 1970, the Pacific Southwest Open was going to award the male tennis winner $12,500 and the female winner $1,500, putting a very literal value on a woman’s worth on the court. That wasn’t surprising, seeing how before Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the landmark 1973 tennis match dubbed “Battle of the Sexes,” Riggs was quoted as bragging “the best way to handle women is to keep them pregnant and barefoot.”

There’s nothing worse than having to adjust your sports bra during a workout because it ’s digging into your skin. This high-impact sports bra eliminates that problem with a thin, wireless cup design, wide and adjustable front-cushion straps, and a variety of sizes so you can finally find a bra that fits you perfectly. It has a mesh panel in the front and is made from moisture-wicking materials.

Bustle may receive a portion of sales from products purchased from this article, which was created independently from Bustle’s editorial and sales departments.

Every woman with big boobs has been there.

You get out the shower clean and fresh but as soon as you start drying your hair and getting ready the boob sweat begins.
Within ten minutes it sometimes feels like you actually need another shower.But thankfully there finally might be a solution in the form of a new style of bra.Admittedly, the Ta Ta Towel looks rather strange – and it’s far from a pretty lace number.

But it could be the end of one of the most annoying parts of our going out routines.

People are going crazy for the new bra – with many designs listed as sold out on the official social media pages.

Boob sweat, like chafing, puts a certain damper on summer fun for anyone unfortunate enough to suffer from this specific type of hell. It’s uncomfortable, it’s embarrassing and it’s not spoken about nearly enough.

Robertson wrote on her website that it’s also great for breastfeeding, in addition to absorbing sweat.

“The ultra-soft rayon liner was made with sensitive nipples in mind and also absorbs any breast milk that might leak out during feeding.”
Enter the Ta Ta Towel, a seemingly brilliant loungewear innovation that’s essentially a towel hammock for your breasts. It was created by Erin Robertson, who thought up the concept after sweating her way through getting ready for a first date in summertime Los Angeles without any air conditioning.

“While I was blow-drying my hair, I just kept thinking, ‘There HAS to be a better way to keep the beads of sweat from dripping down my stomach,’” she wrote on the brand’s website. “Sound familiar?”

Uh, yes. Like snap-button crotches on jumpsuits for easy bathroom access, this seems like something that should have been invented a long time ago.

There are products on the market that address the sweating issue, such as boob deodorant and sweat pads made to insert in a bra, for example. But there’s nothing quite as comfortable-looking ― or with a punchier name, for that matter ― than the Ta Ta Towel.

Pregnant women have also been praising the new bra, which cost $45 so around £35, saying it is good on sensitive nipples and absorbs leaking breast milk.

The woman behind the new design, Erin Robertson, came up with the idea after having a nightmare getting ready for a date.

Writing on her website, she says: “I tried everything. I tucked wash cloths under my breasts, I tried dumping baby powder all over me, I even put a t-shirt on and tucked it under my boobs.

“But the wash cloths looked ridiculous, the baby powder made me look more like dough, and the t-shirt was making me sweat even more. While I was blow-drying my hair.
Soon her prototype was ready and she started handing them out to her friends.They became a big hit and are now being sold online to people across the world.So goodbye sweaty boobs – you won’t be missed.

The bra is without question an amazing invention. For big-busted girls like myself, finding the right bra is as essential as oxygen, providing shape and support for Mary- Kate and Ashley, as I like to refer to ’em. For me, going braless is a struggle and a process, since I am so reliant on that over-the-shoulder-boulder holder to keep everything in its right place. But the bra in its current incarnation is very different from the undergarment’s earliest iterations. In honor of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness month, The Huffington Post and Genius 3D Mammography created this amazing
history of the bra.

The graphic offers an illustrated, bite-sized history of the evolution of the bra, from its earliest corset functionality to its binding of waists and pushing up of boobies to its splintering off from the corset into its own entity to the bombshell sweater phase in the idyllic ’50s to its burn, baby, burn status in the more modern feminist era.

Whew. The bra has had quite a life, hasn’t it?

Love your bra or hate it, you cannot deny that it serves many purposes, both functional (to defy gravity) and fashionable (to create a smooth line under your curve-hugging t- shirt). The bra has made and change history and will continue to do so as time marches on. Here, a few of my favorite facts from this awesome visual history class — head on over to HuffPo to see the rest.

I’ve always loved gorgeous, sexy underwear. Growing up watching Gossip Girl and Sex and the City, I had the idea that when I was a grown-up, sex-having woman, I’d always stroll around in a matching set of hot lace underwear, with the occasional corset thrown in for good measure.

But thanks to a lacklustre commitment to doing laundry, a lack of drawer space and general lingerie-related laziness, I’ve never lived up to my fancy pants wearing dreams.

Instead, I tend to stick to one faithful bra, plus whatever knickers are comfy, clean and easily accessible via a quick rummage in my wardrobe.

I sometimes contemplate splurging on some sexy new undies, but then I think ‘wait, this money could go on clothes people will see. Or food. Surely those things are more important?’

During the Roman Empire, young girls wore “fascia,” or breast bands, to keep the girls perky as possible. That’s a far cry from ancient Egyptians, who went bra-less under looser tunics.

The first modern bra, made of wire and silk, surfaced in 1866 in Britain. Some things never change.

In the 16th century, the corset was aristocratic, binding waists and pushing boobies up and out for centuries. In 1869, the French cut the corset in half and the bodice seceded from the bottom.

In The Jazz Age, aka the 1920s, bandeaus were designed to flatten boobs for flappers, since a more boyish shape was in vogue. Cups sizes were eventually assigned to bras in 1932.

After the bombshell “Sweater Girl” age of the 1950s, bra burning happened for the first time. It took place on an Atlantic City, NJ boardwalk in 1968.

In recent years, the bra has made an impact on pop culture, with the manssiere and the jewel-encrusted bras with million dollar price tags, courtesy of Victoria’s Secret. Dude bras and bling bras — what will they think of next?

One of the least seen but most important aspects of your wardrobe is obviously the intimates section. Much like the foundation of a building, your lingerie determines the outcome of your look. From the broad banded flapper bras of the 1920s to Madonna’s conical corset by French couturier Jean Paul Gaultier in 1990, bras have evolved over several avatars through the decades and each of these styles reflected the place of women in society at the time. Of course you could go braless, but it’s usually not a very practical option considering gravity working its magic.

In the current time, lingerie stores boast everything from smooth coverage bras to lacy underwire styles and cosy bralettes—which of these do you need and when can you wear them? Given that bras are trickier to buy than, say, a shirt, we have done some research on narrowing down the dos and don’ts of bra shopping for you.

Bras that doesn’t fit well can impact your posture, cause backache and even damage sensitive breast tissue. It’s important to get yourself fitted well. Your bra size is determined by the combination of your band size and bust size. Head to a departmental store near you and get yourself fitted at the lingerie department.

Celebrity moms are not only scrutinized for how they look and dress, but also for the way they dress their children.

Kim Kardashian West just shut down haters who criticized her for buying her daughter North West a corset-style dress.

The 4-year-old was recently spotted wearing an orange dress with a cream lace-up corset- inspired decoration while in New York City with her mom, and people on the internet accused Kardashian of dressing her daughter inappropriately, the Daily Mail reports.

Kim Kardashian West has long been BFFs with Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing, often hitting the red carpet in the fashion house’s barely-there designs.

And on Thursday, the 36-year-old reality star stepped out in the summer heat for the opening of Balmain’s first Los Angeles boutique — flaunting her famous figure in a super cropped white top and high-waisted, sparkling silver skirt.

With a slit up to her thigh, the transparent garment showed off plenty of skin for the mother of two — who recently made the decision with husband Kanye West to hire a surrogate to carry their third child. She paired the glittery ensemble with a tan pair of Kanye’s Yeezy PVS heels, and once again kept it simple with no jewelry.

I’m the first to applaud Kim’s no-f*cks given attitude to fashion, but underwear to dinner: isn’t there some sort of table boob etiquette for this? The same as not being able to go topless in the supermarket, kinda thing? What sort of reception would the average person get walking into their nearest Italian in a lacy balconette? Ok, I realise if you’re Kim Kardashian the same rules need not apply… Does it make a difference if the bra’s Gucci (like Kim’s)?! So many questions.

If you’re a fan of Kim’s dinner attire but aren’t quite brave enough to go full brassiere, consider a bralette. They’ve become a firm evening staple, and incidentally, look great with a blazer. The jury’s still out on pedal pushers, though.

It may seem too good to be true, but — yes, yes! — push-up bras without underwire are a very real thing. The best wireless push-up bras can provide support, lift, and even create incredible cleavage (should you want that) just like their more constricting counterparts.

These comfortable bras lack the underwire that can often feel restricting and even painful, and instead feature padding, support bands, and specially designed straps to do all the heavy lifting. Since there’s no legitimate reason why you should ever sacrifice comfort or your health for the sake of boob support, it may be time to go bra shopping — and to open up the possibilities of a wireless bra existence.

Some of these wireless push-up bras subtly lift and shape your chest, while others promise to add a cup size or two, if that is what you are looking for. But all of these bras have two things in common: rave reviews from satisfied customers and a magic, wireless lift that is revolutionizing the way we think of push-up bras.

If you’re ready to kick your underwire to the curb — or just want to diversify your bra collection — here are eight of the best wireless push-up bras you’ll love to wear.

Recently I showered (a desert dweller must) and put on my robe sans underwear. And you know what? It felt wonderful … unencumbered by elastic, cotton, silk or lace. And I thought to myself, and now I’m sharing my thoughts with you, that undergarments are definitely overrated.

Think of the history — well, I don’t know much about cone bras or longline bras in the decades before my birth, but I know what my process with skivvies was. White cotton underpants began my lifelong connection to underthings. In time, a white cotton “training” bra followed.

Those of us who were unlucky in the endowment department whispered among ourselves and came up with ideas to enhance what God had given us until God stepped up to give us more. Our “puffer-upper” of choice was tissue paper – or toilet paper worked, too. We would walk into the classroom each day and nod to our fellow flat-chested compadres, keeping our lips sealed.

What we didn’t know was that there was already an expression out there, somewhere: “What God has forgotten, make up with cotton.” We thought we were so creative — today we’d have read all about falsies on Google.

In seventh grade, for my confirmation, I was forced to wear a garter belt and nylons. Truth be told, it did make me feel pretty grown up — even though it was darn uncomfortable to sit on those garters which latched the nylons to the buckle to keep them from falling in a puddle at our ankles. I was thrilled when, in late high school, I discovered nylons that had elastic at the top and you didn’t have to wear a garter belt.

Panty hose were an abomination foisted upon us, followed closely by “control-top” panty hose. Fun fact: they hatched from a giant plastic egg. I won’t even mention Spanx.

Underpants morphed into shades of pink, blue and yellow, but the styles were the same. Only the material was improved to make them more breathable, or washable and dryable.

According to rave Amazon reviews, this bra does what so many fail to do: create cleavage — and they’re even posting the pictures to prove it. Promising to add up to two cup sizes, this push-up bra features a corset-like front for a customizable lift, side boning for support, and seamless cups for a smooth finish under clothing.

This T-shirt push-up bra is wire free and heavy on padding, which looks natural but adds up to two cup sizes. It comes in nude or black, is sized to fit petite frames, and will last you a long time, according to one reviewer.

For times when you want lift and shape without padding, this molded bra is perfect: it has a demi-cup and is seamless with elastic-free sides and back so that you can’t detect it under clothing. You’ll get two strap styles with your purchase: classic and cross bands.

When comfort is your priority, this wire-free contour bra comes to the rescue. The durable material (it’s made from 22 percent lycra elastane) and warp knit give it the ultimate all-way stretch, while light padding and seamless, wireless cups provide lift without adding a cup size.

My knickers must fit, must be comfortable, must last through many washings, must not bind at the waist or legs, must not be too bright in color lest they show through my plain cotton slacks, and they must, at all costs, not cost too much.

I remember that burning your bra was popular in the ’70s — now I’m almost in my 70s, and I’ve decided to advocate for that cause again. Come on, ladies – RAH, RAH, SIS BOOM BAH – BURN YOUR BRAS!! I know it didn’t rhyme … sue me!

At Revelation in Fit, the new lingerie store that opened last week at 386 State St. in Los Altos, the bras in the showroom – seasonal and, in some cases, rather fashion forward – are only the tip of the bosom iceberg.

The Los Altos location includes an appropriately drape-y lounge area studded with fitting rooms, but don’t stop there. The real surprise remains cloaked behind a curtain even farther back in the shop – a voluminous and workmanlike “library” of approximately 2,500 bras that stretches the length of the store. Revelation welcomes walk-ins to browse in front or try an entire fitting, but also book appointments in advance to guarantee a
leisurely consultation.

Owner Robynne Winchester worked in San Francisco as a professional corset maker, coming to know ladies’ curves from measurements to pattern making, needlework and final fit. Historically the corset functioned as a preamble to the bra – as women began to unbind from full-torso-wear, they found key body parts still seeking support. Enter the brassiere, and a century and a half of evolving style and fit.

Women love to hate their bras. Mid-back muffin top. Straps cutting into shoulders. A half moon of underwire imprinted halfway up a breast. Most American bra retailers carry a limited range of band sizes (30-40) and cup sizes (AA-DD), and those in limited combinations. Winchester wanted to start a business that specialized in providing a fine-grained fit, rather than squishing all breasts into a narrow range of cup sizes.

“I wear a rare size myself and used to get all my bras from England, because no one makes my size,” Winchester said.

The European designers Revelation carries, including Marlies Dekkers and Ewa Michalak, use tailoring and judicious hardware to bring an avant-garde look to still-feminine bras, with hints of Valkyries, silken Madonna tributes and a denim/suspenders racerback situation that looks like it could handily double as self-confident outerwear somewhere other than Los Altos.

The women behind a Revelation in Fit have the steampunk edge of businesswomen who know that they are “a little bit of a throwback,” according to Winchester. Women of a certain age will remember a time when this level of lingerie fitting might be routine. And millennial readers have probably already heard online – often – that they are wearing the wrong bra size. For those in the middle, Winchester and her coworkers can provide an introduction to the concept.On May 30, 1889, 127 years ago, Herminie Cadolle filed a patent for a prototype of the modern brassiere. Essentially she cut the corset in two, attaching straps to the top portion. Within two decades the new undergarment was being marketed alone as the soutien-gorge.

Cadolle’s invention, which she called the bien-être, was exhibited at the Great Exposition of 1900, but IRL it was meant to remain invisible. This remained the case for about the next 60 years. For the bra—and the braless—1968 was a banner year. In Paris, Emanuel Ungaro presented an ensemble that included an armor-like metal bra at the same time that Yves Saint Laurent shocked with his sheer “birthday suit” looks. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Miss America pageant, women’s libbers reportedly protested by burning their bras. Whether or not those bras were set aflame is a point of debate; the symbolism is not: As The New York Times put it in 1970, “bralessness” was equated “with women’s freedom.”

But where could women go from bare? Many went back to (redesigned) bras, which they used as fashion as much as lingerie. Madonna, in her “Like a Virgin” phase, ushered in the era of visible bras—and bra straps—before co-opting Jean Paul Gaultier’s postmodern takes on the corsets and the 1950s cone bra for her Blond Ambition tour. Gianni Versace would titillate the fashion crowd with his provocative 1992 Miss S&M collection. Later, ska-pop singer Gwen Stefani wore bra tops with a sporty street edge, a tradition continued by artists as different as Rihanna and Grimes. In an age when the “naked dress ” is de rigueur red carpet fare, there’s something retro—dare we say modest—about an exposed bra.

Here, from the 1970s to now, 19 women who have fashionably flashed their bras.

Ladies, you may breathe a sigh of relief!

Actually, you may want to start by just breathing, now that you’re permitted to unfurl the bandage tape, unlace the corset and free your bosom from the bonds of a sports bra one size too small.

We know this to be true because the New York Post – a publication owned by Rupert Murdoch – has declared it so.

The paper reports that Rihanna “risked bursting out of her voluminous red dress as she hiked up her lady lumps” at an event last week, marking the official Return of the Breast.

For those of us unaware that our “lady lumps” – a term that, frankly, makes Trump’s descriptions of the female anatomy seem positively poetic – ever went away, it goes on to explain that “the perky little bosoms of supermodels such as Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid have reigned supreme” in recent times.

It’s 3:30 on a weekday afternoon at Orchard Corset, and Peggy and Ralph Bergstein have already sold close to 20 corsets, from a black matte satin underbust to a yellow cotton waspie with brown trim. They could sell 10 more before closing time.

These corsets are the real deal. Although no longer made with whalebone, they have steel boning and top-to-bottom lacing, and can draw in the waist by four to five inches. Women (and not a few men) of all shapes and sizes come in, leaving with silhouettes that could tempt a Victorian.

Who are all of these people still buying corsets in 2017?

“Everyone is wearing them,” said Ms. Bergstein, who runs the Lower East Side shop with her husband. “You have no idea. Just most people won’t tell you. They want you to think it’s natural. But when you see that shape on the street, with the little waist, I’m telling you, it’s a corset. They are more popular than Spanx right now.”

The repeal of the big boob ban extends to this side of the Atlantic too. “Curve Your Enthusiasm: Big boobs bounce back” reported the Sun, another Murdoch title, this week.This might seem like good news for the average Irish woman, whose bra size is 34C. But don’t think this means you can manoeuvre your lady lumps into any old underwired Marks and Spencer number and be done with it. Oh no. There are improvements to be made first. (Remember, ladies there is literally no part of the female anatomy that can’t benefit from the application of something cooked up in a marketing department by experts in making us feel bad about our bodies.) Consider enhancing them with “push-up bras, chicken fillets, clever make-up” or “glitterboobs”, as seen at Glastonbury, advised the Post.

It seems like it’s ‘bring back old fashion trends week’. First, there were the days of the week jumper that virtually every blogger on Instagram is wearing – a nod to those knicker sets that kids of the 90s will remember.

Now Zara is throwing its proverbial hat – or rather bag – into the ring.

Behold the corset bag, by which we mean a bag shaped like an actual corset, boobs and all.

Those of us who were teenagers in the noughties will know this was quite the statement bag to parade on your weekly shopping trip to Claire’s Accessories.

You might even have worn it to parties, thinking you were literally the coolest girl there. Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?

Zara’s leather cross body bag , with its minimal style and suede finish, is admittedly more stylish than its predecessor – the baby pink and floral version.
But if we’re honest, we’re just not sure we can go there again. That said, if you’re bold enough to embrace the trend this time round, you might be able to pull it off with a well cut Breton top, cropped jeans and pointy ankle boots.

It’ll certainly be the focal point of your outfit and a good conversation starter. Will you dare?

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, women regularly warped their bodies into organ-mashing S-shapes reinforced by corsets in order to create man-made curves to please, well, men. Aside from jutting hips and minuscule waists, that pursuit of altering one’s body shape into something deemed acceptable was hidden under layers of (typically similarly restrictive) clothing. Fast-forward to 2017: The corset is trending once again,
but this time, it’s out in the open. Could it be the Kim Kardashian West effect? The famously curvy social media superstar is as open about her “waist trainers” (essentially a “training corset”) as she is about her use of trompe l’oeil makeup contouring, or her wigs. So then it seemed only natural that her friend, designer Olivier Rousteing, used her figure as his inspiration for Balmain Fall 2017, filling the runway with rail-thin models in dresses that gave them the corset’s exaggerated busts and hips. That same season even Miuccia Prada, an icon of feminist fashion sensibility, featured the waist-highlighting piece in her collection, throwing the corset on top of everything from bulky jackets to hefty, metallic embellished dresses.

Still, the 2017 take on the corset is far from the brutal, rib-crunching underpinnings of yesteryear, which required a firm hand and something to brace yourself with, à la Scarlett O’Hara. Today’s corset is mostly ornamental (often coming with a zipper, rather than laces), transforming the body-shaming accessory of the past into an in-your- face symbol of femininity worn by the likes of Rihanna, who sported a lavender corset over a boyish Chanel shirtdress; Gigi Hadid, who has worn the style as a top, out on the town; and of course, Kardashian West, who threw on—what else?—a bold Givenchy and Balmain look.
Très chic and sheer, too! Bella Hadid dared to bare her nipples in a see-through corset dress for the Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring Summer 2017 Bal Masque for Paris Men’s Fashion Week on Monday, January 23.

PHOTOS: Bella Hadid’s Hottest Bikini Instagram PicturesThe Dior Makeup brand ambassador, 20, stunned in a delicate pale blue dress with a
structured bodice, a full, floaty skirt and all-over crystals. She went without a bra up top and layered a pair of briefs printed with J’Adore Dior on the waistband. The model teamed her number with fashion’s favorite accessory: a choker. Hers was studded with sparkling diamonds to match her dress. To complete her head-turning ensemble, the Chrome Hearts designer assembled her long brunette hair into a sleek ponytail and chose a light pink lip.

Hadid, who partied with Kendall Jenner, Eva Herzigova, A$AP Rocky and A$AP Ferg at the luxe event, also showed off her look in a selfie video on Snapchat beforehand. She posed and pouted to “PRBLMS” by 6LACK, mouthing along to the lyrics.

We decide that in order to make it work in my wardrobe, I need to wear it in a more tomboyish manner, befitting my own style. I put a striped men’s button-down over the slip dress, slouched similarly to the parkas and bombers at Balenciaga’s Fall 2016 show, slipping the corset over to belt it. And here it is, that “feel good” effect that Choi mentioned: I stand up a little straighter, I feel my chest pushed forward, as if I’m wearing a power suit—but without the bulk of shoulder pads. As it turns out, wearing the corset is not just a total cinch—it can tie your whole look together.
It’s been a busy week for the younger sister of Gigi Hadid so far. She also walked in shows for Christian Dior, Givenchy and Chanel. And on January 22, she puckered up for a steamy photo op with Givenchy’s creative director Riccardo Tisci and Jenner: “HOT SANDWICH,” he captioned the Instagram.

Thankfully, the beauty appears to be unbothered by stateside drama. Her ex The Weeknd was spotted kissing Selena Gomez earlier this month, and sources tell Us that Hadid wasn’t pleased. ”Bella has reached out to Abel a few times and told him Selena is using him,” a Hadid pal told Us Weekly. “He thinks she’s just jealous and isn’t listening to her.”