is there a bra-free tribe?

[ursusarctos]

I don't wear a bra. I find them uncomfortable, unneccessary and unhealthy. Anyone else?

[itsrtimedownhere]

me!

i haven't worn one in 3 years.

[Milkymommi]

I'm a no bra girl!!!! I do tend to wear an under tank though to keep the girls from flopping wildly into other peoples faces I looooove it. I wish I had rejected bra wearing sooner in my life. I was always aware that it was unhealthy, but was in the habit kwim? I also think that it was part of self discovery for me in helping to teach me not to care how other see me. I would never go back.

[Sihaya]

Me too!

I stopped wearing one about 3-4 years ago when I read how much they increase the risk of cancer. I wear tanks with the built-ins in them, but they can hardly be called bras

[Milkymommi]

Yeah, those are what I wear most of the time too... def NOT a bra not at all.

[itsrtimedownhere]

i wore a tank with a shelf bra for ONE DAY and got a plugged duct. ugh.

[ursusarctos]

Yay!
I too stopped wearing a bra (a year and a half ago) after learning how it seems to be related to breast cancer (the info on brafree.org is what convinced me).
I had a long and complicated relationship with bras before that. At 9 my breasts started getting ready to grow, and I was anxious to grow into a woman physically, couldn't wait to get my period, etc. so I asked for some training bras and my mom got them for me even though I really didn't need them. After a while I forgot about them until I got to be about 11 and I really started to get breasts. At this point my mom started making me wear a bra when we went out, which I resisted because they were uncomfortable and I felt like they were unnecessary since my boobs were so small anyway. But I didn't think that much about them until I was around 13 and I realized that I could get beautiful, lacy bras from the real bra section and I started to like them. At the same time though I was experiencing my rebellious teenage years and would sometimes not wear them, which resulted in fights with my mother. My parents seemed to have the idea that not wearing a bra outside was basically an open invitation to every man around. Which bothered me very much, to say the least. When I got to 17, they stopped caring so much whether or not I wore a bra, which resulted in me having much less problem with wearing them. When I moved to a foreign country at 18, I wore them more or less all the time as I felt insecure and I was afraid of attracting attention in any way. This also went with a period when I was on the pill, drinking a lot, and generally being willfully unconscious about my lifestyle. I told myself I was wearing bras because my breasts felt uncomfortable without them since they had grown
Anyway, after a few years I started to become more conscious about my lifestyle in general, and happened across brafree.org, after which I realized that the only reason I was wearing bras was because I was afraid of social disapproval and that it simply wasn't worth sacrificing my health and comfort for. It's perfectly possible to dress nicely and appropriately and not wear a bra, and there was just no reason to go on abusing my breasts anymore. Milkymommi, I feel like that too, it was definitely a part of my own growth process.
So I stopped wearing bras altogether and nobody has ever commented except my mom who seems to think I do it to get attention
I also generally wear a tank top or spaghetti strap under my shirt, or a sports bra when I exercise. I have found that my style has changed naturally after I stopped bra wearing. I have very few low-cut or tight shirts anymore. I now prefer looser, less revealing clothing or sweaters in the winter, and I feel ironically much less exposed in general and more secure in my appearance. My breasts have ceased to be the focus of my appearance, and in a way less a part of my identity. I feel more self-contained and self-integrated than I ever did wearing a bra - which, after all, are usually designed to emphasize just as much as to hide. I feel honest with myself.

[FondestBianca]

Just let me say that I NEVER could have imagined I'd fall into this group... EVER!!

I have rather large breasts for my frame and have always had a deep seeded shame and almost hatred for them. I HATE any public attention on them, don't wear low cut shirts, and have terrible posture because I've never felt comfortable just sticking them out there. Bras that fit and are comfortable are soooooo very hard to find, especially in my size (small band size, large cup size). I don't like clothing I have to fidget with and bras have always seemed to fight with me on that. I thought that since I was a large cup size there was no way to go bra free and I was going to be stuck in them forever and uncomfortable. I tried every cut, shape, and style you could think of.... nothing fit. Most of the time I'd actually end up wearing 2 bras at once just to get the job done. No way I could go without right?

Wrong!

When I was preg with ds none of my previous-sort-of-fitting bras came close to containing me and I was beyond broke. So I went to Wal Mart and bought the cheapest set of 3 sports bras. They can't possible be called sports bras. They have no cup contouring, no seams anywhere, and are pretty much just a rectangular shaped thin piece of fabric with tiny little shoulder straps. Basically it's more like a fitted tank top that ends just below the breasts. I thought that once ds was born and BFing was more regulated I'd find some bras that fit. Well, money was never there and I liked the ease of BFing with these thin excuse for bras. Just lift it up and I'm ready to go. They also manage to keep my breasts in a more comfortable position than traditional bras ever did. This also seems to draw less attention from onlookers which I love.

So now ds is 10 months old and I have no intention of buying any bras.... EVER. I wear tanks with chinsey shelf bras and these cheapo glorified sports bras that are really no more than a cropped tank with elastic around the bottom. It's so wonderful and I feel oddly liberated. I don't feel like I'm trying to control my body but rather live with it as my equal. I'm finding that I'm also disliking them less and feeling more comfortable pushing my shoulders back and standing up straight in public.

I never thought I'd be here... but, here I am!!

[ursusarctos]

What a great story, FondestBianca!!!

[svmaine]

Well one of the few good influences my mother had over me was the ridiculousness of bras. She never wore one, we both don't have much to hold up anyways. The first time I wore one on a regular basis was when I was in my 30s and pregnant because my nipples were so sensitive. And three pregnancies later they are a little bigger and flop alot more so I do wear a bra at work but the second I get home off it goes, much to the dismay of my MIL. She also thinks I don't wear one or shave my legs because I'm being rebellious, BS, grow up and get over it, it's COMFORTABLE!! She also says the only reason she ever started to shave her legs is because she thought it looked more attractive with pantyhose, "it was nothing to do with society", yeah right and I've got a bridge to sell her, but that's another story.

Sarah

[happyhats]

hee, this is totally my tribe. I haven't regularly worn a bra since I was twenty or twenty one. It felt odd at first, but now it's just how I am. I will wear one occasionally if I am having sore breast issues (pms, pregnancy, etc) but other than that I have no need. I MAY use one for the gym, but since we just decided to start going I can't say yet. I don't use it to excercise at home.

[littlebird]

Hi! I stopped wearing a bra the first time I became pregnant. What I had stopped fitting and I just didn't consider getting more. My mother says I never seemed to like them and she would bring them home for me to try. Anyway, that was 13 years ago. I've tried them occasionally, but they feel so constricting.

My current challenge is my nearly 13 year old daughter. She doesn't want to wear a bra either, which is bringing me to revisit just what my philosophy is. I figure she at least has to learn to wear shirts that aren't revealing, then. She's expressed interest in vests which sound like a good idea.

My mother thinks it is awful to be "hanging out there like that" and says that it is like going around naked. She was starting to get to me but then we went to a family wedding and I saw my aunts and others going around in super low cut dresses and I thought, "what the heck!" How can she criticize me when so many people are going around now totally letting their boobs hang out?!

Leslie

[Kino]

Bra-free here too! And yes my mother hates it as well

[ursusarctos]

Originally Posted by littlebird

we went to a family wedding and I saw my aunts and others going around in super low cut dresses and I thought, "what the heck!" How can she criticize me when so many people are going around now totally letting their boobs hang out?!

I totally don't understand how it was always ok for me to go around in low cut or tight fitting shirts with cleavage, straps showing, etc. but a loose shirt with no bra is somehow inappropriate

[svmaine]

Originally Posted by ursusarctos

I totally don't understand how it was always ok for me to go around in low cut or tight fitting shirts with cleavage, straps showing, etc. but a loose shirt with no bra is somehow inappropriate

It's the nips!!! My MIL can't stand anyone going braless and to her the offensive part or parts are that when you go braless your nipples might show,OMG how embarrassing, NOT! I think showing tons of cleavage is alot more eye catching than a nipple thru fabric.

[ursusarctos]

Originally Posted by svmaine

I think showing tons of cleavage is alot more eye catching than a nipple thru fabric.

ITA!!! Teenagers in tiny shirts are way more sexual and exhibitionist than me with my loose peasant shirt with no bra (I know, I used to be one of those teenagers ). Not that I try to show nipple (I usually wear an undershirt unless it's really hot), but if one peeps through I really don't feel ashamed - and I don't care if people look. Let them, it's their trip, and anyway there needs to be more non-sexual nippleage going on, then maybe people wouldn't be so amazed when they see them!

[FischK]

Count me in. Haven't wore a bra for most of my life. Never sounded like a pleasant idea. As a matter of fact, I bought my first bra while I was still pregnant, because I anticipated the need for nursing pads after the baby was born. However, I did not need any nursing pads, and the bras make my nipples sore and lead to clogged ducts. Only wear nursing gear when I'm seeing my ILs and anticipate NIP.

I often wear a tank top under my clothes when I go to work because I work with college students and I don't want to embarrass them. I used to wear mostly loose shirts, but I've recently become more interested in wearing tighter shirts because they're more easily layered (and maternity clothes made me long for a change).

[Inci]

Yeah, my tribe, too!
I can't remember the last time I wore a bra. It must have been at least a decade ago; I certainly haven't even owned a bra in years! I frequently wear tank tops underneath, or those shelf-bra camisoles.
My boobs feel happy and free.

[gagin37]

I am mostly bra free! My situation is really similar to FondestBianca. I wear really thin tank style night nursing bras if I have to go out, and am bra free all together at home. I have 1 lowly soft cup bra that I bring out for certain outfits. It started because I couldn't find nursing bras that fit and were comfortable and affordable. Being braless makes nursing an absolute breeze and it's so much more comfortable!

[Magelet]

I'm sort of bra free. I fluctuate. I don't like bras at all, and I know they're not good for me, but I still wear them occasionally. When my breasts are really sore (and any bouncing is painful), when I'm wearing a thin white shirt (I don't mind the shape of my nipples showing (DP does lol, but he'll get used to it), but I do mind the color showing, and I haven't got any white tanks atm.), or occasionally when I feel like that shape. (I really want to get a nice soft cup barely bra for the days when I want a bra, but I rarely want my padded underwire uncomfortable bra). I'm probably 75% bra free. can I still join? lol.

and my mom hates it when I go bra free as well.