is there a bra-free tribe? - Page 2

[village idiot]

I have always had very small breasts. They got smaller and floppier as I had children and just from gravity too, I guess. lol

I can't remember ever having a comfortable bra. I have some sports bras but they ride up some.

I love being braless. My main concern is making other mamas uncomfortable. I don't pay any attention to men, probably because I don't think they are looking at me with two children trailing me everywhere. I just don't want the mamas getting embarrassed or something.

I went braless some this summer but will probably go braless most, if not all, of winter.

[sweetpeppers]

All I wear are tank tops with shelf bras. I wear one every day winter and summer and just add or subtract layers as necessary. I don't even wear sports bras anymore.

[orangefoot]

Me too! Me too! There used to be an Itty Bitty tribe but it got quiet and is now archived.

I am the proud owner of two fully functioning 36AAA breasts which have fed 4 children and I've never found a bra that is worth wearing when breastfeeding or not.

At my biggest and milk-full I am about an A cup: I got measured when I had my second babe and was told that I "should" have grown by 2 cup sizes. Uh - I already have lady!!

I have liked some crossover cotton tops for breastfeeding and some mini tanks like fondestbianca has but over the past couple of years I have been wearing what we call a vest (but I think you call an undershirt/tank?) or nothing at all. I don't like the feeling of being squeezed by elasticated stuff any more.

In the summer I sewed some loose tops to wear over t-shirts and vests if I was going somewhere where nipples: might be frowned upon. My mum doesn't mention my bralessness at all so I have no problems there!

village idiot - braless in winter is easy! Just do it!

[itsrtimedownhere]

so far the only person to mention anything to be about my not wearing a bra was my drunk brother :eyeroll: he said something like "don't you even have a... restraining apparatus??" i said, "nah." haha

[orangefoot]

Originally Posted by itsrtimedownhere

so far the only person to mention anything to be about my not wearing a bra was my drunk brother :eyeroll: he said something like "don't you even have a... restraining apparatus??" i said, "nah." haha

Restraining apparatus?

[ursusarctos]

at restraining apparatus. That is exactly what bras are!
That reminds me of what my dear male friend (possibly even crunchier than me) said in response to DP teasing me about not wearing a bra: "I have no problem with ursusarctos not wearing one of those lymph-constricting vices of doom"! Yay for enlightened males!

[jensumner]

Originally Posted by ursusarctos

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

yes i stopped a week ago. i even went as far as throwing them away!!! i am loving it so much now!! i will never go back. my concern is just making it not look obvious. im sorry but im not wearing a bra because society wants me to! its my body and my health! i am brafree and lovin' it

[fresh_veggie]

Can I join?

I'm in Utah, and it seems women/girls are supposed to fit into this perfect mold so that they can attract a good husband here. Perfect round, nipp-less breasts are a must!

Needless to say going braless is a good shallow or insecure person filter. My husband is hesitant to have me go braless all the time, as nipples freak people out here in Utah, but honestly most of the time he doesn't even notice (I'm 21 and mine aren't that big anyway - 34Bs) and I know he wants me to be healthy.

Hooray for tanks and layers! I usually wear two shirts at a time, or a tank, and a sports bra when working out because I'm not used to the rubbing which kind of stings when I bounce.

<3 glad to be here!

[momma earthical]

I've been bra free for a decade (except for a brief period during my pregnancy with dd when my nipples were too sensitive) I am mostly not self conscious about it but I have occasional moments because I am large breasted, but the discomfort I feel when I try to force myself and my girls into harness soon has me back into my loose tshirts. I like the idea of a tank underneath though - I might try that. The times I find it most difficult are when I'm helping at waterbirths and I end up wet........

[clothdiaperingmom]

I am bra free most of the time. I wear them more in the summer when its too hot to wear a sweatshirt (when going out in public).

Im very very well endowed and after bfing 4 girls, and more yrs of gravity they arent very perky anymore. As soon as I walk in the door, bra comes off and I never wear one at home. Also never bother to put one on when dh's friends come over. I do wear larger fitting clothes anyway.

Ive always hated wearing bras, and my mom always told me if I didnt, I would look like foreign women in National Geo where their breasts hang down to their belly buttons.
Funny though, my odd is almost 15 (shes as big as me) and wears a bra ALOT and hers already look like mine braless. So I guess it didnt matter if I wore one or not all these yrs.

[ursusarctos]

So cool that there are so many bra-free people around!

Originally Posted by momma earthical

II like the idea of a tank underneath though - I might try that. The times I find it most difficult are when I'm helping at waterbirths and I end up wet........

I do find that a tank underneath provides almost total nipple coverage (unless it's really cold ) and some bounce control... for wet situations a dark tank would probably be great.

Originally Posted by clothdiaperingmom

Ive always hated wearing bras, and my mom always told me if I didnt, I would look like foreign women in National Geo where their breasts hang down to their belly buttons.
Funny though, my odd is almost 15 (shes as big as me) and wears a bra ALOT and hers already look like mine braless. So I guess it didnt matter if I wore one or not all these yrs.

Yeah, I think it has very little to do with your bra wearing and more to do with your genes and/or how many babies you've nursed
I have to say I've definitely struggled a little bit with the pervasive ideas in our culture that a) not wearing bras will cause you to have long saggy breasts and that b) long saggy breasts are not sexually attractive (and therefore affect your attractiveness and worth as a person). I don't actually believe these things at all, but they are definitely unsaid and hovering in the background in our cultural environment and they affect me too.
First of all I reason with myself that bra wearing has little if anything to do with sagginess. Second, wearing my breasts with their natural, non-spherical, side-pointing shape (perfect for nursing babies!) has led me to a different sense of style and and different feeling about how I present myself as a person. I no longer wear tight or low-cut shirts - they aren't comfortable, and there's nothing to emphasize if my breasts aren't being shaped by a bra. Somehow for me the shaping and propping up of my breasts feels like it's *for a viewer*. When I leave them free, I don't feel like I am trying to show anything to anyone. I feel less self-conscious and therefore more confident, and therefore don't feel dumpy wearing comfortable, non-revealing clothes. I feel more graceful and less... sectioned off into parts? I feel like my attractiveness is more concentrated on my face and by connection my personhood. So all this leads to me feeling like when I nurse babies and get older and my breasts sag, I am going to be completely ok with it. Because my breast shape is no longer a huge component of my feeling of being an attractive human being. It's relaxing

[itsrtimedownhere]

i don't double up shirts. i don't care if people can see my nipples. everyone has them.

i'm also in az so wearing 2 shirts is nuts.

[ursusarctos]

Originally Posted by itsrtimedownhere

i don't double up shirts. i don't care if people can see my nipples. everyone has them.

i'm also in az so wearing 2 shirts is nuts.

Good for you! More people need to do that - then nipples might become normalized! If it got that hot here I would not wear an undershirt either (in fact I don't when I go back to CA in the summer and it drives my mom nuts ).
As a side note, I used to live in Tucson. In the summer there I think wearing any clothes at all is nuts I remember we would literally just lay on the floor trying not to move all day (we only had a damp cooler) and then do stuff in the evening when it was slightly less like a furnace.

[itsrtimedownhere]

Originally Posted by ursusarctos

In the summer there I think wearing any clothes at all is nuts I remember we would literally just lay on the floor trying not to move all day (we only had a damp cooler) and then do stuff in the evening when it was slightly less like a furnace.

this was us last summer. ugh. only it's 10-15* hotter here. bleck. can't wait to move!

[saoirse2007]

I wish!!!!!
nursing and busting out of an H
if i don't wear a bra thes puppies stare down at the floor....and then proceed to cover it with milk....lol

i hate wearing my frikin bra....24/7

[TinyFrog]

Bra-free here too! I have been for about three years. In the beginning I wore a bra from time to time but that just exaggerated how uncomfortable they were and eventually I gave up entirely. I still have them, though I think they are actually too big for me.

Hi Orangefoot! I was in the former Itty Bitty Titty tribe too. Um, yeah, totally pointless for me to wear a bra.

I do wear camisoles, I find them comfy, and help keep my belly warm.

[orangefoot]

Hi to you too wateraddict!

I get chilly in the belly too and I love long underlayers for that. I think I need to keep my kidneys warm?????

[amberc727]

I'm mostly braless. I only put one on when I go out of the house, and since I am a SAHM, that's not that often. I have read the research and I'm interested in being bra free all the time, but I have very large breasts, 38H, I just don't know. I read that after a few weeks the ligaments will get stronger so they won't seem as droopy, but I guess I'm still skeptical. Anyone braless with my size breasts?

[mystic~mama]

FondestBianca, that is awesome! Very happy for you and glad you are feeling more love for yourself, you deserve it

I stopped wearing a bra 4 years ago and it took a little getting used to but I am so comfortable AND my breasts (nursed for 4 1/2 years) are perkier than when I stopped wearing bras...

I wear snug fitting cami's with the shelf removed...I don't like any elastic constricting me...

I'd like to have 1 bra I like for special occasions when it helps you fit into certain clothes better...

[fresh_veggie]

Based on all the info you read about going braless helping preventing cancer (and the fact I study life sciences at my university currently) going bra-free really helps me feel positive in that I'm doing something to prevent a disease in another way!! It's a good feeling.