I have always hated wearing bras. They are painful and seem so unnecessary at times. They also very expensive and there are so many kinds of bra but they are all horribly uncomfortable. Most girls, myself included, get home and can’t wait to take off their bra. Some girls don’t even wear wired bras most of the time and just wear a sports bra or bralettes for comfort. Wearing a bra is like wearing a neck tie at work that is too tight. You shouldn’t take it off because you have to uphold a certain dress code at work but it is nevertheless uncomfortable and you spend all day fixing it.
Even though I hate bras, something I never questioned was why I continued to wear them. It is something you start wearing when you are in elementary or middle school. All your friends start to wear training bras and you haven’t it is something you want. You want to take that step into womanhood.
Wearing a bra becomes apart of your daily routine and it is just something you do as a woman. When you don’t wear a bra people are shocked or find it humorous. When I decided that I was going to stop wearing bras for a month, I did not think it would be hard. I thought I would be acting like Julia Stiles but instead I was covered up like Olivia Wilde.
I started on a Sunday, and for the first day or two it was fairly easy. I felt liberated but oddly enough, I also felt ashamed. Anytime there was a cold wind I needed to make sure to cover my shirt with my jacket. Or any time I wore a low cut top I would look down every five-seconds to make sure I didn’t have a nip slip. Not wearing a bra felt like I was missing something vital in my life. Of course I told my friends and they began to notice when I was not wearing a bra. They would say things like “going commando?” or they would give me a look, it that would say, “I see you are not wearing a bra…you nasty * Raven Symone voice * look or “You go girl, I wouldn’t do it but YGG” look. On that following Wednesday, I went to the gym and I felt super uncomfortable and I wore a sports bra. Then, once I caved that day there was no turning back. I just started wearing bras again. Then, I would remember what I decided and I would not wear a bra going to class then next day but then I would go to work and I would feel bad if I didn’t have a bra on.
I did not last an entire month, I did not even last 5 day but being bra-less for 4 days taught me how to feel comfortable in my own skin again and in my style. I felt so self-conscious about everything that I wore and I felt like people could tell I wasn’t wearing a bra, after all my friends did. I would pick an outfit with a cami, a regular shirt, a cardigan and maybe even a jacket on top. I was meticulous in picking out what I wore just to cover my bra-less-ness. I won’t walking around like Julia Stiles anytime soon but I feel more confident in a way I wasn’t before.