curious: do any of you sleep with bras on? I don't for the most part, but a friend of mine (who is only moderately endowed, probably slightly smaller than average, but bigger than me) says she feels uncomfortable sleeping *without* a bra. I found that surprising.

Sleep is such a personal thing. I draw the line at telling people what to do after the lights are out. If you are more comfortable in a bra, wear it. If not, don't. Nothing should get between you and a good night's rest. Wearing an underwire bra to bed is ridiculous and bad for your bras, but a soft cup style or the Sleep Top are good ideas (I wear the Sleep Top as a lounge bra and a sleep bra):

http://www.sleeptop.com/home.asp

I'm surprised you are comfortable going without a bra Elpgal! I am even more endowed than you and I can't stand the feeling of being braless. I just hate feeling the weight of my chest, the bouncing around, the feeling of flesh sitting on my tummy, etc. When I was smaller than a D I used to go braless around the house, but after that I couldn't stand it.

Maya, I am guessing it is a shape and perkiness issue. TMI, but my breasts are v. saggy, nipples pointing down and lay flat so it is really not a big deal. Most bra fitters are surprised that I am a 32E. Wearing bras is kind of an effort because the breast tissue has to be shaped into the cup. I always wear balconette styles. I've been meaning to ask you on the bra-fitting thread if you had any tips for my breast shape once you posted your section on fit issues.

As an aside: I thought this thread would be inundated with bra ads, but all I am seeing are ads for Kiva. Or is that only me?

I have an ad block so I can't tell But sometimes at work I get that darn biggerbras.com ad and have to quickly minimize my screen! I am allowed to surf at work but I don't need people walking by and glancing over at some woman's enormous rack...

Shape could have to do with it. The erm, "consistency" also changes over time. I am quite firm and surprisingly perky despite my size...TMI indeed!

My mom is on the pendulous side and she really likes Prima Donna bras. She puts them on as they showed her at Intimacy, by just falling into the cups, and by doing that it doesn't require too much fussing and shaping. Once she stands up, everything falls into place. Unlike me, she had to invest in the more expensive bras. She tried on Chantelles but they just weren't as nice on her, though they were perfectly fine for me. Are you wearing seamed styles?

More TMI, I picked up this Prima Donna bra at Intimacy and it is my best fitting one. I like being 'anchored in' with seamed styles. I've never found a Tshirt bra that worked for me. Chantelle styles have elastic straps which don't work well with saggy breasts, so I am not surprised.

http://www.biggerbras.com/prim.....1811.shtml

Most of my family would be absolutely horrified at the amount of TMI I share online. It's a good thing I am anonymous

OK, I have not read anyone's responses, so I have no idea what other people are saying!

For me, wearing a bra means comfort. Jumping about without a bra on can be quite painful for me at certain times of the month and I must admit that I use a bra to help "lift" the girls back into an upward position. (Three babies and lots of breastfeeding will do that to you. Sniff! ;-))

If I was really, really slim and had only say a AA cup, I probably would be tempted at times to go about sometimes NOT wearing a bra - depending on a number of factors, such as the outfit, time of year, whether at home only or going out and about etc . However, as I'm at least a B-C cup, I won't be trying this anytime soon!

My aunt doesn't wear a bra because she believes they causes breast cancer. Sometimes for modesty she'll wear a bra abut unhooked. I have no idea if there is any scientific evidence that merits her beliefs.

When I was 18, I had the pleasure of dating a fantastic guy with whom I could discuss and laugh about just about anything (we're friends to this day). One day he brought up the subject of girls going braless and asked what the point of a bra was, noting the contraptions looked mighty uncomfortable. I promptly popped out of the room and came back in my original outfit, only sans bra.
He burst out laughing and couldn't stop for five minutes.
'nough said.
Granted, I was very well endowed even as a teenager and I was perfectly aware that I was presenting him with a particularly extreme example of how bad a braless look can be, but I suspect the point is close to universal. For me, ditching the bra is absolutely not an option. A bra alters the shape of my body and enables me to wear my clothes -- yes, it is as simple as that. I'm also big on support and can't even stand the feel of sub-standard bras now. I'm a bra snob and proud of it.
That said, for those who can truly get away with the braless look, I envy you on sweltering summer days.
And in the name of comfort, the bra comes off when I'm in either a bathrobe or nightgown. Even if I'm just kicking around the house in yoga pants and a gap tee, it stays on.

I'm very small on top (A cup), and I wear a molded cup bra for activities that involve normal clothes. When I lounge around the house cleaning and etc, or when it's super hot, I either wear a cami with a shelf bra or a sport bra. Several years ago I used to wear a wire-free bralette type thing, and I cringe when I look at some of those pictures. Yikes! Basically I wear a bra for shaping and modesty because I don't want to display my shape and nipples through clothes.

When I work out, I wear a sports bra. I dislike feeling any kind of bouncing around, especially during those times of the month. I don't care that sports bras flatten me out even more.

However, I constantly struggle with an idea of a padded bra. They always look too perky and unnatural to my eye. Probably I'm the only one who pays attention to such things, but it still bothers me. I don't wear a padded bra to make myself look bigger, I just can't fill out a non-padded bra.

I think flat-chested women who are boyishly thin can look incredibly sexy braless; kind of a nod to their femininity.

I wear a bra because I find it much more comfortable than going without. I'm bra-less when I sleep and that's it.

I'm with Crazyone - I always wear a bra because I like the added padding.

I often wear a bra to bed because I am too lazy to take what ever tee off that I am wearing to change into pyjamas. I think I got used to the feel of a bra in bed while breastfeeding). Mine do not have underwire, however.

Topic too juicy to pass up. To me personally, wearing a bra is more comfortable except for when sleeping. My friend with tiny boobs often wears only a camisole under her clothes and she looks totally fine and professional (she is a lawyer). A colleague of mine chooses to go braless (apparently). Normally this isn't too distracting because of the way she dresses--loose, baggy clothes. However there is a group photo online for our work where she is clearly braless in a T-shirt, which I think looks very bad. I think this looks bad because in the professional situation it is not appropriate to draw that kind of attention to your secondary sexual characteristics. At least I wouldn't choose to myself.

I'm more comfortable wearing a bra it gives me a MUCH better shape. I would never go braless in public unless covered by a big coat! and don't sleep in one x

Gravity is not my friend, and most clothes are not designed for breasts at the waist line. Yes, I wear a bra.

Bras, yes, just yes. The same rules apply to bras that apply to shoes. Different shoes for different outfits and activities, same with bras. Both have to fit just right. Just say yes.

I have severe atopic dermatitis and at the moment the worst of it is in my upper chest: where the straps attach to the cups on my bra and from there up to my collar bones.

As a result there are days I have to wear strapless bras (still haven't found a good one) and days I cannot wear a bra. I hate those days: particularly during the week when I have to dress for work.

Otherwise I wear bras whenever I leave the house and not around the house. My skin is just much happier without the bra irritating it.

I have regular bra fittings from a reputable store and buy high quality bras (mostly Prima Donna)

I have very large breasts so find bras a necessity. Without a bra, I would have trouble wearing any fitted clothes, would draw even more unwanted attention, and would probably be bouncing around uncomfortably everywhere I went.

I can't say I'm too big a fan of the braless look, even on smaller-chested ladies. It may be my jealousy though. If I have to suffer with a bra, I want everyone else to. ; )

I know a few women who do not wear bras. One is very thin and with almost no breast tissue. Another has smallish breasts. On both these women, it isn't always super-obvious, so I guess they can "get away with it". The third woman I know is heavy and has visibly sagging breasts; she wears very loose mannish clothing. I guess she "gets away with it" by not dressing in a typically feminine way. I know I kind of have a hang-up about this to even care. I do wonder if men shout at them/leer/make comments. That's a major reason why I wouldn't go braless.

Hmm. I'm about a 40B, and I could probably go braless, but I'd be embarrassed about my nipples showing. Plus, I don't have exactly round breasts, so wearing a bra gives me that fuller, rounder shape in shirts and dresses that I wouldn't otherwise have.

To me, personally, a bra just makes a woman look more pulled together and classy. However, as soon as I get home, my bra goes off! lol

I love going braless. I am very slim and small-busted, so don't need the support. My only problem is that most of the tops I've purchased in the past couple of seasons have been much too loose or sheer, so I'm stuck wearing a bra.

I don't know why I like it so much - it just seems so low maintenance and free to me! Strangely, visible bra straps or bra lines are much more offensive to my sensibilities than nipples.

It has never occurred to me to leave the house without my undergarments.

Taylor, I really laughed out loud.

Point taken, but aren't we lucky all women in corsets didn't feel the same!

Bras are just an evolution of the corset to me

I have often thought I would be my happiest in as few clothes as possible; as in *my* version of Hawaii where I would wear a some flipflops and a muumuu sans bra. . .

So I imagine undergarments are rather societal (and/or cultural, but I don't really want to get into the difference between those).

I wear a bra about 95 of the time, night or day. Unless I take a shower right before bed, I usually sleep in one because it's just what I'm used to and I'm too lazy to take it off. In fact, for a while, if I tried to sleep w/o, I'd have dreams that I was somewhere naked! Years ago a roommate of mine commented how perky my chest was, but that my future husband was never going to be okay with me wearing a bra to bed. Turns out he is.

I wouldn't call them perky anymore, but I'm sure that's due to my age, my pregnancies and years of breastfeeding, gravity, etc.

And lucky me, I'm president of the visible nipple club. It's like two spotlights on my chest. On the upside, a lactation consultant once told me I had the perfect nipples for nursing. Woo hoo. Could I trade those in for thinner thighs please?

Honestly, I'm about ready to throw in the towel...er I mean bra. After a recent bra fitting I "transformed" from a 34B to a 32C. All I've gotten is grief and welts from my new bras. Seriously. I picked up 4 bras from Nordstrom's and have already returned two. This morning before my shower I noticed a red welt outline of a bra - basically the stretchy bits that go under your arms. I thought the bra was comfortably snug, and now I have welts??? Yeah, cause that's soooo attractive. I think I'm going back to a 34B or just a cami...finding a 32 that doesn't scar me is not worth the effort for no cup size change.

I'm late to the party, but there's no way I could ever go without a bra. I'm a 34DD and as someone upthread said, having my breasts hanging down by my elbows makes me look heavier than I really am. When I got fitted earlier this year and went from a 36C to a 34DD, I saw a huge difference.

That said, you may remember that I FORGOT my bra a few weeks ago and went braless all day at work (had a camisole on under my dress). I didn't actually realize what I had done, but I spent all day with the nagging feeling that SOMETHING was wrong and I couldn't figure out what. So apparently I can get away with it on occasion, but I have no interest in trying again!

I don't usually sleep in a bra, but I had to for long periods while nursing my kids, and it was a huge relief when I was able to stop.

=

Bra discussions make me very sad. So many of us are miserable with and without a bra.
I've got a call in to "Sleep Top", and I'll check out the new Spanx "Bra-lelujah.'
I can wear a good shaping bra for 4 hours or so if I'm not sitting the whole time, but sometimes I need to relax and have comfort without flashing other people.
The only people I've noticed braless in public are very old women who seem to have given up on the bra alltogether, and I say go for it, you've earned the right to go braless. The struggle to get them on is probably more than they can take anyway.

Mamapicklejuice, I'm so sorry you're going through that! I have similar issues. When I went in for a bra fitting earlier this week the one or two she said "fit well" felt horrible (32). And the ones that felt relatively comfortable she said were too big. I realize that we can't run around in our pajamas all day but I'm not willing to put up with cutting and binding. So I'm still trying!

Tricia, that's pretty funny! Good thing you wore a camisole that day!