When I was younger and (sigh) firmer, I rarely wore bras. However 2 kids=bra. I think it all depends on your comfort level, physically and mentally.

I would wear one even if I was not an E cup. I wear them for a few reasons:

a) it helps balance my figure by lifting the girls and emphasizing my narrowness under the bust. Gravity has not been unkind to my boobs, even though I'm almost 50, but with my short waist, a little lift helps elongate my torso and clothes fit better.

b) I need the support -- I'm active, and my boobs are big. I hate the jiggly feeling, even walking around the house.

c) modesty -- I tend to get high-beams and feel self-conscious about it, so t-shirt bras are my preferred.

I believe everyone should wear or not wear one as they see fit, but I also believe that most women look better with one than without.

i wore one in high school, even thought it drove my mother crazy trying to find small enough sizes. i stopped around my Jr year in college, just didn't see the point. i started again around the time i turned 32 or so, mostly because i was now working with more men than women and the company was very conservative. now i have to say, i generally like the way they make my clothes look.

Breasts actually do have "ligaments" --Coopers ligaments that act with the fatty and fibrous breast tissue to maintain their shape. I remember med school students referring to them as "cooper's droopers" as gravity effects them as it does the connective tissue in our necks and elsewhere... I prefer bras, have always been in between needing and not needing the support (and when I was young enjoyed the freedom to wear fashions that prevented bra wearing), but I think, as with most things, appropriate and aesthetically pleasing is in the eye of the beholder and wouldn't think to begrudge those who prefer to go without.

Kat - you are right, I wasn't precise. However, as you say, the ligaments don't learn how to stay perky if you stay braless, so it's kindof moot.

I don't have very large breasts and have gone bra-less much of my life and still do. I remember a Phil Donahue episode when I was around 16, he had Vegas show girls on and they said there was a "no bounce" rule. They worked hard at maintaining underlying muscles to hold their breast firm. It really made an impression on me and I found if I held the muscles my breast didn't bounce even while running.
My breast still don't sag but like I said they aren't very large and I never had babies.

You ladies are making Friday HILARIOUS with high beams, nipple cripples, long term investment tits, coopers droopers and keeping the money in the bank!

Even if society was like "eeeh, nevermind the bra thing", I'd be the one person hoarding relics. I'm all in!

IK - I can always count on you to start the most interesting threads!

I'm a bra gal...and actually it's got a lot to do with the fact that I'm very high waisted. If the girls aren't lifted up to where they used to be, I look like I don't have a waist at all.

Comfort, shaping, lift, and modesty. All four, all really important to me.

Delicate ladies who like to go without - here is a cautionary tale for you. My mother was always flat-chested. (She and I are built nothing alike.) I'm sure she could have gone braless without anyone knowing.

Now she's in her 70s and because she refuses to treat the aftermath of a bout of shingles, she has a form of nerve pain that makes it uncomfortable to have anything fastened around her back, so she will not put on a bra.

All I will say is that no one wishes her to be in pain, but everyone wishes she would find a bra she can wear.

Okay, so I knew I had seen this recently so I have to share:

"A scientist conducted 15 years of research on the effect that wearing a bra has on sagging breasts, and the findings are sort of mortifying. He studied 130 women, all with different sized busts, to come up with his theory that wearing a bra actually can stop breast tissue from growing."

Read more: http://www.gurl.com/2013/04/12.....z2xwkKEUjK

I imagine diet, exercise and general type of skin also have a fair amount to do with it as well.

I wear a bra because it's a public service I gratefully perform daily. (it's all fun and games until someone puts an eye out :-D!)

I always wear one except when sleeping. 34A and not very full - they just look like sad half filled ballooons without a little assistance. Having a child did not make them bigger. I will wear those GAP bralettes on very hot summer days so as not to get super sweaty, but they don't make my shape look all that great.

Lol Day Vies. Yeah for me, it's partly appearance, the proportions just work better, and modesty/comfort because of nipples.

They distract me in a not-fun way if I can feel my shirt move against them, and they distract me when I see them on other people, men or women.

I'm into all kinds of bodies for their artistic merit and I have sometimes found myself accidentally gazing at someone's chest thinking completely figurative sculpture related thoughts, but how are they supposed to know why I'm creepily (and all unawares until I catch myself) staring. :D.

This thread has turned hilarious! And I'm in the clear minority. I will say that I don't have a headlight tendency & I only go braless in tops that don't cling. My very pro-bra mother and sister haven't complained about their eyes being assaulted, so I think I'm good. hehe

I actually would love to try sewing a bra one day so that I could use a breathable, soft fabric and make it to my own proportions. I've just never tried one on, even fancy/expensive ones, that felt more comfortable than nothing.

@Day Vies -- I'm choking on my tea with laughter.

I really think it is all genetics. I have few wrinkles for my age of 60 and neither does my mom for 81. The skin just has not sagged as much. It think the same goes for the skin on breasts. Of coarse size does play a roll in the downward pull. Not much there not much pull.

I need to do some internet research and read more about these studies. I know there was one bra study done a while back that almost said "Bras cause breast cancer," but the study didn't take into account family history or a few other risk factors. Yes, I'm sometimes that person.

As a 32 B, I could go bra less and frequently do in the privacy of my own apartment. I've done the no bra thing with a maxi dress I use to have, but I just don't feel comfortable going out in public without my girls covered. Maybe part of it is society, but it's also a privacy thing. I don't want everyone being able to see everything, or the perfect silhouette of everything. In all honesty, I also have this issue with swimsuits.

Once I broke a C cup in high school I could never go without. Now I'm a DD/E and I wear underwire seamed bras during the day, and a bralette at night. I can't stand the feel of them dropping or pulling, so I'm more comfortable with at least a small amount of support!

Fun reading. I am on team "foundation garment". I just prefer how my clothes look and fit.

Team fettered. Fettered 24/7. 32h. I sought out a reduction 5 years ago and was told "Are you sure? People pay good money for these things." by the gross Doc. Only in LA kids.

I may seek out a woman surgeon......

I'm with Janeva, I wore a C in grade 10 to my mortification and now at a DDD, I never, ever go without, except to sleep. And some daysof the month, I sleep in one too. If you ever stay over at my house, I wear one in my pjs to avoid embarrassing me and you

Two children. Breastfeeding. I hate to think of what else besides a pencil they would hang onto.

In all seriousness (as opposed to my earlier comment) -- I prefer wearing a bra because like so many have already mentioned tummy and breasts merge because I have such a short waist and I look even more apple-like without separation. So figure-flattery is a reason. Hygiene is another -- I am prone to chaffing and skin infections without the aid of a bra to provide some separation. Comfort - it's harder to do everyday things with unharnessed girls (running downstairs is a perfect example). I don't sleep in a bra -- they don't make comfy sleep bras in my size though a sleep bra is definitely something I would wear were such a thing available to me.

BTW -- wearing a bra hasn't stopped my girls from continuing to increase in size from age 18 until now. Trust me I was quite happy as a C cup.

at 54, the girls require a bit of architecture to remain in their preferred location. They're not too big, not too small (34-36D), but 2 breast fed grownup girls and a 40 pound weight loss took their toll!! - around the house I'm perfectly happy in a cami with a shelf bra (which I also wear to bed) but I don't feel like my proportions look right or my clothes fit well without a little lift. I have a really long rise with a short waist and a long upper chest - so some lift really helps even things out a bit!!

I'm a D/DD so definitely need a bra, but even when I was an AA it was still uncomfortable for me to not wear a bra. I actually find it kinda painful when they jiggle so definitely team bra!! I do however occassionally go braless even now if I'm wearing a dress that requires it.

I absolutely NEED to wear a bra because the jiggles HURT!!!! Owwwwww....

Busting out at a 38G (no pardon to the pun!), I, like Day Vies, consider it my contribution to society to ensure the girls are locked and loaded each day in a sufficiently supportive bra.

I wear a bra for all of the aforementioned reasons - comfort, support, hygiene, etc - but most importantly I wear a bra because of my job; I'm a high school administrator. There's no way a woman with a 38G bust should be walking around bra-less in a building filled with hundreds of teenage boys. Can you imagine the phone calls to the Board office? I'm good, thanks! And more than happy to sit on Team Bra.

IK, yes, after I wrote my post, I thought that "ligaments" must not have been the right word. I did a quick Google search, and here is a short synopsis of the study I mentioned, by HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....62114.html. HuffPo says that it's the muscle that develops in order to support the breast. So maybe it is ligaments, but it's in the muscle and not the breast. I will say that I enjoyed Rae's comment about the National Geo ladies. :^)

I guess that since I am quite small, I view a bra as an accessory. Will wearing a bra make a difference in outfit X? So it's optional for me, depending on what I want my clothes to look like from the outside. Or if I want some lace in my outfit, I can just wear a bralette, even though no one will see it. So it's more for me as opposed to for the public.

One of the reasons I started going without a bra occasionally has to do with body image. One of the earlier commenters talked about body shaming. I had a lot of body shaming as a child. I think that quite honestly, many small-busted women who choose to wear a bra but don't really need one feel ashamed (due to the culture) of their body, because we aren't supposed to be able to see a woman's nipples, etc. Well...women have nipples, and that's normal. :^) It's not our bodies that are bad; it's that the culture says it's bad. I notice that if a woman wears a very low-cut, tight top with a push-up bra in order to show cleavage, that's considered OK because it's "sexy." But if that same woman goes without a bra in a slightly clingy top (not body-con, just slightly clingy) such that you can see the shape of her breasts and, heaven forbid, her nipples, that is considered disgusting—even if everything is covered up and no cleavage is exposed. How is it that the normal state of the woman is disgusting, while the push-up-bra-plus-cleavage is considered OK? It's like it's not OK for us to have regular bodies, but a sexualized body is OK.

I'm not trying to get on a soapbox or anything! These are just things that I've noticed while I've been thinking about body image. Sorry if I've offended anyone! :^)

Gigi, I second what you say. Old men have saggy chests too, and they aren't shamed to into hiding. Or into wearing bras i think that if people are offended by the natural shape of a woman, it's their problem, not the woman's.

I broke into a C cup when I was 14. I've been wearing an underwire since day 1. They're now an E….

I don't wear one to bed, but I'm not aerodynamic enough to go without. Bra all the time here.