Tuesday Thoughts About..

...wearing a bra. Okay, for any guys who might be reading my blog, you might want to skip this post! It might get to be a little TMI for you. 

Bras. I'm not quite sure why they were ever invented unless it's just to keep "the girls" perky. But oh, the torture. There's nothing like taking your bra off at the end of the day is there? Ahhhh! Am I right? Are you with me on that ladies? So why do we put them on to begin with? Surely it's because of all the "bunk" we've been told about going braless--"breasts need support, going braless causes sagging, and  jiggling is unattractive" --I'm pretty sure there are plenty of guys who would argue that! Think "Bay Watch and Charlie's Angels"--the jiggliest shows ever to be on tv. And boy, were they popular! (See what I did there---boy!).

I've alaready discussed this issue with my girlfriends. Our scrapbook weekends are pretty much totally braless. They all pretty much agree that going braless is the ultimate in comfort. On the other hand, I have a friend, who shall remain nameless (okay a little hint--she's my "bestie") who NEVER goes braless. She dons that sucker before her feet hit the floor in the morning! As for me, I have to actually be leaving the house! Otherwise, I prefer to just hang loose! Hang in, this is going somewhere.

Well, I read an article about a 15 year study that debunks most of what we've been taught. Going braless is not all that bad for you. In fact, wearing a bra all the time leads to sweating which can cause skin rashes and irritation. It cuts off circulation around your rib cage  and mid-section. The study found that going braless actually can cause less sagging. Yeah, that's right! When you wear a bra all the time, it supports the breast causing the breast tissue to weaken and droop. The fact is that if you "lose" the bra, your breasts will perk up once again as the muscles strengthen--with or without any additional exercise. 

This quote is directly from the article:

"If you want to keep your boobs rounder and perkier for the time being, it might be in your best interest to keep your bra in the drawer."

Sadly, I think that ship has sailed for me as the article goes on to say that you cannot control what you cannot control. Age and gravity--there's not much you can do about that! I fall in to this camp.

On the flip side, there's something to be said about people with really large breasts. Bras can help with back problems due to heavy boobs and their posture. That's not really a problem for me.

So the bottom line here is, you have permission to go braless if you want to! Even though I'll stick with my personal philosophy that bras are necessary  when I leave the house, I feel better knowing that it's okay going braless. 

I think the 70's had it right!! Remember the rule: you could go braless if you  put a pencil under your breast and it fell out? Yeah, that was me. So, yeah, I think the 70's got it right. The bra question might be the only thing 70's fashion got right!