There’s no better feeling than getting home, taking your bra off and flinging it to the other side of the room.
And in recent years, some of us have decided to ditch that lace and underwire for good.
During the days of lockdown, 34% of women said they saw it as an opportunity to go braless, and in 2022, Selfridges reported that sales of non-wired bras were up by 90%.
It’s a trend that shows no sign of slowing. Body positivity movements, coupled with celebs embracing their nips online, and the enduring chic-ness of the naked dress, have seen Gen Z in particular embracing their boobs au natural.
However, if you’re used to wearing a bra, not wearing one can take a bit of getting used to, and after years, even decades, of being told that bras equal support, comfort and a better shape, it begs the question: what happens to your boobs if you do without?
Metro spoke to a surgeon and a bra specialist to get the low down on just what happens to your breasts when you bin off bras.
You might feel the strain
‘Our breasts are made of fat and glandular tissue, which can be quite heavy,’ Dr Jo Wakefield-Scurr, aka The Bra Professor, tells Metro. ‘On average, each breast weighs 750 grams, so it’s quite an additional mass that hangs on your chest.’
Despite their weight, our boobs are only supported by skin and ligaments, and this can be an issue if you consistently don’t wear a bra.
Jo, who researches the biomechanics of the breast, says: ‘Skin is quite stretchy, so the amount of support the skin provides your breasts degradesover time.
‘If we don’t wear a bra, the skin stretches beyond its natural limit and the breast starts to sag, leaving stretch marks on the skin.’
We hear you – stretch marks are normal and nothing to be ashamed of. So who cares, right? Well, if you’re larger chested, this may go beyond aesthetics.
Plastic surgeon Dr Dan Marsh, who works on breast reductions and implants agrees, telling Metro: ‘In extreme cases you can risk nerve damage if you have large breasts, resulting in insensate nipples.
‘The weight of the breasts stretch the nipples so much that the nerves are damaged, meaning you have no feeling there – it’s not common but you do see it.’
What’s more, is it could actually increase your breast size. ‘As your skin stretches, the breasts will get larger,’ he adds. ‘If you’ve got heavy breasts, they’ll get bigger and heavier due to gravity.’
Your skins ability to support your breasts is also impacted by some unexpected factors. Jo says: ‘If you get sunburned on your breasts they won’t be as supported because you reduce the natural support of the skin.
‘Smoking affects this too, as does hydration levels, health and fitness, and age.’
A brief history of the bra and why we don’t have to wear them
The first evidence of bras can be found in Roman mosaics dating back to the fourth century AD, although these were more bandeau bras than what we know today.
But it wasn’t until 1893, that Marie Tucek invented the precursor to the underwire bra when she received a US patent for a version that had separate pockets for each breast.
The bra as we know it is credited to Mary Phelps who at 19 years old in 1910 fashioned a bra from two silk handkerchiefs to go under her gown for a debutante ball – she patented her design in 1914.
The world brassiere also entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1911 and then, from bullet bras to sports bras, the garment continued to evolve to the point where many women feel they now have to wear them.
Sexuality educator and body confidence coach Serena Novelli, founder of Love Thy Body, tells Metro that despite being invented by a woman, today the bra is often a symbol of patriarchal conditioning, that teaches us our bodies should be covered and corrected.
‘While some medical professionals may recommend bras for specific physical needs, the majority of bra wearers aren’t making that choice from a place of informed bodily autonomy.
‘Most wear them because they believe they should, to appear put together, professional, or to avoid judgement,’ she says. ‘Rarely are we asked: What feels good for you?‘
‘For many women, lingerie is not even chosen for themselves but selected, consciously or unconsciously, to appeal to the male gaze. The bra becomes less about comfort or function, and more about conforming to a beauty ideal that doesn’t always honour our natural form.’
She says that going braless isn’t about ditching underwear, it’s about reclaiming your bodily autonomy.
‘It’s about giving yourself permission to feel your body, listen to its cues, and move in a way that prioritises comfort over conformity,’ she adds.
‘Whether your breasts sit high, hang low, move freely or change shape, none of that defines your worth. You do.‘
No bra means skin-on-skin
‘If you don’t wear a bra, the breast tissue hangs and touches your chest, then you’ve got that skin on skin contact,’ Jo says.
‘This can create a micro-climate underneath the breast, at the breast root, and that can lead to skin conditions.’
Dan, co-founder of The Plastic Surgery Group, explains: ‘You can get fungal infections, the most common being candida albicans.’
This will appear under the breast in raised red patches – so keep an eye out for any discolouration.
‘You could get dermatitis,’ Dan adds. ‘Or hidradenitis suppurativa, which is chronic pustules on the skin which can be tricky to treat.’
The NHS says it causes a mixture of boil-like lumps, blackheads, cysts, scarring and channels in the skin that leak pus and can be very painful.
Chaffing cream won’t prevent the issue but can certainly help manage symptoms, and as for all these conditions, wearing even a simple cotton breathable bra could help prevent them.
What makes a good bra?
Bra professor Jo has some simple requirements for your bra, so you don’t need to go to a fitting at every shop.
‘The more stretch, the less support,’ she says. ‘So look for a bra that’s not too stretchy and literally just pull it. If it stretches a lot, it’s probably not going to provide you with good support.
‘You want a bra that separates the left and the right breast. Ones with cups rather than something that looks like a crop top.’
When you’re trying it on you should look for five things:
- The supportive underband: ‘This is the bit that goes all around your body,’ Jo says. ‘It should be firm and you shouldn’t be able to pull it out from your body more than five centimetres. It should also stay level around your body, it shouldn’t ride up at the back.’
- The shoulder straps: You shouldn’t be able to pull these up more than five centimetres.
- The cups: You shouldn’t be spilling out of these but they also shouldn’t be baggy.
- The centre front: This is the bit that separates the two cups in the centre of the bra, if you push it in, it should rest on your sternum.
- The underwire: This shouldn’t be sitting on any breast tissue, so when you push it in you should feel your ribs.
A note from Dr Marsh: ‘Remember that there is not a standard size or fit for bras, so if you’re measured at one shop, it will be different to another.’
Pain from back to front
About 51% of the female UK population experience breast pain, for which Jo says a bra can be an effective solution.
‘That’s whether it’s clinical breast pain (related to tissue damage or inflammation) or pain related to the movement of the breast, a supportive bra can be a solution to this,’ she explains.
Not wearing a bra could mean you’ll suffer with discomfort more than you have to, and the same goes for back pain.
‘Not wearing a bra will 100% exacerbate back pain and neck pain if you already suffer with it – especially if you have larger breasts,’ Dan says.
‘Each breast can sometimes weigh up to a kilo or two kilos if they’re bigger, and it’s not functional for your back to have that weight hanging down your front.’
If we’re being vain
As a plastic surgeon, Dan also points out the aesthetic implications of not wearing a bra for prolonged periods of time.
‘Going braless will mean you lose fullness at the top because everything stretches down.
‘If you have implants and don’t support them with a bra, they’ll hang lower.’
If that’s something that’s important to you, go ahead and note it. But remember, there’s nothing wrong with going braless if you’re comfy and confident – nothing is sexier than a woman who feels good.
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