Open letter to bras after ditching them for a week
My open letter to bras
Dear Underwired Bras,
We’ve stuck together for a long time now. I first met you in year five when I used to get changed for PE in the toilets to avoid comments for needing bras early. Now, ten years later, I’ve just about had it with you.
You drain my bank account, you’re uncomfortable, you can never just be one size in every shop, and unless I go to plus size bra shops the nicest of you never come in my size. I don’t even know what my size is anymore because measuring is so complicated and it changes so often. You don’t grow and shrink with my body and you get ruined and worn out quickly.
These are all problems most women are familiar with, but today I was told that apparently you might also increase my risk of breast cancer (update: I don’t want to scare anyone, so this is a health myth since debunked). This not only shocked me but also made me re-evaluate whether you’re really worth the trouble.
Sorry bras, but I don’t see what’s wrong with letting my body stay natural. Eve didn’t wear a bra in the Garden of Eden, and I don’t think I really need to be wearing one now. What purpose do you really have? You restrict growth and blood flow (and my ability to breathe if you’re one of the tighter ones.) You stop my body from ageing naturally and gracefully and instead make me paranoid that my voluptuous body is going to be a problem when it starts to sag. I’ll admit that you make running downstairs easier, but that’s nothing that your much more comfortable cousins – sports bras – couldn’t handle.
I think we need to go on a break. You don’t seem to do anything that a cloth wrapped around my body couldn’t achieve, except maybe make my boobs look more attractive, but unless it’s for someone who’s going to end up taking you off anyway it doesn’t matter.
So that’s it. Let’s give it a week and see how we feel. We’ve had some good times, I know, but in reality you’re just holding me back. I can’t really liberate myself without liberating my boobs too. I might come crawling back to you after a week because I miss your support, but I need to try life without you.
All the best
Justine xxx
My open letter to bras (after ditching them for one week)
Dear Underwired Bras,
I tried to ditch you for a week but it turns out going without you is more complicated than it sounds. That’s mainly because I don’t have enough alternatives yet. The time I did spend without you was actually quite enjoyable. There were no straps digging into my shoulders or red marks around my ribs where you’d been too tight (and yet somehow still not tight enough). It was fun and I felt liberated.
Our week apart ended up only lasting about four days… and I even cheated on the third day by wearing a non-underwired bra! Although I’m not going to count it as cheating exactly, as it’s only the underwired kind I’m fed up with. It’s easy to go without bras in the house but not so easy when I actually have to go out.
When I wasn’t using you but wanted a bit of support, I replaced you with a bandeau. It didn’t hold anything up but rather held it down, which was still just as useful when all I wanted was to run down the stairs comfortably. My days without you were much more comfortable than days with you have ever been and I’m going to stock up on bandeaus and sports bras and make sure there are more of them, but they’re not always convenient.
So I guess we’re not breaking up, but we’ll definitely be seeing less of each other from now on. Things won’t be the same for us until you change your ways.
Justine xxx
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Main photo: LOL Damn