Breaststories

One of my daughters was trying to find some bathers for summer recently. Being fairly well endowed she was finding it hard to find something that she liked (unusual for a woman I know!!) During our conversation about it she said "I don't like being a booby girl."

What she meant was that she didn't like showing a lot of cleavage. Now if you have hiddenfeet, you will know that's a hard ask in swimwear.

Good on her anyway I say. Be what you want to be!

That makes me wonder though about girls and women who do like to show off their assets. It's summer in Melbourne at the moment and there are lots of boobs to be seen. As a man, I would like to know what a woman thinks when she wears something that show off her boobs.

I'm not for one moment suggesting I think this is an invitation to stare. Sure I think women sometimes wear clothes to look sexy. I do too (although at nearly 60 and 20kg overweight it is not an easy task.) I see these sexy young things and think I would love to look like that.

Google "why do women wear low cut tops" and you will get lots of hits about men complaining that if women want to wear low cut tops we should be able to look as much as we like. I don't think that.

I suspect, like most things women wear low cut tops for lots of different reasons. Sometimes its just because it's a hot day and that's one way of keeping cool. Sometimes, its just to be casual. Sometimes it's to look pretty (no my breastless friends, not sexy - pretty) and yes breasts are pretty.

And of course women, like men, like to be fashionable. So if low cut is in they want to wear low cut.

So when I wonder what women think I am not suggesting women owe me an explanation. If that's what they want to wear then they have every right to wear it. In one sense we can reverse the question and ask "why would a women NOT wear a low cut top?" What is so shocking about breasts that revealing a glimpse of them is so bad.

So finally, my question (like everything on Breaststories) is about understanding. I just want to know what you think? How do you feel? What it's like.

Courtesy of Elisabeth Dale aka "the boob lady."

Summer is such a great time of year breast watching.

It's not just about breasts either. It's just the summer clothes you wear. They're just so pretty. I've made a conscious effort this year to observe your summer clothes in all their styles. 

I've already written about halter tops and halter dresses. My daughters have been helping me with the names for things.

Maxi dresses - lovely. And I mean lovely not sexy (although they can be sexy.) Maxi dresses exude freedom and the carefree nature of summer.

Bare shoulders - how did I forget how beautiful your shoulders are?

Summer tops - again lots of beautiful bare shoulders.

Boob Tube - This fashion item has been back with a vengeance this year. Bare shoulders that emphasise boobs. What could be better?

See through tops - What better than just a hint of transparency with no bra underneath (or, if you must, even with a bra underneath)?

Braless - What other way is there to go on a hot day?

Well that's just a few of my thoughts about summer breasts.

Note: It has been surprisingly hard to find appropriate images for this post. Lots of the online clothing stores have photos of just the item with no model wearing it. How boring can you get? I don't mean boring from a man's perspective. I mean just plain boring. How would I have any idea what that would look like on?

Anyway, it has made me more determined to complete my summer fashion photo essay*. I am looking forward to posting a link to it soon.

* If you were looking for breasts in this link you didn't find them did you? No the link is about the concept of  photo essay! Not about breasts.

I'm not sure if I've been going around with my head in the sand for the last several years or if this just this year's fashion but I have really been noticing a resurgence of halter tops and (particularly) halter dresses this summer.

I'd forgotten how much I like them. Most of the ones I've noticed have plunging necklines (gee, I wonder why I'd notice that?) but strangely, because of the shape of the dress, in a way that's not particularly revealing.

What I find really nice is how this style emphasises the shape of breasts in what I like to call a nice way. Mostly worn without a bra halters almost act as a very soft bra revealing a very natural shape.

And of course, without a bra and from behind and to the side they often reveal parts of your breasts we don't often get to see.

All I can say is 'nice' and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

If you think huge boobs are fantastic, spare a thought for the people who have to carry them around and never get the chance to put them down.

Here's a great article about what it's like to develop big breasts.

Thanks to HiddenFeet for pointing it out.

Also check out this article about Virginal Breast Hypotrophy (VBH).

According to this article in this morning's Herald Sun, "Australian women risk permanent damage to breasts by working out in the wrong type of bra"

Very scary headline. But who carried out the research - bra maker, Berlei (albeit in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Sport.) Not being a bra wearer myself, I can't talk from first hand experience about what it feels like to exercise without a well supporting piece of equipment. However, I do congratulate Berlei for working with the AIS on this issue.

I would like to see the research this article is based on but I suspect the Herald Sun has hyped up a very small piece of it to make a good headline.

What sort of "permanent damage" are they talking about? They don't say. Have they studied the long term effects on women of undertaking vigorous sport with and without a bra? Or are they simply assuming that because breasts bounce more with one bra than another that this bounce will cause long term damage?

I'll leave that to you to decide.

ps: if you want to rasie your blood pressure read some of the male responses to the article.

You are amazing. I find you stunning as you walk past and sit at the table next to me. You remind me how much I hope I have learnt to notice without staring. Your firmly fitting t-shirt reveals no sign of a bra but your nicely sized boobs don't bounce and your nipples are only very slightly prominent.

Then of course there are those strapless summer dresses with elasticised tops. Just underneath there are two beautiful boobs just waiting to be completely free.

Why on earth any of this should matter is beyond my understanding. What difference does it really make if you have one or two layers on?

Why don't bikinis or one-pieces have the same effect?

I know it matters slightly less to me now than it did when I was a teenager, but it still matters. It can still count as my thrill for the day.

Many women (certainly a small minority in the western world but nevertheless 'many' in absolute numbers) regard bras as detrimental to womens' health. Germaine Greer has stated that bras are a ludicrous invention. The there is the whole bra freedom movement and women who blog about going braless.

On the other hand, I'm not alone. Google braless and you will find a whole number of articles by men and our fascination with bras and otherwise.

Here are a couple I found:

The New Statesman

The Guardian - I'm a huge fan of breasts

This thread in Melbourne's Age newspaper generated 23 pages of replies in less than 24 hours.

Hardly worth adding a reply after 23 pages - who is going to read it.

However, it does raise an issue I have noticed a lot lately - women and girls walking around the streets wearing nothing but a bikini. The weather has been warming up a lot in Melbourne recently so just after school time a lot of the kids head down the beach.

I just don't get walking 2km from home to beach in just a bikini. I have nothing against bikinis. I think the look lovely. But can't they throw a sun dress over them? I think it would look gross for a guy to be walking the streets wearing nothing but his speedos so this is not a sexist thing.

Last year I was enjoying a coffee at my local cafe on a warm weekday morning. This cafe happens to be just 50m from the beach. A rather attractive, well-endowed woman came in for a take away coffee with just a wrap around her waist and a brief bikini top. It would have looked great on the beach but I thought it was out of place inside the cafe.

Now if you've looked at any of the articles on this site you will now I like breasts. I like breast weather (like we are having at the moment) and I like it when all my breasted friends come out wearing their summer tops. I have nothing agains a t-shirt or top with lots of cleavage if that's what you like wearing. In my opinion it's quite nice.

But just a bikini top over a couple of DDs inside a cafe? Not my cup of tea at all.