You can’t have missed that nipples are ‘in’. By which I mean, of course, that they are out. Just look at the bounty of braless boobs we’ve seen in recent months – at fashion shows (and I mean in the audience – nipples on the runway are notable to nobody), on red carpets, at glitzy parties (and now that the holiday season is coming, I’ll venture more and more real life dos will also start – not just end – with t*ts out).
There’s Dua Lipa in her mesh Versace at the Barbie premiere last year. Here’s Emily in Paris star Camille Razat at the SS24 Givenchy show in a sheer lilac dress, and Kelly Rowland at Christopher Esber. Emma Mackey, Taylor Russell, unofficial freed-nipple spokesperson Florence Pugh; they too have gone bra-free.
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And concrete proof of the mainstream desirability (read: marketability) of visible nipples, came with the release of Kim Kardashian’s latest Skims innovation: the Ultimate Nipple Bra last October. Designed with ‘a built-in raised nipple detail for a perky, braless look that makes a bold statement’ – as per the Skims on-site product descriptions – according to Kim’s own promo video ‘no matter how hot it is, you’ll always look cold’. ‘Some days are hard, but these nipples are harder,’ she quips, a line that sounds very Samantha Jones – fitting, since the faux-nips call to mind the silicon ones Manhattan’s horniest PR wore in Sex and the City season four. The slap-and-tickle not-so-subtle subtext is not that you are cold, but that you are turned on. Go on admit that would add a bit of 'ooh-la-la' to your Tuesday morning/Waitrose shop/grey sweats.
Still, for naysayers, this is just another attention-seeking Kardashian move. A bra that makes you look like *checks notes* you’re not wearing a bra? Well, sure, when you put it like that it sounds ridiculous. But Skims isn’t valued at $4 billion for being ridiculous. And the £58 bras haven’t sold out in every size and colour for a LOL moment, even if they were released on Halloween.
during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in April 2024, Kim revealed the bra was molded after her own breasts. 'Khloe [Kardashian] was wearing it, and Scott [Disick] made a comment, like, "This is a little inappropriate." And then, she was like, "They're not mine, they're Kim's."'
But there has been a robust defence launched for the bra, heralded as potentially game-changing for breast-cancer survivors and trans women, since not all breast reconstruction or augmentation includes the appearance of a nipple. Go on, I dare you to tell them that the bra is ridiculous. 'Honestly, I wasn't expecting all of the amazing feedback that we got from a lot of breast cancer survivors,' Kim told Jimmy Kimell, adding that there are already plans in place to release a second line of nipple bras. 'I showed up to a meeting once and I was so insecure that I was covering my hair to not show them,' she explained of the original design, 'so I think we're going to make one with a half nip. Like, not as hard.'
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Skims Ultimate Bra
Skims Ultimate Bra
And then there are those of us who simply like the naked or stiff nip look – who were raised on Jennifer Aniston in Friends and Kate Moss – but who also feel obliged to abide by the laws of gravity/dress codes/comfort. To go bra free might be a choice for us, but it’s never seriously an option.
A ‘great pair of t*ts’ is obviously, entirely subjective. But, it can often feel like all the talk about freeing the nipple comes from lithe women with the ‘right’ type of boobs for baring, by which I mean: perky, symmetrical, buoyant. Even without the prospect of publicly baring them, so many of us feel like we don’t have the ‘right’ boobs. Too big! Too small! Wonky! Weird! Whatever! I know women who have had theirs made bigger, and smaller, and whose cup sizes fluctuate wildly with pregnancy and weight changes and menstrual cycles, all of those changes noticeable to them more than anyone. For something so highly visible – literally, hello, on your chest – they are also highly personal.
As is all too common for women, I vacillate between being pretty body confident and wanting to hide under my bed (hey, I’m lucky I do get the confident bit!) And I like 'naked dressing'. I feel good in something that looks a bit MIA. But, and this a big but, I really do feel I need a bra – which poses a challenge for that kind of lo-fi, threw-this-white-tank-on, a little bit French way of dressing. After selling out, the Skims Nipple Bra is back in stock, but I have my own little hack for those of you who aren’t interested in or willing or able to emancipate your areolas quite yet: the intentional, unapologetic visible bra.
From support role to main character; it’s all about attitude. The how rather than the what. The easiest way to do the deliberate bra? With a shirt unbuttoned a bit too low, or with a perilously plunging neckline. No faffing around with t*t tape or hooks or strapless bras. Straps are made for showing off, lace is made for peeking out.
Too tame? Go sheer. Too much? Go semi-sheer. I have spent most of my shopping life seeking out white T-shirts fine enough to give a wink-wink of a black bra beneath. It is my favourite not-trying-still-sexy move.
In fact, my only no-go bra rule is the ones that are pretending not to be there, the ones in ghastly artificial ‘flesh’ colours or with those awful transparent straps. You are kidding no one. I’ll make an exception for one no-bra bra – but I’m currently on the waiting list for that.
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