Going Braless: Benefits and Drawbacks

Some of us have heard that going braless is healthier than wearing a bra. Others are convinced that bras are essential – and a few even wear a bra to bed. What’s the truth?

There are numerous myths relating to the wear or non-wear of a bra. We all know how much better we generally look wearing one, but also how good it feels to take almost any bra off at the end of a long day...

Myth: Bras Can Cause Cancer

Fact: While some of these claims may seem to have some possible merit, to date there is no scientific evidence to support that bras in any way contribute to the development of breast cancer. There is no proof that bras are in any way good for us, but there is similarly no proof that wearing a bra is bad for our health and wellbeing either.

Myth:            Bras Prevent Sagging      

Fact: Bras only prevent sagging while they are actually on. They give a much nicer and uplifted shape, and support, but as soon as the bra is off, the breast sits where it would whether the bra was ever worn or not. A French university study actually suggests that, over time, wearing a bra may actually cause breast sag. When no bra is ever worn, muscle tissue development in the chest wall may actually be enhanced – equating to natural support resulting in more natural breast life and higher positioning of the nipple. But be warned – discarding one’s bra, unless very young, will not lead to better natural support for women who have been wearing bras for decades...

Myth: One Should Sleep in a Bra

Fact: Some believe that wearing a bra to bed will keep breasts pert and perky. There is no evidence to suggest that this is the case. If anything, sleeping in a bra can be uncomfortable. It won’t hurt your health – but it won’t help, either.

Myth: Bras Make Our Breasts Look Normal.

Fact: Here’s the thing: “normal” is a misnomer. We assume “normal” is what we get when we wear a bra because we almost all wear bras. And while it is aesthetically pleasing, nobody can deny, what we consider to be “normal” is actually not. “Normal” breasts are asymmetrical. One is usually smaller than the other. One usually sits higher than the other. In some women, this is a subtle difference – in others, the difference is obvious and marked. Some women have large and prominent nipples. Up to ten percent of women have flat or even inverted nipples – and this, if lifelong, is quite normal. Some women have natural breasts; others have had enhancement or reduction surgery. Some women have had lumpectomy or mastectomy surgery. A normal breast is as individual as each of us is.

Queen Victoria’s Undies

In October 2014, royal bloomers belonging to Queen Victoria were auctioned in Ashford, UK. Along with her silk stockings and a chemise, they sold for a combined price of almost eight thousand British Pounds.

Queen Victoria ruled Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 (at just age eighteen) until 1901, and she was also Empress of India between 1876 and 1901. She remains the longest serving monarch in British history.

Dating from 1890, later in the queen’s life, the underwear was enormous and majestic in its proportions. The silk, split crotch drawers (as was the fashion of the time) had a waist measurement of fifty two inches (130cm) and the chemise accommodated a bust size of sixty six inches (165cm).  Considering the queen was only a very diminutive five feet tall, she was certainly rotund!

The bloomers bore the embroidered royal emblem monogram of Victoria Regina. The chemise and bloomers are the equivalent of today’s size thirty six – astounding proportions. The chemise has delicate buttons and frilled lace on the border

When Queen Victoria died, she had willed much of her clothing and undergarment collection to her servants who had loyally seen to her needs throughout her reign. Many items were distributed amongst her household. The bloomers had been in the possession of a family in Kent since at least the1920’s.

The buyer who won the bidding war for these garments is unknown but believed to be a memorabilia collector from Israel.

Another item of underwear belonging to Victoria and still in existence is her petticoat – again, dating from the 1890’s. It is of cream wool and exquisitely embroidered along the hem in beige silk, with thistles, shamrocks, roses, crowns, and her VR monogram. These symbolised Scotland, Ireland, and England, over which she ruled.

The auction was held in aid of a Guide Dog charity. Considering the fact that Queen Victoria was a lover of animals and had many dogs as companions, we believe that one may well have been amused at the sale of one’s bloomers for such a good profit!

Should You Go Commando?

We ladies all love our underwear. But some women love going commando – and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Aside from missing out on wearing beautiful and sexy underwear, are there any cons to occasionally (or frequently) going commando? Are there any pros?

Aside from common decency (if wearing a short dress or short shorts) and modesty, why should we wear undies?

·        Underwear protects us from infections

·        Underwear protects us from parasites – for example, pubic lice and other nasties can live on towels and linen, and can be picked up very easily by sitting on these sans underwear

·        Underwear protects us from irritation, due to seams, studs and zippers in clothing

·        Underwear protects our outer clothing from natural bodily secretions and sweat, keeping odours and stains to a minimum

There are, however, some good reasons to go commando at least some of the time – like at night when sleeping, or when at home, or when wearing a maxi dress or skirt. 

Here’s why:

·        No underwear = no visible panty line. Of course a g-string eliminates this too, yet g-strings are not healthy to wear every day. Yeast infections and other regional issues are exacerbated by wearing a g-string, leading to potential urinary tract infections.

·        Underwear in summer traps heat and moisture. This can cause itching and, again, yeast infection – going commando allows for better air circulation in the region. This is imperative for optimal health.

·        Whisper to your guy that you’re sans underwear and he’s sure to look at you in a whole new and exciting light!

Our tips?

·        Whatever underwear you choose to wear, make sure the gusset is made of cotton

·        Change your underwear at least once a day, and shower or bathe at least once a day

·        Don’t use harsh bath products or feminine perfume products on your genitalia

·        Don’t wear g-strings every day and don’t wear them to sleep in at night

·        Avoid synthetics and polyesters in underwear on the hottest, most humid days. Cotton is your best friend.

·        Always wear underwear while menstruating

·        Make sure your underwear fits comfortably and is not too tight

·        Always wear underwear underneath jeans, capris, or other trouser-style clothing which has seams that can irritate the delicate genital area.

·        Even if it’s just at home in the evening, go commando from time to time. Especially if you suffer from yeast infections, irritation, or cystitis.

·        If you do choose to go commando – NOBODY NEEDS TO KNOW!!!

·        Buy underwear that you love – and you will love to wear. Whether you’re a girl who loves a lacy cheeky pair or cotton full coverage, you will rock it if you love it.

A Fetish for Stealing Undies

Just a couple of months ago, an hilarious news story was reported in which a Chinese man, having stolen and stashed hundreds of pieces of women’s lingerie, was exposed when a ceiling collapsed under the weight of his hidden stash.

Located in the southeast Chinese city of Yulin, the man, aged in his thirties, who later admitted to psychiatric issues and a lifelong obsession with women’s lingerie, had been stealing and hiding the underwear in a ceiling above an emergency exit in his building. After the ceiling collapse, police found more than two thousand items, including bras and panties hidden in the roof.

The underwear had, seemingly, been stolen from other residents in the offender’s housing complex – they had been complaining of missing and vanishing underwear for some time. The offender had accessed a master key and entered the other residents’ apartments during their absence with the sole aim of stealing and hoarding their underwear.

He stored his stolen items in his own ceiling, until he ran out of room there; at this point he accessed the ceiling cavities in communal fire escapes.

This is not the only underwear burglar to make his way to infamy in the news recently. A Singaporean man who had been stealing lingerie from women’s indoor washing lines was caught in the act – and was publicly shamed into wearing one of the stolen bras as he was paraded around the block.

Why do men steal women’s underwear?

·        Some men want a kinky keepsake of their sexual encounters with a specific woman.

·        Some men get off on the risk of pinching something intimate.

·        Some men get off on the thrill of stealing – full stop – and getting away with it.

·        Some men have a fetish for worn underwear. There is even an industry for selling and buying worn (and unwashed) panties. Japan even sells used panties in vending machines, alongside tobacco products and beer, so extreme is this fetish in that country.

·        What causes a man to have an underwear fetish? A Japanese study used MRI scanning technology to look at the brains of men with self-confessed panty fetishes, and found that decreased blood flow to the temporal and occipital lobes of the brain was a factor in all subjects.  Whether this is a cause or just a correlation is unknown. Like all fetishes, it begins in early life and is usually triggered by an event.

The Annual No Pants Subway Ride

January 11^th, 2015, was the day of the annual No Pants Subway Ride. This novel event, started for the first time in 2002 with just seven participants in New York City, has grown to incorporate more than sixty cities worldwide.

The premise of the event is that transit passengers ride trains without wearing anything but undies on their lower halves. The top half must be as if they were going about their normal day. No acknowledgement of pantslessness is to be made.

Growing over four years from seven riders to one hundred and fifty in New York City in 2006, but 2013 sixty cities had people coordinating the event.

The event was the brainchild of Improv Everywhere, which is a New York prank collective, whose motto is “We Cause Scenes”.  Their aim is to create joyful chaos in public places. The fact that many participating cities are shivering through winter does not dampen enthusiasm!

This year, tens of thousands of people participated worldwide – with four thousand in New York City alone. The oldest registered participant was eighty four years young, and the youngest was just seven months old. Other cities which participated include Chicago, Tokyo, Bangalore, Madrid, Copenhagen, London, Jerusalem, Hamburg, and even a pantsless ride on a ski gondola in Fukushima, Japan.

Even Australians jumped on this bandwagon (and let’s face it, our climate is much more conducive at this time of year!) Trains and trams from Bondi to Adelaide had pantsless riders.

The founder of the event, Charlie Todd, has stated that the event is now an “international celebration of silliness”.

Missed The No Pants Subway Ride for 2015? Don’t despair. World No Pants Day is still to come – held in numerous nations of the world on the first Friday in May. This previously informal, college event became official in 2000, and has been embraced in colleges and universities in the US, Canada, Sweden, Finland, the UK and Australia.

Best get some nice undies!

Japan’s “Boob Goddess”

We all love our beautiful bras, and as such we should all want to look after what goes into our bras. We all know this involves wearing well-fitted, supportive bras and regularly checking the breasts for anything abnormal. But what about breast massage?

A novel invention has recently come out of Japan (where else?). Invented by Japanese midwife and founder of the Wellness Life Institute, Takiko Shindo, aka the “Boob Goddess”, this is a modified “rake” which is claimed to firm a woman’s breasts – and to even make them bigger by up to three centimetres.

Called the Oppai Taisou Hand (which translates as “Boob exercise massage”), it is a pink hand-shaped plastic rake which is used to stroke and brush the breasts. Modelled on Shindo’s own hand, it looks a little like a blunt back scratcher. Shindo claims breast massage to be not only effective for enhancement of breast size and shape, but also to improve shoulder stiffness, menstrual cramping, menopausal symptoms, and overall breast health.

There are claims that there is “science” behind this strange invention. According to Shindo, the breast’s supporting ligaments need to move so that the naturally occurring breast fats don’t settle amongst the chest wall musculature, hence causing the breasts to sag.

Modern medicine and cosmetic surgeons tend to disagree with this theory. The fact is that ligaments do stretch over time – but unlike muscles, they never bounce back. Once they are stretched, they are stretched forever.

It’s not all bad news for this invention, though. Using the “rake” to massage and lift the opposite breast, the pectoral muscles are being massaged and exercised. These muscles lie under the breast tissues, and with exercise, they can be tightened and enlarged – providing better shape to the upper torso. It is also scientifically considered that stimulating the breasts mechanically can encourage breast growth. And better circulation is encouraged, which promotes better overall breast health.

Does it work? Who knows? But it has to be a cheaper, healthier option than getting breast implants!

Looking Back – The Codpiece

It can be funny sometimes to think how styles and trends and the epitome of manliness have changed over the years. When this writer was a little girl, manly men wore white Y-front undies and never went without a white chesty Bonds singlet (at least, that’s what my father wore ... and does to this day. Some of us don’t move with the times so easily, it seems).

Five hundred years ago, the epitome of the quintessential manly man was expressed in the codpiece. Worn almost exclusively through the 1500’s and all but gone by the 1600’s, this was one unforgettable garment which was basically underwear worn as outerwear.

Men of this era wore hose to cover their legs; these did not cover the genitalia as well.  The stylish length for jackets and doublets rose over time, and men found themselves embarrassingly exposed in their nether regions when they sat or mounted their horses. To cover their genitals, they wore a simple piece of linen which was tied down or buttoned to the hose. It was named the codpiece, from the Middle English word “cod” which meant “scrotum”. The codpiece also offered better freedom of movement.

It wasn’t long before codpieces became a way for men to enhance rather than hide the area. They were padded, embellished, and made longer and bigger - to the point of being ridiculous. Some were crafted from metal. The bigger a man’s “ego”, the bigger he wore his codpiece.

There may have been other reasons for this than to simply emphasise and exaggerate a man’s sexual wares. Anthropologists believe that the prevalence of venereal diseases dictated the use of codpieces to allow them contain dressings and medications for the area, without being obvious to others.

King Henry VIII of England is perhaps the most famous wearer of the codpiece; a look at his surviving armour shows just how big he wore this garment. Considering that it is well known that he suffered from advanced and severe syphilis, and in light of the medication theory, one can surmise that perhaps it wasn’t all about his ego. Not entirely, anyway.

These days we usually only see codpieces at Renaissance Fairs and on Superhero costumes...