By Tia Basu
A lingerie website in India recently launched what it calls “sleep bras”. Comfy, wire-free, unpadded stuff with a little lace thrown in for prettiness. I had no idea such things even existed. I mean…isn’t the single greatest moment of the day when you walk through your front door and fling off the damn thing? Heck, since I live on the top floor of a building, I’ve sometimes started unhooking in the elevator. It’s like My Moment of Ultimate Freedom.
How does the sleeping bra affect the love-hate relationship most of us have with our lingerie?
Now, there are women who can’t sleep without bras and from what I read, the sleep bras work well for nursing mums. A friend I was talking to, who totally endorses them, said, “I wonder what kind of uncomfortable, ill-fitting bras some women wear that they can’t wait to get rid of them?” Valid point, but I’m just thinking…what about those of us who spend endlessly on bras and then complain about them all day, before throwing them on the bed at the end of the day and going, “NOW YOU SIT THERE AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU DID!” I can’t sleep even with earrings or a watch on me — the less I have on me, the better the snooze. Also, some of us need a little space away from our bras if the relationship is going to survive. We’re together all day and sometimes half the night, and we tend to meet people who want to separate us but aren’t quite sure how the hooks work. It’s a stressful affair, starting right from the people at the bra shops who want to hook us up.
https://twitter.com/VintageBollyRxn/status/601778361355087872
Our nights off from each other are important. They’re when our boobs and our back fat recharge emotionally and don’t feel bad about existing. Or not existing enough. When our nipples aren’t hanging their heads in shame because they’re visible. I’ve sometimes spent entire days at home just because going out would entail putting on a bra. Because, unfortunately, we’re not yet at the point where comfort and bralessness co-exist in public. Being without a bra is like me-time for our boobs. When our bodies are at their most authentic.
So, ladies who can or need to sleep with bras, much love and support to you. Me, I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine and try and make up with the bra I yelled at earlier. But I’m not sleeping with it tonight!
Photo courtesy: Martijn van Exel via Flickr CC by SA 2.0