"MOST PEOPLE ACCEPTED AND ENJOYED THE FACT MY BROTHER AND I WOULD WEAR WHATEVER, UNTIL HE WORE A DRESS IN PUBLIC"
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO STOP WEARING BRAS?
TE: I find them restricted and uncomfortable and feel much more free when I’m going braless! I don’t like that women are shamed into wearing bras, and that there’s a stigma around going braless – it’s natural and beautiful, and makes no sense that we feel like it’s the norm to trap ourselves in wire and fabric.
IS IT EVER DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO GO BRALESS?
TE: I sometimes feel quite self-conscious going braless, and I think that’s sad. I’m content in being braless alone or around women, so the only reason I’d wear one is because I want to conform as society’s idea of what a woman should dress like. I know I’m fortunate to not feel the need to wear a bra simply because I can manage okay without feeling physically uncomfortable going braless, but I know that lots of bigger busted ladies might not feel the same.
CHECK OUT FLORA'S FULL PHOTOSTORY HERE
R — REBECCA DANDREA
S — SILVIA GRONAU
R — REBECCA DANDREA
S — SILVIA GRONAU
WERE YOU EVER PRESSURED TO WEAR CERTAIN UNDERWEAR?
BS: Going in to secondary school there was suddenly a right and wrong way to be: shaved, big boobs and flabby bits were no longer funny but had to be hidden. Girls would come to school wearing 5 bras at once with all the straps visible under their school shirt.
HOW HAVE YOUR FEELINGS TOWARDS BRAS CHANGED AS YOU’VE GROWN UP?
BS: As a proud tomboy in primary school I swore to never wear a bra – and never have boobs. But in secondary school wearing bras was standard and it wasn’t just about hiding your body, but looking sexy and having cleavage even under your school shirt just so other people could think you looked good. Now if I buy underwear it’s for me; comfy Primark pants and never ever underwired bras!! If I buy something sexy it’s because I think I look good in it, not because I’m hoping someone else will like it.
HOW WAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH BRAS AT THE START IN COMPARISON TO NOW?
DL: I’ve never been able to properly put on a bra so for a couple of years I
never took it off. I slept in it every
night only taking it of to have a bath or wash it, so I slept in it every night. I eventually moved onto sports bras but now I wear nothing.
WHY DO YOU LIKE NOT WEARING A BRA?
DL: I don’t need a bra. It isn’t worth the discomfort or effort of putting it on plus the clasps are too fiddly.
HAVE YOU EVER REBELLED AGAINST THE NORM FOR WOMEN’S UNDERWEAR?
RJ: Not really but I think I’m lucky that if I did, the consequences wouldn’t be that detrimental for me. My parents were pretty liberal; so let my brother and me wear whatever we wanted, which was a really good environment to grow up in. Most people accepted and enjoyed the fact that my brother and me would wear whatever, until he wore a dress in public as a child. I remember some people, especially other children, thinking it was weird and making fun of it, which obviously came from close-minded parents.
How does underwear make you feel?
RJ: Empowered. Suspenders are something that I wear without showing anyone. When I wear them I’m sexualising myself internally without having to be judged by anyone else.
Why did you choose to stop wearing bras?
TE: I find them restricted and uncomfortable and feel much more free when I’m going braless! I don’t like that women are shamed into wearing bras, and that there’s a stigma around going braless – it’s natural and beautiful, and makes no sense that we feel like it’s the norm to trap ourselves in wire and fabric.
Is it ever difficult for you to go braless?
TE: I sometimes feel quite self-conscious going braless, and I think that’s sad. I’m content in being braless alone or around women, so the only reason I’d wear one is because I want to conform as society’s idea of what a woman should dress like. I know I’m fortunate to not feel the need to wear a bra simply because I can manage okay without feeling physically uncomfortable going braless, but I know that lots of bigger busted ladies might not feel the same.
R: The fundamental relevance to take time to explore and listen to be able to embody more fully the space and time we live in.To keep cultivating this by practising, dancing, exploring , to learn how to move towards a more sustainable way of living and communicating, to re harmonize the direction of our reality.
A — BS
A— DL
A — RJ
A — TE