We Ditched Our Bras For One Week To See If We’d Feel Any Differently About Our Boobs

There are actually a lot of benefits to going braless (beyond the fact that it's more comfortable).

Going without a bra can increase your circulation, improve your sleep, help with your breast health, enhance your breast shape, and more!

Want to know about more of the health benefits of going braless? Check out this LittleThings article that dives right into the subject.

Women have a long, venerable history of ditching their bras. Practically since the modern brassiere was invented in the first half of the twentieth century, some women have looked for ways to go without.

However, that doesn't mean that most women are in the habit of going without a bra. For most people, bras are put on or discarded based on outfit, circumstance, and comfort level.

For one work week, all three of us would go completely braless.

We wouldn't wear bras to work or at home, and we wouldn't wear bras when going out with friends or family members.

Each of us would answer the same questions about our experience to give everyone three different perspectives on the braless experiment.

What size bra do you wear?

Becca: I usually wear a 32B, but I’m not convinced that’s the best size for me. I think I’m actually smaller than that.

Ileana: I wear a 34C.

Caralynn: 36DD.

How old were you when you started wearing bras?

Becca: I was around 10 or 11 when I started wearing a training bra — I didn’t have any boobs yet, but I think my mom thought I should have a bra before I started middle school.

Ileana: I think I was 11… I didn't have real boobs until I was 13, but I wore training bras during those two years.

Caralynn: I was either 10 or 11.

How often do you wear a bra normally?

Becca: I wear a bra 4 to 5 days out of every week. If I think I can get away with less, I go for it.

Ileana: I wear a bra every day (unless I don't leave the house). Sometimes on weekends, I'll wear a bralette instead of a full-on bra, but I always wear bras to work.

Caralynn: Every single day that I'm leaving the house. If it's a weekend day where I'm just lounging around, I typically won't wear one.

What do you wear on a daily basis?

Becca: I usually wear a button-down or crew-neck top with jeans or a casual skirt. Sometimes I’ll change things up with a knit dress.

Ileana: I typically wear some sort of tight shirt, like a tank top or T-shirt, and casual pants. Once in a while, I wear a casual, loose-fitting dress.

Caralynn: It varies — sometimes tighter shirts, sometimes looser tops or dresses. Depends on the sort of mood I'm in and my comfort level!

Why do you want to go braless for a week?

Becca: I find bras super-confining and uncomfortable; I will always seize the opportunity to go without.

Ileana: I actually don't mind wearing a bra, but I want to push myself to be more comfortable with my body, so going braless seems like a great opportunity to do just that.

Caralynn: I want to force myself out of my comfort zone. I'm typically really paranoid about what other people might be thinking of me, so this seemed like a good opportunity to get out of that mindset (or at least try to). I also didn't wear a bra for a while at the beginning of this year, after I got hurt and bruised my rib badly. I didn't leave the house during that time, but I was exclusively braless, and it was glorious.

What do you think you'll enjoy about going braless?

Becca: I think it will be very freeing and comfortable — no underwires, no scratchy lace. I’m a simple creature; that’s my idea of heaven.

Ileana: I'm hoping that going braless will be more comfortable than wearing a bra. I hate when my bra gets sweaty and sticky during the summer, so I can't wait to feel more air on my boobs.

Caralynn: Not having underwire dig into my rib cage constantly.

What challenges do you think you'll face going braless?

Becca: I think my strongest opponent in this effort is the air conditioning. It’s August in NYC, and that means that the subway and the office will be chilled to the temperature of an industrial meat locker. It’s going to get nippy.

Ileana: Oh man, I think there are going to be a lot of challenges. The heat, the cold, the clothing options — everything, basically. And don't even get me started on thinking about working out.

Caralynn: Any sort of quick movements are going to be challenging. I have a tendency to get very bouncy.

What activities are you most/least looking forward to?

Becca: I think getting dressed in the morning is going to be a breeze, and I’m looking forward to being more comfortable in the office. I’m nervous about the commute, and not sure yet what I’m going to do about my usual yoga and pilates classes.

Ileana: I'm definitely looking forward to the comfort aspect — sitting at my desk at work will feel a lot more like lounging at home. I'm not so excited about trying to figure out what the h*ll I'm going to wear, though.

Caralynn: I'm most looking forward to just lounging around and watching TV. Also, wearing some older shirts I have that have seemed to fit better without bras — but that I avoided wearing, because I always chickened out on going braless outside before. I'm least looking forward to working out and walking my dog.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

Becca: The biggest challenge so far is just sitting in the chilly office, trying to look like a professional. I’ve been rocking all my chunkiest sweaters at the office.

Ileana: Dealing with the temperature differences outside, on the subway, and in the office has been really difficult. I've been doing a lot more layering than usual.

Caralynn: Definitely walking my dog. I've already walked him while braless several times. One of those times, he spotted a stray cat, and I very much bounced down half the block while he was dashing after it. That was more than a little bit painful. Now, we just avoid the areas where I figure there will be Hobbes-triggers.

Are you enjoying going braless?

Becca: Yes, I love living the braless life, despite the challenges.

Ileana: Honestly, not really. The novelty of being braless has worn off, and now I'm mostly just feeling really self-conscious.

Caralynn: It varies day to day. I don't love the under-boob sweat, which is kind of gross and really uncomfortable. But on breezier days, it's super-freeing and comfortable. And have I mentioned how much I hate underwire?

Is it harder/easier than you expected?

Becca: It’s maybe a little bit harder than expected. The biggest surprise has been how tricky it actually is to get dressed without the freedom to choose the right kind of undergarment. Some of my clothes just aren’t compatible with free boobs.

Ileana: It's about the same as I expected. I was hoping I'd be more confident and able to just rock my free boobs, but I was skeptical to begin with. And unfortunately, my original, cynical ideas turned out to be true.

Caralynn: It's actually been easier than I expected in many ways. I thought it would be super-obvious that I was braless, wearing most of my clothes. But I've been able to wear a wider variety of clothes than I expected. Things that I thought would make the bralessness way too noticeable have actually been fine — that, or I just became desensitized to looking braless.

Did you enjoy going braless for a week?

Becca: Overall, I definitely enjoyed being braless. It was very liberating.

Ileana: No, it definitely wasn't my thing.

Caralynn: I did! It was very freeing.

What was the hardest part?

Becca: Anything that involved the AC. I felt like I stood out and was getting creepy stares on the train to work. In the office, it just made me feel unprofessional.

Ileana: Being in the office made me feel really uncomfortable. Even though a few of my coworkers knew what I was doing, I was terrified I'd run into someone higher up in the company with my nipples acting like headlights.

Caralynn: With certain shirt fabrics, I felt very exposed. Forcing myself not to cover my chest with my hands/elbows/a bag was really difficult.

Did it change the way you dressed? How so?

Becca: I definitely skipped my usual menu of fitted jersey T-shirts. Most of the material wasn’t thick enough to give me enough coverage. I also put on a few tops that I have worn a million times with bras, and quickly realized that they were more sheer than I ever noticed.

Ileana: It absolutely changed the way I dressed for the week. I only wore a black tank top once (which is basically my daily uniform), and even then I covered it with a sweatshirt all day. I had to put in a lot of extra thought before getting dressed every day.

Caralynn: It actually opened me up to a whole new world of clothing. I wore some (for lack of a better word) "skimpier" or thinner fabric shirts that had always looked sort of weird with a bra. But without a bra, they looked great!

What was the best part?

Becca: Usually, by 2:30 in the afternoon, I’m dying to rip my bra off. It was nice to feel comfortable all day long.

Ileana: There were a few outfits I wore that I felt totally comfortable in. I would normally have worn them with a bra, but I'm excited to know I can wear them braless in the future!

Caralynn: On the not-ridiculously-hot days, I loved the not-trapped feeling my boobs got when a cool breeze rolled in.

Will you go braless again?

Becca: I definitely will. As it is, I almost never wear a bra on the weekend, but I think this is going to up my braless confidence during the workweek, especially now that I know which outfits are safe to wear without a bra.

Ileana: I think it will depend on the outfit — there are a few select dresses and shirts I now feel comfortable wearing to the office without a bra. Usually, though, I think I'll stick to my normal bra routine.

Caralynn: Not every single day, but I'm definitely more open to it than I was before. Particularly for going-out occasions when I want to be more adventurous with my clothes. Definitely not ever again while dog walking or working out. That was awful.

Would you recommend going braless to a friend?

Becca: Absolutely, especially if she’s around the same cup size as me. I think it might be more uncomfortable for someone with bigger boobs than me, but for a fellow flat-chested soul, it’s a really comfy break from straps and hooks.

Ileana: I would definitely recommend that every woman try going braless from time to time. You can't know if you're comfortable going braless unless you try it. Really, though, it's totally up to the woman — every woman should wear whatever they feel comfortable and confident in.

Caralynn: Depends on the size of their boobs, but generally yes!

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