Bralette; How I Learned to Love the Bra Again
By Silvana Moran
Puberty hit me like a very slow moving train. I was 13 when I decided I needed a BRA. The symbol of growing up. Unlike starting a period, this was much more exciting and much less scary. My mom took me to the department store where I got my first training bra. It was cotton, with simple lace and an elastic bottom. Perfect. I was GROWN.
It was many years later, (and a few cup sizes too) that I started to notice bruising. At first I didn’t see it, or feel it, just something I saw in the mirror. Bruising under my breasts in the shape of my underwire. And then I saw broken blood vessels on my shoulders, right where my straps sit. Of all the things my bleeding disorder did to me, this one was tough to swallow. Just by simply wearing a bra, it was marking me with proof that I was different.
So in 2016, I stopped wearing bras. On the cusp of being a 30 year old lady, I wanted freedom. And it was glorious my friends. No more stabs and bleeding from rogue underwire, no more bruised shoulders that made me self conscious when I wore a strapless dress. But I was facing an issue. As much as I was enjoying letting the girls breathe, they were wild and untamed. I couldn’t wear a sheer top or certain dresses without some sort of structure and support.
Of course I do wear bras for specific occasions, most days I wear a beautiful little thing called a BRALETTE. Not quite a bra, not quite a sports top. It’s like my cute little training bra grew up and no one told me. There’s no underwire, padding is optional, and the straps are wide and soft. Everything about it is...soft. And there’s so many styles to choose from. It’s the perfect item for bruised people like us. And I will never stop raving about it. I thought my relationship with bras was over, but the bralette has me in love again.
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