For most women, the idea of going braless is a distant memory; perhaps something they did once in their youth, then spent the night regretting. Unless you were Jacqueline Bisset in The Deep (1977), it was not an easy look to pull off – even in the bra-averse 1970s. While it may have been the fashion to go au naturel, every time you felt a blast of air conditioning, your nipples would harden, making you self-conscious. Friends would ask why your arms were crossed firmly under your chest. Were you cold? Did you want a cardie? You were indeed cold: so cold that your breasts looked like belisha beacons.
As anyone who works in the fashion and beauty industry knows, however, one woman’s embarrassment is another woman’s marketing opportunity. For every woman who can’t think of anything worse than flaunting their cold, hard nipples, there is another for whom this is an aspirational look.
Admittedly, most of these women are under 30, and haven’t breastfed. But for those whose breasts can pass the pencil test, and could probably accommodate Ryman’s entire stationery department under their boobs, there is a solution at hand, should they wish to give the braless look a try.
The Skims Ultimate Nipple Bra features built-in faux nipples
Granted, it comes courtesy of Kim Kardashian, a woman not unduly affected by the sort of self-consciousness that plagues the rest of us. On Tuesday, the 43-year-old business mogul launched the Ultimate Nipple Bra, a “first of its kind innovation” that seeks to boldly go where no bra has gone before, by incorporating a built-in faux nipple.
Billed as the newest innovation in the Skims range, the lingerie brand Kardashian co-founded in 2019, the bra is already courting controversy – not for its efficacy, which remains as yet unproven, but for the manner in which it was launched. In a move that some critics have labelled “tone deaf” to the catastrophe of climate change, Kardashian promoted the bra via a sketch in which she pretends to be a scientist.
“No matter how hot it is, you’ll always look cold,” she says, removing her skin-tight beige top to reveal the new bra. “Unlike the icebergs, these aren’t going anywhere,” she adds, glancing down at her latex nipples.
While other bras might boast of their stellar abilities to smooth, the Ultimate Nipple Bra has no such dreary aspirations. On the contrary: it considers lumps and bumps a positive.
Which they are, for some people. Sex and the City fans may remember an episode from season four in which Samantha Jones (played by Kim Cattrall – serendipitously now a model for Skims) declared “nipples are huge right now. Open any magazine! It’s not that cold”, before presenting Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) with a pair of silicone nipples to test drive.
More recently, the actress Florence Pugh divided opinion by wearing a sheer pink Valentino dress that showcased her nipples. “It’s the freedom that people are scared of; the fact that I’m comfortable and happy,” she later told Elle magazine, defending her choice.
Fashion being cyclical, the braless look is always going to bounce in and out of vogue. The stylist and 1970s aficionado Shelly Vella isn’t surprised that the look has come back again, as it suits so many of the season’s key trends. “Some dresses, especially slinky slip dresses or those with a loose low neckline in a 70s style, just look better with a hint of pert nipple. Rather than any overt transparency, it lends a more subtle eroticism that really enhances the look, and looks incredibly feminine.”
With the 1990s revival showing no signs of abating, it’s no surprise that Gen Z in particular is taking inspiration from the same aesthetic that saw Kate Moss memorably go braless in a metallic John Galliano slip dress. The year was 1993: Moss was 19, an age when many young women feel confident enough to go au naturel. Fast forward 30 years, however, and today’s teens are more divided. “There is no way I’d go to a party without a bra on,” says 17-year-old Felicity, an A-level student from London. “Each to their own, but I would feel too naked. I’d hate for boys to notice and say something mean.”
Kate Moss memorably went braless in 1993 under a silver John Galliano slip dress
Credit: Getty
Nor did the Ultimate Nipple Bra convince. “Just no. Just why?” was the reaction of 16-year-old Maya, upon seeing the bra on the Skims website. “It’s good that there’s a range of colours for different skin tones, but none of my friends would want to wear fake nipples.”
Before anyone dismisses the Ultimate Nipple Bra as the dumbest Kardashian invention since the Ass Tray (a $35 ashtray emblazoned with a photograph of Kim’s posterior), it’s worth remembering that Skims didn’t become a $4 billion (£3.3 billion) brand less than four years after launch by having dumb ideas. Like everything in the Skims range, the new bra is likely to sell out.
Besides, Gen Z is unlikely to be the bra’s target market. It’s more likely to appeal to older women seeking extra uplift, or those who miss the braless days of their youth but need more help in recreating it. If the “perky braless look” it purports to effect can give women confidence without recourse to the surgeon’s knife, perhaps it’s no bad thing.
At £53, at least it’s a lot more affordable – and far less invasive – than a boob job. What’s more, some breast cancer survivors have welcomed the bra’s ability to give them the nipples they lost through their treatment; “People who don’t understand this and why it’s amazing are very fortunate not to have known a loved one with breast cancer,” wrote one social media user underneath Kardashian’s post.
Those remaining unconvinced can perhaps take solace from the fact that Skims has pledged to donate 10 per cent of all sales of its Ultimate Nipple Bra, “as a one-time donation”, to the environmental charity 1% for the Planet. Critics would doubtless opine that when they’re punting out such a spurious, unnecessary product, it’s the least they can do.
