Are Bralettes Just Unsupportive Bras? Experts Explain the Latest Lingerie Trend.

So what exactly is this newfangled take on the over-the-shoulder boulder holder, and does it finally solve the age-old problem of having boobs? “A bralette is an unstructured bra. It’s usually unlined, unpadded, wire-free,” explained Cora Harrington, who founded and has run the website Lingerie Addict for eight years. (Some brands, like Journelle, favor the spelling bralet.) Bras without underwires are far from new, and in fact, Harrington pointed out that the earliest bras, in the 1920s and ’30s, were themselves bralettes by today’s standards. Still, with underwire and padding as ubiquitous as they are, an unstructured bra that doesn’t retain a 3-D shape when off the body can seem like a novel, even liberating, thing.

Share and Enjoy