# Bra-less older women - does this look good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 2, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360 "2010-07-02T22:50:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/21 "2010-07-03T00:10:17Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > **Cat Whisperer** , as to the two pictures you shared: > > [This](http://blog.emitations.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/kc_ny.jpg) is hot. > [This](http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y55/silverbeam/A%20CSM%20Blog/susan-sarandon.jpg) isn’t. In the first one, Kim C looks wedged into an odd dress that has weird handles or straps projecting upwards beyond the fabric. Horribly dress and she looks old in that pic to me. In the second one, Susan S could use a bra for sure, but mostly a hitch of the dress up to where it’s supposed to be. It looks like it’s falling off her. IMO, neither of these women look “hot”, but they aren’t really dressing for middle aged hetero female me… The less said about Barbra’s choice, the better. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/22 "2010-07-03T00:19:26Z")
Sistren,sistren, please-- _ **sufficient unto each day is the evil thereof.** _ When women hit forty (or whatever), they should not stop being themselves and go buy a bunch of old-lady polyester dresses and cut their hair short and stop being sexy in their own way. Neither should they go dressing like their teenage daughters, but this message western society has that you have to go neuter at a certain point is not just silly, but also damaging. Perhaps these women are not trying to look sexy for anyone else – perhaps they are looking sexy _ **for themselves.** _ ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/23 "2010-07-03T00:33:31Z")
How should [this](http://blogs.effinfunny.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/tinaturner.jpg) [old](http://edibleink.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/turner-tina-photo-xxl-tina-turner-6215578.jpg) [bat](http://data1.blog.de/blog/m/mel-dj/img/Tina_Turner_RS.jpg) [start](http://www.inewscatcher.com/timages/ada36e1010b09a26d6d798216c9ccc77.jpg) [dressing](http://www.lessignets.com/signetsdiane/calendrier/images/nov/26/Tina_Turner-Simply_the_Best24.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![DivineComedienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c67d28/32.png) [@DivineComedienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DivineComedienne)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/24 "2010-07-03T00:46:25Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > Sistren,sistren, please-- _ **sufficient unto each day is the evil thereof.** _ > > When women hit forty (or whatever), they should not stop being themselves and go buy a bunch of old-lady polyester dresses and cut their hair short and stop being sexy in their own way. Neither should they go dressing like their teenage daughters, but this message western society has that you have to go neuter at a certain point is not just silly, but also damaging. > > Perhaps these women are not trying to look sexy for anyone else – perhaps they are looking sexy _ **for themselves.** _ I entirely agree with you! I’m just asking if it’s “sexy” for an older woman (define that as you wish - I’m mid-forties and consider myself older but not old) to show her boobs unhindered by underwire, or if it’s sexier to give Mother Nature a little help. I think a little behind-the-scenes magic is much more attractive, but I think I must be wrong, since so many women seem proud to let the sands of time run out of their boobs. A much younger woman who suffers from the same SBS (sunken breast syndrome) is Drew Barrymore: [http://defamer.gawker.com/hollywood/golden-globes/in-defense-of-the-braless-drew-barrymore-149330.php](http://defamer.gawker.com/hollywood/golden-globes/in-defense-of-the-braless-drew-barrymore-149330.php) So this is not limited to the senior set. ---
**Author:** ![DivineComedienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c67d28/32.png) [@DivineComedienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DivineComedienne)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/25 "2010-07-03T00:49:01Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > How should [this](http://blogs.effinfunny.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/tinaturner.jpg) [old](http://edibleink.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/turner-tina-photo-xxl-tina-turner-6215578.jpg) [bat](http://data1.blog.de/blog/m/mel-dj/img/Tina_Turner_RS.jpg) [start](http://www.inewscatcher.com/timages/ada36e1010b09a26d6d798216c9ccc77.jpg) [dressing](http://www.lessignets.com/signetsdiane/calendrier/images/nov/26/Tina_Turner-Simply_the_Best24.jpg)? The Divine Ms. T is above all this! I notice in the pictures you posted, her boobs look like they’re in the proper place…and if I had those fabulous legs, I’d never cover them up. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/26 "2010-07-03T01:02:40Z")
I was trying to find pictures of free and easy decolletage (and the short edit window stopped me from saying so) but Miss T doesn’t do a lot of loose and swingey low-cut. There’s [this](http://iloapp.cadillacdeville1969.nl/blog/blog?ShowFile&image=1262621403.jpg) from a few years ago, but her boobs were fairly under control. And I actually don’t think Kim looks that bad (though your “empty wallet” line made me giggle), it’s that silver short dress with the aluminum snakes climbing it that’s horrible. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/27 "2010-07-03T01:11:42Z")
‘Sunken breast syndrome’? Really? Some boobs are lower than others. I know 13-year-olds with boobs like Drew’s. It’s a normal variation of female anatomy and nothing to be ashamed of. Men seem to like these types of breasts just fine, too. Unrestrained or contained. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/28 "2010-07-03T01:23:21Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > When women hit forty (or whatever), they should not stop being themselves and go buy a bunch of old-lady polyester dresses and cut their hair short and stop being sexy in their own way. Neither should they go dressing like their teenage daughters, but this message western society has that you have to go neuter at a certain point is not just silly, but also damaging. Absolutely, positively agree, and I’ve actually been criticized and chastised here for that viewpoint. Still, count me out as an admirer of the beaver tail or sub-Saharan National Geographic look; there’s a point at which they can stretch too far and droop too low. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/29 "2010-07-03T02:55:47Z")
I looked at every picture and I swear, the only one that looks even slightly bad to me is Barbara Streisand. And that’s more because her top is so gauzy. I think they look fine…and I’m a female speaking. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/30 "2010-07-03T03:15:23Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > **Cat Whisperer** , as to the two pictures you shared: > > [This](http://blog.emitations.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/kc_ny.jpg) is hot. > [This](http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y55/silverbeam/A%20CSM%20Blog/susan-sarandon.jpg) isn’t. I must be in the minority because that second pic of Susan is HOT! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/31 "2010-07-03T03:31:38Z")
This thread is reminding me of this old joke - There was this couple who had been married for 50 years. They were sitting at the breakfast table that morning when the old gentleman said to his wife, “Just think, honey, we’ve been married for 50 years.” “Yeah”, she replied, “Just think, fifty years ago we were sitting here at this breakfast table together.” “I know”, the old man said, “We were probably sitting here naked as jaybirds fifty years ago.” “Well”, Granny snickered, “What do you say…should we?” Whereupon the two stripped to the buff and sat down at the table. “You know, honey,” the little old lady breathlessly replied, “My breasts are as hot for you as they were fifty years ago.” “I wouldn’t be surprised”, replied Gramps. “One’s in your coffee and the other is in your oatmeal.” ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/32 "2010-07-03T03:38:04Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I looked at every picture and I swear, the only one that looks even slightly bad to me is Barbara Streisand. And that’s more because her top is so gauzy. > > I think they look fine…and I’m a female speaking. Me too, they’re all sexy women, even Streisand though since she looks comfortable too. Frankly it’s the pushed up squashed up tits thing that looks weird to me, like everyone’s a couple of painful hours overdue for nursing the baby. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/33 "2010-07-03T05:57:28Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > I think Kim looks good. It’s clear here that she has boobs that are more broad and flat (as opposed to a narrow base and more projection), she always has, and I don’t see that she’d look better with them scooped forward and rounded in a bra… > > There are a lot of different natural breast shapes at any age, and I don’t mind seeing them. Most bra-less-ness I see doesn’t look as egregious to me as it does to many people. > > That pic of Susan Saradon is pretty bad. But her dress is actually falling off.. Agreed. I’m a boob girl, and the first photo has me feelin’ slightly flushed, even if she is way too old for me. 😃 And yes, trust me, I’m looking directly at her chestal region. Rawr! (That dress is incredibly flattering on her.) As for Susan Sarandon – it’s not that her boobs are bad, it’s that her dress is falling off. If her dress fit properly her boobs would look fine. _Anyone_ wearing a dress that only pretends to cover the areola looks like crap. Even a 20 yo perky young thing. ETA: Actually, it looks like her dress is broken… shouldn’t she have another shoulder strap? If it was a wardrobe failure, it would explain why she’s out in public looking so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/34 "2010-07-03T06:03:22Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > [Yikes! This isn’t a good look for anyone, of any age!](http://blog.emitations.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/kc_ny.jpg) I think that’s safe for work - just a lot of cleavage. > > ETA: Now that I think about it, if that’s NSFW, so is my previously-linked picture for having yards of cleavage, too. What a hag. Yuk! ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/35 "2010-07-03T06:56:02Z")
I think it’s all fine. If you are comfortable and feel beautiful, why the hell should you do any different? I’m all for seeing images of beauty that challenge us. I’d like to see a world where we can knowledge there are ways to be gorgeous that do not rely on imitating an eighteen year old. Sure, there are some sexual signals of youth that we are always going to find compelling. But you know what? You are not going to be having sex with Kim Cattrall any time soon. So appreciate her beauty as a mature, elegant woman. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/36 "2010-07-03T08:00:51Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I think it’s all fine. If you are comfortable and feel beautiful, why the hell should you do any different? > > I’m all for seeing images of beauty that challenge us. I’d like to see a world where we can knowledge there are ways to be gorgeous that do not rely on imitating an eighteen year old. Sure, there are some sexual signals of youth that we are always going to find compelling. But you know what? You are not going to be having sex with Kim Cattrall any time soon. So appreciate her beauty as a mature, elegant woman. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/37 "2010-07-03T08:14:35Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > :rolleyes: Silly **Melon**. You can’t go around finding attractive what you find attractive. You’ve got to find attractive what you’re _told_ to find attractive. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/38 "2010-07-03T08:33:08Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > :rolleyes: I wanted to make the same response, if (most likely) for a different reason. Why are we only allowed to have an opinion of the aesthetics of our potential sexual partners? And how does it make sense that a heterosexual\* female is advocating that belief, when that group cares more about their aesthetics than any group that wants to have sex with them? \*She’s mentioned having sex with men, and has not even mentioned being attracted to women. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/39 "2010-07-03T08:48:57Z")
One again we have the “OMG a woman had the nerve not to do everything she can to make herself attractive to me personally” syndrome. As if it is some kind of offense that we might sometimes have other priorities than maximizing the degree that random observers want to bone us. Beauty and sexual attractiveness are parallel but not always intertwined concepts. I’m sure Kim Cattrall doesn’t care if you personally want to nail her or not. And I’m also pretty sure her sex life is awesome, and her lover doesn’t find her one bit less fascinating or sensual because she didn’t wear the undergarments that turn you on the most. But she probably does want to be seen as beautiful. There comes a time in your life when you have to admit you are not 18/perky breasted/exceptionally skinny/perfect skinned/whatever. Even the most beautiful among us fit this perfect form for just a few brief moments. So you are left with some options- you can give up, get the “mom” haircut, and walk around with baggy holiday-themed sweatshirts. You can pretend, with ever-declining success leading to eventual humiliation, that you still are these things. Or you can accept yourself as a sexual, beautiful woman who has aged exactly as god meant you to. I’m starting to see my first wrinkles. What do you expect me to do? Cry myself to sleep? Lock myself in a closet? Save up for botox? Wear a mask? Naw, I’ll just see them a sign of the life I’ve lived, the times I’ve smiled, my own history written on my face. It’s beautiful, in it’s own way. Maybe not as hot as an 18 year old model, but beautiful none the less. While some very basic things are hard wired, much of beauty is culturally defined or at least can be stretched pretty far. Look at how societies have gone back and forth on the “fat” versus “skinny” female ideal. Or how many cultures revere white skin when we like a tan. Societies can have a larger or smaller range of what they find beautiful. In my experience in Cameroon, people just loved women. They thought we were all beautiful. The 250 lb. volunteer got as much admiration as the 90 lb. volunteer. People hit on my mother as vigorously as they hit on me. Race, coloring…none of these things would disqualify you from being attractive. Models in magazines and in music videos all looked completely different from each other. In China there is a much smaller range of what is considered “beautiful.” 40 kg. is well known as the “perfect” weight. Lighter skin is always better than darker skin. Nobody can rock their darker skin as “exotic” the way they can elsewhere. Basically there is one “ideal girl” and everyone is judged by how close to that they look. Models in magazines and in music video usually look pretty similar. The US is somewhere in between. We have a variety of ways to be beautiful- from “blonde sexpot” to “exotic Asian” to “voluminous goddess.” Our models show some variety, but there could be more. I think it’d be a worthwhile exercise to expand and challenge our concept of beauty. Perhaps part of that is because I’m a woman who will one day become an older woman. And I don’t think that makes me any less beautiful than I am now. It personally makes me happy to see older women who don’t see growing and looking older as the equivalent of getting neutered. Who don’t need to hide and pretend. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360/40 "2010-07-03T09:03:34Z")
Jeez, **even sven** , calm down with the 18-yo-perky-boob-only conspiracy. There are men (_wink wink_) who didn’t even have sex with women under 25. And continue to find older women more… fulfilling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bra-less-older-women-does-this-look-good/545360.md?page=3)