Took a few deep breaths, Dude, but nothing that you posted made me feel any better. She just happened to catch my eye and I posted a question about it. Y’all are the ones who took it and ran with it. And the “if she was some old bag”… doesn’t even begin to touch the original OP. FairyChatMom! Too bad you don’t have the courage of your convictions. You needed those responses because you couldn’t give me one of your own, right?
Q
IANA fashion expert but I do work in a professional environment. IT industry with 21,000+ employess worldwide. Our normal dress code is business casual which in many cases means, it’s ok if your bra is showing as long as the clothing isn’t designed to be revealing. A white bra under a white blouse means she was making an effort to make her bra not be too obvious so by our dress code, she was wearing perfectly acceptable attire and you shouldn’t make too much of it. You also mentioned that you could see her bra from the back but the OP implies that you couldn’t see it from the front. Well she probably checked herself out in the mirror when she got dressed and figured she couldn’t see it from the front so it probably wasn’t visible from the back so it’s settled. What are you some kinda old fuddy duddy? 
Like DDG, I was taught that a bra, including the straps, should never show and I find myself reminding my wife to adjust her straps sometimes because they’re showing and we’re in public and it’s probably causing some sex crazed maniac to have impure thoughts about my wife and that just isn’t acceptable. 
Really, I think it’s just ok. No big deal and like tsunami said, I’ll bet they put up with enough crap that they’re certainly not encouraging anyone.
It is very hard to have a white blouse on without exposing your lingere. Especially if you choose white underwear (mine is almost all beige for that reason). A cami can help, but is extra clothes to stick on in the morning and has kind of gone the way of the undershirt for men. Besides, men tend to be more excited by “exotic” lingere like a cami than a utilitarian bra, so you can’t win. (And never let on that you wear a thong for comfort, or prefer stockings to hose!)
P.S. - Men used to have this problem with undershirts - men who still wear them still do. Long sleeved shirt, with an short sleeved undershirt…shows, looks tacky. Unfortutely the remove the bra option isn’t an option for lots of women.
Should you be turned on - hey, whatever fuels your fantasies. Just don’t let on if it isn’t appropriate.
My god, Q, take a Buspar or something. The facetious tone of the “offending” posts was obvious. If Buspar doesn’t work, try getting a sense of humor.
That was the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread title. I was going to link it…
Funny, I didn’t remember that thread being yours, DDG.
Thanks, Ino. I thought that EVERYONE would get the levity in my post. Our dear friend is rathern tightly wound.
Lay off of FairyChatMom already. Her original response was what we in the biz like to call a “joke”. That means it was intended to be “humorous”. You didn’t think it was funny; that’s still no reason to take it as a personal attack, because it obviously wasn’t meant to be.
As for the original question, no, wearing a white bra under a white blouse is not unprofessional. As many others have pointed out, that was probably a uniform blouse that she didn’t have a choice about wearing, and her undergarment options were either 1) white bra, 2) tan bra, 3) other color of bra, or 4) no bra. 3 and 4 are obviously unprofessional, or at least demonstrate poor fashion sense. 2 probably would have been better than 1, but either is acceptable in my book. A white bra under a white blouse is not designed to be overtly visible, and therefore is not unprofessional, in my opinion.
The downside of a camisole is that they can actually invite momentary staring, given how pretty some can be.
Quasi, let me say this regarding your overreaction and your calling me an “asshole” for my good-natured joke (which I thought would make you laugh): the issue of sexuality (and/or public approval) is something you might wish to explore in more depth–and I say this with complete respect. Your reaction was waaay overboard. Take care.
[moderator underoos on]No, Quasi, “we” will not move this to the PIT where it belongs. “We” will realize that a thread about visible bras is almost guaranteed to attract some levity, and “we” will quit calling people names, or “we” will have a chat with Lynn The Destroyer.[/moderator underoos on]
I should tell you a story. A friend asked me to help her dress for an audition for the movie Robocop 2. She was reading for one of the lead roles, the evil corporate drone woman who builds Robocop II. She had to dress like a yuppie for the reading, so she asked me to help her dress the part, since I worked in a corporate office and presumably knew what these people would dress like. She had borrowed a women’s business suit (dress and jacket) but she was having trouble with her blouse, she wanted my opinion about this very problem, her bra was visible through her light blouse. I said she should probably either leave her jacket on, or wear a camisole or something. She said she didn’t have a camisole, and there wasn’t enough time to get one, or buy a different shirt either, she was heading right to the audition.
She didn’t get the part. Instead, she got cast as one of the minor speaking parts – a hooker.
Draw your own conclusions.
Sorry. I just looove moderator underoos. I wonder if they show through a thin white shirt?
[sub]::singing a little underoos song::[/sub]
Don’t be snipping my Moderator Underoos!
waitaminute…wot the hell am I saying?!?
If I stand reeaall still, will you be gentle? 
Camis can have the same visibility problem. I have a white shirt I like very much but have avoided wearing because you can literally make out the patterns on my bra right through it. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t bother me. But I teach an undergraduate-level class, and the last thing I want is a room full of male freshman staring at my chest for an hour. (We’re forbidden from dating 'em anyway. )
So, a few months ago, I went out and bought a cute white satin cami. I went home and tried on the shirt, with the cami underneath… and discovered the cami was just as visible through the shirt as the bra was. sigh
I do wear the shirt (and cami) now, but I save it for when I go out with friends.
Anyway, to answer your question-- was it unprofessional of her? Perhaps. But I’d also fault whoever picked the uniform material for choosing a cloth that was too see-through.
My wife teaches at the university and she tries not to wear anything see through when teaching. Partly because I do not want to have a bunch of horny guys/girls seeing too much and also because russian is difficult enough to learn without distractions.
/Coil
and “we” will quit calling people names, or “we” will have a chat with Lynn The Destroyer.[/moderator underoos on] **
[/QUOTE]
Okay with me as long as “we” remember to include the first post which I wrote with levity and which was responded to with an attack on my personal life.
Can you do that, Czarcasm?
Q
One more suggestion from an impartial bystander:
Quasi, buddy, you overreated. Let it go.
Are you high?, You’re taking about this, right:
(emphasis and bolding mine)
If you took that as anything other than a joke or simple ribbing then, well, perhaps there really is some deeper issue. And I don’t mean that in a funny way. Relax, up until now, with my post, no one has actually accused you of anything. Everyone was gently ribbing you. I am not. You are entirely out of line.
To your OP, I think that seeing any visible undergarments, intentional or not, can be a bit of a turn-on. The fact that a woman may have attempted to disguise her bra, but still had a moment of visibility sort of makes it a sweet and innocent, if stil voyeristic, thing.
Again, I will say that women–especially flight attendants–are too damn overworked and too little appreciated to have to worry whether their bras show through the back of their blouses.
I’ve seen this many times. So what? is my reaction. Flight attendants get hit on all the time, and they get tired of it and I don’t blame them.
In many corporate and military settings, men are generally expected to wear undershirts if wearing a white dress shirt. Until I recently retired (at 35), I found them suffocating and would almost roast alive all day long.
Hope you’re doing well, Q.
Perhaps the undergarment in question may not have been a bra, but a Freudian slip…
I used to be perfectly happy with myself before reading threads like this one. Now I’m all dressed and ready to go to soccer practice this evening. OMG! I can see my white sports bra through my white T-shirt!:rolleyes:
My mama always told me that if my bra is going to show through a thin material to make sure it’s beige (that would match my skin tone) or white so people won’t think I’m trashy. My roommate in college had dark brown bras to match her skin tone. I’m guessing her mama gave her similar advice. Sounds like this flight attendant followed my mama’s rule.