# Did Women Really Go Bra-less in the 70s **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 3, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570 "2008-06-03T02:12:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/61 "2011-04-05T19:51:52Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I have 34DD and I go without a bra all the time. I’m not wearing one today, in fact. > [@Leaffan](#): > > So,… > > How are YOU doing? zombie or not shouldn’t that be how are they doing? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/62 "2011-04-06T01:34:07Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Yep, the late '60s and early '70s was a wonderful time for a young man to have gone to a liberal arts college with many, many emancipated, unrestrained and unencumbered young women. I have led a good life (sigh). Agreed, although I saw it (them?) just as often pretty much everywhere. And yes, (sigh) those were the days. Now these kids today blah blah blah… ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/63 "2011-04-06T03:51:58Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Yeah, this is still something I’ve yet to comprehend about men. I mean intellectually I know it is true, I just can’t understand why. To me, nude bodies are attractive (ok some of them) but not in an OMG GOTTA SEE _DROOL_ kind of way. They can be seductive if they’re posed in the right way, or moving in the right way (like dancing) but just the fact of a boobie being there = woohoo? Nope, doesn’t compute. > [@FairLadyinSoCal](#): > > My husband loves how I look with my girls boucing under my soft microfibre knit tops… This. The allure of the braless look to men is the knowledge that they’re getting a very good idea of the natural shape and look of a woman’s breasts, and then there’s the jiggly quotient…which is a very appealing aspect of small-to-medium-sized perky breasts without a bra. As an example I would point to Victoria Cave (the redhead on the left) in [this Steely Dan performance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylr2D4Pwn58), most notably at around 0:45, 1:20 and 3:45 in the video. The girl in the middle usually has an appealing braless look too, but with the dark top she’s wearing in this performance you really can’t tell. (Donald Fagen calls these girls the band’s “bare midriff section”. :D) And yeah, even though it began as a political statement, the braless look eventually became commonplace and lost its political implication. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/64 "2011-04-06T14:24:55Z")
Braless then, braless now. Why even ask about it? Do all the young kids wear bras these days? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/65 "2011-04-06T14:30:50Z")
Not only bra-d, but usually wearing multiple layers of clothing. The layered look may be the fashion, but it really interferes with the visuals out on the street. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/66 "2011-04-06T14:50:09Z")
70s? C’mon. Would Lynda Carter have deflected bullets without a bra? Really…? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/67 "2011-04-07T02:04:32Z")
Not only were bra-less women wondering the streets, they were on TV. [Charlie Angels were often inrestrained](http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=charliesang). In that link, you will also see the term “jiggle TV”. _Charlie’s Angels_ was the beginning, but there were many to follow. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/68 "2011-04-07T02:36:54Z")
During the late 60’s I was stationed on Okinawa. On weekends, we’d drive 30 miles to the large AF base. They had a large dependent housing area and a large Base Exchange (think minimall). We’d watch the American girls strut their stuff all day long! And they knew they had an audience too. Love the jiggle factor. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/69 "2011-04-07T02:46:55Z")
I never wear one and one day I put on a blouse and went around the hood on business. Nobody said anything but when I got home I looked down and saw that my blouse was transparent. Possibly nobody said anything because my girls are roughly the size of mosquito bites. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/70 "2011-04-07T02:56:48Z")
Things come and go in cycles. My mother grew up in an era where most women didn’t wear bras; they were only for the daring and libertine. In 1925, it was considered risqué to wear such provocative underwear, and they were frowned on by the more strict religious sects. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2011, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/71 "2011-04-07T07:51:09Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Several years ago there was a site that sold little silicone (I think) fake nipples you could put under your shirt to have that “hard nipple” look all the time. I parodied it on my webcam by putting, um, I think it was little pencil-eraser sized balls of tinfoil under my shirt in one frame (looked quite a lot like hard nipples) and then put a half dozen per breast in the next frame, with the caption, “if two is good, more is better” or something. It was funny at the time. That sounds like something I would have watched. I know it’s a longshot, but you didn’t happen to keep an archive, did you? (I’m assuming there’s no nudity involved, or I wouldn’t be asking. I just think it would be hilarious.) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/72 "2011-04-07T08:24:46Z")
> [@FairLadyinSoCal](#): > > I am a woman who has ALWAYS felt sexy… most of the time. I smile at the admiring attention I receive from classy attractive men my age and younger in stores, etc. My husband loves how I look with my girls boucing under my soft microfibre knit tops and THAT along with seeing my cute little ass cupped in my tight size 6 jeans, he is “ready for love” pretty often (and nothing is healthier than that, you know). So who is prepared to bet against me that this post was typed: 1/ by a man 2/ one handed? ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/73 "2011-04-07T10:48:28Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I just can’t understand why. To me, nude bodies are attractive (ok some of them) but not in an OMG GOTTA SEE _DROOL_ kind of way. It’s more in an “ooohhh… shiny…” kind of way 🆒 Since it sort of feels natural to post “mmmm… memories” in a zombie thread, I just have to point out that the braless period stretched into the early 80s here in Scandianvia. Just in time for me to experience. Sleeveless T-shirts with large arm holes and no bra beneath frequently seen around town on sunny summer days, bikini tops the exception and not the rule on the beaches and not infrequently even in public parks, that was a great time a adolescent males, I tell ya! Much more alluring that that Internet porn thingy the kids have these days, this was _sans_ silicone and all around IRL. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/74 "2011-04-07T11:53:47Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > Since it sort of feels natural to post “mmmm… memories” in a zombie thread… But this one is “mmmm… mammaries.” ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/75 "2011-04-07T16:00:34Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I have always failed to see what the big deal is, unless you’re wearing a white t-shirt or it’s exceptionally cold. I mean if you have HUGE boobs, yeah I guess I could see it, but I just think bras are uncomfortable. Kind of like I take my shoes off the minute I get home, usually the bra comes off too. Sometimes it never goes on, depending on what shirt I’m wearing. Is it considered some big deal thing to not wear a bra? How is it sensual? I don’t get it. It isn’t a big deal now but back then it was. Hell I got sent home from school in 1984 for not wearing “appropriate undergarments”. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/76 "2011-04-07T16:03:45Z")
This really is annoying. SD admin, either make it where people CAN’T post to old threads or let them just happen because I’m sick to death of posting in a thread and then seeing all the har har zombie cracks. Most people post replies to the OP, not the last couple of posts. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/77 "2011-04-07T16:21:04Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That sounds like something I would have watched. I know it’s a longshot, but you didn’t happen to keep an archive, did you? > > (I’m assuming there’s no nudity involved, or I wouldn’t be asking. I just think it would be hilarious.) I did keep an archive for a while but I don’t think I have the pics anymore. Sorry! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/78 "2011-04-07T17:04:34Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > This really is annoying. SD admin, either make it where people CAN’T post to old threads or let them just happen because I’m sick to death of posting in a thread and then seeing all the har har zombie cracks. Most people post replies to the OP, not the last couple of posts. Actually, most people read the thread before replying. Or at least some people do. Ok, maybe a few do. Doesn’t really matter. If it jump-starts a whole new discussion, who cares? We’ve gotten a page of responses since this one was resurrected. Boobie threads can never get old. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/79 "2011-04-07T17:08:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Actually, most people read the thread before replying. Or at least some people do. Ok, maybe a few do. > > Doesn’t really matter. If it jump-starts a whole new discussion, who cares? We’ve gotten a page of responses since this one was resurrected. Boobie threads can never get old. Actually, they do get old. And less perky. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570/80 "2011-04-07T18:18:00Z")
I’m a 42D and I go bra-less every day (exceptions only made for job interviews. and maybe my own wedding). I’m only 26 so they’re not fried eggs on a nail or anything like that, but I’m quite fat and nobody wants to see my girls flopping around. I don’t pretend I’m doing it for increased sex appeal, though, it’s purely a comfort decision. I always wear a tank top underneath a business top at work and it’s never been a problem. I have tried every bra style known to humanity (in my size at least) and have never found one that I could tolerate for more than a few hours max. I just hate being restricted. I also hate wearing shirts with tight collars or choker necklaces, I feel like I’m going to choke to death. It’s weirdly scary and triggering to feel like a prisoner of tight clothes. I like loose-fitting clothing in general 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-women-really-go-bra-less-in-the-70s/451570.md?page=5)