But I love my plastic bra straps!!
I like having to peel my skin off when I undress.
I like looking like I don’t quite “get” the point of the fashion.
And they match my pretty hot-pink plastic shoes from the eighties!!
you know, it is entirely possible that someone might believe me …
Jodi; I don’t do it constantly, either 
Jodi & Cosmo: I have the opposite problem - the little bit of cleavage I do have seems to be under my arms. I have to reach in periodically and center the girls so I’m not pointing southwest and southeast (being over 30 just BITES sometimes.)
LifeOnWry, wait till you’re over 40.
As for me, I’ve seen the clear bra straps, and I think that they’re even more tacky than the whole regular bra strap showing thing. At least with that you can tell that someone is at least modest enough to wear a bra, even though they have chosen a top that doesn’t appropriately cover said bra. With the clear straps, they’re trying to pass, knowing full well that they’re going to fail anyway, because the clear straps are still totally visible and don’t fool anybody with sight. Ech, tacky, bad.
I’m with LifeOnWry – underwear is underwear, efforts of certain entities to make it appropriate for it to be seen, it is not meant to be, and ought not be. That means bra straps should be inside the top, and by all means, pants should cover the underpants.
There was quite a furor on the board and in life when a high school principal was removing/moving outerwear at a school dance to make sure that all students were wearing appropriate underwear, with the general consensus that what’s going on under someone’s clothing is their business. I wish people would remember that when they decide to put on clothes that instead make it everyone else’s business, and do so on purpose!
My girlfriend has one of these, but she’s only worn it with a fancy dress, with thin shoulder straps. A regular bra would have looked REALLY bad with this dress, seeing that it was pretty formal…she’s too large for a strapless bra, and I honestly didn’t even notice the clear straps under the dress straps until 3/4 through the day. They were very inconspicuous. Now, worn with a tube top, I think they’d look tacky.
Jman
There is a really stunning woman at work that wears one, so they’ve made it to Kentucky.
That’s it.
The spaghetti strap tops with built-in bras? Norm Thompson has them with actual underwire bras instead of shelf bras, in sizes 34 - 42 from B to DD. White and black only. Pretty comfortable, speaking as a larger lady. I don’t like it when straps show, so I wouldn’t wear spaghetti straps otherwise. It’s nice to be able to when the weather’s so hot. Yay!
Ugh. Like most all bras, they look painful - but especially so. I am so glad both Fierra and I are sub-A cup.
I’ve seen these on women in New York. One plain, so far, and one with little flowers on it. The potential cuteness of the flowers is totally counteracted by the fact that you see the strap and think about how godawful uncomfortable it must be.
I also have larger wazooms (Jodi & Cosmo, I don’t spend time in the morning doing this either with certain bras ) and I’ve solved the strap & tank top problem by just buying tanks with wider straps. Or sleeveless tees, which give you collar-to-shoulder coverage. The few skinny strap tops that I have, I save for times when I’m not going to bother with a bra anyway.
I’ve seen them in LA, in stores and to a lesser extent on chicks. Sometimes the clear plastic straps have little plastic flowers or something on them. Go figure.
I’ll stick with plain black straps, except under white tanks.
I’ve seen them round and about in south-east England. They do look a little uncomfortable due to the inflexibility of the plastic, but they are good with strappy summer tops to minimise that “HELLO! I AM A BRA STRAP!” look that normal bras give.
Slight hijack, but you know, speaking as a woman who has been a D cup until recently (when I become a DD thanks to breastfeeding) I question the validity of any claim that someone who isn’t an unusually large size is “too large for a strapless bra.” For a shelf bra - the kind that’s built into those tank tops and most bathing suits - yes. A good strapless bra from an actual lingerie purveyor, no.
tlw, that may be the case, but I have trouble actually finding one the right size, and it doesn’t fit.
The clear plastic straps look uncomfortable, though.
The clear plastic bra straps have been spotted in Korea.
It seems like younger Koreans are really into trendy fashions.
I live in Minnesota - my co-worker has a couple of 'em. I think I would go racerback before I went clear plastic.
In New Orleans, they appear to be a big hit–unfortunately.
I have a pair of the plain clear straps and they’re pretty close to utterly useless.
They’re not too uncomfortable, - think jelly bracelet material - but they don’t have a lot of stretch to them, so they either dig in a little or fall down my arm, which usually isn’t the look I’m going for. They’re fine for any activity that doesn’t require moving my arms though.
They’re also hard to match up with the size of the joiner loop in the bra itself - the ones I bought have a tiny hook, so it doesn’t want to stay in the loop in the bra.
I’ve discovered the GAP has great tanks with built in bras, and the clear bra straps do a wonderful job of keeping my computer wires coiled up behind my desk.
I’ve seen women wearing them, and they weren’t especially busty women, either. I agree that they don’t look comfortable, and they aren’t any less noticeable than the fabric would be. I can’t see them becoming terribly popular, although you never know. If people think they’re the greatest thing, it won’t matter how ugly and uncomfortable they are.