# Please tell me this is tacky **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 17, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934 "2004-03-17T23:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Poetgrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@Poetgrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poetgrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/1 "2004-03-17T23:17:50Z")
Today I saw a girl who had a shirt that was so low that 3/4s of her bra was showing. Now I can understand the occasional wayward strap, but this seems a little out of hand! Its almost like the trend of showing underwear above your pants has transmuted to women’s tops or something. ---
**Author:** ![geewhiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@geewhiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geewhiz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/2 "2004-03-17T23:22:45Z")
Yep, that’s tacky. At least in my opinion. I saw a girl the other day with a tennis skirt on (and heels no less) and when the wind blew it up you could see her underwear (with butt cheeks hanging out because of her major wedgie). Thing is even the guys around me thought it was skanky. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/3 "2004-03-17T23:49:24Z")
Tacky, tacky, and thrice tacky! ---
**Author:** ![Sylkyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sylkyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylkyn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/4 "2004-03-18T00:03:01Z")
I can’t agree more about it being tacky. But am I crazy (don’t answer that), because I seem to remember that being sort of fashionable in the 80’s, possibly early 90’s…? I even remember shirts that were made to “look like” the bra was showing. Needless to say, I didn’t stock up on that fashion trend, so I may be in error. Even if it’s retro-tacky, it’s tac_KY_. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/5 "2004-03-18T00:24:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Please tell me this is tacky I don’t know if this makes her tacky. When was she last wet? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/6 "2004-03-18T00:38:33Z")
Tacky. There is a reason they call it _under_ware. * * * Fagjunk Theology: Not just for Sodomite Propagandists anymore! ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/7 "2004-03-18T00:45:51Z")
No, **Sylkyn** , you’re not crazy. I remember that completely underwhelming trend, too. Quite a lot of people thought it was tacky, which is why it was a pretty fleeting trend. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/8 "2004-03-18T02:49:33Z")
Damn right it’s tacky. A top that reveals that much bra is obviously meant to be worn braless. ---
**Author:** ![DevilDan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@DevilDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DevilDan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/9 "2004-03-18T07:00:04Z")
Great big tacky, skanky vibe. But, I’m man enough to admit that illicit sneak peeks are alluring if the girl is reasonably attractive. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/10 "2004-03-18T07:25:44Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > Tacky. There is a reason they call it _under_ware. And under **wear** , though it makes just as much sense the other way around, really:) Tacky, yes. I remember back in the … early 90s, maybe, there was a trend that some girls actually embraced wherein you purposefully showed that you were wearing a bra. I guess if someone didn’t want to get made fun of for not “having to”, that would accomplish that goal, but as far as I can tell it’s died down a good bit. This was back when I was in the latter years of grade school, so I guess c. 1989-1992 would be it. It might have varied regionally, of course. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/11 "2004-03-18T07:47:00Z")
> [@Poetgrrl](#): > > Today I saw a girl who had a shirt that was so low that 3/4s of her bra was showing. Now I can understand the occasional wayward strap, but this seems a little out of hand! Its almost like the trend of showing underwear above your pants has transmuted to women’s tops or something. Cite?? With pictures please. ---
**Author:** ![Starguard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Starguard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starguard)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/12 "2004-03-18T08:20:53Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Damn right it’s tacky. A top that reveals that much bra is obviously meant to be worn braless. ROFL - If he only had pictures eh 😃 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/13 "2004-03-18T13:53:23Z")
> [@Poetgrrl](#): > > Today I saw a girl who had a shirt that was so low that 3/4s of her bra was showing. Which ¾ were showing? I don’t have bra-strap phobia so I opine based on your description. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/14 "2004-03-18T13:54:26Z")
…can’t opine… Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/15 "2004-03-18T14:41:28Z")
Tacky, tacky, tacky. Skanky, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/16 "2004-03-18T14:46:30Z")
What **DevilDan** said. If she’s hot, then I like it. Of course, I’m just your typical male pig, so what do I know? ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/17 "2004-03-18T15:11:12Z")
Another vote for very tacky ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/18 "2004-03-19T02:14:13Z")
If I can hijack a little . . . . I’ve been having a difficult time figuring out what women think is acceptable as far as visibility of underwear. On the one hand, it’s no secret or shame that they’re wearing it, so I’m not scandalized when I can detect its presence. But some women are . . . _sometimes_. Think of all the ink that’s been spilled over solving our respective nations’ grave and gathering “panty line” crisis. Why? Yes, you can sometimes detect that the girl is in fact wearing underwear. Why is that so horrible or aesthetically displeasing? I’ve had women tell me their sole reason for having recourse to the dreaded thong (which must be uncomfortable as all get out, and is definitely stripper-tacky) was to avoid “show through.” But your bra is, in almost every case, going to be more evident, even if you aren’t purposely letting it peek out, right? And, as noted, some do let it show through quite clearly. Here I’m thinking, not only of the trashy teenybopper look (presumably we could attribute their exhibitionistic ways to a desire to shock); instead, I’m thinking of a certain type of sheer blouse or shirt that professional women will wear into the office as business or business casual wear – sometimes under a jacket, but sometimes not. I don’t know, it’s silk, or polyester, or rayon or whatever, usually light colored. And . . . it is sufficiently sheer that I can see her skin through it, and every detail (including reading the label, in one case) on her bra. But, these are not daring women, and it’s not considered risque. Hell, some of them probably have thongs on simultaneously to prevent show-through on the bottom, while I can see (not that I’m trying) every (covered) detail of their upper bodies. What’s the standard women use? ---
**Author:** ![geewhiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@geewhiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geewhiz)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/19 "2004-03-19T03:07:31Z")
\*\*Huerta88 \*\* The type of sheer shirt that you are talking about was made to either be 1) worn under a jacket…it is that sheer to stay cooler or 2) worn with a camisole under it so that all tags from bras and the bra itself would be covered up and to look professional. Someone needs to speak with those girls about professional dress. ---
**Author:** ![Poetgrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@Poetgrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poetgrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934/20 "2004-03-19T03:22:36Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > Which ¾ were showing? I don’t have bra-strap phobia so I opine based on your description. well, maybe it was more than 3/4… The shirt she had on was so low in the back that the entire horizontal part of the bra in the back (including the clasp) was showing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-tacky/234934.md?page=2)