About as tacky as plumber’s butt.
better than bra-less in my book.
YES, it’s tacky! Two words- STRAPLESS BRA!!! It seems that no female understands those two words anymore. They go out thinking that they look sexy and actually they look like Mr. Bean in drag with those stupid bra straps showing 
Wowsers-if bra straps are tacky, perhaps the bra should be laundered more frequently? D&R
I really don’t want to see anybody’s underwear. Keep it totally hidden, please.
The worst isn’t visible straps, though. The worst is when the blouse material is too light, or transparent, and the entire bra shows through. If a woman is doing this deliberately, that’s one thing. But I doubt if the old ladies where I work, fine middle-class churchgoers all, are going for some sort of Madonna effect – but that’s what they’re getting, I’m afraid. I can see everything. Please, people, cover up.
(I am male, and as such, my opinion hardly counts here. But you’ll never see my underwear unless I invite you.)
You people swear a strapless bra is an innocuous piece of clothing. Don’t you know how strapless bras stay up? Traction. The same concept that gives you road rash. Usually it involves a tight band of flexible plastic. Kind of like walking around in cling wrap on a hot summers day, except it’s really really textured cling wrap, so that it can abrade you as you walk around sweating. If thats what it takes to wear a tank top, why wear a tank top in the first place? I thought the idea was to stay cool in the summer, not to give you the chance to wear another greater torture device than the bra already is.
I don’t think bra straps are tacky at all if they are clean, and in a casual situation. It’s not exactly the thing to wear to work, but it’s perfectly okay for weekends and stuff. I can’t even comprehend getting worked up about it. For all you know, they’re just wearing two tank tops. It’s just straps. Goodness.
Then again, I don’t wear a bra. My low-B knocker (heh, they couldn’t even knock together if they tried) thank me for keeping them cool and free.
Uh, strapless bras suck ass. I tried one on the last time I went bra shopping, and I discovered this. The one that just went around my boobs did no good at all as far as holding them up–Ace bandages would have been better! The “longline” bra actually did hold the girls up, but there was a whole extra layer of fabric covering my stomach! Might be the best you can hope for in a stupid bridesmaid’s dress, but if you want to feel cool and comfortable in a tank top? What’s the point?
My SIL was absolutely horrified the first time she saw girls walking around in tank tops with bra straps showing. I’m not sure what the big deal is, myself. Most women do wear bras, after all. It’s not a big secret. Yeah, it’s tacky to wear to church, work, or (IMO) school, but in your backyard in the summer? Please. It’s not the look I’d choose (I’d be pushing the age limit a bit) but it’s not the freaking end of the world if someone sees your bra strap. If it were a bikini strap, would it be a big deal? Of course not.
Going with the people who say that it’s only tacky in a formal situation. Sheesh, it’s summer, and my girls are too big to go out in public un-assisted. As for strapless bras, I’ve never found a comfortable one yet. It’s not like I’m going to be wearing a halter top or cross-in-back-strapped top with a regular style bra, either, it’s just a standard spaghetti-strapped style top.
I either coordinate my bra to the tank top, or wear a strapless if I don’t have a coordinating bra. I hate the look of visible bra straps; the only time I’d ever let myself “get away” with it was this thin ribbed cotton bra I had that looked like another shirt underneath, not a bra. (My dog ate it so I no longer own that bra, but I do miss it.) So I do think a cotton bra under a cotton tank is fine; it’s the satin strapped bras that look tacky under cotton tanks…and since I don’t have a plain cotton bra at the moment, I just wear the strapless.
The ladies don’t allow me to go bra-free; even if they were very small, I’m maniacal about headlights–tacky tacky tacky!–so that would never be an option. I remember once in college I bought a dress with an open back, and I just couldn’t envision wearing a bra with it, but I didn’t want headlights either, so I taped Band-Aids over my nipples. Not. Recommended. At. All. Good lord, they hurt to remove! And they left a rash.
Owwww…
I’m also going to vote for tacky. Its not nice to show your bra straps! If I decide to wear a tank top, I do not wear spaghetti straps, simple as that. 
Yes, I realise that I sound old fashioned or prudish, but so be it. I was brought up in a household where it was considered tacky to even reveal one’s shoulders, and anything with spaghetti straps was, and still is, seen as being decidedly too revealing!
Wow, this is really surprising. I wouldn’t have thought in a million years that it mattered one way or the other.
You, lady, have no business lecturing anyone on revealing underwear in public
As far as I’m concerned, who cares. I’d only show nice underwear, though.
:Hangs head in shame: Sorry. It was an accident though.
Oh, and another thing, if you’re wearing clothes which don’t reflect UV light, do not ever wear white underwear, even if you’re as pale as snow. I found this out the hard way on Friday
That’s gross and a spurious reply as well :dubious:
Tampons are a sanitary accessory used to dipose of waste matter - not an item of clothing. It’s become completely acceptable to wear spaghetti strap casual tops with a co -ordinating/ pretty bra strap showing. Get with the times. That’s just the fashion for young women now. OK you might want to look a little less casual for work and formal occasions and then you won’t let your bra strap show but for casual wear it’s fine. Strapless bras are useless anyway. This thread would look soooooo dated in a few years.
Relax people - why does it have to be such a big deal? I think children wearing earrings are tacky for instance - in fact all earrings are tacky - but live and let live…
Um, it’s not a big deal - the question was whether visible bra straps are tacky or not. It’s a matter of opinion. Some think it’s tacky. Some don’t. I don’t see anyone suggesting that visible bra straps merit public flogging and evisceration. So it’s not a big deal - just a matter of personal taste and preference.
Sometimes I think that VBS does merit a very gruesome and public punishment … but I am working with my therapist on that. 
Actually, I think of think it depends on the setting as much as the situation. Some of that comes from fear of freaks. I don’t like the leering looks I get anyway, just from carrying the Big Girls around all the time. It seems to get worse when I don’t “coordinate” - what I interpret as “tacky” seems to come off to others as “easy.”
So, if I am going to be around strangers or people that I may want to impress, even if it’s a casual thing, I try to be discreet. But if it’s my family, I don’t always give a wet rat’s ass. Although, I have this “thing” about my undies matching my outfit anyway, so my straps tend to “blend in” even when I’m not trying.
Well, yes, I suppose, if you’re one of those loose modern girls who go around flashing your ankles at the sidewalk sheiks, or going corsetless to tea dances!
As for me, I prefer not to lower my standards.
The post that this was in response to (which the poster has since amended) said that a bra is something that women wear, and everyone knows it, and consequently so what if it shows? A tampon is also something that everyone knows women wear. I did not attempt to call it clothing. Just drawing an analogy to show the fallacy in a certain argument.
Apparently not, judging by the responses in this thread. I, and apparently plenty of other people, am not about to look to Britney wannabes for my fashion guidance.
As a jewelry maker who makes mostly earrings and almost never leaves the house without them, I would disagree.
Count me in the won’t leave the house without a bra camp.
The camisole style tank tops with the built-in bras are my newest favorite summertime tops. They provide enough support to be worn alone and the straps look fine if they show under other tops.
I have them in every color.
Given that I fall pretty far up in that special little bra alphabet, I wear a bra all the time–well, except for showering and sleeping. Strapless bra?! Not gonna happen, not even a long line, strapless. And right now I’m sitting here at work wearing a sleeve-less shirt–very tank top like–with wide straps that cover my bra straps. Could a bra strap peek out? Possible. Do I care. Not really. Is it tacky? I don’t think so–unless you’re wearing a tube top with a bra to really show off those straps.