Every woman probably has at least one in her collection. I’m talking, of course, about the strapless bra. Yet are strapless bras a girl’s best friend (besides diamonds, that is), or are they to be villainized?
Here are some pros and cons of strapless bras:
- No annoying straps!
- But slippage can be a major issue
- Great support
- Can be harder to fit
- Opens your wardrobe options
- Lack of bra options
I’ve got plenty to share with you in this article, which is all about what’s great about strapless bras versus what’s not so great. Make sure you check it out!
The Pros and Cons of Strapless Bras
Per the intro, let’s expand on the pros and cons of strapless bras, as this will surely help you sort the bras into the friend or foe category.
Pros
- Forget About Painful, Slipping Straps
Bra straps are a necessary evil, but boy, are they the worst!
If they fit too loose, then you’re constantly digging into your shirt to fish out the bra straps and readjust them on your shoulder.
There they stay…well, until you move your body and then the straps slip again. You can keep doing this all day, even if you don’t want to!
Even if the straps fit, they can be painful to wear for hours at a time. You might remove your bra at the end of the day only to find angry red marks on both shoulders from your bra straps.
A strapless bra does away with everyone’s least favorite bra feature, and that is certainly worth celebrating!
- Fairly Comfortable and Easy to Wear
Is a strapless bra comfortable? In my opinion, it definitely can be, but fit plays a major role in that (more on the topic of fit to come, so keep reading!).
A well-fitting bra feels pretty good, and it’s so easy to wear. You don’t have to adjust the bra straps, as I said before, so you can spare your fingers from finagling with those plastic bra buckles.
You just set the band tightness, clip the bra on, and you’re good to go!
- Should Offer Excellent Support
Many women of all sizes eschew strapless bras because they believe they’ll get very little support from them.
Well, that couldn’t be less true!
Again, it all comes down to fit, but a well-fitting strapless bra is just as supportive as your average bra with straps. Some are even more supportive thanks to features like built-in boning.
If you have a bigger bust especially, then you cannot forego a supportive bra. You’ll end up with back and breast pain after lugging through your day.
A strapless bra can support you in ways you might have never imagined!
Besides the support they offer, strapless bras are also great at smoothing the immediate area, perhaps down to your waist depending on the bra design.
- Allows You to Fully Explore Fashion
Sure, in most instances, you will wear a bra with straps for your everyday dressing. After all, if you have long sleeves on, there’s no need to put on a strapless bra.
The problem comes when you want to wear something with very thin straps, a halter style, or even a strapless top or dress.
You can’t have your bra straps poking through every which way. Even if your bra color matches the color of your shirt or dress it’s still a major fashion no-no.
With a strapless bra or several in your wardrobe, now you’ll have the right bra to wear for every occasion.
You can wear a strapless shirt or dress without any risk of bra straps showing, and that’s an excellent feeling.
- A Must in the Summer
If you ask me, the time per year that strapless bras come the most in handy is during the summer.
That’s a time for bearing skin, including shoulders and backs. You’ll wear tube tops, halter tops, crop tops, and the like, many of which are best worn with a strapless bra.
Here’s yet another benefit of going strapless in the summer. You don’t have to worry about sweat accumulating under your straps, discoloring them, making them stink, and possibly irritating the skin underneath.
Cons
- Finding a Good Fit Can Be Tough
Moving on to the downsides of wearing a strapless bra, the first is that it’s not always easy to find a fit that works for you.
I’ll have a section later all about getting fitted for a strapless bra, but women can make the mistake and assume that a strapless bra should fit exactly the same as a bra with straps.
While your bra size probably will not change from a strapped to strapless bra, these two bra styles do not fit the same.
For one, the band of a strapless bra is usually wider than a bra with straps. That enhances the supportiveness of a strapless bra.
Second, the fit around the bust should be a lot firmer compared to your average bra with straps. Some women can make the gaffe of assuming their strapless bra is too tight because of this extra degree of firmness.
What’s really happening is that the bra fits just right!
- Bra Slippage Is a Major Faux Pas
If your bra strap slips down your bare arm, it’s not a cute moment at all, but it’s far from the end of the world.
However, if your strapless bra slips down, now we’ve left cute territory and entered wardrobe malfunction land.
At the very least, your breasts are now going to be bare under your clothes. Your nipples could come through like two headlights.
Between that and the strange lumps and bumps that your slipping bra will create, it’s very obvious to tell that your strapless bra has slipped down to your belly button.
At worst, you could end up accidentally exposing your breasts, especially if your strapless bra takes your tube top with it.
That alone is enough to make you never want to wear a strapless bra again!
Now, I should note that strapless bras do come with some adhesive to prevent the above slipping phenomenon, but the adhesive might not be that good in cheaper bras.
Even in a better bra, wearing and washing the bra can cause the adhesive to wear away with time.
- Sagging Is Unflattering, As Is Drooping
The strange phenomenon of strapless bra drooping and sagging that can happen when you have an incorrect fit is not too much fun.
As I said before, the awkward lumps and bumps that the strapless bra will create under your clothes will make you want to run home and put on a bra with straps ASAP.
- A Surprising Lack of Bra Options
When it comes to bras, they come in all shapes, sizes, and styles.
I’ve talked on the blog before about how bras for smaller busts usually have a lot more going on when it comes to color and pattern variety. That said, even bras for bigger busts can be colorful, just not as much.
Those rules only go for bras with straps.
I feel like once you get into strapless bras, you don’t get nearly as much variety. The lack of options can cause some women to refrain from buying a strapless bra.
They either go braless when wearing a strapless garment or forego strapless clothes in the first place.
Strapless Bra vs. Stick-on Bra – Is This the Better Alternative?
Strapless bras are not the only solution in their category. There are also stick-on bras, which I want to take a moment to talk about.
A stick-on bra isn’t really a bra, per se. It doesn’t have any sort of band, for instance.
Rather, it’s an adhesive-based “bra” that covers your bust only. Between the two cups are adjustable strings that you can tighten to create incredible cleavage without the need for a traditional bra.
Stick-on bras don’t necessarily make your bust look bigger though. They also don’t offer anything in the way of support since they’re not real bras.
That said, if you have to wear a unique strapless look and you don’t want your strapless bra to be visible in any way, shape, or form, then a stick-on bra is a good solution.
You can also try a stick-on bra first before graduating to a strapless bra.
The flexibility and comfort of stick-on bras are also major selling points. Skin-friendly, these bras usually won’t irritate the skin in your most sensitive areas (i.e., your breasts), even if you wear a stick-on bra all day.
Like a strapless bra can lose its adhesive qualities over time, the same is true of a stick-on bra. Many are only meant for one-time use, but they’re inexpensive enough that you won’t mind so much.
How to Get Fitted for a Strapless Bra
Okay, I’ve talked about it enough. Next, I want to go over the steps to getting fitted for a strapless bra.
You’ll recall that strapless bras fit differently than traditional bras with straps. Thus, even if you’ve gotten fitted recently, it’s still a good idea to go in for a fitting for a strapless bra.
If you’d prefer to do your fitting in the privacy of your own home, then you can have a friend or partner take some measurements.
They’ll need a flexible measuring tape, which they should wrap around your breasts in the center where your breasts are fullest.
Next, they’ll wrap the flexible measuring tape underneath your bust where your ribcage sits to get the band size.
If the number isn’t quite a whole number, then round it up until it is. Increase the measurement by five inches for an odd number and four inches for an even number.
Remember, a strapless bra is supposed to fit in a way that feels a bit strange to you at first.
Here are some indicators that your bra fits well:
- Your breasts fill the cups without any weird gaps but don’t overfill the cups.
- The bra feels tight around your body but not so tight that it’s painful.
- No parts of the bra are poking or prodding into you.
- You feel supported and won’t spill out as you move.
Even if you intended to shop for a strapless bra online, I would still recommend trying a similar bra on in the store.
In the dressing room (or at home after purchasing the bra), put it to the test.
The best way to do that? Move? Try a sudden movement. Lean forward or bend over. Take a brisk walk like you’re late to work.
Do you have any slippage? Any spillage? Any incidents at all? If you answered no, then congratulations, your strapless bra fits well!
So, Is a Strapless Bra a Friend or a Foe?
Strapless bras are more friend than foe.
I’m not saying that strapless bras are perfect. However, most of the issues that women have with these bras is due to a lack of fit.
If they had only taken the time to get properly fitted, then they’d realize that most strapless bras are fine.
They won’t ever be your everyday bra, but a strapless bra is still good to have in your wardrobe for the next wedding or upscale formal occasion you have on your calendar!
