What Bra Style Prevents Nipple Show-through?
One of the most common issues fielded by my fabulous customer service department is inquires about nipples showing through a bra and how to prevent this. It’s actually kind of fun reading how women try to pose this inquiry. It can be as subtle as "I’m looking for a bra that provides modesty" to "I need to turn off my headlghts" to "I want a bullet proof bra" to "I’m trying to hide my huge erect nipples!"
I have heard various lingerie experts claim that nipple show-through can be handled many ways. For example, some feel a lined bra will do the trick. Others have said that placing the nipple on a bra seam in the cups will mask the look. And, of course, there are those contour bras where the cups have a thin layer of foam or padding fused inside the bra cups.
Being skeptical of some of these claims, I decided to bring in a model of ours who has constantly erect nipples (For the uneducated, one side-effect of breast augmentation can be permanent nipple erection). I had her try on a standard molded bra, a lined bra, a seamed bra and a contour bra. I then had her put a t-shirt on over each of the bras. Let’s see what worked.
| Molded | Lined |
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| Seamed | Contour |
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As expected, the molded bra did nothing to conceal the situation. The lined bra seemed to have little or no impact as well. I found this a little surprising given that so many women and manufacturers swear by this solution. But, if you look at the t-shirt shots, the molded and lined bras look virtually identical.
The seamed bra did a pretty good job of reducing the "headlights." However, you have the two-edged sword of having the seam show through the t-shirt. So, basically, you sacrifice "bullets" for seams.
The contour bra option, also known as the t-shirt bra was the best performer. A thin layer of padding or foam can turn your headlights right off. But, the downside to this style of bra is for women with larger breast size who don’t want to add volume. Even that small amount of foam can make their breasts look larger.
Though I only showed these 4 bra styles, I want to also let you the reader know that there are other solutions to this problem. For example, an earlier blog post of mine discusses the Bali Concealer bras currently on the market. They too are contour, but have a very rigid flower shaped decal on the inside of the cup to keep a woman smooth across her breasts. Other options are to put one of the nipple concealer products directly over your breasts. This will smooth over your nipples and allow you to wear your existing bras. Some of the more popular products include Dimr’s, Smooth’m nipple concealers, No Peek Pads, Sassybax Nips and FashionForms Breast Petals.
For a link to all these options, go to:
Nipple concealers
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Hi Tomima – Thanks for showcasing this great experiment. Very informative.
Also, thanks for the free panties in the BlogHer swag bag! I like them so much I am adding them to my holiday gift guide.
Comment by Jessica
October 9th, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
Hello, what a horrible purpose for an article. There is nothing sexier than a woman’s nipples. Why in the world would you want to hide them. The only one offended by them or negatively commenting on them are other women. Just like the minimizer bra, what a horrible concept. If you got it, flaunt it. Who wouldn’t relish the added attractive element. If your insecure over it, might as well stop wearing make-up too because that gets attention as well.
Comment by Dennis
November 4th, 2008 @ 7:41 pm
Uhhh Dennis we want to conceal them so guys like you will look us in the eye when we talk to you. Guys staring at my boobs gets so old.
Comment by dumblonde
December 27th, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
i, too, have had breast augmnentation and suffer from permanently erect nipple. i use a combo of the contour bra and hollywood no shows from goodtobeyou. def give it a try!
Comment by manda
June 11th, 2009 @ 9:49 am
If you do not want a man to look at your bra please wear a jacket. If a woman wears a low cut blouse and then screams that a man should look them in the eye she is not only a bitch she’s a hypocrite and looking to cause problems. Please if you wish to hide your nipples wear a jacket. But, if your not trying to show off don’t. Hard to really say as well you’re probably not sexually attracted to men anyway so no great loss. Get over yourself, Men are men women are women be natural grow up and stop showing off and then hypocritically screaming at men for looking. Wear a burka. But, a woman’s nipples are always grand to see. There are, of course women out there who would simply be trouble makers and man haters who would show them then scream because men look. Drawing attention to themselves even more, so they can get a kick out of it and show off even more that they can attract a man randomly and destroy them in public. Funny, I’ve never had a problem looking these types in the eye then they try to look away so they can try to catch me looking at their tits. While I find something else to look at. They sneak a look at my dick pretending to look at the floor… Try growing up. try appreciating attention. Don’t bite the tongue that is kissing you and remember you’re an Animal like any other it’s only natural for us to try to procreate with each other. If you question whether you’re a animal look a little closer at your anatomy and that of any other mammal and tell me the differences you see then the similarities. First, how many limbs do you count on every mammal you see… then go from there duh!!
Comment by Martin Sloan
August 25th, 2009 @ 3:21 pm
Thanks for the examples and the suggestion. It was more than helpful.
Comment by sheila
June 8th, 2010 @ 11:13 am
In response to the men’s comments, believe it or not, there are women out there who want to hide their nipples because of sincere modesty. I know this may be a confusing concept to some because some clothes hide very little.
A small group of women, like me, want to hide nipples so that we don’t “cause another to stumble.”. What I mean by this is that for any women who believe Jesus when he says that for a man to even look at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart, this is a responsibility.
For any woman to say that it’s not her problem, it’s his (and dress provocatively), she’s forgetting that this is not typically a problem for us like it is for men.
So yes, we prefer men to appreciate our minds and our hearts and our kindness, not just our bodies (unless they are our husbands). And makeup, like clothes, can be worn to enhance subtly, not smack you over the head screaming,
“Look at me!”
Some of us, believe it or not, want to respect you as men enough to not tempt you, while at the same time dress in a pretty blouse and appropriately lengthed skirt.
All the other comments are just as valid. While there may be women who dress in such a way as to DEMAND guys stare, who love the attention for whatever reason, they’re probably not reading this blog.
Comment by Melissa
June 26th, 2011 @ 7:56 am
Half a billion women wear a “burka” or “hijab” (scarf) because although we were born “animals”, that doesn’t mean we have to stay at that level. We chose to take God as our deity, not you men. The only man I have to please is the one I have at home. So for our sisters who are not Muslim but still have the instinct for modesty, go for it.
Comment by Nancy
July 25th, 2011 @ 7:18 am
If you don’t have the problem…”dear men…” Shut the hell up. It gets old being stared at. Thanks for the article.
Comment by Betty
September 18th, 2011 @ 4:18 pm