LIKE A BULLET TO THE CHEST.

I was twelve when I purchased my first bra.

It was about to be my first year of high school and all the other girls had matured. While I was completely flat chested, I wasn’t going to be the only girl in school without a bra.

My Granny took me to a Primark, being the only member of my family that entertained my ‘urgent need’ for a bra. She told me stories of how she used to stuff her bullet bra in the 1960’s. I chose the smallest size possible.

Later that night I tried it on. It was far too big! The cups gaped, the wire dug into my ribs and the clasp hung loose at the back. So, I stuffed it. Just like my Granny used to. I wore it like that until I was 15 and my body caught up. I had finally matured.

2025: Revival of the Bullet Bra

So, let’s get straight to the point. Bullet Bras are back in 2025. On your favourite celebrities, promoted by your favourite brands; advertising your favourite downfall in feminism.

As Vogue reported in their coverage of ‘Paris Fashion Week’s Bullet Bras Get to the Point’, Mui Mui‘s 2025 Winter Collection
is all about supporting feminism and natural body shapes, showcasing Bullet Bras under tight ribbed vests and sweatshirts.

Because nothing says natural like pointed breasts and sculpted
underwear…?

Are we stuffed?

Everyone is craving change, but is this prompting a regression in feminist values? Bullet Bras were first invented to protect women working in factories during World War II. What’s their purpose now?

My Granny, a 1970s Marylin Monroe, used to stuff her Bullet Bra. Anything to fit in with the depressing beauty standards.

I visited the Vogue archives from the 1950’s-1970’s, and I was haunted by each page. The female ‘friendly’ magazines my Granny would have seen when she was my age, kept me up at night. Feminist progress seems to be a cycle we tiptoe around, unsure of when the next battle will be.

Sisterhood, Comfort and the Weight of Comparison

I grew up in a house filled with sisters. I feel privileged to have had so many older female role models, comfortable enough to express their bodies in our home. As a little sister, I hoped for nothing more than to be like them, encouraged to become secure in my body image at an early age. My sisters often walked around the house nude, because of this I was never embarrassed to do the same.

I never laughed at the word ‘naked’ in school, and I never thought twice about who was at the till when I purchased new underwear. Nudity was a very normal thing for me growing up.

Later in life, I moved out for university. For three years, I’ve lived in cramped houses, filled with gorgeous women. We aren’t related, but we are sisters. Countless times, they have walked into my room while I’m changing, or sat on the toilet while I’m showering, no one bats an eyelid. It’s natural. I’m beyond grateful for a confident relationship with my body, helping me build female friendships filled with love and comfort.

That said, I am conscious that too many women would be filled with embarrassment just at the thought of another woman seeing what’s beneath their clothes. Social media has implemented unrealistic stereotypes for so many women and made them believe that their natural, is not normal.

I ache for these women. We are all sisters and this feels like a bullet to the chest.

Undressing the Truth

Kylie Jenner is an example of someone who has quickly revolutionised dominant beauty standards. She’s a modern day icon and her social media presence is valuable. As promoted in Vogue’s article, ‘Did the 2024 Met Gala kickstart a bullet bra revival?’ , Kylie was seen wearing a Bullet Bra dress at the 2024 MET Gala.

With social media prominent in many our lives, our virtual role models are important. Is this the standard we want young girls to aspire to? Pointed breasts and sculpted silhouettes? We risk a future of discomfort and unrealistic stereotypes within women’s lingerie and beyond. A bullet that will wound another generation of women.

So, let’s undress the truth. With social media becoming increasingly accessible to younger ages, how long until girls aged twelve are asking their Granny to buy them a Skims Nipple Bra? Let’s not wait until then to fix the derailment in feminist progress.

Preparing for Battle against the Bullets

But what paved the way to this vicious cycle of feminist progression and regression? Was it the invention of Bullet Bras, the media’s sexualisation of them? Or, was it their re-introduction, 75 years later?

We are in a time period where female development is critical, we can’t afford to move backwards. Let’s encourage younger female figures close to us to deflect sexist media material. Let’s encourage them to be confident in who they are. To teach them, early, that women’s bodies are exactly as they’re meant to be.

By the time some of our own children are old enough to be body-curious, maybe even trying on their Granny’s bras without them realising, it’ll be around 2050. Nearly a century since the rise of the Bullet Bra. Will our idea of ‘normal’ still be shaped by shapewear?

It’s a question that’s consumed my mind ever since I first heard about the bra-burning feminist movements. We ache for change, for comfort, for confidence, for a return to something natural. Let’s unclip our standards, burn our stereotypes and stop taking bullets to the chest.