It’s refreshing that Alex Scott & Florence Pugh are freeing the nipple – nothing says ‘accept me as I am’ more clearly
BEAUTIFUL, bouncy boobs always create headlines.
To put it bluntly that’s down to the fact that us women possess them and blokes don’t.
Us Brits have always had a strange relationship with boobs.
So many of us aren’t satisfied with what Mother Nature gave us.
Because yes most of our breasts — from big nips to mismatched cup sizes — are gloriously imperfect.
That’s why it is utterly refreshing that women like Alex Scott are showcasing their nipples.
The 39-year-old former footballer, now a sports presenter, gave her nipples their red carpet debut at this week’s GQ Men Of The Year Awards.
Nothing says “this is wonderful me — accept me as I am” more loud and clear than a sheer dress with teeny pert boobs on display.
Since time began a small percentage of (admittedly brave) women have monetised their boobs, and why bloody not?
Think about the millions Katie Price made out of hers.
That’s why I’m genuinely in awe of Scott and fellow free-the-nipple advocate Florence Pugh.
I reckon the 24-year-old actress kick-started this movement last year.
She wore the most beautiful Valentino sheer pink dress to a posho awards ceremony.
Depressingly she was met with a typical barrage of criticism. Pearlclutchers and their ilk squawked the usual “how-very-dare-she?” Insults that they could see her nipples.
Pugh magnificently refused to back down.
In a mic-drop clap back she said “they’re just breasts.”
‘Right time and place to let the girls hang free’
Models Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski are routinely papped, or post pics of themselves, braless. It really is no big deal. Their nips pushing through their vest tops.
So refreshingly normal for the rest of us girls who secretly do it too. And it isn’t just Gen-Z opting to go bra-free.
Friends goddess Jennifer Aniston, 54, has been photographed countless times looking heatwave hot and bra-free in tight T-shirts and vests.
The same goes for 52-year-old Amanda Holden.
The Heart FM presenter regularly shows up at work in tight tops leaving nothing to the imagination.
I have no doubt she works hard to keep her body in check.
I’m 52 and grew up in the era when glossy magazines were full of ads to have your boobs enhanced.
The seduction techniques used to get women to sign up for a pair of big boobs were big business.
Then there were glossy brochures that arrived in the post.
If you didn’t give in and buy yourself a bigger chest, you could fork out for bras to create the illusion you had a massive rack.
I grew up in the “Hello Girls” Wonderbra era when more was more when it came to hoisting up the boobs.
Suddenly gals like me were supposed to use padding and complicated underneath support to give us the kind of cleavage Lads’ Mags encouraged the world to think was normal.
The joke went that the minute we got home those uncomfy undergarments were immediately re- moved because they were so constrictive.
And yes, all us women heard the joke about the “wonder” was where did the girls go when the bra was removed and the illusion of a Playboy mansion cleavage fell away simultaneously.
Because, yep, blokes were sold on the illusion that only big boobs were sexy when it’s clear — thanks to the free the nips movement — that nothing could be farther from the truth.
Yet back then even my head was turned by the idea of buying myself a new pneumatic chest.
I actually got as far as a consultation with a plastic surgeon.
But I was so on the fence about giving my 34B girls a boost he advised me to walk around for a week with two bags of rice popped in a D-cup bra to see how I felt. I was, in a word, horrified.
Now in my midlife I’m so glad I kept my small boobs.
They mean I get to sunbathe topless on holiday, go bra-free when I fancy it.
I know I’m in the minority in having such a small chest.
In the UK the average bra size is 36DD.
Countless friends are getting implants removed and while I’d never say, “I told you so” I’m so glad we live in an era when silicon pumped-up boobs are out and gloriously imperfect natural beauty is in-yer-face in.
Yes, there is a time and place to let the girls hang free.
The office Christmas party isn’t a good time to debut a sheer dress, if only to avoid the usual handsy suspects.
The same goes for deciding what to wear when roaming free.
Fishnet vest? Nope.
Tight organic cotton T-shirt? That’s a yes from me.
Mum friends bemoan their boobs as deflated balloons, but given that a large percentage of women will have pregnancy-weathered boobs — why not make it the norm to show what breasts that have been used for feeding babies look like?
The next generation of mums should take their cues from real women who’ve walked the walk.
Yet I’d never dream of bra-splaining to a woman with an H cup how to go braless (hopefully she wouldn’t do the same to me) and my motto in life nowadays, is “you do you”.
But I totally get why it isn’t so easy for larger-chested women to go braless.
To put it simply there is more to criticise — when in 2023 this shouldn’t be the case.
Boobs come in all shapes and sizes.
The world needs to wake up to this.
But, just for now, I’m going to celebrate that lil nips like mine, Florence Pugh’s and Alex Scott’s are having their unfiltered moment — and thank god for that.