Does the Skims 'Ultimate Nipple Bra' make sense?
By Mao Shan Wang
Is this for the burn-the-bra type who does not actually want to set anything ablaze? Kim Kardashian has decided to reinvent, for Skims, the underwear wheel by creating a new type of brassiere—one that makes you look bra-less under whatever you choose to wear. Seriously. When used beneath something clingy, such as a (fitted) jersey T-shirt, your nipples will happily salute. Seriously. This is possible as the cup part of the bra comes with a small moulded protruberance that purportedly mimicks the highest point of the areola. In a reel shared on her own IG page, Ms Kardashian described the bra's stunning effect: "No matter how hot it is, you will always look cold". I don't think she meant how the nipples will look when a woman feels the chills; I think she was referring to something else that could prompt mamillary arousal.
I am not a prude; I have nothing against nipples, indistinguishable or expressive. What I don't get is, why just not do away with the bra? As my Cantonese friends would say, 唔著都冇咁嬲 (mm jiok dou mo gam nao) or won't be so annoyed if you don't wear (it). Ms Kardashian is, of course, never uncomfortable to let all hang out. So her new US$62 bra is sort of self-contradictory. Perhaps she is catering to women who want to look like her on bra-less days, but still wish to be assured of some semblance of protection. So the "Ultimate Nipple Bra" is sort of free the nipple, only that it's partially liberated and it's not even real. In an era of physical enhancement, why not augmented paps? Or, of fake anything, why not fake teats, too?
In that self-starring promotional video that Ms Kardashian shared, she wore a two-piece, full-cover, second-skin bodysuit. The setting was sort of an office or a laboratory, or a nipple bra design studio. She had on a pair of metal-rim glasses, and looked somewhat teacherly (but not, I should add, professorial). And after the requisite intro of her new Skims product, she returned to where she began. "Some days are hard," she said, as if she believed that to be true. And then sitting her derrière on the table, added, "but these nipples are harder". Then the top was off, and there it was—that wonderful bra. with the phony nipples. It was a reveal that a true educator would make.
Screen shot: kimkardashian/Instagram
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