Don't be Hard-on Your Nipples

Agent Provocateur

Titillating titular puns aside, let me be completely honest about something; I'm not overly fond of my nipples. This blog is about honesty as much as it is about education, so every now and then I will throw in a personal rant among my posts about proper terminology and new purchases; it's not just about lingerie. I created this blog for more than just telling those in need how to wear a suspender belt... (I'll get to that one soon I promise!). To me, lingerie is about the female body and personal body image itself. We are all self-conscious about something, and one of my aims is to help us all (myself included) get over it!


I remember my first nipple memory from when I was about three years old on a trip to the beach. My Mother was attempting to put me into my bikini top as I wriggled out of her grasp. "Why do I have to wear this?" I yelled. I didn't want to have to wear a top. "You have to cover your nipples" she said. This to me didn't make any sense. I could see my Brother splashing around the water in his little shorts and I wanted to do the same! Why did I have to suffer and look different to him? "Because you are a girl. You shouldn't show your nipples". Even at that young age, it irked me and I didn't understand that comment at all. My Brother and I looked pretty much the same, except I had longer hair; our chests looked no different at that age. My Mother on the other hand, discreetly covered her D-cup bust in a simple black one piece. Kitted out in my forest green bikini bottoms, I leapt out of her reach and into the ocean - carefree and completely unselfconscious. That feeling didn't last for very long...

As I grew up and started to pay attention to the differences in bodies, I remember questioning my Mum on the size of her nipples. They were rather... long, and no matter how moulded a bra she wore they would often still show through her top. I remember telling her "I'm glad I don't have to worry about that!", to which she laughed and warned me that with time it could come. I was only young and hadn't fully developed nor had a I breast-fed two children like she had. Her words worried me.

Years passed, my bust grew and I continued to worry about my shape. My nipples stuck out; not as obvious as my mothers but I still didn't like them. I would occasionally see the smooth pink shaped nipples of friends in the change-rooms and I wanted what they had! Why were mine dark and protruding? I hated it and always covered them up as I felt I was all nipple and no breast! I remember purchasing "Pink Nipple" - a cream treatment meant to make your dark nipples pretty and pink! Urgh, I can't believe I did that. Soon after, I discovered beautiful lingerie that could cover up everything and could wear pretty moulded bras that would hide parts of myself I didn't like. Namely my nipples.

Times change however, and as I write this post my feelings about nipples are a far cry from the hatred I had for them when I was young. As I got into the lingerie industry, I actually got to see for myself the variance in nipple size, shape and colour. I was able to see the reality that had been hidden from me - a reality, that as we grow up, value our privacy and shy away from youthful nonchalance towards nudity, is usually seen only by lovers and partners. The reality of normal, everyday female nipples. Large nipples, round nipples, pink nipples, brown nipples. Nipples that point downward, nipples that are inverted, nipples that have hair growing out of them. I've seen nipples with large areola, nipples with small areola, nipples that were cosmetically tweaked and nipples that have been surgically removed by necessity due to breast cancer - I saw it all. And you know what? They were all fine and normal! I started to look at myself differently. What did it matter that mine stuck out slightly? What did it matter they showed through an outfit sometimes? Who cared? And as I thought about it, I began not to.

I started to embrace the quarter cup style, I gravitated to sheer triangle bras and wore peek a boo bras. Why did I need to be self-consious about something that was normal? My partner never seemed to care less so why should I? To this day I don't love my nipples but I certainly don't hate them. I realise they are there for a reason and one day they will do their purpose in life so I really shouldn't care what they look like. Because seriously, no one else does.

Elle Macpherson Boudoir Quarter Cup

I'm glad I got that off my chest.


Sorry.

How do you feel about your nipples? You can post annonymously on here so feel free to comment without worrying who might be reading it.