The best bras fit perfectly and lift both boobs and mood …
“Bras reflect what is happening in the world,” says Georgia Larsen, founder of lingerie brand Dora Larsen. She’s right. In every era, the bra nods to the zeitgeist. In the Victorian period, corsets were mansplained as having “health benefits”. Th roughout the 1940s, the torpedo bra dominated, while the 1920s favoured flattening styles that suited drop-waists and a gamine flair. When the first push-up bra was sold by Frederick Mellinger in Hollywood in 1948, its name, the Rising Star, reflected its ability to uplift your best assets as much as it did the store’s location. In 2026, the politics of the bra are polarised: from actress Sydney Sweeney draping hers over the Hollywood sign in a promotional stunt for her new lingerie label to others simply ditching wearing one altogether. It all sounds perfectly on brand, then.
Whatever the politics, what styles are trending for spring? There’s a resurgence in lace, for one. “It’s a return to sexy but in a modern way,” says Georgia. And padded. She notes that her brand has just released its newest padded style, the delightfully named “Fannie Triangle”.
Next, if you are going to the eff ort of wearing a “good” wired bra then it must be worth the effort: trims, gold fasteners and scallop motifs are luxe extras on off er now. “The point of these bras is that these luxe details are visible,” says Tracey Despard, head of buying at Brown Thomas and Arnotts, citing how Miu Miu sent models down the runway with bra straps on show. The vibe is appealingly decadent, a little bit sexy.
Part and parcel of having breasts is being dissatisfied with them. Those with large ones wish to strap them down to get the “fashion” look. Those with small ones often crave voluptuous fun-bags. As a member of the larger-chested cohort, a visit to my home from Sarisha Chetty is as much a therapy session as a bra fitting. I’m not surprised when Sarisha tells me I’m wearing the wrong bra. The giveaway is the indents in my shoulders from years of boulderholders with ill-fitting backs. My straps are digging into the skin because they’re doing all the work, she explains. And beware the myth of the minimiser bra, she warns: “Most styles lack proper structure, leaving your boobs to fall out the sides. If you wear the right bra, it will do that work for you.” A try-on of a moulded cup – the kind I’ve avoided as I thought it would enlarge my boobs – and my double-F bust lifts a solid two inches. It actually looks smaller. My midsection goes from a boxy square to reveal a “snatched” waist. I am impressed.
Part and parcel of having breasts is being dissatisfied with them …
As part of her at-home fit service, Sarisha whittles down the plethora of bras on the market to a core capsule of six (yes, six!) hardworking styles that we all need. “This should include an everyday moulded cup in black and nude, a good strapless, a sports style and a soft er, mesh bra or ‘Sunday’ bra for when you’re off -duty,” she says. Start on the loosest clasp first, you can tighten it as the fabric gives over time. You needn’t handwash bras, either; wash at 30 degrees in a protective laundry bag.
A good bra will last six months to a year when worn exclusively, much longer if worn as part of a rotation. Wacoal’s Halo bra and Gossard’s Glossy soft -cup bra come recommended, as does the Fantasie range for its versatility.
Th e most common mistake we make is going too big on the back. Do this and your bust will sag. “If the back is riding up, it means it’s too loose and you won’t have adequate support,” says Daina Creedon, owner of Susan Hunter Lingerie. For fitting expertise, Peaches & Cream has a good reputation, as does Florence Lingerie. Both Brown Thomas and Arnotts take walk-in bra fittings and online bookings, and offer a vast selection including Glossy favourite Simone Pérèle.
According to fashion index Lyst, a key trend for 2026 is body enhancements with searches for “sculpted clothing” up 52 per cent. Designers are now incorporating curves into clothes in an illusory way. The zenith of this is Skims’ push-up T-shirt bra with inbuilt nipples (oh, god). Jean Paul Gaultier, the brand that created Madonna’s cone bra, is now proposing faux corsets printed onto racerback dresses. There’s a worrying development too. As bodies shrink thanks to weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, fashion responds. Vogue Business reports that more than 97 per cent of models in Fashion Month were a UK size 4-8. Sarisha cites “Ozempic breasts” – one client went from 44H to 30GG. Weight loss can lead to a lack of volume, she adds. Whatever the body type du jour, good support is always in fashion.
Just as short hemlines indicate a bull market, lingerie buying habits are indicative of the economic mood. Georgia Larsen believes a decline in the purchase of matching sets is a sign of frugality: people are foregoing the froth of lacy pants, spending on simply getting the bra right. “There’s a shift away from pastels towards muted tones and dark colours,” she says, indicating a need for practicality. Of course, it’s never really just about bras. The National Post reported that Sydney Sweeney’s push-up bra sexiness was a welcome sign of “the death of woke”. When Lauren Sanchez, the wife of tech mogul Jeff Bezos, spilled out of a white bustier at the Trump inauguration she became a pin-up for the Mar-a-Lago aesthetic.
The generational leap reflects a shift from bras as a female rite of passage to simply a situational necessity …
Conversely, Gen Z teeters on the verge of ditching bras altogether. According to Georgia, sales to 18 to 24-year-olds have decreased by ten per cent in the last two years. Why? An aversion to pinching wires (to the chagrin of fit experts) means tank tops, bralettes and camisoles are trending. It chimes with a move away from fake tan and “done” makeup to a more natural aesthetic. “The ideal is Kendall Jenner in jeans and a tank top; a push-up bra doesn’t fit the look,” a zillennial co-worker tells me. The generational leap reflects a shift from bras as a female rite of passage to simply a situational necessity; bras are only for the workplace, or if you have a particularly large chest, a clued-in Trinity student explains.
Before Sarisha departs, she surveys the floaty blouses and oversized T-shirts in my wardrobe. “Do you always wear baggy clothes on top?” she asks. Yes. Unwittingly, she calls into question if my entire taste in clothing, something that’s baked in since my teenage years, is less of a choice, rather a reaction, to my body – a workaround, rather than a personal preference. On a deeper level, perhaps the right bra is about more than I thought; as Sarisha says, it’s something bigger. We hold it small, yet it holds us whole. I keep one bra – a strapless corset style that will work with slim, camisole tops – and order two more. There’s something reassuring about a good fit.
