A reader writes:
I’m a mid-40’s girl working in an workplace setting at a college and would describe our costume code as workplace informal.
I don’t costume in a fashion that could be thought of revealing or attractive, however have protruding nipples that are seen by my shirt no matter whether or not it’s chilly or not. Thick materials don’t disguise this; there’s all the time a bit of bump. I must put on thickly padded bras to cowl it up, or nipple covers. Each of these choices are uncomfortable. I favor one thing extra akin to a sports activities bra as I’ve giant breasts, and even when I put on an underwire bra I don’t need it to be padded as it might probably make my breasts seem huge. Moreover, I get heat very simply, so I’m not carrying cumbersome garments, giant sweaters, or blazers more often than not. Principally, I’m dressed professionally, and possibly a bit of frumpily, with no cleavage out. Nonetheless my nipples are typically apparent when you have a look at my chest. Do I’ve to cowl them up? It feels to me like it might be borderline physique shaming to be requested to take action since that is simply how I’m constructed.
No, you don’t must cowl them up. In case you’re snug, you’re high quality.
Realistically, would possibly there be individuals who have Ideas about your nipples making their existence recognized by your clothes? Sure. That doesn’t make it unprofessional so that you can possess them, or so that you can decline to put on additional layers solely to cover them. (And actually, there are individuals who can have Ideas about ladies’s our bodies it doesn’t matter what you might be carrying.)
As a result of we stay on this planet we stay in, I do have to say that it’s potential that a few of these folks will assume you might be being much less polished or much less skilled than they imagine try to be. How a lot that issues will rely in your trade, the character of your job, how a lot energy these folks have over your profession, and the way a lot you care about what they assume. There are fields and jobs and other people the place their opinions wouldn’t matter in any respect; there are others the place they might. (Fewer of the latter than the previous, and more and more shrinking, however they exist.)
As with a lot about ladies’s appearances, it’s a calculation you’ve obtained to make about how a lot these attitudes are prevalent in your explicit context and the way a lot you care.
