House of Leroy
Bras worn by men seemingly make no practical sense, as most of us have little or nothing to support, hold or push up.
But then brassieres serve another purpose apart from merely carrying the weight and shaping of female anatomical organs, a that role is of almost equal importance: bras have an esthetic purpose, so to say, as they may also enhance and embellish the breasts.
The male chest has an appeal of its own, which has also been intensified along the generations by means of breastplates, aegis, large necklaces, adorned armors, and what-have-you.
Even ties, which at times can become the epitome of menswear dullness, can be seen a way of drawing attraction to our chest.
As we leave our prejudices behind, there's no reason why we shouldn't beautify our breasts in a less butch way, and go for other garments.
In fact, several menswear designers have recently come up with what could be described as, well... bras!
As I was catching up with Leroy Balmores, a blogger I follow closely, I couldn't help but noticing that i one of his most recent pics, he was wearing a beautiful, spiked bandeau.
His other accessories are also original and fun, such as this ornamented choke
His blog is always a joy for me to visit. As you can infer from the pics below, he's also into high heels and skirts.
You can follow it at
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Other Recent Men in Bra
Yoko Ono's Designs
This is an interesting post. First of all, I am well familiar with Jeroy, as he is a prolific Lookbooker, and like the author of the New Male Fashion Blog, always enjoy looking at what he is wearing. I must say, I don't like everything he wears -- but that's okay! I appreciate that he is himself, and doesn't give a toss about what anyone else thinks. Boy, if only more people could have that kind of attitude, the world would be a changed place.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I digress. The topic of men wearing bras is interesting, and I do agree for the most part -- that under normal circumstances, it serves little purpose, as men don't have breasts like women do. Or is that accurate to say?
Indeed, if women were simply interested in being utilitarian, there would be no reason for lingerie shops, Victoria's Secret, and endless arrays of beautiful, alluring, sexy designs! No, women also treat bras as something far more than strips of cloth to hold up their breasts. Even for women there is (or can be) a fetishistic aspect to wearing a bra. Which really begs the question. If women are permitted to wear a bra to feel sexy and out of a certain sense of fetish, then why shouldn't men?
A number of designers over the years have asked this very same question. One in recent years was a Japanese businessman. He designed a "bra for men" -- for no other reason but because he himself liked the way a bra felt around his body. He liked the satin, the feeling of having something a little tight against his chest. So he designed and marketed his product. And lo and behold, discovered that he wasn't the only one! In fact, Japanese men started buying them in DROVES! The year they came out, it was such a hot-selling item, that orders on the lingerie company's website (that caters to both women AND men), was sold out of them and had a 3-month waiting list!
ReplyDeleteThere was MASSIVE amounts of disccusion, debate, ridicule, encouraging remarks, and everything in between on the Japanese social media networks, like Mixi. This only served to drive sales more. Now, years later, they not only offer the original bras from years back, but they've expanded their line to include many different styles and colors!
Well, I wouldn't be me if I didn't have the desire to experiment and see what all the fuss was about... So waaay back when they started, I put my name on the multi-month waiting list, and actually purchased this item. It was exactly as I expected -- a men's bra. Designed to accommodate a man's chest, including the lack of significant breasts, it was essentially just a "fun" thing... Was it fun? Umm. I could take it or leave it. I must admit, it could be somewhat arousing at times... I could see why men would be drawn to it as a fetish item. (But a pretty mild, harmless fetish from what I can tell)... And I enjoyed learning what it might feel like for a woman to wear one of these things every day -- day in and day out, and perhaps even a curse rather than a blessing. I could see that it could get annoying after a while. But anyway, the novelty wore off soon enough, and the bra got hidden away into the recesses of a forgotten drawer, for several years now.
ReplyDeleteBut just recently, I had an interesting experience. I was at the gym, working out, when my wife looked at me and said: "Are you alright?" I said, "Hmm? Yeah. Why?" She pointed to my chest, and I had a large, fresh blood stain on my shirt, exactly where my right nipple would be. I was shocked to say the least! I ran back to the changing room to examine myself, quickly washed out the blood from the shirt, before jumping on the Internet to find out how much longer I had to live before I died of breast cancer, or some related fatal condition.
Well, turns out it was just a simple case of "jogger's nipple." But for whatever reason, I had never experienced it before... Must have been that particular shirt I was wearing, combined with my 6km run on the treadmill... But after I got home, boy was my nipple EVER tender and sore. Any contact and rubbing against fabric was rather uncomfortable at best (and painful at worst). A bit of Internet research revealed that a suggested way to prevent this condition (and alleviate the painful symptoms) was to wear a bra. Aha! I immediately thought of my crazy purchase from several years back, dug it out from my drawer and put it on. It was perfect! And for the next 24 hours, allowed me relief from the pain and tenderness, and helped my body heal very quickly without having to worry about fabric constantly rubbing against a tender spot. At that juncture I was extremely happy that I had bought this "useless" item of clothing that was specifically made and designed for the female anatomy. But clearly, it seems that men and women may not be as different as we think they are -- even when it comes to our physical build and how we are made!
The next time I went running, I did not wear the bra -- but I DID wear a sleeveless, tight, form-fitting undershirt, almost like a sports bra (but made for men, and long enough to cover the waist), made from a smooth, satiny kind of material, that I wore under my workout shirt. That did the trick too, and didn't look odd either.
Apologies for the long post! (Well, 3 posts. But I guess I just had a lot to say).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if anyone is interested, the Japanese company that makes men's bras is called WishRoom. And if for no other reason, here's the link to see what they are selling, and how they are marketing it. (Sorry - it's all in Japanese though). http://www.wishr.com/store/shopping.php?code=92235