Well, it was just recently 105 degrees in New York, which served as quite the visual reminder that, hey, bra straps — they exist!  And these days, they exist more in your face than ever before.  The fact that gives us the most pause, though, is that letting those things show might not be such a faux pas.  In fact, it may even count as a style statement.  We talked to Rachel Cothran, the founder of Project Beltway, which keeps abreast (ha!) of fashion in Washington, D.C.

When it comes to good examples of exposed bras, Cothran pointed out that they’re generally donned by “the young, stylish, and small-chested, rocking it on the weekend. I hosted a fashion event [recently] and one fashionable shopper wore a neon citron bra with a sheer black cotton leotard over it and a pile of necklaces. On her, it looked cool.”

That said, Cothran also noted the exposed look is ubiquitous enough that our nation’s capitol now plays host to a fleet of “skinterns” every summer.  Worse, they’re not even shocking.  “I feel like I hear [the term] so much, that it has started to sound grating and tired, like ‘fashionista’ and ‘curated,” Cothran said.

So though it might work on occasion, of course, there are clearly all kinds of empirically terrible ways to show some strap.  Let’s compare them, shall we?

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