Are bralettes becoming more risque?

TikTok star Addison Rae championed an experimental style at the MTV Movie & TV Awards.

Dua Lipa

Bralettes are already pretty racy, but TikTok star Addison Rae certainly managed to kick things up a notch with her outfit for the MTV Movie & TV Awards…

The 20-year-old wore an all-black outfit by Christopher Esber, featuring a low-slung skirt and tiny bandeau top. Rae topped off the look with statement silver jewellery around her midriff.

It’s a daring ensemble – Rae has started working with stylist Law Roach, who is responsible for some of Zendaya and Anya Taylor-Joy’s most talked about outfits – but it also comes as part of a trend. Are bralettes getting racier?

Bralettes aren’t new – the flesh-baring underwear as outerwear trend has been around for decades. The first whisper of a bralette revolution came in 2019, when Katie Holmes broke the internet in a beige knitted bralette and matching cardigan – since then, the trend for cashmere styles has been picked up by ‘it’ girls such as Hailey Bieber and Bella Hadid and is still going strong.

Bralettes were given an even racier update at the Jacquemus fashion show in July 2020. One of the models wore an eye-catching look: a top that seemed to be made up of two squares of fabric, covering all the important bits, but not much else. It was a sign of things to come: not only were bralettes well and truly mainstream, but people were starting to experiment more with the style.

French fashion brand Mugler was next to show off its ultra sexy take on the bralette. Its April show featured some of the biggest models around – we’re talking Hunter Schafer, Bella Hadid, Irina Shayk, Alek Wek and more – wearing mind-boggling tops, with tiny straps, unusual shapes and lots of skin on show.

This racier approach is making formal red carpets now too. At the recent Oscars, Zendaya’s canary yellow Valentino gown featured a teeny-weeny bralette-style bodice attached to a flowing skirt.

The trend for risque bralettes couldn’t have come at a better time. As lockdown restrictions ease, many of us are looking for a way to have a bit more fun with fashion, take some risks, and banish all thoughts of sweatpants.

Even if an uber tight bandeau creation doesn’t seem like the most comfortable thing to wear, just think: at least you won’t have to wear a bra.