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 way that may be thought-about revealing or attractive, however have protruding nipples that are seen via my shirt no matter whether or not it’s chilly or not. Thick materials don’t disguise this; there may be all the time a bit bump. I must put on thickly padded bras to cowl it up, or nipple covers. Each of these choices are uncomfortable. I want 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 could doubtless make my breasts seem monumental. Moreover, I get heat very simply, so I’m not carrying cumbersome garments, giant sweaters, or blazers more often than not. Mainly, I’m dressed professionally, and possibly a bit frumpily, with no cleavage out. Nonetheless my nipples are generally apparent in case you take a look at my chest. Do I’ve to cowl them up? It feels to me like it could be borderline physique shaming to be requested to take action since that is simply how I’m constructed.
No, you don’t need to cowl them up. For those who’re snug, you’re positive.
Realistically, would possibly there be individuals who have Ideas about your nipples making their existence identified via your clothes? Sure. That doesn’t make it unprofessional so that you can possess them, or so that you can decline to put on further layers solely to cover them. (And actually, there are individuals who may have Ideas about girls’s our bodies it doesn’t matter what you might be carrying.)
As a result of we dwell on this planet we dwell in, I do have to say that it’s doable that a few of these individuals will assume you might be being much less polished or much less skilled than they consider you ought to be. How a lot that issues will rely in your business, the character of your job, how a lot energy these individuals 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 girls’s appearances, it’s a calculation you’ve bought to make about how a lot these attitudes are prevalent in your specific context and the way a lot you care.