Young Teen College Girl Without Brassiere

Culture and fashion
Bras are a relatively recent invention and are by no means universally worn around the world. The majority of Western women choose to wear bras to conform to what they feel are appropriate societal norms and to improve their physical appearance. Wearing a bra can boost a woman's self confidence. Many Western women place a great deal of importance on their physical appearance, especially their breast shape and body image. Western media, especially advertising, emphasize a woman's body shape, especially her breasts.
Women choose to wear a particular style of bra for a variety of reasons. Her choices are consciously or unconsciously affected by social perceptions of the ideal female figure reflecting her bust, waist, and hip measurement. Fashion historian Jill Fields wrote that the bra "plays a critical part in the history of the twentieth-century American women's clothing, since the shaping of women's breasts is an important component of the changing contours of the fashion silhouette." Bras and breast presentation follow the cycle of fashion.