The Nation: Cooper's Droop

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Bralessness, that badge of liberation and adornment of the age—in some cases, at least—may be an insupportable custom. So suggests a medical expert writing in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The problem, according to Dr. John H. Wulsin of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, is simple gravity. "The fibrous attachments which support the breast," says Wulsin, "stretch under the influence of gravity, more so in some women than in others, and especially in those breasts naturally large or fat or pregnant or lactating."

That much most women already knew. But, continues Wulsin, "once lengthened by tension, these fibrous connections (Cooper's suspensory ligaments*) do not resume youthful dimensions, and despite hopeful legend, no amount of exercise will restore pristine mammary profile."

There is no actual danger in bra-lessness, concludes Wulsin, but unfortunately, the only possible worthwhile insurance against eventual droop, especially in the large-breasted, he says, is the support of a "satisfactory brassiere."

* After Sir Astley Cooper, a 19th century British anatomist.