Museum Notebook: The special awareness around No Bra Day

Display window in the DIC, Victoria Avenue, Whanganui, 1932. Photo / Tesla Studios. Whanganui Regional Museum Collection ref: Tesla Collection 2011.58.25298

No Bra Day is one of those special 'awareness' days which appear suddenly in our calendars.

'Bra' is an abbreviation of the French word 'brassiere', and bras have a long and varied history. Wikipedia defines the brassiere as 'a support to cover, restrain, reveal, or modify the appearance of the breasts'.

Whanganui Regional Museum has a small collection of bras dating from 1965 to early 2,000. A 1933 photograph of a DIC window display of undergarments, including bras, illustrates something of the variety and choice that was available even then.

The bras in the collection appear practical rather than glamorous. Nowadays, bras are produced for a great variety of different purposes, and they are not as hidden as they used to be. They are made from a range of modern materials so that what was once 'unmentionable' is now frequently highly visible, decorative and fashionable.

Breasts, of course, come in all sizes and weights, and making modern garments that are fit for a range of roles and comfortable to wear is important for the industry. There is a wide choice of styles, all of which are designed to provide the best form of support and uplift possible to the wearer. The lacing, boning and underwiring of the past is now much less restricting and damaging to sensitive breast tissue. Despite these concerns, most women are familiar with the relief that comes with the divesting of the bra at the end of the day; correct fitting is always advised.

The invitation to take part in a No Bra Day is therefore somewhat surprising, but it does come with an important and very serious underlying message. It was first instigated by plastic surgeon Dr Mitchell Brown in Toronto in 2011. He was concerned at the increasing number of operations for breast cancer he was having to carry out. He believed that such surgeries could or should have been avoided by early detection and treatment. He founded the Breast Reconstruction Awareness Foundation in that year, and made October 13 the day to 'Take Care and Be Aware' of your breasts. That gives a new meaning to the initials BRA - it's not just a word, it's a message.

The Breast Cancer Foundation in NZ has made October our Breast Awareness Month, and even though we have already moved beyond October 13 for this year, it's so crucial to follow the advice. Check regularly and carefully for changes and anything which is not normal for you.

Keep your mammogram appointments, and don't delay in checking with your doctor or clinic if you have any concerns or doubts. Be conscious, too, that men can sometimes suffer breast cancer and need to make similar checks.

We can only consider with gratitude all the continuing research and innovations in breast cancer treatments, which have developed even in the eleven years since 2011, and which continue to develop further today.

Mary Laurenson is a volunteer at Whanganui Regional Museum.