With style icons and fashion industry insiders touting bralette tops as an emerging trend to watch, asking how to wear bralettes has become a pressing question. An unlined, unpadded and unwired version of its underwire cousin, the item’s raison d'être is not to shape or alter the silhouette and it’s not even conclusively considered an undergarment.
The bralette is anything its wearer wants it to be: the thrilling accent to a plunging neckline, an audacious addition to formal outfit, or the perfect canvas for startling jewellery. As style icons and runway models clamour to establish their own unique take on this trend, there’s never been a better time to explore the multifarious aesthetics of the bralette.
Break the rules
Don’t tell your mother, but the cardinal rule that undergarments are meant to be worn, well, under your clothes has had its day. Let's just say the bralette isn’t so much an undergarment as an accessory. After her Coachella moment, daringly pairing an Anine Bing black lace version with leather shorts, Jenner became an unofficial ambassador. But her most exciting contribution to the trend came when it was time for Jenner to return to the airport, where she wore the very same piece over a fitted white crop top.
As well as being an experimental, liberating statement, bralette tops à la Kendall Jenner can provide accent and texture to an otherwise casual look. Jenner’s Coachella jaunt was also a powerful display of the hero piece's versatility — effortlessly transitioning from frenetic festival to the placid first-class lounge. Jenner has since gone on to strut the look on multiple occasions, both a standalone top and as accent on a blouse.
Shape and Form(al)
When model Martha Hunt showed up at a New York City party in a black, seamless bralette and tan skirt, heads turned: the item had gone formal. But Hunt wasn’t the only one getting in on the action, with the bralette-as-formalwear look garnered serious attention, with both Victoria’s Secret and Nordstrom featuring elegant bralette looks in both their collections and their advertising.
Internationally-revered Australian label Ellery's bralette crop-top designs see the pièce de résistance functioning as part of a decidedly formalwear look. Pair one with a floor-length Valentino skirt to create a subtler sultriness, mutating a bare midriff into a traditionally elegant silhouette. Really, there are few looks that manage to strike such a complex tonal range whilst maintaining the bralette’s elegant, modernist simplicity.
Lace up
At the same New York City event, model Taylor Hill opted for a dramatic black bralette and leather skirt combination. Worn under a frilly lace top, the inky accessory added unexpected notes of sensuality, accentuated again by Hill’s leather pencil skirt that would normally be lost on a cutesy lace blouse. This juxtaposition of smart and sultry proves that hard and fast rules around how to wear a bralette top don't exist, with exhibit A right here coming care of an actual Victoria’s Secret model. Truth.
To opt in, consider Martha Medeiros for the cutesy, frilly blouse element. The other vital part of Hill's look — the elegant but tough leather pencil skirt — can be emulated by way of Drome or Philipp Plein; the unflinching modernity strikes the perfect note to juxtapose the Oh Comely!-style frivolity of a lace blouse.
Bejewelled
The bralette, as should now be clear, can really be worn with just about anything — but does that necessarily mean that it should? Well, not really. In fact, by removing some of the variables, it becomes clear that bralette tops are perfectly capable of shining all on their own. In keeping with their free-form philosophy, it is the perfect garment to highlight the contours of your body. Cut low, it highlights the neckline, giving its wearers a canvas to showcase striking jewellery.
The self-assured aesthetic of the garment sets it up to pair well with understated, gold necklaces – consider the prowess of Rosa De La Cruz if you're seeking deep indulgence. There are few other items that give their wearers quite the space to showcase their jewellery, making it the perfect companion for multi-layered, wrap around necklaces, which neatly occupy the space from cloth to neck. For such a lightweight piece of fabric, the bralette is certainly capable of achieving profound (style-related) things.