No Bra Day Date in the current year: October 13, 2024

The inaugural No Bra Day was observed on July 9, 2011. It was initiated by an anonymous Internet user under the nickname Anastasia Doughnuts, who created a website promoting the event. She encouraged women not to wear bras at least one day a year to give their breasts a rest. And those who for some reason can’t or don’t want to go braless, as well as men, can wear something purple to show their support.

No Bra Day is also linked to BRA Day, an event launched by Toronto plastic surgeon Dr. Mitchell Brown in October 2011. In this case, BRA is also an acronym for “breast reconstruction awareness”. Dr. Brown noticed that many women didn’t want to undergo reconstructive surgery after undergoing mastectomy due to breast cancer. So he started BRA Day to raise awareness of the availability of the procedure.

But it isn’t the only goal of BRA Day, because at the end of the day, women don’t have to undergo breast reconstructive surgery just because they’re expected to. The event also aims to raise awareness of the importance of regular self-examinations and breast cancer screening, because women whose breast cancer is detected at an early stage have an over 90 percent survival rate.

Women are encouraged to forego wearing a bra on No Bra Day for one simple reason: the discomfort caused by wearing an ill-fitted bra (and most women, in fact, wear bras that don’t fit properly and are too small for them) can make them miss the first signs of breast cancer. This is why women should spend at least 24 hours a year braless, so that they realize the importance of wearing a properly fitted bra and regular self-examinations.

Although the inaugural No Bra Day was held in July, two years later it was decided to move the official day of the event to October 13, since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the United States and many other countries. In 2013 and 2014, the event was held both in October and in July. Since 2015, October 13 has been its only date. As of 2017, No Bra Day was observed by hundreds of thousands of women in 30 countries.

Every October 13, women all over the world go braless not only to support the breast cancer awareness campaign, but also to demonstrate their right for bodily autonomy. They protest against the sexualization of female breasts and bras, as well as against body shaming of women who don’t wear bras for whatever reason. A woman’s body is her own business, and no one has the right to dictate women whether they should or shouldn’t wear a bra.

By the way, physicians and researchers have proven that, contrary to a popular misconception, going braless doesn’t lead to breast sagging. Moreover, it has a number of health benefits. Going braless improves blood circulation, prevents neck, shoulder and back pain caused by an ill-fitted bra, improves breast skin health, and makes women feel more comfortable once they get used to not wearing a bra.