It’s not your imagination: More celebrities are donning sheer nipple-baring outfits by the day. I first noticed the style gaining traction in 2021, when Lizzo wore a sparkly mesh number to Cardi B’s birthday party. Since then, the flautist has been one of the few curvy stars I’ve seen embrace the trend, which has been dominated by the likes of Olivia Wilde, Florence Pugh, and Kendall Jenner. Yes, they all look fantastic — but none of them look like me, a size 12. With that in mind, I decided to style myself in a breasts-forward outfit for a day of runway shows at New York Fashion Week Fall 2023.

Ahead of NYFW, I wasn’t particularly nervous. Attendees are disproportionately women, femmes, gay men, and other members of the LGBTQ+ community, which makes fashion week a safe space for dressing outside of sexist societal expectations. Plus, I typically only wear bras to work out, so going out in public without one feels like my vibe.

But as I created my look, I realized I needed to consider a crucial practicality: New York, while a beacon for self-expression, is like any big city in that it’s full of creeps searching for reasons to harass women and femmes. I figured if anyone could pull off a transparent top without receiving unwanted attention, it would be me and my fairly small 36Bs. But in an attempt to mitigate any risk, I wore a puffer jacket on the train to Spring Studios, where I’d attend the Melke show.

When I exited the subway, hallmark traits of a New York City weekend rushed past me: couples in Allbirds sneakers hustled to who-knows-where, gaggles of teenagers conversed loudly, and elderly folks watched it all from benches-turned-anthropological observation decks. Looking around, I remembered one of my favorite things about this city: Most people are too engrossed in their own lives to notice you and your insecurities, let alone point them out.

I shrugged off my jacket, revealing a see-through dotted mesh bodysuit, which I paired with billowy Free People cargo pants and a shrug-bolero hybrid crocheted by my sister. I finished the look with a thrifted floral purse and embroidered Ugg boots from approximately 2010 — a throwback favorite of Kendall and Kylie Jenner.

Emily Malan

Emily Malan

Outside Spring Studios, I convened with a photographer friend, Emily Malan, to capture photos for this story. As she snapped candids, I was pleasantly surprised by a lack of ogling from passersby. Tits out on the sidewalk? That’s just another day in New York.

Looking back, my experience surely would’ve been different if I had a bigger bust, or wasn’t white and cisgender. But I felt undeniably cute in my ensemble and for the first time in ages, like I really belonged on the other side of a camera lens.

Inside the venue, a photographer took my picture, flash on, and I didn’t instinctively worry about covering my chest. Sitting next to me was the impossibly stylish Aiyana Ishmael, who wore her own sheer top ensemble.

Just when I thought my day couldn’t get more titty-positive, Melke’s models paraded the runway in avant-garde interpretations of the trend. A fluorescent turquoise knit clung to one person’s ample curves; another walked with their nipples poking through a layer of bow-accented mesh. For one of the first times in my five-plus years attending NYFW, a designer found harmony between size diversity and the look of the moment.

It was validating to see my outfit choice and body type represented by industry leaders. Sitting alongside the runway, I felt like a shining example of the future of fashion. In an industry that usually leaves me feeling uncomfortable in my own skin, that shift was profound.

Dia Dipasupil

Dia Dipasupil

Dia Dipasupil

Dia Dipasupil

That being said, the fashion industry has an alarmingly long way to go before it reaches anything close to full representation. When it comes to nipple censorship, progress is crawling at a painstaking pace — anyone who isn’t a man will be penalized for showing nipples on Instagram or Facebook.

Even so, my sartorial experiment confirmed one thing: If there’s anywhere an exposed set of nipples will be embraced — even celebrated — it’s at New York Fashion Week.

Emily Ratajkowski is no stranger to championing bodily autonomy. She’s touched on it in her memoir, My Body, and her podcast, High Low with EmRata. That said, she most effectively communicates the IDGAF ethos through her style. Thus far, she’s advocated wearing whatever you want, regardless of how controversial it may be, like booty-baring thong bikinis or décolletage-forward plunging dresses.

Her chicest, most contentious style choice: freeing the nip. She’s gone the breast-forward route repeatedly throughout her career at fashion shows, on red carpets, and even while walking her dog. Her latest outfit, however, channeled the style in a surprising manner.

EmRata’s Nipply Graphic Tee

On Thursday, May 1, the supermodel took to her Instagram Stories to share her latest look. While her wardrobe regularly consists of designer gowns and couture, Ratajkowski wore the epitome of casual. She slipped into cozy gray sweatpants pulled down to her pelvis with the drawstring intentionally exposed.

Her top was a white T-shirt cropped above her navel. It featured a lemon-yellow ribbed collar detail and a graphic print that was utterly NSFW. It featured a black-and-white illustration of a woman bent over in nothing but leg warmers and boots. Though Ratajkowski’s no stranger to freeing nip, this was a wholly different, tongue-in-cheek take on the divisive style.

She topped off her look with a ribbed knit cardigan in red, brown, and cream stripes that felt so 2000s.

She Loves A Sheer Look

When other style stars attempt to rock the see-through look, they typically reserve it for Big Fashion Moments, like the Met Gala or fashion week. Not Ratajkowski, though. When she’s not being cheeky about the braless look, she rocks it on the regular in low-key ensembles or even while doing the most mundane chores.

Last December, for example, she paired the spicy see-through style (via a plunging diaphanous dress) with casual sneakers — an unexpected combo.

Months prior, she channeled the same aesthetic while walking her dog. She opted for a white tank, sans bra, and teeny tiny sweatshorts.

The fact that she’s so casual about a look so polarizing should inspire everyone else to adopt the same attitude. They’re just nips.

The Met Gala is still about a week away, but Bella Hadid is already making waves for her outfits on the streets of New York. Case in point: her recent sheer, nip-freeing style statement.

Bella’s Model-Off-Duty Look

Like foliage and gorgeous botanicals, spring is when fashion’s most adventurous dressers come to life. Though weather has never truly deterred Hadid from dressing spicily (remember when she wore a bikini on a bed of literal snow in Aspen, Colorado?), she ups the risqué ante a few notches higher when temps go up. One such time was on Monday, April 28.

Hadid was spotted in NYC wearing an off-the-shoulder chocolate brown top by ME+EM ($135). The stretchy, sheer cloth, which she wore sans bra, featured a fold-over style, à la Regina George’s black look (you know, the one she wore before she was hit by a bus). She tucked it into high-waist distressed jeans with holes on the knees. The silhouette was reminiscent of a ’90s supermodel, which was totally on brand.

She completed the ensemble with a chunky belt in the same chocolate hue, pointed-toe shoes, and sunglasses. The Orebella founder also came prepared for New York’s wishy-washy weather in the chicest way, effortlessly clutching a vintage-looking leather jacket, just in case.

Her Carrie Bradshaw-Inspired Number

The night before, Hadid also made headlines for nearly stealing the limelight at her sister Gigi’s birthday celebration, all thanks to her all-black attire, which featured capri pants, a Carrie Bradshaw favorite. Like many of Carrie’s go-tos, the knee-grazing style is also a divisive one. Bella, however, wore hers sleekly, with a fitted sleeveless top, pointed-toe pumps, hoop earrings, and bling.

Even her bag was Carrie-esque. If you’ll recall, the fictional columnist had a particular affinity for the Fendi baguette, nearly risking her life instead of handing her purple sequined one to an armed robber in SATC’s third season. Bella, who has a widely known love for Y2K era purses, rocked a similar style albeit in red.

Fashion girls study Kendall Jenner’s style like straight-A students prep for exams. They note which trends she’s partial to, which brands she likes, and how she assembles looks for maximum impact. Thankfully, the reality TV star makes it easier for her style apostles at the beginning of every season by dropping a FWRD campaign and edit.

The creative director of the mega e-tailer has been curating edits since she signed up for the role in 2021. Apart from choosing her fave products each season, she models them too, for easy replicating. On Monday, April 28, Jenner dropped her latest FWRD campaign, and it’s her spiciest yet.

Kendall’s Sheer Crop Top

In one photo, taken by Drew Vickers, Jenner wore an oat-colored, long-sleeved crop top. Though it was a “simple” silhouette in a nondescript hue, it was also of the sheer, nip-baring variety, which Jenner rocked sans bra. The 818 Tequila founder has long been an advocate of the breast-forward style, so this choice was totally on brand. Plus, with a $1,200 price tag, her Alaïa piece was anything but basic.

She paired the waist-baring top with something equally divisive: capri pants. The shorter, knee-length pant style has been gaining a ton of attention recently, especially after her sister Kim Kardashian and friend Bella Hadid repped them recently. Jenner’s choice was an understated high-waist black option from Toteme.

Styled by Dani Michelle, the supermodel completed her look with a thick, utilitarian St. Agni belt that comes with a snap pocket.

More Sheer Looks, Right This Way

Leaning into the see-through trend, a beloved Hollywood style, Jenner changed into more diaphanous garments, one of which was a decadent lace slip dress from The Attico ($2,611). In a muted eggplant hue, it featured a plunging neckline and a train for added drama.

Since it was also completely sheer, Jenner wore it with a second lace piece: a black bodysuit from Saint Laurent ($1,850).

Elsewhere in the campaign, she wore an elevated tank dress. Unlike more casual iterations, her $1,040 Toteme choice featured a quasi-drop-waist design with a fitted, opaque tank that slid past her hips, before turning into a sheer, billowy chiffon.

Her FWRD campaigns never disappoint.