“This project all stemmed from a photo I took in 2014 of my friend Irene,” says Ashley Armitage of her new series Underthings, which captures intimate portraits of people who wear bras. Almost a decade in the making, the idea took seed in her mind, until she’d managed to bring together the people she wanted to star in the final shoot. 

“I reached out to some of my usual go-tos, but I also wanted to cast a slightly wider net,” she explains. “I posted a call-out on my Instagram stories and got tons of responses. Turns out, lots of people want to strip down to their underwear.” Among those captured are Dora, a barista at Armitage’s favourite coffee shop, Sarah, her artist neighbour, and more. Some are professional models, while for some, it marks the first time they’ve stepped in front of the camera.

Blasting out disco music via a Spotify playlist aptly called ‘The Cuntiest Songs’, it was important to the photographer to create “a warm, cosy environment” on set, particularly since many people were stripping off and being shot for the first time. “Almost everyone was a woman, non-binary, or in the LGBTQ+ family,” she adds. “It felt like a sweet and tender coming-together of the community,” Armitage adds.

The final images shine a spotlight on the often unseen intimacies of our bodies – from the folds of flesh that gather when we move and contort and individual markings like moles and freckles, to the faded scars that tell our stories.

The focus on the bras the models wear, meanwhile, is an attempt to dispel the shame that Armitage felt at 13 when her boobs started to grow. “I wore giant t-shirts to cover any evidence of them, but it got so impractical and cumbersome I just had to give up and reveal them,” she says, adding that now, she doesn’t even bother to wear a bra most of the time. “Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to imagery around bras – it’s become some kind of therapy for me. But also, let’s be honest. Bras are just kinda cute.” 

Below, we talk to the stars of the shoot about their bras.

DORA HEWITT

Tell me about your first bra and the experience of getting it… It's a big deal for many people!

I’m pretty sure I got a hand-me-down bra. I kept asking my mum to get me one but I think I just found a little polka dot blue one in the house and wore it for years. I also would wear little training bras too. I honestly think I waited too long before wearing a bra because I remember wearing old navy shirts and having that really awkward boob size where it’s just pointy and everything is awkward and you’re in middle school. 

Do you like to wear a bra or do you feel pressure to wear one? 

I mostly choose not to. I enjoy sports bras for comfort and the occasional bra that compliments a see-through shirt or has pretty straps. Mostly for me bras are an accessory. Not wearing bras not only feels comfortable but gives that Rachel Green iconic look, especially with nipple piercings! 

How does wearing a bra interplay with your gender? 

I am non-binary so not wearing a bra feels more right for me personally. Or even tight fitting sports bras/binders can be really euphoric! It feels good to be able to play into how I feel each day. 

“I am non-binary so not wearing a bra feels more right for me personally. Or even tight fitting sports bras/binders can be really euphoric!” – Dora Hewitt

Tell me about the experience of modelling in this shoot: how did you feel stripping down, have you ever done it before? 

It was so much fun! I was there mostly to help and my pictures sort of became their own little part of the shoot. I was asking them all day to let me try on the bras and undies. I was so excited to play dress-up. There was a very empowering energy to the shoot. Probably because almost everyone on set was a woman or non-binary and so it was a very safe environment to be vulnerable in. I haven’t done something like this before but it felt so natural. I really connected with the make-up artist Erica, and it was so fun to do a club kid type of look and be able to strip down in a way that felt like me.

Tell me about your connection to the final photos. What was your reaction, how did they make you feel? 

I am really happy with them, Ashley is such an incredible photographer. I feel so cunty. You can see we had a lot of fun. I keep showing my friends the pictures. I feel that we captured my essence in a really fun and special way. I am just grateful I got to get my photo taken by her and that I have them forever.  

RENEE MORENO

Tell me about your first bra and the experience of getting it… It's a big deal for many people!

The first time I went bra shopping my grandma took me. It was like a Marshalls or something in the suburbs. My family is so prudish and I think everyone was embarrassed by the fact that I was ten years old and needed a bra. I remember my grandma asking if “any of my friends wore a B-R-A”. I wore sports bras and bralettes for far too long. I was probably a D-cup before I was in middle school and had a bra with an underwire. 

Do you like to wear a bra or do you feel pressure to wear one? 

I love feeling strapped in! Nothing makes me feel more reckless than going braless. I appreciate that we live in a society where bras are not as socially expected like they once were but I kind of get sensory overload if I'm free boobin’. I also appreciate that my bra and underwear are another, potentially secret, outfit. It makes getting dressed so much more interesting.

“The first time I went bra shopping my grandma took me. It was like a Marshalls or something in the suburbs. My family is so prudish and I think everyone was embarrassed by the fact that I was ten years old and needed a bra. I remember my grandma asking if “any of my friends wore a B-R-A” – Renee Moreno

Tell me about the experience of modelling in this shoot: how did you feel stripping down, have you ever done it before? 

Stripping down for this shoot felt natural. It's not unusual that I am in a fitting or dressing on set. I studied fashion design and I'll never forget the first day of class when our teacher had all of us strip down to our underwear and take each other's measurements. That level of hazing gets you pretty comfortable. 

Tell me about your connection to the final photos. What was your reaction, how did they make you feel?

I'm always fascinated by seeing final photos from shoots because I am seeing myself through the photographer's eyes. I think the level of accessibility our generation has to social media makes it really easy to control the self that you want to present to the world. Modelling gives me a more dynamic perception of my physical self. 

SIOBHAN WOOD

Tell me about your first bra and the experience of getting it...it's a big deal for many people!

I’m the youngest of three sisters, so my first bra was a hand-me-down. I was bigger and taller than my sisters and had a huge rib cage, and it didn’t really fit. Putting it on was meant to be exciting but made me feel inadequate. Then I bought my own Scooby-Doo khaki and baby pink bra from H&M on a school trip to Birmingham Bullring and cut the wiring out. I wore that for 2 years. 

Do you like to wear a bra or do you feel pressure to wear one? 

Honestly? No. The only time I enjoy wearing a bra is when it’s a pretty, lacy, utterly impractical thing that is meant to be taken off by someone else… and quickly.  The only pressure I feel is nipple shame from society but then I’m just like: no, world look at my goddamn oversized puffy nipples lol.

“The only time I enjoy wearing a bra is when it’s a pretty, lacy, utterly impractical thing that is meant to be taken off by someone else… and quickly” – Siobhan Wood

How does wearing a bra interplay with your gender? 

A LOT. Bras are fundamentally ‘girly’ to me. Not something I have to wear – more of a participation in the ‘womanhood’ that man created. But I fundamentally think this because my boobs are not that big and I don’t get back ache. A lot of women do and for women like that bras are an essential. 

Tell me about the experience of modelling in this shoot: how did you feel stripping down, have you ever done it before? 

The shoot had a great energy, super friendly, not at all intimidating, and a real come-as-you-are atmosphere. I have done a lot of lingerie work before but this felt different. We were all just there to be ourselves. Not some sexy vixen or girl next door. 

Tell me about your connection to the final photos. What was your reaction, how did they make you feel?

I thought they were beautiful and I was struck by how powerful yet humble we all looked. Women find that easy and we don’t get enough props for it. How powerful we all are just keeping it to ourselves, letting the boys take all the credit.

SARAH SIEGEL

Tell me about your first bra and the experience of getting it...it's a big deal for many people! 

I remember snippets of getting my first bra – I was at Kohl's with my mother, and I was the one who had wanted us to go there. I don’t remember exactly what the bra itself looked like, but I do remember the way it made me feel after – suddenly much more aware of my body and the expectations girls are handed by virtue of existing. 

Do you like to wear a bra or do you feel pressure to wear one? 

In the society we live in, having a larger chest often comes with expectations that your breasts should be wrangled to make men comfortable. I do not like wearing a bra, in spite of having breasts that one “should” wear a bra with – bras that come in my size are not carried at most stores, and lift your chest up to a degree that is uncomfortable and gives the feeling of wearing bullet-proof armor. I feel this pressure, but choose not to wear one. 

How does wearing a bra interplay with your gender? 

I am a femme lesbian. My gender identity exists within the realm of the queer gaze – I take pleasure in intentionally stripping the male gaze of its power by allowing myself to be seen and not restricting my self-presentation based on societal ideals of respectable womanhood. Wearing a bra – or not wearing a bra—is a choice that I make based on what makes me feel myself and desirable within my community.

“The only time I enjoy wearing a bra is when it’s a pretty, lacy, utterly impractical thing that is meant to be taken off by someone else… and quickly” – Siobhan Wood

Tell me about the experience of modelling in this shoot: how did you feel stripping down, have you ever done it before? 

I am very comfortable in my skin – for many years I have worked as a figure model, a job that requires confidence, nudity, and imagining your body as art. I am also a figurative painter who explores themes of self creation. Coming from this background, stripping down for this shoot felt natural, if more clothed than I am used to. What was special to me about this shoot was the sense of comradery with the other models, the empowerment, and the stories being told through the styling of these people who have come together through a shared experience of wearing bras. 

Tell me about your connection to the final photos. What was your reaction, how did they make you feel?

I love the final photos. I see renditions of myself often, and when you are drawn or painted or sculpted, you see a depiction of someone's projected perception of you. These photos were just me. They feel like me. I’m wearing my house keys and my jewellery. It’s its own type of liberation.

CREDITS Models Siobhan Wood, Kat Fennessey, Cher Cobbold, Skye Pinnick, Bella Connor, Gracie Hammond, Sarah Siegal, Renee Moreno, Belle Decker, Zia Pentescu, Dora Hewitt, Set design Zanah Marie, Styling Taylor Zielinski, MUA Erica Martens, Lighting Steven Piper, Studio Flat Iron Studio