‘Seeing My Type Of Titties Is So Nice’: This Melbourne Label Is Changing Online Bra Shopping For The Better (NSFW)

"Oh my god, seeing my type of titties on the screen is so nice!" someone exclaims as the Refinery29 Australia team gathers around a computer screen to check out a fresh Australian bra brand.

If you visit the Nala website, you'll quickly be faced with a sea of breasts. Unfiltered, normal, varied breasts of all different shapes and sizes belonging to a range of bodies. But it's not weird or sexual — the experience is daring, comforting and long, long overdue.

The Melbourne intimates brand promises to be wild and unpredictable on everything except comfort, affordability, quality, inclusivity and sustainability — which is how their infamous, zero-bullshit fit guide first came about.

"This site contains images of magnificent breasts," its disclaimer reads as a countdown (a legal necessity), bracing you for 34 people's breasts that represent close to every shape, size and colour and belonging to people from all walks of life and identities.

By clicking on the breast or chest that best visually resembles yours, you're met with a cup size, fullness and spacing indicator. If that sounds about right, a page pops up showing a selection of bras that will work best for you, as well as tips for confirming your perfect fit.

Nala co-founders Phil and Chloe de Winter tell Refinery29 Australia that the reception to the catalogue of breasts has been incredibly positive overall since launching the site update six weeks ago.

"We have been inundated with messages and emails from people thanking us for finally feeling represented on a website," they shared. "Also, to hear from women who have had mastectomies, from trans women — from pregnant and breastfeeding women — who all say they felt a sense of belonging from the fit guide. It's been so special!"

However, while the slew of support has been validating, Nala has still been hit by predictable backlash, with comments and complaints calling the fit guide "unnecessary" and demanding the company "put them away".

"To them, we politely advise them to shop elsewhere, while signing off with #FreeTheNipple," Phil and Chloe share. The pair have been told they can't advertise on giant platforms like TikTok or Google due to outdated policies on non-male breasts, in a move Nala's co-founders say has been a massive, disappointing roadblock in their push to platform body positivity.

It can be hard enough buying bras as it is, particularly online. While curve modelling is picking up traction, the diversity of bodies who showcase bras in campaigns and online shops often don't reflect the average body shape and are frequently marketed in a manner befitting the male gaze.

Society's portrayal of 'normal' breasts is of a symmetrical shape, with a specific areola size and certain coloured nipples, but never, ever showing an actual, real nipple, say Phil and Chloe, who believe there is no such thing as 'normal' when it comes to breasts.

"The fashion industry for so long was a key contributor to a wide range of issues that stemmed from women having a warped perception of their own bodies," say Phil and Chloe. "For too long, [women, non-binary and trans] communities were told how to act, dress and look," they continue. "They were told what's 'appropriate' and what 'isn't' by a society mostly dominated by straight men."

"The result was that so many of us ended up with a warped perception of what our bodies should actually look like. Showing our bodies — lumps, bumps and imperfections — allows people to feel represented. It's breaking through the shackles of outdated societal expectations."

To achieve this, the brand worked with over 40 intersectional models, but acknowledged that even with that number of models, they still weren't inclusive of everyone, despite their best efforts.

However, the pair say they're most proud of the work they've done with the trans community, with two products specifically designed to cater for their needs in what can often be a treacherous consumer journey within such a gendered market. As one customer wrote to Nala, by simply being an open-minded and gender-neutral label, they are helping support gender euphoria.

Despite the setbacks, Phil and Chloe hope that showcasing real, raw and natural chests and breasts both proudly out, and actually in the bra, will help change the bigger forces at play.

While they are so proud of offering the first known fit guide of its kind, Phil and Chloe really hope they're not the last. As to why nothing of the sort was on the market earlier, they offer that our patriarchal-run society wasn't ready for it — but times are finally changing, slowly but surely.

"The voices that were suppressed for so long finally have a platform," they say. "This is just the beginning, things are already so much better in 2022 than 2012 — just wait for 2023!"