The terms “sports bra” and “sexy” usually are not used in the same sentence, as this debate on gurl.com illustrates. But Victoria’s Secret is trying to change that. The lingerie maker has introduced a line of sports bras with sex appeal that begin selling May 15. These new bras don’t just squash breasts flat, but they are made in different sizes and with different support levels, so women could have a “light” support bra for, say, walking, up to “maximum” support for more intense activities like hockey or Kardio Kombat. “This is a whole new category for us,” says Victoria’s Secret rep Martha McGuinness. “The mentality for sports bras before was suck it in, flatten it out and tighten it up. ... We’ve developed a bra that takes into account a woman’s cup size and the activities she’s doing.” I don’t have enough time to put that much thought into sports bras. I don’t want to put on my light-support yoga bra, get to the gym and be invited to a racquetball game but have to turn it down due to lack of support. Perhaps sports bras should just stay the way they are—functional, matronly and ugly. In one size: straightjacket.

—Posted by Celeste Ward

Photo: Jonty Davies