Pasties

Pasties (singular pasty or pastie) are patches that cover a person's nipples and areolae, typically self-adhesive or affixed with adhesive. They originated as part of burlesque shows, providing a commercial form of bare-breasted entertainment. They are also worn as an undergarment in lieu of a bra, or visibly as a fashion accessory, and are sometimes called nipple stickers. Pasties are also, at times, used while sunbathing, worn by strippers and exotic dancers, or as a form of protest during women's rights events such as Go Topless Day. In some cases this is to avoid potential prosecution under indecency laws.

Pasties are sometimes worn by bikini baristas, staff hired to serve coffee from roadside huts while wearing lingerie, thongs, or skimpy swimwear.

Design

Pasties come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. They are often smaller in countries such as Japan than they are in America as they are typically not much larger than the areola. No straps are used to hold pasties in place, so they require a tape or glue fixative. This is often gum arabic, although other types of glue are sometimes used including liquid latex and eyelash extension glue. Nevertheless, they can fall off as a result of sweating or movement, and their removal can be an issue. Some people are allergic to some adhesives or pastie material. Due to this, most high quality pasties are made of the hypoallergenic polymer silicone and use special adhesives to reduce the chances of an allergic reaction. The availability of suitable adhesives was a necessary precursor to their introduction, and their name derives from the word ''paste''. Modern pasties are often self-adhesive. Some are for single-use, while others are washable and can be reused.

Pasties are sometimes worn with a sideless bikini bottom such as a C-string held by an internal flexible frame. Alternatively a vulva cover, commonly known as a merkin pastie, can be attached with adhesive. These pasties for the genitalia are known as '' maebari'' in Japanese.

Entertainment

Early versions of the pastie were worn by belly dancers and exotic performers at the 1893 World's Fair. These consisted of small metal plates covering the front of the breasts, and were often decorated with gems or metallic details where the nipples would be. They were subsequently worn by some circus performers during their acts.

The modern form of the pastie first appeared in burlesque and striptease in the 1920s as a way to avoid breaking the law by performing topless or nude. Pasties came to be regarded by some as more aesthetic and erotic. They were worn in cabarets such as the Folies Bergère and Le Lido. Burlesque performer Carrie Finnell is attributed with adding tassels which hang from the center and incorporating tassel twirling as part of a performance. Finnell and Sally Rand rose to prominence as burlesque performers in the 1920s and 1930s. At that time there was a shift away from pasties decorated with tassels or gems toward nipple-like pasties, making the appearance of nudity more realistic. The burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee included pasties as part of her onstage outfit in the 1930s and 1940s, and made adjusting them part of her act. Dancers in US strip clubs continued to wear pasties in the 1950s and 1960s, with Carol Doda becoming the first fully topless public dancer in the country at the Condor Club in San Francisco in 1964. The use of pasties in burlesque and striptease declined during the subsequent decades, but they became fashionable again with the appearance of neo-burlesque in the 1990s and 2000s, worn by performers such as Jo Weldon and Dita Von Teese.

The punk rock singer Wendy O. Williams who performed during the 1970s and 1980s often wore electrical tape on stage to cover her nipples. In the 2010s the heavy metal band Butcher Babies briefly copied the look. In the 2014 short film '' Miley Cyrus: Tongue Tied'' the singer appears with her nipples concealed under black crosses made of nipple tape.

In the United States public indecency laws traditionally required bare-breasted dancers to wear pasties. These restrictions were relaxed in the mid 20th century, but still apply in some parts of the country. In extreme cases, liquid latex pasties are used to comply with local laws, raising criticism by strippers that lawmakers are engaging in cruelty by requiring use of adhesive material on the nipple. Such restrictions generally applied in Chicago until Chicago City Council changed the city's liquor license statutes in 2020, removing references to gender. Women working in the city's topless-only restaurants and strip clubs are no longer required to affix pasties or use other latex coverings on their breasts.

Pasties are also worn at music festivals and raves, where they are worn alone or under tops that are low cut, open-fronted or made of sheer fabric. They often appear in decorative shapes and designs such as hearts, stars, flowers, aliens or mushrooms. They are also worn at pride parades, in night clubs and at fetish parties.

Pasties may be worn by some actresses while filming an otherwise apparently topless or nude scene, which is not caught by the camera angle.

Underwear

Pasties are sometimes worn instead of a bra under clothes or under swimsuits to prevent the nipples from being seen through the fabric. Certain cultures have more concern than others about concealing the nipples in this way. In Japan, for instance, pasties are widely sold in general retailers such as grocery stores for this purpose. As an impromptu alternative to commercially produced pasties, two crossed strips of adhesive tape can be used to cover each nipple. Using pasties in this way can be practical when wearing wrap tops, sports bras, crop tops, garments with low-cut necklines, and strapless or backless dresses. It can prevent the nipples and areolae being visible through sheer clothing or lingerie, and it can hide a nipple erection.

''Lift pasties'' include an additional tab that can be attached above the breast to lift it and hence change its appearance under clothing.

Beachwear

In the 1960s, fashion designers created the trikini, a bikini variant consisting of pasties and briefs. The combination of pasties with a matching ''maebari''-style bottom is known as a strapless micro-bikini or no-string bikini. Pasties are occasionally worn on beaches to maximize a sun tan by avoiding the strap lines produced by bikinis, without the need for toplessness.

Fashion

As part of the fashion trend called underwear as outerwear, pasties are sometimes worn as a visible part of an outfit, typically in metallic colours rather than flesh tones. Fashion designers such as Tom Ford and Anthony Vaccarello have incorporated them into their collections. Pasties have been worn in this way by the model and actor Cara Delevingne, the model Bella Hadid, and the pop star Doja Cat. Other celebrities that have worn them include Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Cher, Britney Spears and Lil' Kim.

Athletes

Runners, surfers, and other outdoor athletes may experience fissure of the nipple, a chafing irritation caused by friction with clothing such as a T-shirt. The condition is colloquially known as "runner's nipple". Some people wear pasties to cover the nipple and avoid or mitigate the irritation. When worn under clothing, pasties are sometimes called breast petals, nipple covers or nipple guards.

Gallery

File:Oriental Stories Spring 1931.jpg, ''Oriental Stories'' (1931)
File:Fantastic adventures 194303.jpg, ''Fantastic Adventures'' (1943)
File:Lili St-Cyr.jpg, Lili St. Cyr wearing pasties during a performance in Canada (1946)
File:MichelleLAmourFanDance2836.jpg, Neo-burlesque performer Michelle L'amour performing a fan dance wearing pasties and a C-string (2007)
File:Woman with baseball cap and nipple pasties.jpg, Pasties worn as beachwear (2007)
File:Burlesque Harrahs New Orleans 2010.jpg, Neo-Burlesque dancers wearing pasties, New Orleans (2010)
File:Cher Believe D2K.jpg, American singer-actress Cher wearing heart-shaped pasties during a concert (2014)
File:Crystal Couture Fashion Show & Sale (32140574703).jpg, A see-through top worn along with pasties by a model at a fashion show in USA (2017)

See also

* Topfreedom
* Nipple shield (jewelry)
* Nipple shield (breastfeeding)
* Merkin

References

External links

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{{Nudity

Erotic dance
Nipple
Lingerie
Sex laws