Handbra

A handbra (also spelled as hand bra or hand-bra) is a technique wherein a woman covers at least the nipples and areolae of both breasts with her hands, or when someone else uses their hands to cover those areas. [cite web | title= Nuts sexiest pictures| | publisher = "Nuts (magazine)" |url=http://www.nuts.co.uk/covergirls/issue-49-nuts-sexiest-pictures/123 | accessdate = 2007-04-26 ]

In the Media

The handbra gained peak exposure with on the September 1993 cover of "Rolling Stone", which later named it their "Most Popular Cover Ever". [cite news |first=Phil |last=Rosenthal |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Cover story so bad, even FCC sees through it. |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20040203/ai_n12532751 |quote=And Jackson, who has a CD coming out, is no stranger to using her breasts to sell her music. Remember the handbra on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1993? Or the nipple ring on the cover of Vibe in 1997? Or the cover for her last album, "All For You," in which she was nude, obscured only by a sheet? |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |date=February 3, 2004 |accessdate=2007-12-05 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Capitalizing On Jackson Tempest. |quote=In 1993 she posed topless for the cover of Rolling Stone. Then, her nipples were obscured by a pair of male hands, not a silver broach. |work= |publisher="The New York Times" |date=February 4, 2004 |accessdate=2007-05-04 ] The pose is a mainstay in lad mags, such as "FHM", "Maxim" and "Zoo Weekly" [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Erotic photography: art or porno? |url=http://www.shotaddict.com/wordpress/category/professional-tips/nude-photography/ |quote=Recently several popular glamour magazines known as lad mags are reversing the trend by emphasizing glamour while showing less nudity, in favor of implied (covered) nudity or toplessness such as the handbra technique. Examples include FHM (For Him Magazine) and Maxim magazines, which launched in 1994 and 1995, respectively. |publisher=Shot Addict |date= |accessdate=2007-11-29 ] [cite news | url =http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=30688| title = News from Paul Merrill - Editor, Zoo | publisher = "Press Gazette" |quote=The deal has fallen through over a suggestion she do 'hand bra'.] that prominently feature photos of scantily clad B-actresses and models.cite news | last = Turner | first = Janice | title = Dirty young men | publisher="The Guardian" |quote=The cover model's breast is partially concealed by her cupped hand. 'We call that shot "hand-bra",' says Paul Merrill, launch editor of Zoo and now in charge of international editions, 'We use that a lot.' He flicks to a cover showing a model whose hair extensions cover her nipples: 'This is hair-bra,' he says.| date=October 22, 2005 | year=2005 | month=October
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1596384,00.html|accessdate = 2007-04-10] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=New Talent |url=http://zooweekly.com.au/members/viewPost.php?pid=0&aid=763&rc=blogs |quote= Besides being amazingly bootylicous, the Shire gal loves to watch The Family Guy and drink vodka cranberries... all at the same time. Let's hope she does this like her Janet Jackson style profile pic. Three cheers for hand bra! |publisher=Zoo Weekly |date= |accessdate=2007-11-29 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Girls |url=http://zooweekly.com.au/members/video/viewVideo.php?aid=71&pid=0 |quote=You can't beat a babe who is happy to sex it up with a hand-bra. |publisher=Zoo Weekly |date= |accessdate=2007-11-29 ] In July 1994, Ronald Reagan's daughter Patti Davis appeared on the cover of Playboy with another model covering her breasts. Photographer Raphael Mazzucco created two prominent handbra photographs for "Sports Illustrated": an eight-woman handbra on the cover of the 2006 Swimsuit Issue and a handbra photo of Marisa Miller wearing just an iPod in the 2007 Swimsuit Issue. [cite web|url=http://cgi.cnnsi.com/features/2007_swimsuit/models/marisa_miller/07_marisa_miller_7.html|title=Marisa Miller|accessdate=2008-03-24|year=2007|publisher=CNN/Sports Illustrated
cite web|url=http://dynamic.si.cnn.com/si_online/covers/issues/2006/0217.html|title=All-Star SI Cover Model Beach Party|accessdate=2008-03-24|date=2006-02-17|publisher=Time Inc.|work=SI Cover Search]

The handbra was the subject of a pointed parody advertisement for Holding Your Own Boobs Magazine performed by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Will Ferrell on the May 15, 1999 episode of "Saturday Night Live". [cite web | last = | first = | title = Saturday Night Live: Sarah Michelle Gellar/Backstreet Boys | date=| url = http://www.tv.com/saturday-night-live/sarah-michelle-gellar-backstreet-boys/episode/95083/summary.html|accessdate = 2007-04-23]

There is also a brassiere named the "handbra" that is fashioned in the shape of hands as a parody of the technique. [cite web | title= Handbra: Tired of the Wonderbra? | url = http://www.funniestgadgets.com/2007/03/06/handbra-tired-of-the-wonderbra | accessdate = 2007-04-26]

ee also

*Toplessness
*Glamour photography
*Lad culture

References