Welcome to the Year of the ‘Circumboob,’ I Guess

Perhaps even more than Pete Davidson’s publicity-motivated weekly dating schedule, boobs have been the talk of the town lately: boobs under mesh; boobs on runways; and now, apparently, boobs being tucked under small pieces of neoprene, freeing just about everything but the nipple.

The New York Post has christened 2023 the year of the “circumboob”—something they’re calling a “triumvirate of ta-ta trends: Sideboob, innerboob and underboob.” Backing them up, the Guardian seems to believe the proliferation of such circumboob—seemingly the elder, more adventurous sister of the other short-lived boob trends—is derived from this year’s “general aura of chaos.” Their columnist Arwa Mahdawi even mused that “cleavage trends may be an indicator of the overall economy, like the lipstick effect—the theory that lipstick sales are linked to economic downturns.”

While there is certainly truth to a growing collective desire to bare all in the midst of a recession, I must note that the Post declared this a so-called trend based solely on the Instagram stylings of Australian OnlyFans model and influencer Gabrielle Epstein, which apparently gave editors enough of a stroke to forget that conventionally attractive Instagram biddies have been wearing their bikinis just so for years. Still, a general “tits out” aesthetic has been creeping into Fashion Weeks around the world over the last year, and as Jezebel’s Kylie Cheung noted recently, it seems like famous women are looking for every possible way to cheekily appear naked in public.

As Mahdawi points out, there’s an overwhelming but creative list of various cleavage trends from hip cleavage to red carpet-styled nipples beneath couture that have been chronicled over the years. But what women and femmes surely want is the freedom to just, I don’t know, exist? That includes freely existing in the nude—whether that’s in private, on Instagram feeds, or in the public eye while attending lavish awards ceremonies. And not just women who look like Epstein, but women like Jessamyn Stanley and people like Ericka Hart.

You don’t need to showcase just the circumference of your boobs, people: Circumboob be damned! It is high time women and femmes let their beautiful breasts experience the whipping winds of winter (safely)! Let’s just call it what it is. We want to be hopelessly, effortlessly, and unapologetically naked…nipples and all.