A Weight Off The Shoulders

Breasts have long been a subject of fascination — the bigger, the better. But what happens when an ample bosom ‘blessing’ feels like a curse? Divya Bala chats to photographer Cybele Malinowski about the procedure that let her fall back in love with her body

- Divya Bala

Most people have a positive association with breasts. Loved ones fall asleep on them, babies and necklaces burrow into them, our dearest friends are bestowed the honour of being a ‘bosom buddy’, while men of all ages become fumbling messes in their presence. Their power — to nurture and seduce — is almost mythic. The only people who don’t love breasts, however, are often the women who have them in amplitude, naturally.

As becoming as they may be on lingerie-clad Angels, Bond girls and, inexplicably, superheroines, for the average big-busted woman, a simple crew neck can render even the slightest of us frumpy, while a V-neck or fitted silhouette invites inevitable sexual connotation. There’s no tomboy ease with a larger bust, no gamine chic. And forget anything with a plunging armhole, an absent back panel or a style that even threatens the option of a bra. Au naturel is simply out of the question. And you can trust me on this because, as the owner of a pair of natural F-cups, I can personally attest to it.