Boobs and fashion, it can be a tricky combination: sometimes the two (or three?) get on famously (the Victoria's Secret show, Liz Hurley in Versace, all the nipples in all the fashion shoots) but at other times the relationship is fraught (ask any woman with a D cup or bigger and she'll tell you of the struggles of finding the bras, the bikinis and the clothes she wants to wear). The Never Underdressed team talk boobs (and I'm calling them boobs but there are other options): wanting bigger ones, wanting smaller ones, covering them up, showing them off, getting them fitted, and reconciling them with fashion. 

Carrie Tyler, editor
I used to have a great bust. In my late teens and early 20s it was too big for my frame, plump, alert, it was a bit of a talking point. Considering my first bra was a 28AAA at 13, this was some going. And of course, in the late 1990s all we wore were vest and handkerchief tops so it was very much on display and that felt entirely natural and the right thing to do. 

At some point in my mid 20s, things started decreasing. It directly correlated to my increase in serious exercising. All that spinning and reformer Pilates stole my bust. Its shape is the same, just much much more modest. And despite being happy with my lot, I rarely reveal it now. I don't own any low-slung tops, no booby dresses or deep plunges. I'm much happier in a great form-perfecting T-shirt bra and a shirt, sweater or high-neck tee. And quite possibly that's because I dress for myself now whereas in my late teens and early 20s, let's be honest here, I was dressing up for men.

Ursula Lake, fashion director
I have a good rack, it’s the one area of my body that I am 100 per cent confident in. Those boys are good.  High and perky and much better than they should be for my age. 

And that's because about seven years ago I paid about £7k to have breast reduction surgery.

Until that point I hated them. HATED THEM. I had never had much boob until I was about 15. I can remember girls at my school teasing me when I first wore a bra (aged about 14) and saying that I would never have anything to put in it so why bother. Then suddenly, seemingly overnight, I had grown whoppers. By the time I was 17, I was a G cup, but my frame was still pretty tiny so I was a size eight with these huge boobs. Looking back, I should have spent my entire life at that point in spray-on lycra (it was the 1990s so from a fashion point of view I could have done it) but I had already started to hate them. Unimaginatively white van drivers and builders used to shout ‘tits’ at me when I walked past, numerous guys had whole conversation with my boobs and I had to wear three sports bras to the gym.

I am not being melodramatic by saying that getting rid of that excess weight (nearly two kilos of boob was chopped off when I had my surgery) really changed my life. Before that dressing fashionably was impossible, I had constant shoulder pain and buying swimwear and lingerie was a nightmare. Now clothes just fit. I don’t have to consider my boobs at all when dressing. When I want to wear something a bit sexier, I can and I don’t feel like I'm showing the world a cleavage big enough to park a bike in. 

For all those girls out there suffering with  big old boobs who are considering surgery: if you can afford it, do it. I promise you won’t regret it. 

Lynn Enright, staff writer
When I was younger and thinner with smaller boobs and a greater desire to impress, I used to subject myself to those awful padded, push-up bras that would pinch and dig throughout the day, creating a desired-for silhouette through torturous wire and heavy straps that left red imprints.

These days though, my boobs and my bras are very low-maintenance. I’m a  32B usually, I sometimes go up a size in Agent Provocateur and Elle Macpherson Imtimates, and  while they can look a bit paltry in a bikini especially because I’m very pale and quite short and just not the type of person who looks particularly attractive on the beach, overall they’re fine, a body part that I don’t worry about. They are symmetrical (I didn’t know that boobs could be unsymmetrical until a friend confided that she was always self-conscious the first time she had sex with someone because of her differently sized boobs) and a little bit beyond flat-chested but still small enough for fashion. They disappear almost entirely in a heavy knit, fit into dresses obligingly, behave themselves under cardigans and allow for a hint of cleavage in a blouse.

I no longer subject them to the wicked pain-inflicting bras of my youth but prefer soft, lacy, unstructured styles like this one from B.Tempt’d and this one from Stella McCartney. Even at that, there are days when I can’t face a bra. On a hungover Sunday I will just layer on T-shirts and jumpers; on a sweltering summer evening, I’ll wear a dress that doesn’t demand the structure of lingerie. Jess from New Girl calls bras ‘boob jail’ and I like to give my boobs a day off from the penitentiary every now and then.   

Laura Silver, staff writer
I’ve had big boobs since I was 11, ranging in size from my first 32B bra to a 30F now, so my décolletage, cleavage – whatevs – has never been particularly unsubtle. As a teenager this had its advantages – teenage boys are so mind-blown by actual tits that I got away with having them fancy me even in grungy skater jeans and I could totally do that Victoria Beckham open-shirt Wonderbra thing circa ’98 without looking ridiculous, age-appropriate questions aside. But, best of all they were the most effective fake ID I ever had when obtaining booze before I turned 18.

As the novelty wore off (and I could legit buy a bottle of wine) in my early 20s though, plenty of downsides became clear: you can never buy either a bikini or bra on the high street – a lot of double-boob taught me that the hard way – and forget ever going braless without some seriously structural clothing, which to be honest, defeats the object somewhat. Plus, people always notice them. Many perfectly inoffensive low-necked top has been rendered slutty by the DD+ situation that lurks beneath. What changed everything for me was investing in seriously good bras after an insightful Rigby & Peller fitting. It’s not just about the right size, you need the right structure and positioning and I cannot emphasise enough the difference this made to me. With boobs held inwards and upwards enough to define my shape but not create mega-cleavage I basically feel like I can wear what I want without décolletage being a contentious issue. It’s still pretty tedious that men on the street seem to think they can gawp if I wear any neckline below my throat, but to be honest, give-a-sh*t, they’re rarely worth a glance back.     

Harriet Walker, news editor
It wasn’t until I started working in fashion that I made peace with my décolletage, and realised that big didn’t automatically equal better or more beautiful.

It’s hard growing up in Yorkshire as the girl with no boobs. People treat you like there’s something wrong with you and, my goodness, don’t they just think it’s a perfectly legitimate topic of public conversation. In fact, men will often come up to you in the street to tell you just how badly you’ve failed at being a woman and how they’d never go for you in a club. Upsetting at this is, it’s often fine because you’d never go for them in a month of Sundays either.

Thankfully, it’s been years since I’ve had any comments like that. But it doesn’t stop me wondering what it would be like to walk round with great big footballs stuck to my front. I tell myself I’d mind less about putting on weight if I had them, or that I’d suddenly understand how to flirt. But I’m sure they bring with them a whole new batch of difficulties that I haven’t had to put up with.

For years, I assumed I’d just buy myself some when I grew up and had plenty of cash. It’s how I got myself through my teenage years. But the idea of doing that now is horrifying and it upsets me that some women feel they have to.

So instead I tell myself how lucky I am – that I will always find shirts and blazers that fasten, that I won’t have back trouble later on, that I can wear flimsy American Apparel bras without endangering myself or others. That people are more likely to listen to what I’m saying than look down my top. But I still get a pang of fomo when the grown-up girls start talking about sports bras and other items of lady scaffolding. It’s a conversation I’ll just never be able to join in with.

Joanna McGarry, beauty director
My boobs – generous and matronly – get in the way of fashion. Not since 1957 has it been fashionable to have a large chest. Of this, I am continually resentful. I never get them out. I enjoy minimalist fashion despite the fact that it has a no-boob agenda. The word 'cleavage' makes me want to barf. And, as I’ve made patently and controversially clear before, I am opposed to the whole topless sunbathing thing. 

I have a propesterous amount of Agent Provocateur underwear (it helps if your sister works for the brand) and yet find myself hoisting my chest around day by day in Marks & Spencer minimiser bras because I can’t stand the jiggle. I feel like it belies my intelligence somehow. Which is totally messed up, I know. 

And yet, I have to count myself lucky. The fact that my boobs stick out sort of as much as my hips do, and that in between, my waist goes in a bit, means I have some semblance of the hourglass figure that I find beautiful in other women. They’re not how I would have chosen them, but I’m not stupid: they could be a lot worse. 

Angelica Hermon, beauty writer
I never, ever have my boobs on show. They’re not hugely big or in-your-face, but I simply don’t feel comfortable flaunting them via an attention-seeking cleavage. So no push-up bras for me, just a trusty stash of American Apparel’s non-underwired bra tops (so God damn comfortable you don’t even realise you’re wearing one). I rarely wear tight tops or T-shirts – I prefer going one size up for a more loose-fit, top-half look.

The only time all those rules go out the window is on the beach. Here, I’m always in some tiny bikini of some sort, trying to get as many sun rays onto my skin as possible. I must own at least 50 swimsuits and bikinis and they show off every contour and bend on my whole body. Some are slightly padded and push-up, others are rather tiny halter necks, and they’re all very boob-exposing. I feel completely comfortable and carefree in all my bikinis – much more so than if I was in a tight fitted T-shirt, which doesn’t really add up at all. But that’s boobs for you.