Be Wary of Underwire Bras at the Airport

Lexington native and Harvard alumna Nancy Kates had to take off her underwire bra to get through airport security on her way from Oakland to Boston on Sunday. Kates wouldn't submit to a physical search, choosing instead to remove her bra to get through the security checkpoint. Bostonist has never had a big problem with underwires at the airport, but now we're getting a little nervous about our next trip. Still, we can't imagine Kates is the only woman ever to wear an underwire to security--just one of the few to make a splash about not getting through the metal detector. Consumerist would like to see more bra removal at airports, so wear an underwire if you'd like to entertain the Gawker network (and who wouldn't?).

A TSA spokesman made an odd comparison in discussing the situation, saying “Just because a passenger says they are wearing an underwire bra or they say they have a hip replacement that’s metal... we can’t take the word of the passenger unfortunately." We don't really know that we'd compare a removable bra to a nonremovable hip replacement, but we take the officer's point regarding responding to the detector. And at least something that sets off a metal detector has some potential to be dangerous, in contrast to 4-ounce bottles of shampoo (yipes!). For those concerned about metal detector navigation, plastic underwires--and even plastic suspenders--may be your answer.