As I got dressed for a birthday party in Bushwick on a Saturday night, my boyfriend and I glanced at each other in a state of mutual apprehension. It had been a long week and we were hungry and not all that young. The Brooklyn neighborhood was not near. Then I pulled on a white Mugler babydoll T-shirt, studded with rings approximating nipple piercings, and we both perked up.

In the yard of the party, a beautiful young woman who had moved to New York only a month ago admired the look. “Well, nipples are most desirable when they’re pointing up at a 45-degree angle,” she told us officiously.

Lately, it seems as if everyone has an opinion on this most familiar feature of woman­hood. The fall shows exposed nipples all over: In New York, Christian Siriano surrounded them with tulle and visible

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