Lejaby lace overlap clear-strap with applique flower trim, $74 at Saks Fifth Avenue. (Joseph Fuqua II photos) | ZOOM |

        They may have been chic slipping off Madonna's buff shoulders, and from the looks of the Paramount's Kings Island crowds, teen-agers haven't gotten the message, but bra straps did a disappearing act this summer. Well, almost.

        They've really just gone sheer, so that when they peek out from under a summer top or sundress, the new, soft plastic straps are harder to spot.

        “When you actually wear them, they take on your body's heat and pretty much disappear,” says Linda Sacolick of Saks Fifth Avenue, downtown.

        The sheer straps began to pop up on runways in Brazil and Spain about a year ago, according to Victoria's Secret. The company reports its clear-strap Miracle Bra was one of the best-selling pieces in its Summer 2001 catalog.

        But why not just buy a top with a built-in bra?

        “That type of bra top really only works if you don't really need much of a bra to begin with,” Ms. Sacolick says. It doesn't do much in the shape and support department.

Black soft-cup bra with clear-strap cup fastener, $48. (Thong with clear-strap side connectors, $22,) Donna Karan Intimates at Saks. | ZOOM |

        Nevertheless, the clear-strap is not a bra for everyone.

        “I would not recommend them for anyone with over a D cup,” Ms. Sacolick says. “It's not as strong as a regular-strap bra. It's not a bra you wear every day. It's for special occasions.”

        “How will they hold up in the washing machine?” asks Tamara Amos of Florence, S.C., shopping at Victoria's Secret in Tower Place, downtown, with her teen-age daughter, Courtney.

        Most clear straps are detachable for laundering, and bras come with interchangeable matching straps for everyday wear. (Clear Bare Attitude bra straps can be bought to fit any Victoria's Secret strapless bra for $12.)

        Both shoppers say they would prefer a strapless bra under a baring top.

        “The clear straps would still be noticeable to me,” Mrs. Amos says.

        Don't look for the clear straps to go away at summer's end.

        Donna Karan Intimates has a black thong-and-bra set with clear bands connecting the thong's hip pieces and a clear strap connecting the bra's cups in front. You'll have to hand-wash these.

        And designers are carrying the clear strap one step further. Lejaby came out with a clear-strap bra line covered with white lace. Appliqued flowers are perched about 2 inches above the cups on each strap, calling yet more attention. And another flower rests on a clear strap on the matching thong.

        “Vendors are catching on that bra straps can be almost like a fashion accessory,” Ms. Sacolick says.

        Chantelle's bra designs, also at Saks, almost beg the wearer to show them off. One bra has inch-wide, flower-appliqued straps, and another has inch-wide, scalloped lace straps that would be attractive — even enticing — peeking out from the right top.

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