Author: Brooke Glassberg

Brooke is the editor of this here blog. In a previous life, she was an editor at Good Housekeeping and O, The Oprah Magazine. Brooke has written for Glamour, Travel+Leisure, New York Magazine and more. She’s into concerts, travel and her exceptionally adorable daughter and husband.

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Inner Beauty Relationships

Give the Gift of a Lift Sweepstakes: You Told Us Who Deserves a Holiday Pick-Me-Up

Here’s hoping your holidays are healthy and happy! For our “Give the Gift of a Lift” sweepstakes, which wrapped up yesterday, we asked you to tell us what special person in your life deserves a pick-me-up at this most wonderful time of the year. In your thousands of nominations on Facebook and Instagram, you spoke reverently of the everyday heroes who make your worlds go ’round. We loved when you tagged someone—and got tagged back. We loved when you selflessly volunteered to give the entire prize ($50 for you, $50 for them) to your better half. We loved that no emoji was spared.

We sincerely thank you for chiming in and, more than that, for inviting Bare Necessities into your lives. You are hardworking students, tireless mothers, dedicated employees, long-distance friends, indispensable support systems and much more. It’s clear we share the mission of lifting women up.

This week, we’ve collected some of the heart-warming entries we received; you can find more using the hashtags #givealiftgetalift and #bnsweepstakes. It just might give your spirits a little boost, too.

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Behind the Seams Bra Fit Experts Having a B.R.A. Fit

Leann’s Incredible Bra Fit Makeover: From 38DD to 34J

When is a bra more than a bra? When it changes your life.

This is Having a B.R.A. (Before – Revelation – After) Fit, our new series documenting real moments of bra salvation and euphoria made possible by our certified team of Bra Fit Experts whose goal it is to improve women’s day-to-day lives, beginning with the right bra.

And Leanne Dawes started it all.

At 40, Leann not only finally learned her actual bra size, she found the comfort, confidence and cute styles she’d written off ages ago. Read on to find out how you can have what’s she’s having, too.

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Inner Beauty Personal Style Power Figures

Freddy Zappe, Bra Fit Specialist, on the Art of Bra Fitting

Seventeen years ago, when Freddy Zappe started answering the phones at the bra company that would become Eveden—renowed for its full-bust brands including Elomi, Fantasie, Freya and Goddess—she hadn’t the slightest idea what she was doing. Today, she’s among the most revered bra fit experts in the world.

A model-dancer-actress accustomed to traveling the world, Freddy had zero sales or lingerie experience, but when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, Freddy returned to New York to be with her. “I had to work for my own sanity. You can’t sit by someone’s bedside constantly; they don’t like it. I thought I’d do it for a few months and see what happened.”

What happened is this: Freddy became a Power Figure. She’s still traveling the world, this time as Eveden’s national fit specialist. Every day, she asks of herself, her industry and the women she meets the same question: How can I fix this? 

“It’s endlessly fascinating,” Freddy says. “Women come in all shapes and sizes, and because we have the tools to fit full bust and full figure—we now go from A to K cup, from a 28 band to a 56 band—we can fit virtually everyone.” Here’s how….

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Behind the Seams Confessions Personal Style

Top 10 Model Confessions with Hunter McGrady

Model Hunter McGrady, a.k.a. Peanut (“My dad has called me that forever”), lights up the studio like no flashbulb could whenever she comes by Bare Necessities. Hunter moved solo to New York from nearby Malibu, California, where she learned to love surfing and “never lived a conventional life: I grew up on a mountain with no neighbors for miles. My dad is an actor and my mom was a model. I’ve always been around this business.”

In fact, Hunter started modeling to be like her mom: “I absolutely idolized her—still do. Whenever someone had a camera out, even if I didn’t know them, I would try to get in the shot!” Now, Hunter’s mother is her biggest fan. “She keeps tabs on all my work. She’ll send me things I didn’t even know came out yet,” says Hunter who, as a size 14, has modeled for Lane Bryant, Forever 21, Torrid, Nordstrom and all of Melissa McCarthy’s campaigns in addition to Bare Necessities. “I was so excited to start working for BN eight months ago, as I’ve loved the site for so long,” says Hunter. She now swears by the Wacoal Red Carpet strapless bra and Natori Plunge bras in a 38DD.

Bare Necessities chatted with Hunter about what she values most and what makes her who she is today.

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Bra Fit Experts Personal Style

Gift Guide: 9 Perfect Gifts to Give Yourself

As the holidays roll back around and we start to stockpile things we hope will surprise and delight our loved ones, it’s worth remembering to add ourselves to the list. In fact, last year, nearly 60 percent of people picked up something for themselves while holiday shopping, according to the National Retail Federation. Because no one but you can find yourself a perfect-fitting bra that makes you feel unstoppable, and that’s the kind of gift that keeps on giving.

Check out our curated bra and sleepwear gift guide, featuring 9 perfect presents that our Bra Fit Experts (above, from left: Melissa, Cristal, Mette and Candace) personally swear by.

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Behind the Seams Personal Style Relationships

Bare Necessities Staffers’ Favorite Sleepwear & Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving is the time of year to hunker down at home with our loved ones and practice gratitude (or, you know, talk politics, whichever you prefer). Here’s what some of the Bare Necessities staffers are up to, and the sleepwear they’ll be all cozied up in.

Stephanie Salardino, brand bra fit expert
Thanksgiving traditions: My entire family goes to our beach house on Thanksgiving Eve. Along the way, I stop for the best pumpkin pie and apple cider donuts. We finish up any last-minute food shopping and order pizza because we know tomorrow will be food heaven. Later, we have a sitter come watch the kids, and the adults go out locally—I organize a dozen or so toy drives at local bars since it’s one of the most popular nights to go out. The toys are distributed to local shelters or organizations that adopt families for the holidays. It’s pretty amazing. One location has brought in over 500 toys.

We have a huge Thanksgiving Day breakfast, appetizers begin around 1 PM and we serve dinner at 5. There are usually 20 or so of us, and our house is like a revolving door. My friends and their families tend to pop in at some point. Thanksgiving night, I do lots of shopping online. By Cyber Monday, I’ve accomplished most of my holiday list.

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Behind the Seams Meet the Merchants Personal Style

The BN Roundtable: Real Talk About How to Rock and Shop for Shapewear

The holidays are high season for breaking out the shapewear, but it can be challenging (yeah, major understatement) to know where to begin, even if you’re already a fan of what it can do for your body confidence. So we brought together the office evangelists—plus one skeptic—for some capital-R-real talk about shapewear: who it’s for (spoiler alert: everybody), what’s out there to choose from, why it can make your day and your figure that much smoother. Come listen in….

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Personal Style Power Figures

Rosie Pope on Being a Mompreneur

You may recognize Rosie Pope from her 2011 Bravo reality TV show Pregnant in Heels (baby bump + stilettos = reason enough to qualify as a Power Figure in our book), but she’s been making a name for herself in the super-competitive parenting space since before her first son was born in 2008. Now a mom of four, she runs RosiePope.com, an empire that includes maternity, nursing and baby clothes and accessories, bi-coastal MomPrep classes, an NYC-based parenting concierge service, 3 boutiques and a column in Parents magazine.

To celebrate the debut of her chic, affordable new line of nursing bras on barenecessities.com, we picked Rosie’s brain for insights into her mastery of running a business while running on caffeine, reframing the notion of balance and what really matters when bringing up a baby.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Health & Wellness Power Figures

Dr. Leah Gendler, Oncologist and Breast Surgeon, Takes Down Cancer Daily

Eradicating the scourge of breast cancer is simply another day at the office for Dr. Leah Gendler. The renowned medical oncologist and breast surgeon spends each of her 14-hour workdays deftly excising tumors in the operating room or counseling breast cancer patients on what should be their next lifesaving move. That’s why we’re honored this Power Figure gave Bare it All so much of her valuable time to share what drives her forward and what gives her hope.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Health & Wellness Power Figures

Bari Seiden-Young on her Work for The Estée Lauder Companies’ BCA Campaign and Breast Cancer Research Fundraising

As our Power Figures monthlong series continues, we managed to snag a coveted slot on Bari Seiden-Young’s jam-packed calendar: Bari is the Vice President of Corporate Communications for The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), and she leads the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign on behalf of ELC, focusing media attention on annual high-wattage efforts to raise major awareness and funds that fuel life-saving research.

No matter if she’s illuminating the Empire State Building pink with supermodel and global ambassador Elizabeth Hurley or attending a black tie gala, for Bari, every last action she takes comes back to beating cancer. As with Lauren, the survivor, and Pamela, the fundraiser, Bari has an all-too personal cancer connection that drives her, too.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Health & Wellness Power Figures

Pamela Lipkin on the Amazing Work of the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation

Power Figures take myriad forms. In lockstep with the brave front-line warriors fighting breast cancer—the survivors battling for their lives, supported by their tenacious medical teams—you’ll find driven, impassioned advocates and fundraisers. Count Pamela Lipkin among them.

Though Pamela works full-time at USI Insurance Services as a bond manager, she also devotes herself to organizing events for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, for which she serves as a board member.

For Pamela, it’s personal.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Health & Wellness Power Figures

Lauren Cohen, a Young Breast Cancer Survivor, Tells Her Story

The stats about breast cancer are as staggering as they are ubiquitous: 246,660 new cases this year. 1 in every 8 women. More than 2.8 million women in the United States with a history of breast cancer.

Behind the dizzying numbers are flesh-and-blood human beings going to war every day in their own ways against breast cancer. They are Power Figures in every sense of the word: raising awareness at the same time as they are making plans for the rest of their lives. Following our 4-part series last year on the science and politics of Breast Cancer Awareness Month with medical correspondent Dr. Sharon Mass, this year, we’re honored to introduce you to four of them. Taken together, they’re profiles in courage, in caring, in the conviction that we can and will turn this tide.

Meet Lauren Cohen who, at 33, is already a breast cancer survivor. She graciously opened up to Bare it All about her path from blindsiding diagnosis to the new normal.

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