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 Pop Culture

Earth Day Intimates

It’s getting easier and more affordable to factor the environment into our buying decisions, from the foods we eat to the clothes we wear.

With no shortage of creative minds leading the charge, the fashion industry is in a unique position to find bold new ways of doing the same old things. And while there’s certainly plenty of room to improve, every effort helps forge a “cleaner, safer, more just and sustainable world that protects and supports all of us.”

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this April 22, Bare Necessities is taking a closer look at the brands and collections we carry that prioritize the planet. These are some of the lines you can already support in good conscience—and good style.

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Personal Style Pop Culture

Send Mom Some Love

With Mother’s Day coming up (May 10th, mark your calendar), get a jump on the best sleep and loungewear for anyone in your life who has earned the “mom” moniker: your own mother, your mother-in-law, the women who raised you, the daughter who promoted you to grandma, your wife or significant other, your sister…the more you think about it, the longer the list grows.

Pulled together by the Bare Necessities sleepwear buyers, these 10 comfy-chic pajama suggestions would not only be appreciated by Mama, we daresay they’d be appreciated by you, too.

So send some love to the women who give their all, all the time, because that’s a gift that never stops giving.

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Personal Style

Chantelle Gets Comfortable

Bra fans know Chantelle has a longstanding reputation for making beautifully constructed lingerie. (By ‘longstanding,’ we’re talking 1876.) But it’s fair to say a lot has changed over the past 144 years, wouldn’t you agree? In fashion, that’s translated into a much greater emphasis on comfort—hard pass on the whalebone corsets and what have you.

So while stoking that storied tradition of classic French design, Chantelle has evolved. Loosened up. Let her hair down. The brand’s latest offerings include two wire-free bras and two underwire bras that blend support with the highest possible degree of comfort, which feels more important than ever.

“All women want an easy fit from their bras these days,” says Bare Necessities buyer Heather Viskovic. “Chantelle is now delivering that, in a characteristically Chantelle kind of way.” See what she means…

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Personal Style Swimwear

Introducing Birdsong Swimwear

If you’re liking what you’ve been seeing from Birdsong bras, then get excited for Birdsong swimwear! Our exclusive new line of bra-sized swim separates is designed to give you the support you’ve always wanted, in the trends you’ve got your eye on, in a ridiculously inclusive size range.

“Before Birdsong, there was a gap in the market for fashionable, high quality, supportive, reasonably priced swimwear,” says buyer Megan Puma. “Birdsong makes this season’s top trends available to full-bust and plus customers. Now you have a whole array of mix-and-match options that pack a lot of power but don’t look frumpy or like you’re wearing your bra outside.”

“What’s great is that whether you’re looking for a tiny bikini or modest coverage, there are silhouettes that cater to everyone—there’s tighter and there’s looser, bold trends and subtle classics, poppy prints and solids that go with everything—but they’re all supportive. They’re for every woman, every age. What are you comfortable showing? What do you want to conceal? Now there’s a way to do it so that whatever you want to wear, you’ll feel comfy and confident in it.”

Megan hopes Birdsong swim reaches as many women as possible to make swimwear shopping feel like less of a drag. “I want to help women realize we shouldn’t have to change ourselves to look and feel the way we want to in a swimsuit,” Megan says.

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Personal Style Pop Culture Swimwear

Spring Break Swimwear & Bikini Must Haves

If you’ve been holding out hope for warm weather, take heart. Spring break is so close, we can almost taste it.

Whether you’re going on vacation and find yourself in a need-it-now situation or you’re starting to think about swimwear for later in the season, this is the ideal time to dip into swimwear that’s both highly flattering and highly functional: Don’t be your own worst enemy by waiting until the last minute to face down a historically daunting task because, inevitably, only half of that two-piece you like will still be available in your size.

Better to choose from the best of the best Bare Necessities has to offer in your size while the pickings are good. Like for instance…

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Personal Style

The Best Minimizers Bras

If you’re busty, you’ve been there before: An office-appropriate button-down can suddenly take an R-rated turn, gaping and puckering and leaving you overexposed. In any room you enter, your breasts introduce themselves before you do. You’re going in for a hug, and your chest awkwardly makes the first contact. These are some of the times in life you might wish you were wearing a minimizer bra.

Bare Necessities is here to answer all your questions about minimizers, and buyer Heather Viskovic names her personal favorites…

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The Mind Behind the Design

Michael Thomson of Pour Moi is the Man who Creates Swim Women Love

Michael Thomson is the mind behind Pour Moi, the genius fashion-forward bra-sized swimwear label.

Trained as an accountant, Michael started his career at Marks & Spencer, the leading U.K.-department store, as a merchandiser in the lingerie department. When he noticed a serious lack of well-priced, pretty lingerie and swimwear, Michael launched Pour Moi in 2005.

The brand has been called “the best kept secret” in the business, and Michael is big part of the reason why. “Because I don’t wear bras myself, I’ve always been able to think more clearly about what women want,” he says. “It’s helped me challenge preconceptions.”

Like, say, how to make swimwear that’s as flattering as it is functional without costing an arm and a limb. Style signatures like bold colors and strong prints, in 30D to 42I, always acknowledge the season’s trends without being bound by them. Michael sees Pour Moi’s mandate as to come up with new ideas without looking at what other brands are doing. “Does it look fabulous? Does it fit? Is it something you would love to own?” These are the questions he and his team pose of every piece.

“You should feel fabulous in it as soon as you put it on; if you don’t, we’re not doing our job,” he says of suits designed with hidden underwires, supportive straps and as much convertibility as possible. “Age is not a category,” Michael says. “Pour Moi is all-encompassing—it’s for me, for you, for everyone.”

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Power Figures

Mary Latham Visited All 50 States Collecting Stories of Kindness

The craziest thing Mary Latham has ever done: complete her three-year More Good Road Trip.

That adventure was inspired by a conversation Mary had with her mother on the morning of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: “The same time the shooting was taking place in Connecticut, a coworker of mine told me he was being bought a coffee by a stranger down the street in New York City. When I told my mom the two stories and continued to harp on the shooting and all the bad out there, she reminded me, ‘You have to focus on the coffee story. There will always be horrible tragedies in our lives and in the world, but there will always be more good out there. You just have to look for it.”

A few weeks later, Mary’s mother died of cancer.

So Mary carried her mom’s words with her as she began the More Good road trip, a 50-state mission across the United States to compile stories of human kindness: “After I finished, my plan was to put these stories together in a book I would donate to hospital waiting rooms across the country. I spent a lot of time those when my mom was sick, and I thought they could use a book of hope. I know I could have.”

Mary packed up her mom’s old blue Subaru in the fall of 2016 and hit the road. After traversing the country and in the process of writing a book about her journey, Mary shared what she’s seen with Bare it All.

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Personal Style

Lingerie for Women Who Don’t Wear Lingerie

We see you, ladies who appreciate looking and feeling desirable every so often but don’t really want to peruse pair after pair of pasties and crotchless bodystockings. Maybe you’ve never really dabbled in lingerie before—you suspect it’s not for women like you, or don’t have the kind of time to spend finding a hot needle in a blazing haystack.

It bears a mention this time of year especially: Not all lingerie needs to be scandalous. It’s entirely possible to wear something sexy and stay in your comfort zone.

That’s why we asked Bare Necessities lingerie buyer Kelly Morales to put together her favorite attractive-yet-understated sexy selections. When you’re making yourself vulnerable and putting yourself out on the edge, you want—no, need—to feel like yourself. These make that easy.

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Personal Style Pop Culture Swimwear

Yes, There is Such a Thing as Modest Swimwear

Every body is beautiful and deserves its moment in the sun—but still, it’s February, and maybe you’re not ready to strip down just yet at the water park or on your vacation.

Bare Necessities swim buyer Megan Puma firmly believes that’s swimwear’s problem to solve, not yours. “Your bathing suits should be working on your behalf,” she says. “These days, you can always find something to meet your needs without changing anything about your body or your style. All you have to do is identify what you want to gloss over,” Megan says. “Think of it like ordering from a menu. What special benefits do you want?”

So if showing a lot of skin isn’t your thing, or you need to minimize the potential for wardrobe malfunctions on an extended family vacation, be sure to check out Megan’s modest swimwear recommendations.

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Power Figures

Linsday Powers Wants Parents to Cut Themselves Some Slack

Despite a less-than-idyllic childhood, writer Lindsay Powers single-mindedly rose through the publishing ranks, interviewing the likes of J.Lo, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Then, working alongside Katie Couric, Bobbi Brown and Marissa Mayer, Lindsay launched Yahoo’s digital parenting magazine.

That’s where the whole #NoShameParenting movement started. The campaign really resonated with overachieving, overstressed parents and evolved into her upcoming book on the topic, You Can’t F*ck Up Your Kids, which will be released on March 31. Lindsay gave Bare Necessities an exclusive preview.

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Personal Style

Uplifting Bras Women Over 40 Love

By a certain age, we women know what we want: comfort, ease, to look good, to feel great. Sexy, even, sometimes. We’ve honed our personal style, we avoid trying too hard, we acknowledge the trends without chasing after them. We understand the impact a great accessory can have—like a bra that will never let us down.

In a Bare Necessities Facebook Live broadcast this past fall, we asked what you wanted, and our Bra Fit Experts and buyers have answered. These are the bras for grown women we swear by around here:

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