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.

Inner Beauty Pop Culture

The Truth About Imposter Syndrome

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date April 1, 2019
1 Comment on The Truth About Imposter Syndrome

For such an accomplished woman, Jennifer Willey felt like a fraud for a very long time.

A former news anchor and tech executive at some of the world’s largest and most prestigious companies, Jennifer knew she needed to do something about the persistent feelings of doubt cutting her down from within, so she made it her life’s work to examine them. In the process, she founded Wet Cement and turned herself into a gender equality expert.

This past International Women’s Day, Jennifer gave Bare Necessities an exclusive overview of her Wet Cement program on that silent saboteur, Imposter Syndrome, with solutions that can help you go from feeling like a con artist to living authentically in confidence.

Top 10 Model Confessions with Liris Crosse

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date March 25, 2019

Maybe you recognize Liris Crosse from Project Runway, where she was the first black plus-size model to walk in a designer finale runway show.

Could be you’ve heard about her new book, Make the World Your Runway: Top Model Secrets for Everyday Confidence and Success. Filled with straight-talking, hard-won personal advice, Liris takes the rules she uses to own the catwalk and adapts them to real life, no matter what you do or who you are.

She’s also been in countless campaigns for brands like Curvy Couture, is the founder of Life of a Working Model boot camp and is a keynote speaker at mega-events like Essencefest Beauty Carnival.

Whether you already know Liris or not, we assure you: You’re going to want to. Her positivity and presence, confidence and charisma are catching. We got the chance to chat at this past CurvExpo, the preeminent lingerie trade show in New York City. In her exclusive Bare Necessities interview, Liris shares her coming-up story and some of the best advice from her book.

Personal Style Pop Culture

In Living Coral: We’re Loving the Color of the Year

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date March 18, 2019

Sunset on the beach. A frozen peach Daiquiri. Otherworldly reefs.

Coming off winter, this is the stuff dreams are made of, so this season we’re all in on Living Coral, the official Pantone Color of the Year.

For 20 years, the Pantone Color Institute has analyzed trends in different industries, including fashion, art, home decor and travel. Living Coral is said by Pantone to be “animating and life-affirming, with a golden undertone that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge.” It plays up the rosiness in every shade of skin, giving a subtle glow to even the palest complexions.

“With consumers craving social connection, the humanizing and heartening qualities displayed by the convivial Pantone Living Coral hit a responsive cord,” said Pantone executive director Leatrice Eiseman.

Whenever the Venn diagram of good looks and real life overlaps, we want in. Check out some of the newest, most flattering ways from Bare Necessities to try this good-on-everyone trend.

Inner Beauty Pop Culture Swimwear

Must-Pack Spring Break Essentials

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date March 11, 2019

Whether you’re adulting your way through winter or still in school, have you ever heard two lovelier words strung together than spring and break?

If you’re lucky, you’ve got a trip lined up somewhere sunny and a packing list weeks in the making. (What’s a vacation if not something to obsessively look forward to?)

Everyone here at Bare Necessities is just as excited to get into a new season—so much so that we rounded up the essential spring getaway pieces we’re packing. Pick one from the categories you need, and away you go.

Tags spring break packing list

Power Figures

Karen Catchpole Hit the Road 12 Years Ago…and Hasn’t Stopped Yet

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date March 4, 2019
6 Comments on Karen Catchpole Hit the Road 12 Years Ago…and Hasn’t Stopped Yet

This week marks 12 years of living on and working from the road for travel journalist Karen Catchpole.

One of the founders of Sassy and a former editor at Jane, Tell and Shop Etc. magazines during publishing’s boom times, Karen and her husband, photographer Eric Mohl, packed up their Manhattan apartment in the wake of September 11, 2001, hoping to find their place in a world turned upside-down. That’s when they took off on the Trans-Americas Journey, their 200,000-mile road trip through North, Central and South America.

From wherever their Chevy Silverado is parked at the moment (right now, that’d be Bolivia) the two explore on a deeper level than any vacation could ever allow. They also freelance, sometimes together, for the likes of Travel+Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Elle, WSJ Magazine, Slate.com and loads more.

In her exclusive interview with Bare Necessities, find out why this Power Figure took a leap of faith to reprioritize her entire life, and learn how she keeps on keeping on more than a decade into an epic adventure with no end in sight.

Swimwear

Not Your Mama’s Shaping Swimwear

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date February 25, 2019

If you haven’t tried it before, shaping swimwear sounds like it has to be uncomfortable and uncute.

If you have tried it, you know it’s neither.

That goes double when we’re talking about the latest collections from Miraclesuit, Magicsuit and new contouring styles from Coco Reef. These swimsuits go so far beyond what you might expect from a piece of shapewear in aquatic form. Translation: stepped-up prints and fashion-forward silhouettes, like one-shoulder and rompers, all rendered in the best-looking, most body-refining fabrics known to womankind.

Figure flattery never looked so smoking hot. This season’s Bare Necessities suits so aren’t your mama’s shaping swimwear.

Pop Culture

10 Ways to Beat the Sunday Scaries and Monday Blues

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date February 18, 2019

Having yet another manic Monday? It’s not just you.

Between the Sunday scaries and the Monday blues, the beginning of the week can really dial up the anxiety. A 2017 Monster.com survey showed that more than 75 percent of Americans say they experience a “really bad” feeling of dread when the weekend ends. No wonder we’re all living for Friday to roll back around.

For a fighting chance of getting out of bed on the right foot, Bare Necessities found 10 easy things you can do in the name of self-care:

Personal Style

What Makes Wolford the Ultimate Fashion Accessory

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date February 11, 2019

It would be a shame to wait for spring to show your legs the light of day. Now is the time to turn to Wolford, the legwear brand as revered for cutting-edge design as it is for real-world practicality. With a luxury handbag-level obsession with quality materials that will endure, there’s no need to prize comfort over good looks again.

Of course, a heritage that storied doesn’t happen overnight. The founders of Wolford made it their life’s work to create the world’s finest, most innovative hosiery in Austria in 1949 and have since realized that vision in 60 countries.

With a wardrobe of these ace accessories, you’re impeccably, literally covered for anything. Get acquainted with the newest styles and most legendary favorites, because to know them is to fall head-over-heels in love with them (don’t say your friends at Bare Necessities didn’t warn you).

Inner Beauty Personal Style

Chic, Sexy and Plus Size

For too long, sexy and trendy have been mutually exclusive with curvy. But with the combined force of shoppers who know what they want and brands (ahem) who know how to stock it comes the power to buck business as usual.

Our collection of edgy, gorgeous bra and panty sets is curated to fit and flatter fuller figures. Hot tip: Always keep an eye on fashion-forward brands like Elomi, Curvy Couture, Paramour, Bramour, Sculptresse, Dita Von Teese, Scantilly by Curvy Kate, Goddess and Pour Moi. They really know their way around plus-size style that moves the sartorial needle.

The joy of sets is how these match-ups effortlessly ensure your cutest, curviest Valentine’s Day. (Load up your shopping bag on Bare Necessities, then click “email bag” to drop a hint to your significant other…or, you know, scoop it up for yourself.)

Behind the Seams Bra Fit Experts Personal Style

She Said, She Said: Bra Likes and Gripes Shared by Women at Every Size

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date January 21, 2019
2 Comments on She Said, She Said: Bra Likes and Gripes Shared by Women at Every Size

Few places is the grass greener than on the topic of chest size. At some point in life, it seems almost every woman thinks she’s gotten a raw deal with the genetics she’s been dealt.

That’s why we had two Bare Necessities bra geniuses—one card-carrying member of the Itty Bitty Committee, one bodaciously busty—sit and compare notes. Turns out our design director Moira Nelson (who wears a US size 34H) and Bra Fit Expert Kristyn Polin (she being a 30C) are more alike than different in both their wants and their woes.

Find out what works for them, what doesn’t and what it means for you, wherever on the size spectrum you fall.

Personal Style Pop Culture Relationships

Valentine’s Day Lingerie, Your Way

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date January 14, 2019

We’re a month out from Valentine’s Day, what with all its red rose and chocolate connotations. But as with most things in life, we firmly believe there’s more than one way to play it.

Find your February 14th signature style before it’s too late with a little help from the Bare Necessities buyers, who’ve stocked everything you might want to feel your most wanted, from cuddly-cute pajamas to heart-adorned lingerie designed explicitly (and we do mean explicitly) for the holiday.

Tags valentines day lingerie

Health & Wellness Personal Style

10 PERFECT SPORTS BRAS FOR ANY WORKOUT

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date January 7, 2019

Forget reinventing your life because a calendar page flipped. Call it a resolution or don’t, but working out has always been on the to-do list, and it continues into the new year.

When you’ve already got a drawer brimming with sports bras you don’t exactly enjoy pulling on, our annual guide comes to the rescue! This week, Bare Necessities is crowning both the latest and the greatest MVPs. In one of these all-stars tailored to your workout and your figure, it’s game on in 2019. If the clothes really do make the woman, you’re about to be unstoppable.

Read on to find the reason you’ll love working out this season, then get a move on.

Tags sports bras, top 10 sports bras