Summer or winter, the Olympics always seem to seriously ramp up the intensity of everybody’s workouts, which got us thinking: How do Bare Necessities staffers stay fit, have fun and feel fab—even during these hazy late August days? Read on for your daily dose of fitspo, and check out our brand-new activewear arrivals for even more motivation.
Determination.
Courage.
Grit.
Grace.
Athletic prowess aside, this is what’s really at the heart of every Olympian.
Summer is synonymous with concerts, which lift the spirit like little else. Hot on the heels of Coachella last month, we’re looking ahead to Governors Ball (June 3-5 in NYC), Bonnaroo (June 9-12 in Manchester, TN), Firefly (June 16-19 in Dover, DE), Newport Folk Festival (July 22-24 in Newport, RI), Lollapalooza (July 28-31 in Chicago) and Outside Lands (August 5-7 in San Francisco), among others.
Thanks to all these shows, festival lingerie is a thing that’s happening. Hand in hand with the bohemian-influenced clothes, the underpinnings are unlined, lacy and diaphanous, with a vintage quality. They’re unstructured and easy to wear (particularly for smaller busts, but there’s a way for all sizes to get in on the festival bralette trend, too). Read on for our staffers’ picks of the best bands and the best bralettes.
Elizabeth DeMott, director of bare necessities customer service, is the capital-B-Bra Fit Expert around here. Her job is to zero in on your pain points—bra-fittings to backorders—and smooth them over like a good natured, blazing hot iron.
You know it’s got to take a special kind of person to traffic in negatives and transform them into positives every single day. That’s got to tell you something about the stuff she’s made of. Elizabeth uses it to your advantage—how great is that? Now let’s talk shop….
The preferred method of sharing what’s going on in your life has inarguably shifted from status updates to photos and videos. It’s how we communicate. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to take the perfect selfie.
Pro: A picture can be worth a thousand words.
Con: Always needing to be camera-ready!
You owe it to yourself to learn how to manage the image you put out there and, by virtue of having a smartphone in your pocket, you can easily learn to be your own best paparazzo.
No one knows how to curate the living daylights out of an Instagram feed better than our photo studio crew. We lured them out from behind the lens to share all they know about taking amazing pictures and how to translate that into top-notch selfies. Here are their rules for how to take the perfect selfie:
Though Bare Necessities revolves around women, there are more than a few good men behind the scenes helping to make the bra-shopping experience nothing short of flawless. We couldn’t wait to introduce these fine gents to you: Each is snowflake-level special and brings his unique talents to bear every day in the not-unintimidating world of intimate apparel. Because the one thing that unites them (other than a love of Game of Thrones and a good burger) is an admiration for all the impressive women in their lives—family, coworkers and customers alike.
In time for Valentine’s Day, let’s get to know the guys of Bare Necessities….
With fitspiration as its annual peak, we’re bringing you an inside look at five of the hottest fitness trends for 2016 that our staffers are all about right now—not to mention the corresponding activewear trends. Because when the elliptical starts to feel like a snooze, you definitely don’t have to default to the couch!
Donna Lewis had her aha moment in a mud pit.
As the executive assistant to the CEO and COO here at Bare Necessities, Donna—the good-natured glue holding this office together; our tough-as-nails, can-do jack-of-all-trades—has had her share of ups and downs over the years. But when she hit her lowest low, Donna was quite literally in the dumps. A friend had talked her into participating in a Dirty Girl Mud Run. On a mixed-ability team—senior citizens; women who had just finished cancer treatments—it quickly became clear that Donna was the weak link.
“It was me holding the group back. I didn’t want to be that chick! But when I was running, I thought my heart was going to explode. I couldn’t haul myself over the obstacles, and that frustrated the hell out of me,” says Donna. “I made up my mind then and there to get in shape.”
She lost 75 pounds in nine months.
As our month-long look at becoming the best version of ourselves continues, Donna opens up about her very personal wake-up call, her inspirational weight loss success story of dropping from a size 16 to a size 4, her disciplined-yet-doable regimen and how she proudly maintains the new normal.
We all enter into a new year together, with the same clean slate ahead: 365 thrillingly unwritten days with which to undertake something extraordinary, to live with intentionality and to find meaning (whether we’re on the upswing or down), to uplift others and better ourselves. How awe-inspiring is that? (No pressure, though!)
Here’s how the BN staff intends to make 2016 count. Let us know on Twitter @barenecessities what you’ve got in store for the year ahead. Happiest new year!
Merry Christmas, friends! Now that the holidays are finally upon us—or even behind us, for some—we’re focusing a little less on running around ringing up presents and a little more on how we plan to spend quality time with family and friends—the real point of the season.
That’s why, this week, Bare It All asked the Bare Necessities staff what Christmas and holiday traditions mean the most to them. Some will probably sound all too familiar, and maybe you’ll find a new one or two to incorporate into your own celebrations (three words: spiked hot chocolate). Whatever you do, whoever you’re with, we hope it’s the kind of uplifting, heartwarming stuff that puts the wind back in your sails as we head into 2016.
As the editor of the Bare it All blog (hi, I’m Brooke, nice to meet you!), there’s little I love more than some old-school undercover reporting. And there’s nothing quite so under-the-covers as a bra fitting, right?
One of my first priorities after I came to work for bare necessities was to get fitted. I was both brimming with hope and filled with dread. At 5’2” with the faintest suggestion of a chest, my bras have been riding up uncomfortably and gaping widely for as long as I can remember. Padding has long been my frenemy. Since my first department store fitting in middle school, I’ve been convinced NO ONE makes bras that fit me.
Brittany finally broke me free from that idea.
She’s one of our certified Bra Fit Experts, and she is as kind and smart as they come. When I started here, she personally gave me the once-over, sizing me up in a conference room with nothing but her well-trained eyes. Three times, she pulled different brands and sizes from our warehouse until we found the elusive bra of my dreams. In fact, we found three.
Say hello to Laura Burke, Director of Customer Service, Bra Fit Expert and mom to a 4-year-old son and a 7-month-old daughter. To say she’s a woman in demand, at work and at home, would be a serious understatement. We wanted to find out everything she knows professionally and personally about nursing bras (one thing new moms don’t have all that much of is free time to do research), not to mention how she holds it all together when life’s going a hundred miles a minute in every direction.
Give her, or any of our certified Bra Fit Experts, a ring at 877-728-9272 or tweet questions to @barenecessities with the hashtag #getalift. They’re at your service.