The struggle is real, especially in the summer, if you have big boobs. Or, you know, any boobs. We asked our resident fairy godmother, lead Bra Fit Expert Mette Iacouvou (a size 34I, for the record), to divulge her smartest bra solves for even the stickiest of situations.
Summer is a double-edged sword. Sure, we love it above all other seasons—the relaxed pace, the dose of vitamin D, the restorative time off. But like it or not, with its return each year comes the dreaded swimsuit try-on-athon. No sea of self-tanner can satisfactorily start to address spring’s pallor; no Tylenol can tame that season-opener of a bikini wax; no liquid courage can help us sail through what we know we’re about to endure: somehow locating those elusive three feet of fabric powerful enough to make us feel like Gigi Hadid at the Jersey shore.
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….
Welcome to spring-cleaning season! As devotees of the Kondo method will agree, it’s liberating—life-changing, even—to shed stuff that doesn’t bring you happiness. But there is a flip side of that cathartic coin: What to do when you realize you’re going to need to replace those old standbys?
Take, for example, The Bra. You know the one we mean. It’s stretched out so far you’re supporting it rather than the other way around. It’s been through the wringer literally and figuratively. Yet, beyond all reason, you love it. You cling to it. It is so. Very. Comfortable. But make no mistake, it’s shot. Yep, it’s time for an intervention.
We challenged Bra FIt Expert Brandi Macholl to help some BN staffers part ways with a few beloved bras that are admittedly well past their expiration dates (not even women who work for a bra company are exempt from holding onto a favorite long after its time has passed). In each instance, she came up with a new, equally awesome replacement. “Dare to do better,” Brandi says. “That’s what we’re here for.” (Put her to the test yourself: 877-728-9272)
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.
Welcome to the second installment of our expertly curated holiday gift guide. In this season of giving thanks, we’re thinking of all the family and friends on our shopping list. So we’re tapping our plugged-in Bra Fit Experts for their favorite holiday gift ideas, bras and beyond, of all time and at this very moment.
From a pair of PJs anyone would covet to over-the-top cashmere extravagance, we hope you can check a few loved ones off your list with a little help from these holiday present ideas from your friends here at Bare Necessities. Meanwhile, we’re hoping you and yours had an exceedingly happy Thanksgiving!
When it comes to finding the perfect holiday gifts for the ladies we love in life—up to and including ourselves—we’ll leave no proverbial stone unturned. But where to begin? With the experts, that’s where.
Our Bra Fit Experts are always the first to hear what customers are buzzing about, and they know from experience what’ll fit and what’s bound to be a hit. So here’s our gift to you: their smart suggestions for gorgeous, crowd-pleasing holiday present ideas in every category, including their most beloved bras.
This week and next, they hope to make this happy-if-hectic season easier by saving you hours of site-surfing and personally pointing the way to a few of their favorite things to give and receive as holiday gifts. (“One for me, one for you. One for me, one for you…!”) Because this time of year is just as much about uplifting others as it is about taking time to pamper yourself a bit, too.
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.
Meet Mette Iacovou, one of the certified Bra Fit Experts here to help fit you and find the perfect bras for your body. They field hundreds of calls and chats every day from real women with the same real-world concern: not nearly enough time to find just the right underthings. So do yourself a solid and say hello at 877-728-9272, x4, or tweet @barenecessities with the hashtag #getalift. There’s no problem these bra-fit ninjas can’t solve, pinkie-promise.
Mette Iacovou, customer service supervisor (and employee of the month!)
Bra size: 36H
Life’s work: I always wanted a job where I could help people, inside and out. I was born with a rare tumor—I wasn’t supposed to be here. From infancy until age 17, I had so many surgeries. My attitude wasn’t always positive, but with age comes wisdom. It’s made me more empathetic. So I love nothing more than bringing out someone’s best characteristics and letting her shine.
Role model: After everything I went through, I was very “woe is me, I’m not worthy.” My strong mother taught me otherwise. She showed me what I should and should not be accepting of in life.
Motivation source: My son, daughter—she’s 6 going on 35—and husband. They are fun, loving, caring, genuinely good people.
Passionate about: Educating women to find the right fit in intimate apparel. It’s neat to enlighten friends and strangers, to make them feel more supported. They might take this information and teach it to their own children. It helps raise a woman’s self-esteem.
Bra-fit secret: It takes a lot of tries to get it right, and it’s not just a one-time measurement that stays with you for life, either. It helps if you know what each part of a bra does and how it’s supposed to look on your body. For example, straps are not supposed to be doing all the work!
Fun fact: I was born in Denmark and moved to the States at 7, not knowing one word of English.
Personal mantra: Go for it 100,000%.
The most frequently asked questions Mette has been fielding lately are….