Breast cancer touches most of us, directly or indirectly. What happens when someone you love is diagnosed, and the world keeps turning? So often, well-intentioned family, friends and coworkers want to be useful but realize they don’t really know how to be.
When breast cancer affects someone you care about, your greatest contribution can be offering both tangible and intangible support. Though not everyone will want the same things or react the same way, the most important takeaway is this: Don’t ignore the pink elephant in the room. Do something.
This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Bare Necessities compiled the 10 best suggestions:
Meredith Bodgas has built her career on walking women through every major life stage and milestone. She’s been an editor at some of the most prestigious websites and magazines like The Knot, Glamour.com, WhattoExpect.com, Babytalk, WomansDay.com, Parenting and Ladies’ Home Journal to name but a few off her resume.
When it comes to advocacy, Meredith takes her platform seriously. She’s made it a priority to show way more diversity among the mothers she profiles and, when she realized Working Mother‘s leave policy didn’t hold a candle to some of the companies they were applauding in print, she prepped a presentation for the company’s leadership and negotiated a better deal for her colleagues…all while out on maternity leave.
True to form, and right in time for American Business Women’s Day, this Power Figure found an hour in the middle of the night while nursing her son to one-handedly tap out her replies to Bare Necessities.
Though it seems like it should be the most natural thing in the world, nursing a baby can feel like anything but. These days, when something as benign as feeding your infant is so fraught (politicized, even), it’s reassuring to hear a few wise words from women who have been there, lived that.
In honor of World Breastfeeding Awareness Week and National Breastfeeding Month, we present the good, the bad and the in-between about what it’s really like to sustain a tiny human with your own two boobs. Eight Bare Necessities staffers looked back—some many years, some to this morning—to bring you their best, most honest breastfeeding real talk. File all this knowledge under “things nobody ever tells you….”
So you and your girls have a pretty extra summer planned. Maybe you’re renting a beach house for a long weekend, or you’re piling onto a plane to recharge and let loose someplace tropical. Either way, those precious few days and nights will likely involve Instagram-worthy hats and sunnies, old inside jokes, suntan lotion chased with aloe and a fair number of rum-based cocktails.
With you and your crew in mind, Bare Necessities swimwear buyer Megan Puma played personal shopper, pulling the best bikinis (and an unforgettable one-piece) for everyone in the inner circle. Just match the squad member with her ideal swimsuit and get packing.
Your ride-or-die BFF knows how to read your mood with a single emoji. She can always be counted on for an airport pick-up, a reliable second opinion and a good cathartic cry. She carries both Advil and Tylenol, because she knows girls need choices. She is the swimwear equivalent of a bra-sized bikini.
Freya Sundance Sweetheart Bikini: Everyone is going wild for the new black cherry color of this uplifting, fabulously fitting full-bust bikini that locks and loads in style.
Freya Run Wild Idol Bikini: “This is the same shape and fit as the uber-popular Idol bra,” says Megan. The hot tub-friendly version has a chic abstract animal print and three different coverage options in the bottoms—in other words, plays well with others.
Bless her, this friend doesn’t have a single mean bone in her body. She’s kind to animals, allergic to gossip, tips lavishly and has a laugh you would recognize a mile away. She’s basically a real-life fairy tale princess, and she dresses the part.
Freya Endless Summer Underwire Bandeau Bikini: Megan loves the optional strap on this ruffled, watercolor top, which comes in D to G cups. It looks more unstructured than it is, with side-boning and power-net back wings.
Becca Femme Flora Ruffle Bikini: Ruffle-trimmed triangle cups for chest sizes 32 to 40 stretches on overhead like a bralette. Pair it with the coordinating romper cover-up for a darling matchy-matchy look.
You know who we mean—she can’t kick back in a lounge chair for more than fifteen minutes before she’s off joining a pick-up volleyball game, hiking a volcano or learning to stand-up paddleboard. She rises with the sun to hit the hotel gym; her only tan line is from her Fitbit.
Pour Moi Glamazon Scoop Neck Underwire Bikini: Trimmed in basketball-esque mesh netting for that just-one-of-the-guys appeal, this scoop-neck bra-sized knockout is as comfy and functional as it is fabulous.
Though she lost her driver’s license in the ocean the day you arrived, you find her endlessly endearing. She is always fashionably late. She likes to keep things interesting, and she’s down for turning up on the dance floor and at the bar—just be sure to get her a wake-up call if you want to see her at brunch.
Pour Moi Glamazon Double Strap Bikini: Sexy layered straps turn it from “game day” to “game on” (see image at top of post). Bottoms range from scant and side-tied to high-leg briefs.
Miss Mandalay Icon Strappy Bikini: Miss Mandalay brings the drama with a strap-happy suit in a bold cobalt color. Choose from two equally modern bottom styles with the same cool strap detail served up different ways.
The easygoing earth goddess who walks among you is happy to roll with whatever—so long as she’s not missing any music festivals. She’s seriously considering opening a coconut stand on the beach and never going back home.
Seafolly Bali Hai Underwire Bikini Top, DD-Cups: With DD-cups and convertible straps, these Far-East florals on a batik background bring a little luau wherever you go. Just tuck a flower over one ear.
Tommy Bahama Cowrie Diamond Halter Bikini: A classic blue-and-white shibori halter inspired by cowrie shells needs only a wood bead necklace and a piña colada. The sarong-esque skirted bottom is like a built-in cover-up.
She’s single and ready to mingle, so why shouldn’t her swimwear say as much? There are worse places to meet someone than paradise. So play on at the playa, player. Bring on those summer nights…and these suits.
Robin Piccone Luca Plunge One-Piece: The bikini’s brave older sister is this un-basic black, deep-vee halter, with hardware suggestive of a bar piercing.
Luli Fama Mambo Push-Up Halter Bikini: If you love this friend, then whatever you do, please do not pull her over to the swim-up bar by the lace-up straps.
THE ONE WHO CAN SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF WHATEVER COUNTRY YOU’RE IN
This is the friend who fills half her suitcase with novels and plays Duolingo and Words with Friends on her phone in her down time. You rely on her to plot out the itinerary, read a map, converse with the concierge in his native tongue and generally get things handled.
Becca Tahiti Halter Bikini: A toile-inspired floral print with darling crochet trim and an adjustable string tie in back is understatedly sweet and smart. A white bikini made wearable, in Tahiti or Tijuana.
Pour Moi Barcelona Halter Bikini: The metallic threads woven into this pinup-worthy, supportive underwire halter sparkle in the sun—not unlike your amigas.
Some creative types seem to have more hours in the day than the rest of us. Like Beyoncé. And Oprah. And April Rueb and Samantha Zabell.
In their previous digital publishing gigs, April started out as Sam’s mentor, and they became fast friends. Now, with new day jobs firmly rooted in data—April is an analytics solutions engineer; Sam is a social media strategist—they’re prolifically and profoundly creative in their free time. April is a renegade feminist cross-stitcher; Sam is a self-taught hand-lettering artist. After the 2016 election, they launched Craft for Change (C4C), a collective of artists whose work they “sell” in exchange for a charitable donation to a cause.
Bare Necessities talked to this tireless under-30 twosome about the healing powers of art, the difference between a passion and a profession and how to keep going when the going gets tough.
When she was 6, Karolina Dehnhard came to the United States from Poland with her mother, a suitcase, two hundred dollars and an American Dream. From an early age, she learned that nothing in life came easily; the same message would be driven home again when, at age 30, her marriage dissolved.
That didn’t stop Karolina, who completely reinvented her world by changing careers and founding a divorce resources group for women not unlike herself. Divorce Dynasty is her brainchild, a group of attorneys, doctors, accountants, therapists, financial pros, realtors and life coaches who guide women through each step of divorce proceedings. Karolina’s mission: to counsel and empower women facing one daunting, critical decision after another.
Karolina was honored in 2016 as one of the Leading Women Intrapreneurs for her contribution to the advancement of women in the corporate world, and this past February, she was honored by the Trade & Investment Section of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York for her work toward global women’s empowerment. While in the process of writing a book, MRS to ESQ, about her journey, Karolina gave Bare Necessities the scoop on successfully starting over.
Stepped-up sleepwear is a smart gift idea because it’s one of those things Mom loves but probably doesn’t treat herself to very often. So between our expert Bare Necessities buyers and Bra Fit Experts, we’ve put together the ultimate mother-approved sleepwear cheat sheet. All you have to do is skim and click and, presto, you’re Mom’s favorite.
Here’s the thing: You have to order by today if you want to get it in time for Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 13th. (Stepping up to preferred shipping buys you a few days and lets you cut the line for a nominal fee.)
Read on for our top 10 gift picks that are all about comfort and heart. If you need even more fast, fab ideas for a very particular mama, call 877-728-9272 x4 or chat via barenecessities.com with a Bra Fit Expert before time’s no longer on your side.
And if all else fails, send an e-gift certificate and remember to tell Ma how much you love her in the message.
Launched in 2017, BRABAR was designed to educate the girls of Generation Z on fit, beginning with that very first bra. Then, eventually, the brand instructs her in how to measure so when she becomes a woman, she feels empowered to get it right on her own.
“These seventh graders walk straight into Victoria’s Secret Pink and pick up a 32AA when they’re really 26 inches around,” said BRABAR founder Wendy Herman. “Right at this critical point in their development, they’re bombarded with this overly sexualized messaging. In school, they raise their hands, and the bra band rides right up over their chests. It gets exponentially worse from there.”
With a teenage daughter of her own and a lingerie biz background, Wendy gets it personally and professionally.
Annie Dean (above left) and Anna Auerbach (above right) were strangers living on opposite coasts when they quit their high-powered careers to change the world together.
Connected by a mutual friend over a call that was rescheduled three times, Annie, a “recovering corporate real estate attorney,” and Anna, an immigrant from Kiev who went to Harvard Business School before becoming a McKinsey consultant and social impact COO, bonded over working-mother worries. Though they could have commiserated and carried on with business as usual, they decided instead to disrupt the outdated system.
That’s how Werk was born. The service pre-screens for leadership-track, career-advancing jobs with built-in flexibility so that women don’t have to ramp down, opt out or never see their families. The 600+ openings listed come from the likes of HBO, Deloitte and MM.LaFleur.
“Employees no longer work standard hours in a single space with one parent at home,” reads Werk’s manifesto. “We cannot parent like we don’t have jobs and work like we don’t have children. Flexibility is the highest-impact, lowest-cost tool companies can use to optimize their workforce.” Maybe that’s why Fast Company recognized Werk as one of the Top 11 Innovations That Made Women’s Lives Better in 2017.
Since our mission at Bare Necessities is to lift women up, we’re firmly in favor of Anna and Annie’s script-flipping vision. Read on for how these friends are advocating for women in the workforce on a mass scale. Thanks to them, more of us will be able to “have it all” in the not-so-distant, female-led future.
An above-average bottle of Champagne. Seventy-percent-minimum dark chocolate. A ridiculously fancy candle. Some treats are timeless, best savored every so often all year long and filed under “self-care.”
Of course, they happen to be extra decadent when experienced altogether. Often the only time all those stars align is on Valentine’s Day.
Sexy lingerie is one of these things, too. Consider V-Day a perfect excuse to indulge or show off some of the more special pieces you’ve collected.
It’s 2018, the era of the Women’s March and the #MeToo movement, yet no woman has ever been elected U.S. president, 20 percent of Congress is female and 6 percent of Fortune 500 companies are lady-led.
So when an experienced executive literally writes the book on thriving in the corporate world while keeping the plates of her personal life spinning, you listen.
Karyn Schoenbart, CEO of market research firm The NPD Group, wrote Mom.B.A.: Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next, which came out this past fall. She’s also a wife and a mother of two. Recognized with award after award as one of the most influential women in business, Karyn is perfectly positioned to pay it forward. After all, what Millennial wants to hear she can’t have her cake and eat it, too?
In this exclusive interview with Bare Necessities, find out some of Karyn’s most liberating, hard-won insights and advice. Here’s to all of us leading the charge this year.
By day, Jessica Matlin (top right) is the health and beauty director at Teen Vogue, andJennifer Goldstein (top left) is the executive beauty and health editor at Marie Claire. Not glam enough for you yet? On nights, weekends and rare, spare moments in between, they become the co-hosts of Fat Mascara, the award-winning, first-of-its-kind weekly podcast about all things beauty. (The show’s name is an allusion to the bigger, better, juicier, where-does-it-end? trend in mascara and the like.)
Since last spring, Jess and Jenn have been “raising a wand” to their favorite products; interviewing celebrities, hair stylists and makeup artists, physicians and all manner of experts; reporting the latest industry news; answering listener questions and otherwise holding up beauty as a mirror to our culture.
For bravely, stylishly and hilariously exploring this often fraught women’s territory in a smart, fresh way, we hereby name Jenn and Jess this month’s Power Figures. Read on to hear how they know a hero from a zero when it comes to cosmetics, why these print all-stars became audiophiles, how they cope with stress when they’re at their limits and what beauty really means to them.
