Categories
The Mind Behind the Design

Sunsets is This Season’s Swim Brand to Know

Though Sunsets has been in swimwear since 1984, the brand’s star is still on the rise.

Sunsets started in the land of swim style, otherwise known as Southern California, back​ when everyone was still buying bikinis in sets; ​shopping for tops and bottoms in two different sizes was literally ​impossible​. Their point of difference: selling swim separates, an unheard-of innovation in the industry at the time. These days, Sunsets is known as a sophisticated lifestyle brand, beloved for both its bra-sized separates and figure-flattering designs. It’s a family business, too: Founder Janette Van Doren brought on her son-in-law Greg Stager, who took on ownership after a couple of years. Now 35 years later, Sunsets still charts the industry’s course to strategic style.

This season, Bare Necessities has also partnered with Sunsets to create exclusive prints and silhouettes that can only be found at BareNecessities.com.

“Our customer always wants more tankinis, and Sunsets has been one of our go-to brands for years, so it was only natural that we work with them to put together the best tankinis in their best prints, in addition to us creating a few of our own!” says swimwear buyer Megan Puma. The London Calling, Black Dot, Imperial Dot and Moroccan Dreams collections are standouts from Sunsets you’ll find only at Bare Necessities.

We interviewed Greg as well as designer Julie Franco to find out what makes Sunsets so singular.

Continue reading “Sunsets is This Season’s Swim Brand to Know”
Categories
Personal Style Pop Culture

Mother’s Day Gifts to Make You Look Like a Star

Mothers contain multitudes, but there is at least one word that applies to all: prepared. With this Mother’s Day gift guide curated by our Bare Necessities buyers, that’s exactly what you’ll be, too.

A month ahead of her special day, we’ve already put together a list of comfy, stylish pajama presents that will be appreciated by anyone in your life who has earned the “mom” moniker: your own mother, a mother-in-law, all the women who raised you up, the daughter who promoted you to grandma, your wife or significant other, a sister…the more you think about it, the longer the list grows.

She gives her all 24/7/365; this time, the idea is to help her sleep in, kick back and relax. Add breakfast in bed, and you’re the one who comes out smelling like a rose.

Continue reading “Mother’s Day Gifts to Make You Look Like a Star”
Categories
Swimwear

2019’s Best Swim Trends

Two true statements: Swim season is here, and it is short.

Your mission is to size up your swimwear, part ways with anything that doesn’t make you look and feel fabulous, and restock on bikinis, tankinis and one-pieces designed to do just that before all the cute ones in your size sell out.

And while you could certainly snap up a fab new black tank suit (side note: do!) and call it a day, that wouldn’t the most fun you could have under the sun, now would it? On such a tiny piece of real estate, swimwear is a pleasantly low-risk place to test the water on mood-boosting trends.

With the help of Bare Necessities swimwear buyer Megan Puma, we’ve put together the newest, most flattering looks that are big on quality, support, value and style. Now choose your favorites and get in your element, bathing beauty…!

Continue reading “2019’s Best Swim Trends”
Categories
Life with the Girls

A Day in the Life of My DDDDs

In this month’s “Life with the Girls,” Laura Lifshitz walks us through an ordinary day which, as it turns out, is disproportionally dictated by the whims of her breasts. Defy you not to relate.line

6 AM: Morning arrives much earlier than I would like. (Thank you, adulthood.) While my soul is crushed that the alarm has sounded and I have, in short order, exceeded the maximum number of snooze hits, there is one delightfully happy part of me: my boobs.

My boobs greet the morning with unadulterated joy. Why are my boobs so happy, you may ask? Because freedom. Unlike the rest of me, they awaken in an unguarded state of leisure.

Continue reading “A Day in the Life of My DDDDs”
Categories
Personal Style Pop Culture

10 of the Most Comfortable Bras at Every Size

When it comes to bras—okay, pretty much all clothing—comfort is non-negotiable now. Think about it: Why should anything we wear every day be even a little bit taxing? Bras are the first thing we pull on in the morning, the last thing we take off at night. And while half of it is getting into the right size and fit, the other half is finding bras so good for your figure, you don’t even notice them.

That’s why we made Bare Necessities buyer Heather Viskovic name names. We talked cushioned straps, the softest and techiest fabrics, underwires tucked in plush little channels and no underwires at all. This week she’s sharing her favorite bras that deliver style, support and a soft touch.

Continue reading “10 of the Most Comfortable Bras at Every Size”
Categories
Power Figures

Kate Westervelt Had Her First Baby—and Launched Her First Company

They say necessity is the mother of all invention, which couldn’t be truer than for Kate Westervelt. The Boston-based founder and CEO of MOMBOX, a postpartum care kit for new moms, had her brilliant brainstorm in the baby aisle at Target, waddling around in a mental fog with an ice pack in her underwear shortly after giving birth and wishing there was an easier way.

Since its 2018 launch, MOMBOX has helped thousands of women across the country get the recovery goods they need based on the type of birth they had, delivered to their doors. The Millennial pink box comes with things new moms don’t even know to think about, like a sitz bath soak, energy bars and cooling gel pads for tender private parts. Kate spent more than a year testing products and building the site on her own, all while raising her son. It paid off: Yahoo named MOMBOX the #2 most-needed item after giving birth.

A former editor at Good Housekeeping and The Financial Times and writer for brands including Wayfair, Social Code and The Purple Carrot, Kate is now all in on MOMBOX. She gave Bare Necessities the scoop on her unique way of supporting women and what it’s like to birth a business…without an MBA.

Continue reading “Kate Westervelt Had Her First Baby—and Launched Her First Company”
Categories
Inner Beauty Pop Culture

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.

Continue reading “The Truth About Imposter Syndrome”
Categories
Confessions Inner Beauty Personal Style Pop Culture

Top 10 Model Confessions with Liris Crosse

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.

Continue reading “Top 10 Model Confessions with Liris Crosse”
Categories
Personal Style Pop Culture

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

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.

Continue reading “In Living Coral: We’re Loving the Color of the Year”
Categories
Life with the Girls

Tempest in a C-Cup

In this month’s “Life with the Girls,” Catherine Censor reflects on a half-century spent negotiating peace with her adversarial breasts: the God-given ones, the surgically-reduced ones and the artificial ones. 

line

My breasts have always been something of a disappointment. Or rather, I have been a disappointment to my breasts. At every stage of my life, we have struggled to coexist.

I developed early and with great enthusiasm. My 34Ds made their appearance just in time for co-ed gym class but years before the invention of the sports bra. Since I was—still am—under five feet tall, my breasts occupied more than their fair share of corporeal real estate, and they were a poor fit in other regards. As a bookish kid, I was mortified to have big breasts, and I’m sure the breasts were equally chagrined that they weren’t affixed to a stripper.

Continue reading “Tempest in a C-Cup”
Categories
Inner Beauty Pop Culture Swimwear

Must-Pack Spring Break Essentials

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.

Continue reading “Must-Pack Spring Break Essentials”
Categories
Power Figures

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.

Continue reading “Karen Catchpole Hit the Road 12 Years Ago…and Hasn’t Stopped Yet”