Bare it All – Page 12 – A Bra, Underwear & Lingerie Blog

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:

Life with the Girls

Have Bras, Will Travel

Post author By Anna Davies
Post date February 14, 2019

Presenting “Life with the Girls,” a new monthly Bare it All series. We’re sharing women’s reflections—profoundly personal, full of heart and capital-R-real—on contending with our chests along with everything else life throws our way. First up: Anna Davies takes on the world with little more than her trusty backpack and a few good bras.

Hoodies. Yoga pants. Oversize chambray shirts. Clog boots. Slogan T-shirts. If you looked in my closet, you’d get a pretty good snapshot of my life: mid-thirties mom with a love of athleisure.

My lingerie drawer, though, tells another story.

From delicate bralettes to ethereal silk balconettes, my bra selection espouses a sexiness-first ethos that the rest of my wardrobe…doesn’t.

As a single parent not dating at the moment, no one is seeing my lingerie this Valentine’s Day. But putting on lingerie I love makes me feel like me. In control. Ready to handle any situation—from a work crisis to a toddler meltdown—with confidence.

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.)

Pop Culture Power Figures

Writer Gina Hamadey Shares the Power of Saying Thanks

Post author By PJ Feinstein
Post date January 28, 2019

Gina Hamadey gets the impact of the written word. A former editor, Gina honed her skills at O, The Oprah Magazine, Rachael Ray Every Day and Food & Wine, among others. Last year, Gina, now a content strategist, decided to try her hand at a different medium: thank-you notes.

During her “Thank-You Year” project, which she documented on Instagram, Gina expressed her appreciation in one handwritten note every day, to family members, childhood friends, doctors, neighbors, favorite authors…even a Trader Joe’s employee.

Three hundred and sixty-five letters later, she’s come to understand the power of praising it forward.

Gina chatted with Bare Necessities about setting ambitious goals, getting out of your own way and the tangible benefits of gratitude (including a new pair of shoes)….

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

Having a B.R.A. Fit Health & Wellness Inner Beauty

From 36DDD to 36G, Irene Wins in Wacoal

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date December 30, 2018

Irene, 38, works out at The Max Challenge with Torrie Rathjen, and once she saw her workout buddy’s bra fit makeover, she had to have one.

Now that her three young sons are getting more independent, Irene can shift a bit of her focus to her own well-being. New Year’s resolutions have got nothing on her: Since Irene already works out five days a week, what she needed was new sports bras that were up to the challenge.

So was Bare Necessities Bra Fit Expert Kristyn, a certified personal trainer and a mom of three boys herself. She instantly got where Irene was coming from: more of a feel-good style makeover than a dramatic size overhaul. These two showed us how to end the year on a high note….

Pop Culture Power Figures

Author Rachel Bertsche Writes About What Women Want

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date December 23, 2018

Rachel Bertsche’s calling card as a writer is throwing herself into uncomfortable situations to find the lesson so that we don’t have to. That’s what she does in The Experimentalist, her monthly Chicago magazine column, where recent exploits have included freezing off her fat cells and demolishing electronics in a “rage room.”

After relocating to the Midwest from New York, Rachel sent herself on 52 blind “friend dates” over the course of a year, trying everything from improv classes to rent-a-buddy services. That became the subject of her first book, MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend, which she followed up with Jennifer, Gwyneth & Me, channeling the likes of Jessica Alba’s pregnancies, Sarah Jessica Parker’s wardrobe and Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop-iness to see if she could live like a star on a mortal’s budget.

Her adventures have landed her a third book deal in the genre of very personal journalism: The Kids are in Bed, due out in 2020, looks at how parents can make better use of their scant spare time. We picked this Power Figure’s brain to find out what’s in her research for us.

Personal Style Pop Culture

How to Rock New Year’s Eve Shapewear

Post author By Brooke Glassberg
Post date December 17, 2018

Whether you’re going to a black tie party or a dive bar, if you’re leaving the house to ring in 2019, you’re going to want to start by layering on the shapewear. It’s the farthest thing from constricting anymore—on the contrary, its stretchiness makes curves look flawless while still allowing you to eat a slider. Or five.

We sat down with Bare Necessities shapewear expert Melissa McDonald to outfit-strategize. You’ve got the invites, we’ve got the style solutions. Here’s exactly what to wear under your ready-to-wear….