Valentine’s Day is imminent, and we’ve got red on the brain. In fact, this is usually right about when we start attempting to unearth the scarlet bra from the far reaches of the lingerie drawer. But why reserve rouge for February alone?
Bare Necessities has learned the red-bra styling trick French women have long used that’s guaranteed to blow your mind…
At the beach or pool, looking good really comes down to feeling good. Inner confidence radiates. And when you’re wearing a swimsuit, you’re putting yourself out there in a major way. (Even more so than with lingerie…who really sees that?!) It never hurts to have a style secret weapon and, as far as we’re concerned, it’s bra-sized swimwear. Because you ought to be swimming in support!
Though you may be noticing the supportive swimwear category cropping up more and more, know this: Not all bra-sized swimwear is created equal.
We got the scoop from Jeni Doherty, our resident swimwear whiz with 17 years of experience. She curates the most supportive, cutest swimsuits so you can look and feel amazing. Per Jeni, bra-sized swimwear can either mean:
1) Lingerie manufacturers who are making bra-sized swimsuits
2) Swimwear manufacturers who are making bra-sized swimsuits
On paper, they might sound more or less the same, but there are significant differences in their size ranges and how they fit your figure. Let’s dive deeper….
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.
Everyone wants to get fit and stay healthy—starting in about 10 days, anyway! But for us women, the trade-off is that working out hard can lead to a sagging chest over time. Not ideal.
Krista Molinaro, our contemporary and luxury buyer, is just back from Market—one of four weeks a year she spends visiting vendor showrooms in NYC for a look at your underwear drawer’s future—with an exclusive spring preview.
So what lingerie look is she most excited about?
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.
Though we still say things like “ugh, I got a run in my stockings,” chances are what we’re actually wearing is tights. This time of year, when all of the legwear options come back into full rotation, here’s everything our in-house hosiery expert Erica Luster wants you to know. Consider it a gams glossary of sorts, a lexicon of legwear…