Self Care Essentials: Bra Shopping
Something you should know about me — I am a brand loyalist. Once I find a brand that works for me — in any shopping category — I stick to it. This shopping "strategy" has been pretty successful for most of my life... til it wasn't, lol.
It's no secret that I have been working on different ways to improve/enhance my self care habits. I've been working on my mind & my body, but I also needed to work on my physical comfort, so I decided it was about time I overhaul my brassieres.
I've been top heavy for most of my adult life, with my smallest size after puberty being a 32D. I would have to buy 34C since, at the time, 32D wasn't a common size. Most companies only accommodated 32A-B, then 34 through 40 A-D... nothing like the variety of sizes I have access to now. My very first real job was working for Victoria's Secret and it used to be so frustrating to see some gorgeous styles and colors come in, only to be relegated to shopping the same two styles, in the same 4 boring colors — white, ivory, nude, and black.
“Tip: If your size isn’t available, you decrease the band & increase the cup, or vice versa, to calculate the “sister size” to your bras.”
After a year of mostly wearing "house bras" — yes, I wear bras at home — I figured it was time for me to switch my shopping strategy and test out the bras & brands I'd been window shopping. With so many offerings in sizes and shades, I knew I could finds more than a few options for my girls at home and whenever I go out.
Brands I'm Shopping
For years I have heard great things about Harper Wilde, ThirdLove, and Savage Fenty. All three offer an impressive range of styles, colors, and sizes. No more adjusting my size to fit into a limited assortment. In addition to these three, I have the the bras that I have been using for the past year — all from Amazon, and some Amazon brands specifically. I should add that Victoria's Secret has come a long way in their sizing offerings, but it's still not as robust as the other brands, so I didn't even bother adding them to the haul.
My initial plan was to buy my bras, compare and contrast, and then maybe share a round up of my findings via IG stories. Then one day, over on IG, one of you asked me for top heavy bra recommendations. I took that as a sign.
So here's what we're gonna do...
At the time of writing this, I've already ordered and received all of my new bras. I'm going to live with them for a month, and wear em all, rotating styles and brands. Once the month is up, I'll share my insights... first impressions, price for value, and of course, comfort & fit. I'll do one post comparing the 3 major brands, but also sharing how they compare to the ones I've been wearing all along.
Overhauling my bras is an investment — I ordered 10 bras across 3 brands! — but it's worth it. Of the 10, only one needs to be exchanged for a different size, which I think is a huge win but also something I anticipated since I mixed two sizes. My hope, once I've worn all the bras, is to set up a rotation of go to bras that will have me covered for all my brassiere needs. And when it's time to do this again, I'll already have a trusted arsenal of bras that I just need to add to my cart versus starting from scratch each & every time.
Depending on quality and usage, it's recommended to change our bras every 6 to 12 months.
This is an investment that, in my opinion, is worth making once or twice a year, and I refuse to put a price on my self-care.
Head over to my feed & lemme know what your bra shopping experience has been like — do you have a system, are you just winging it, or have you just never given it any thought? And if you missed the question box in my IG stories, feel free to drop any questions you want me to answer over on IG.
