Friends who get fit together...

…drink mimosas together afterwards. And I mean like, bra fit, not physically fit. Though let's admit that trying on bras can be pretty exhausting, emotionally and physically. Let me explain.

I went to INTIMACY Bra Fit Stylists last week with a girlfriend with the goal of getting her fitted for new bras, and also to donate some old bras of mine to Free the Girls. INTIMACY is pairing up with the non-profit organization to call March "National Bra Fit Styling Month" to raise awareness for Free the Girls' mission and also to remind all of us ladies how important it is to get fitted at least once a year.

Paris-bound plane outfit from last Monday!

I had a really great experience getting a swimwear fitting done at INTIMACY's Madison Ave location last summer, and was expecting the same level of expertise at their 3rd Ave boutique as well. I think what made this visit even more fun was going with a friend. Trust me—especially if you're not boob-shy, it reduces the redundancy of taking off and putting on bra after bra. Plus, Fitting Friend can gut-check your purchase candidates for a final yes or no, especially if you're the type to not quite trust salespeople. (Sidenote on fittings: don't be that girl who brings her boyfriend/husband into the fitting room area, that's really annoying for all the other women around you).

Shown: Marie Jo L'Aventure TOM Convertible t-shirt bra in 32B (black) and 32DDD.

My stylist, Samanta Locarno, brought me my size for a few styles I picked out, then brought a few others that she thought I'd like based on my choices. I'm going to admit here that INTIMACY is a tough shopping boutique for me—I'm a visual shopper, and most of the sizes that are on display are larger cup sizes, so I'm never sure what they actually have in my size and what they don't. But what you have to remember is that they always have more sizes, you just have to ask.

I tried on a tried-and-true style from Simone Perele, the Caressence 3D Full Cup bra in a gorgeous royal blue shade that was on sale, and a couple of styles from Marie Jo. I'd heard rave reviews about Marie Jo, but it's a brand that I've never really gravitated towards for a few reasons. 1, the designs are sort of… well, dated. I like a more more modern-looking bra (listen, aesthetics are important to me) and MJ never really made the cut. 2, the cups look gigantic for even a B-cup. Visually, I'm thinking "how in the world are my boobs going to fill that??" Well, it turns out that my boobs filled them out fine. And if anything, the MJ bras were by far the most comfortable padded bras I've ever tried. Totally sold.

Shown: (from top to bottom) Simone Perele Caressence 3D Full Cup Bra; Marie Jo JANE Balconette T-shirt Bra; Marie Jo L'Aventure TOM Convertible T-shirt Bra.

Moral(s) of the story: even if the design of the bra totally freaks you out, try it on. And go with a friend. If she hasn't been fitted in awhile and she can't believe what her new size is, she'll need some booze afterwards to deal with the news.

Find an INTIMACY near you and go get fitted.

This post was written in exchange for product.

Tempting Tuesdays: A Stella McCartney Beige Bra & What Not To Do At Work

Tuesdays will feature a lustworthy lingerie set and a suggested retailer. I think we all need a little something beautiful to at least look at to get us through the week. Hope you love them as much as I do!

Stella McCartney Maria Bouncing Set

image via journelle.com

A few weeks ago I posted about the beautiful Chantelle set I got at Journelle with my discount code for participating in their bra drive with Free the Girls. So, this is the other one I settled on (bra only, no knickers but you know how I do—gotta show you the set!)... and it was kinda tough. I wanted a nude bra since one of the ones I had donated was my go-to Elle Macpherson beige bra and I needed a simple beige one in my repertoire. But you know, even with 20% off, a $150 bra isn't an easy decision to make. But I did it, especially once the sales associate told me that they did have it in my size, and I figured, "I'm celebrating spring, a new job and a new phase of my life—this calls for a new... beige bra." Yeah.

What's pretty cool though, is that you can remove the straps to make it a strapless bustier-style bra, or a racerback! Just make sure that the straps are adjusted to the correct length and they're not too loose. Otherwise it might slide out in the front and hang out of the sleeve of your silk blouse when you're walking to the restroom at work and leave people staring at you, puzzled... and you're wondering if your eye makeup is smeared all over your face when in reality, your bra strap is hanging out of your sleeve and you don't realize it until you're in the stall. 

"Aw, fuck."

Good thing no one else was in the restroom.

But otherwise, it's a really, pretty bra. Stella McCartney long-lines FTW.

Stella McCartney Maria Bouncing Bra, $150. Maria Bouncing Bikini, $70. Available at journelle.com.

A Dose of Summertime Pretty

I stopped by Journelle last Friday after work to drop off some of my old bras for their Spring Cleaning Bra Drive that supports Free the Girls (pun intended) and to refresh my lingerie drawer with some new pretties. I may or may not have shed a tear when I realized that some of the Mimi Holliday bras I had been eyeing weren't available in my size at the Union Square store—and almost every other bra I tried on wasn't my exact size because mine was either sold out or wasn't carried.

I was bummed, handed over "my failed attempts at happiness" to the sales associate, and then saw this Chantelle Icone set in Tropical Blue and figured it'd be worth a shot—even though the black Icone was too big on me. I tried on the same size I had tried in black—and hollerlujah, it fit perfectly. So, naturally with a bra this pretty, I had to get the bottoms too. The color makes me think of summertime in this chilly NYC spring we've been having, and just looking at it makes me smile.

Moral of this story? Try on every damn bra because manufacturers are sizing differently even among their own collections. And who knows? You could be pleasantly surprised.

Chantelle Icone Demi Bra, $88. Icone Shorty, $88. Available at Journelle.com.

Lingerie Spring Cleaning For A Cause

I'm in the middle of a career transition right now, so I've been aggressively getting other parts of my life in order too. Like finally cleaning out a few boxes from when I moved into my new apartment (last July, oops), throwing out makeup I haven't used in the past six months, getting rid of clothing that I haven't worn in a year... and it feels effin' amazing to start fresh! Especially with this freakishly warm spring-to-summer transition weather we've been having in NYC lately.

So that also brings me to my lingerie drawer, and out with the old bras that don't fit me properly anymore (yoga the past year has brought me down a size, *sob*). But what to do with them? It was as if the Journelle ladies read my mind when they emailed me about a promo they're doing this week—and for a great cause.

Journelle is encouraging y'all to do a lil' spring cleaning too! Starting tomorrow, Wednesday March 21st, they'll gladly collect your used bras to donate to charity in exchange for 20% off any new bra. They'll also be donating $1 for each bra they receive, and PLU favorite wash creators The Laundress will be donating a gift with purchase too. Pretty sweet, right? So if you bring in three bras, you'll get 20% off three new bras, just make sure you bring them in on the same day. You can only get the promotion on one of the days during the Bra Drive.

This year they're partnering with Free the Girls, which provides job opportunities to women rescued from sex trafficking in Mozambique. The girls & women are given bras that they sell in used clothing markets — bras are a luxury and bring in top dollar there. According to this article on CNN, "the girls can make three times the average wage, more than enough to support themselves and not be trafficked again."

Pretty rad. So what are you waiting for? Oh yeah, probably for Wednesday. Heh. Check out Journelle's gorgeous flyer below for more info!

xo