Chantelle Bras
Remember like a year ago when I raved about Spanx bras? Well, I've moved on. I still have Spanx bras in my rotation, but I'm slowly moving away from them and toward greener pastures. In defense of Spanx, their bras are still SUPER comfortable and the best at keeping back fat at bay, but the things that make them wonderful also make them not-so-wonderful. Mainly, they aren't adjustable. At all. The band and shoulder straps are a done deal, so if you say, lose some weight or wear your bra a lot and it stretches out, you're screwed. And out $70. I didn't even realize any of this, really, until I went shopping for a new strapless bra. My plan was to head to Nordstrom and pick up the Spanx strapless model. After all, Spanx bras were my holy grail! But Nordy's didn't carry the strapless Spanx because, according to a helpful salesgirl, they suck. She told me that Nordstom was slowly phasing out Spanx bras because their non-adjustable quality made them a bad bra investment. Suddenly I was like, "Oh snap! You're right!" This was just the first epiphany this fabulous shopgirl would lead me to have that day.
I told her my size and that she should pull whatever she thought was the best. I tried on a few, and nothing was really working. Then my helpful gal dropped another life changing truth bomb on me: I was wearing the wrong size. Not in that way that they say 80% of women wear the wrong bra size and blah blah blah. No, I was wearing the right size, but it was the wrong size. Confused? Well, I was wearing a 36C, but I was much better suited to my "sister size" of a 34D. They're the same, but different. After switching sizes and having my mind blown wide open once again, I found my dream bra.
It was a Sensua Strapless Underwire Bra by Chantelle, and it was heavenly. Who knew bras could fit so well while being pretty as well as functional? I was already wearing my strapless bra a lot (hence why I decided to splurge on a bra not from the clearance rack at Marshall's), but now that I had my Chantelle I wore it ALL THE TIME. Sometimes I wore it and didn't even need a strapless bra. I decided my entire bra collection needed a makeover.
Look, I can't afford to be buying a heap of $80 bras like it ain't no thang. I didn't even buy Spanx bras full price. Lucky for me, I live five minutes from an awesome Nordstrom Rack, and they just so happened to have a Chantelle Sublime Spacer Bra in my size for half off. Half off is still $40, which seems like a lot to me, but it's totally worth it. I think I'm just not used to needing to spend money on good bras. I wrote about this is my Spanx bra post, but up until a few years ago, I was an itty bitty A cup. I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm rocking a D cup now, let alone the fact that I need to actually pay attention to supporting those babies.
I got the Sublime Bra in black, and it's now my go-to bra. I'm a big fan of black bras, but I'd still like a nude one for those few times my outfit demands one. You can be certain I'll be stalking the Nordstrom Rack racks on a regular basis until I complete my bra overhaul.
