I’m the latest in a generations-old line of late bloomers. How late? Well, I didn’t wear a bra at all until I turned 16. And even then, it served a more or less decorative purpose.

Maybe it’s because I had been denied the privilege for what felt like forever, but I’ve had a love-hate with lingerie ever since. Love: the Natori Feathers, the ThirdLove 24/7 Classic Contour, the CUUP Balconette. Hate: most lace, all rhinestones, that one mean saleswoman at a boutique which shall remain nameless, and above all, bralettes.

For the better part of the last decade, I’ve refused to buy into the absolute scam that is the unlined, unwired “soft cup” bra. Oh, sure, all the cool, flat-chested girls wear them and extoll their virtues—“I don’t even feel it! It looks so chic!”—but I’m now a 32D in bras, and if I wanted an inanimate collection of atoms that offer no support to lift me up, I’d just go back to college.

The fact of the matter is: Most bralettes for D cups, in my experience, are bad—poorly made, shoddily designed, mostly purchased by women who don’t need to wear bras at all.

Let’s be clear, it’s not that I think an underwire is some incredible boon to women. But unlike a bralette, at least it’s honest. You know what you’re in for with an underwire. Smooth boobs. A modest lift. A mental countdown clock that calculates the seconds until you can come home and take it off. I had therefore all but written off bralettes. That is, until I found the logo soft bra from Les Girls, Les Boys.

Les Girls, Les Boys is a new, simple, and achingly cool street-style brand from designer Serena Rees. Aesthetically, the label is a decided departure from Rees’s previous venture, Agent Provocateur. (She co-founded Agent Provocateur in 1994 and sold it in 2007.) Les Girls, Les Boys is as minimal, utilitarian, and understated as Agent Provocateur was extravagant. And its logo soft bra is good enough to make me come around an entire category of undergarments.

The logo soft bra—which is mercifully not called a bralette—doesn’t look like much more than a piece of perforated fabric, but its construction is full of delightful surprises. First, the elasticized band is a little thicker than most, which means it doesn’t buckle or twist, even over hours of wear. Second, the cups don’t offer quite sports-bra level coverage, but are fuller than most standard triangle bras, which means a snugger, more comfortable fit. And third, there’s not a trace of frill or lace in sight.

Since I got it a few months ago—and then stocked up on it, religiously—it’s become a wardrobe staple, and I’m genuinely crushed when I get dressed to put on some outfit that requires a real bra. Or worse! A strapless one.

Still not sold? When I came home last week after an endless slog at the office, it took me an entire episode of Southern Charm to realize I hadn’t taken it off yet.

Mattie Kahn is a senior editor at Glamour.

Source link