The lingerie shopping experience is, well, very intimate — and figuring out what will fit, particularly in terms of bras, can be (nearly) as loathsome a prospect as swimsuit shopping for many women. There are a handful of innovative, online-only startups these days that are rejiggering the bra-buying process for the better — because at-home try-ons are key. For many, that’s a far more appealing alternative to getting completely topless and wrestling with myriad hooks and strap adjustments. Some brands, like ThirdLove, have rolled out unique at-home sizing systems.
But wouldn’t it be great to see a style you’re contemplating adding to your cart on a variety of boob sizes — including your own? Lively, a direct-to-consumer e-comm started by a Victoria’s Secret alum that launched last month and bills itself as “leisureé” (a melange of lingerie, swim, and activewear), is doing just that.
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The brand just debuted its first Fit Guide, featuring real women chosen via an open casting on social media (a series of Facebook and Instagram posts). The guide’s goal is “showcasing beauties of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds and having their fit help other women coming to the Lively experience,” Michelle Cordeiro Grant, Lively’s founder and CEO, told Refinery29.
The 25 selected women came to Lively’s NYC offices and interviewed with Lively’s team. Then, the women tried on and got photographed in a number of styles from the line. They also filled in the blank to the prompt “I’m #livingLIVELY by...” with answers like “learning to love myself first" and “taking risks to be my own boss;” as well as, “To me, sexy means...being confident and comfortable with who you are.”
The Fit Guide currently features four women (that have four different bra sizes, ranging from a 32A to a 38D) and it will be continually updated with new women and, thus, a wider range of sizes. Of course, there are a slew of different breast shapes, so there's plenty of variation even within a single cup-band combo. It's still helpful (and could widen your bra-donning horizons) to see someone with roughly the same chest dimensions rocking, say, a sheer bralette if you've fastidiously avoided anything wireless forever. “With this guide, we wanted the experience of buying bras online to feel empowering and accessible," Grant explained.
It sounds simple, but seeing someone with the same (or similar) cup size to you wearing a variety of styles — versus a professional model whose proportions might be drastically different than yours — could make a pretty big difference in the ever-evolving process of buying a bra online. Hopefully, more lingerie brands will take a page from Lively’s decidedly democratic approach to fit guidance.
"The idea of driving our open casting solely through our social media platforms came from the kind of engagement we were seeing there,” said Grant. “Our followers became brand lovers first, customers second, and we would receive inquiries daily from girls wanting to be a part of the brand in some capacity.”
That’s a pretty impressive amount of interest for a label that just debuted a little over one month ago. Check out a behind-the-scenes video of the Fit Guide, below.