Five Things You May Not Know About Sports Bras

After hitting a few bumps in my golf cart recently, I realized I’d forgotten the most essential piece of my golf wardrobe! Then, a friend confided that she was suffering from sore breasts after going out for a run – even though she was wearing two bras for extra support.

Let’s look at five things you may not know – but need to know – about sports bras:

1. Sports bras are recommended for all sports and warm weather activity, even low impact sports like golf. Some women wear older, worn-out bras for golfing because they don’t want to ruin their best bras, but you deserve better! Sports bras are made from moisture-wicking material that keeps you cool and comfortable.
2. Two regular bras do not equal one sports bra. Sports bras are not just for comfort. They are specially designed to support and protect your breasts. Because there are no muscles in the breast, each and every time you bounce during strenuous physical activity, you cause irreparable damage to your breast tissue.
3. Sports bras can have underwire. For women that need or want more separation between their breasts, underwire is an option. It’s really important to have a professional fitting, and you’ve really got to know your body. Underwire can be your best friend, but if your weight is fluctuating or you’re retaining water, it will be your worst enemy – pinching and pressing you, and even blocking your lymph nodes or milk ducts.
4. Sports bras can double as tops. With today’s new range of colours you can wear many sports bras as tops to change up your wardrobe.
5. Brabary carries sports bras! Because our name has become synonymous with luxury, comfort, and personal service, some people have been surprised to hear that we carry sports bras. We weren’t the first place they thought of for this essential part of their wardrobe.

For more information, see this earlier post about everything you need to know about choosing a sports bra.

New for Spring: Adhesive Prosthetic Kit, Spring Colours, Natural Options

The Amoena Contact Multi is a new innovation for women who want the flexibility of wearing a breast form (prosthesis) directly against the skin, for example if you’re wearing a lower-cut or strapless dress.

With this kit, women can get more use and flexibility out of their breast form, such as the temperature-regulating Natura Cosmetic Breast Form. Instead of inserting the breast form into the pocket of a bra, this adheres to the skin and can then come off and be fitted back into your bra.

This kind of innovation parallels the amazing advances we’ve seen in the medical field, where cancers that were once fatal now have many survivors.

Here are two other changes we can look forward to for spring:

Embracing spring colours

Spring has definitely sprung here at Brabary, where we’re seeing exciting new colour palettes from our wonderful suppliers. Isn’t it great to go beyond black, white and beige into the colours of the season? Come and check out the stunning and vibrant Passion Orange, and the calming and serene Ocean Blue, just to name a few.

Eliminating harmful chemicals

Today more and more people are sensitive to chemicals and looking for healthy options for cleaning products and makeup. Helpful resources include the Queen of Green blog from the David Suzuki Foundation, and the Skin Deep database from the Environmental Working Group.

Already free of any harmful chemicals, we were excited to learn that Forever New will soon be launching an fragrance-free lingerie detergent for those with sensitivities to scent.

Brabary Gives Back to the Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie

 It’s our 10^th anniversary! To celebrate our awesome customers, for every item purchased during the month of April, Brabary will be donating a new item to the Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie. It’s our One for One program, which we’re sharing about on social media using the hashtag #brabarygivesback.

This is about women helping women. Women have been the main cause of our success. We’re not only celebrating 10 years of operating a business; we’re celebrating 10 years of working with women of all stages and all ages, and with every body type. We've shared your laughter and your tears, and you ours.

Women may enter our store not feeling very good about themselves. We see them slumped over, with their shoulders forward, trying to hide their bodies. With a professional bra fitting and the right bra, we’ve seen those same women transformed with visible confidence, now standing tall!

Women at the Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie may face much different challenges, including violence, marginalization and poverty. We want to do our part to give these women the strength and support to transform their lives.

Our customers inspire us every day. We want to pass on that inspiration to these women, and do our little part to help.

We are grateful for each and every person who has come through our door. Of course that includes our male customers and those who love them. For every pair of men’s SAXX underwear sold in April, we will donate a pair of women’s underwear to the shelter.

About the Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie

Founded in 1981, The Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie has been providing shelter and support services to abused women and their children for 30 years. Their mission is to provide a safe refuge and emergency support services for abused women and their children in a commitment to end the cycle of violence.

Visit their website or Facebook page to learn more.

Follow the progress of our #brabarygivesback challenge on Facebook and Twitter.

We’re 10 years old in April!

We’ve seen many changes over these 10 years, including a move seven years ago. We’ve always been thrilled with our current location, with its ample free parking and fantastic neighbours.

Recently we did some renovations to address comments and requests from customers. They liked the size of the store and the amount of stock we can provide, but they (and we) wanted a more intimate setting. One of the things we did was change the lighting to be more welcoming and calming. You can read more of our renovation story in this earlier post.

Our industry has grown and changed a lot over these 10 years, with innovations in technology, research and development by our manufacturers. When we started, a molded cup bra never went above a D cup; now we can get up to an H cup. Even seamless, non-molded bras now go up to a well-fitting G cup. You can even get a really good fitting G or H cup in a strapless bra. It’s tremendous how far they’ve come.

As the industry has changed in what it offers, we’ve expanded our inventory as well. We wanted to get our feet firmly planted before expanding into swimwear and hosiery, and especially before starting to help women with prosthetics, from pre-surgery considerations to getting fitted for prostheses.

In talking to clients about what they wanted in bras and hosiery, we brought in great luxurious Italian brands like Trasparenze and the simple elegance of Phillipe Matignon. This range of mid- to high-end products is unique in Barrie.

Quality is important to us; we don’t do anything halfway. As we’ve expanded our product lines, we’ve taken our time to research the products we feel would be good for our clientele. We continue to listen to our customers and bring in products based on their needs.

This commitment to customer service has been recognized by our community as well. We are honoured to be the recipients of the Bell Business Retail Excellence Award from Barrie Chamber of Commerce in 2008, and the Businesswoman of the Year from Barrie Examiner in 2013.

We support our community in numerous ways, by dedicating time to several charities, as well as donating resources for fundraising. Some of these are listed on our Community page, and others we’ve written about on the blog, like the Barrie Toy Tea, 100 Who Care, and the NSMHPCM Palliative Care Conference.

Our caring staff has grown with us - always eager to learn about new products and finding the perfect fit for you.

Thank you for joining us for this trip down memory lane, and thank you for your continued support. We look forward to the next 10 years with you!

It’s Reading Week

University students across Canada are gearing up for Reading Week. Last year the Dal News (our daughter attends Dalhousie University) put out this list of Top 10 Ways to Spend Reading Week.

Of all those options, we’re glad our daughter will be spending her week at home in Barrie. Here are some of the things we’re thinking about as we prepare for her visit:

Activities

There’s no shortage of things to do in and around Barrie in the wintertime. I would also love to skate or walk along the Ice Trail at Arrowhead Provincial Park.

Meals

I know one of the things my daughter is looking forward to is homemade meals. If Thanksgiving and Christmas are any indication, we’d better loosen our belts because we’ll be indulging in all her favourites.

Family dynamics

There is always an adjustment when someone has been away and returns. She’s bound to get more of our attention, and that won’t go unnoticed by our other children.

And as independent as our kids get when they’re living on their own, back at home they tend to jump right back into the habit of letting Mom do everything for them again. It’s only natural, and can happen when we return home no matter how old we are.

Shopping

Our daughter is in residence so she may not need the same type of care package as someone living on their own. Plus there is only so much she can pack into her luggage for the flight home.

Still, I’m sure her wardrobe will need some replenishing (starting with the bras, of course), and let’s think ahead to spring and warmer weather!

Studying

It’s called Reading Week for a reason, and I’m sure my daughter will have assignments and studying to do. It may be hard to remember that our kids have been developing their own independent study skills at university, and we should encourage that rather than swoop in again like when they were in high school.

Friends

We have to accept that we’re not the only ones our daughter wants to spend time with while she’s here. And it’s not just about sharing her time, I’m also going to have to share my car!

Thinking ahead

Reading Week is a prime time to secure a summer job for when the school year ends in April. In fact, a lot of summer jobs like camps have been hiring already and may even have closed their applications by now.

They’ll be a lot of competition on the job trail. Students can start with a basic web search (“My town + jobs”), and then branch out from there.

Brabary and other local stores often hire summer help because their regular staff want to take time off.

For some students, this is also time to confirm accommodations for next year, if they haven’t already.

Do you have a child coming home for Reading Week? What’s it going to be like at your house?

Plan for Success With Your New Year’s Resolution

It’s a new year, is it time for a new you? Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Do you ever wonder why they don’t seem to last? For most people, it’s because we fail to plan for how we’re going to achieve those goals (and sometimes the goals are too lofty to begin with).

Let’s take losing weight, by far the most common New Year’s Resolution. If you make a vague statement like, “I’m going to lose weight this year,” it’s much harder to take yourself seriously.

Instead, set a measurable goal for how much weight you want to lose, and by when. Create small milestones along the way, and reward yourself when you meet them. Make sure each target is realistic and achievable. You may want to capture your progress in photos (e.g., wearing the same outfit) to give yourself that visual encouragement.

Even though you may have an ideal weight in mind, when it comes to self-improvement there is no final destination; there are always opportunities to improve ourselves, and always a chance to try again. So don’t beat yourself up for not reaching some ideal – it’s a constantly ongoing process.

Some people set aside time each day for development – reading, learning a new language, staying current with the news, or improving a skill.

Clearing clutter can be a wonderful way to open up your life to new goals and habits. I just went through my own closet and got rid of anything that didn’t bring me joy. A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t worn it in the last season, pass it on. Yes, even if it was a gift. Let someone else enjoy it – you will feel amazing.

Organizing can feel overwhelming, so just start small with one drawer or area, or just tackle your shoe collection. If you’re really feeling stuck, ask a friend to come over and help. The buddy system works wonders for all sorts of goals. If you’re both looking to get fit, you can meet for a walk at the waterfront, work out together at the gym, or take a healthy cooking class.

If you notice that you keep putting off your plans, shake things up and try something different. Not getting to yoga? Choose another class at another time. Not getting enough fruits and veggies? Experiment with new types of produce and browse the web for recipes and ideas.

Another area to look for improvement is your financial health. Are you saving as much as you could be for retirement or your kids’ education? See what small changes you can make – they could really add up in the long run.

The Barrie Toy Tea

November 19, 2014 was the 9^th annual Barrie Toy Tea, an annual fundraiser for the Children’s Aid Society and Gilda’s Club. The admission fee was an unwrapped toy or a cash donation, and there were refreshments and raffle prizes – all donated from the community.

A highlight of the event is always the fashion show, and Brabary was proud to be involved, along with Red Tulip, Janet Kemp, John McNabb and other excellent local merchants.

It’s always fun finding models for our lingerie and swim suits, as well as our male models who escort the ladies down the runway.

Angela Baldwin and Caroline Harrison coordinate the fashion show, and always bring a team of kids from the Kempenfelt Bay School to help out.

Congratulations to the organizers for another successful event, and especially to the two charities – The Children’s Aid Society of Simcoe County and Gilda’s Club Simcoe Muskoka. Thank you for all the wonderful work that you do in our community! The Brabary gang are excited to participate again in next year's event!