When ARQ Went Out of Business, I Went on a Hunt for a New Most Comfortable Bra
When ARQ officially closed up shop in March, several Strategist staffers were crushed. The Oregon-based brand’s pieces were the most comfortable underwear we had ever worn. Made in the U.S. from organic cotton and just a little bit of spandex, the intimates were basic in cut and a little granny: wide-strap tank-style bras, strappy pinched bandeaus, high-rise briefs — all available in a rainbow of appealing colors.
The bras were for lounging in but also everyday wear. Senior editors Simone Kitchens and Winnie Yang, senior writer Liza Corsillo, and I wore them while pregnant (and postpartum). Deals editor Sam Daly jogs and climbs in her wide-straps. Yang and Kitchens both sleep in theirs. They work on small chests as well as large busts. Strategist writer Tembe Denton-Hurst, who wears a 38H, says that they’re “definitely not defying gravity” but “SO comfortable: I like them for days when I’m just hanging around and don’t want to free-ball, but also don’t want to feel constricted.” That’s because the bras have, according to Yang, who favors the wide-strap, “such a unicorn combo of compression and support without too much constriction, just the right amount of fabric, just the right amount of stretch at the band.” As Kitchens puts it, they’re “nothing feeling.”
Yang has owned 15 ARQ bras since 2018, some of which she bought secondhand (they go for higher than retail on Poshmark). She currently has seven in rotation and doesn’t wear any other bra. Kitchens and Daly each have five, and Corsillo has four. I personally only have one, but wish I had more. We all regret not stocking up before the brand shuttered and have collectively ordered dozens of bras from different brands to find a replacement that would fill the gaping hole that ARQ left behind. (I actually reached out to the brand, and it told me that it might behoove fans of ARQ to sign up for its newsletter, if they aren’t already subscribed.) The criteria: cotton, unstructured bralette (wide-strap or spaghetti), not-too-tight band, not a sports bra, not longline. Crucially, it has to feel like you’re not even wearing a bra. Here’s everything we tried.
Nice but not quite right …
Yang, the most die-hard of ARQ loyalists, has been searching for an alternative for a long time and has tested the most. Here are some that she, Corsillo, Kitchens, and I all have tried and found lacking. Mostly, the bands were too tight and constricting, but the designs were nice.
Close but not perfect …
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I tried the North Carolina–based brand’s Scoop bra and strappier bralette, and while I loved how soft and smooth and, frankly, luxe the Supima cotton felt, the band was a tad too tight. The bralette was a little more comfortable, but next time I should probably size up. The Scoop has an additional layer of fabric in the front for extra coverage, which is a nice touch but could potentially be hot in warm weather. Overall, I was impressed with the brand, which manufactures in California and its home state, and found the pieces to be very well made.
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Yang tried this strappy bra from Blue Canoe, and while she found the fabric to be close to ARQ’s in terms of how much support versus stretchiness it has, the band was on the tighter side. “I definitely notice that I’m wearing the bra over the course of a day in a less pleasant way than I would prefer,” she says.
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This cotton bralette from Etam, which Kitchens tried, is reversible: One side has a scoop neck and the other a wrap-style V. She found it to be comfortable, but the fabric was too thick for her taste and the underarms a little high. Still, she says, “it qualifies as comfortable to me but not perfect.” Kitchens notes that the wrap side would be convenient for nursing.
We found the one.
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Yang and I both ordered a couple of these because they looked the most similar to ARQ’s wide-strap bra. Yang’s arrived first, and when they did, she Slacked me and Kitchens and called them “the one.” She offered that they might even be an improvement on the ARQ because they have a lower cut under the arms and in the back. “The one thing that bothers me about the ARQ is that sometimes I get a little chafing from the edges under the arms because they come up so high,” she says. Yang thinks that the fabric might be stretchier, too, making you feel the bra even less. I like the fact that the straps are thinner and the material less thick than ARQ’s, making it easier to wear under T-shirts. I’d say the Mate bra is a more streamlined version of the ARQ that’s slightly easier to wear. I will be ordering more.
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