I Finally Found a Wireless Bra With Underwire-Level Support
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your account’s ‘Saved for Later’ section.
I long ago resigned myself to the fact that my DD breasts would be forever confined to underwire bras that never quite fit right. Yes, I got measured. Yes, I used the size calculator from A Bra That Fits. Yes, I was wearing the correct size. And yet, I couldn’t escape the extremely unpleasant feeling of underwire digging into my ribcage whenever I put on a bra. When the pandemic hit and everyone was going hard for bralettes, I tried a couple of them and my boobs were like, “Haha ha, we cannot be contained!,” and back to underwire I went.
Until I tried The Perfect Bra from Body by Julia, which is the wireless bra I had been waiting for my whole life. Body by Julia is the shapewear company founded by Julia Haart, and if you know that name, it’s probably because you watched her reality show, My Unorthodox Life, of which the premise was essentially “woman who had grown up very sheltered and ultra-Orthodox, including being married at 19 and having four children becomes fabulously wealthy, runs a multinational corporation, and lives a Real Housewives–esque life in Tribeca with her Italian Swiss husband.” High jinks ensue.
New! You can now save this product for later.
Sadly, much like many a Housewife, Haart’s fairy-tale marriage ended in acrimonious divorce, and, not for the first time in her life, she needed to reinvent herself — so naturally, in 2023, she started a shapewear company. When I first heard about Body By Julia, I have to admit I was skeptical. Haart herself is extremely skinny (what does she know from shapewear?) and I found her television persona off-putting, to put it mildly. But I was intrigued by the range of sizes — from XS A/B to 3X E/F — and its promise of support while also being wireless. As I think most people with breasts bigger than a C cup would tell you, it’s not that we want to be wearing a bra all the time; it’s that it’s actually physically uncomfortable not to be wearing one. That was the fatal flaw of so many wireless bras and bralettes that had come before — zero coverage and zero support. I might as well be wearing pasties.
When it arrived, I was sold immediately. For one thing, the support it promised is real — my breasts don’t look saggy in clothes, and it feels like I’m actually wearing something that keeps them comfortably contained. I also appreciate that it has adjustable straps; a previous contender for a passable wireless bra, the Spanx Bra-llelujah, has straps that don’t adjust, and for my narrow shoulders, this was a must. (The Bra-llelujah also only comes in sizes XS–XL, which means nothing really fits the way it’s supposed to.) You know that cliché about needing to take your bra off the second you get home from work? Well, besides the fact that I work from home, I don’t ever feel the need to rip this thing off. If I needed to, I could sleep in it, no problem.
My one quibble with this bra is that it comes in only two colors, beige and bronze. Skims bras come in a minimum six shades — Body By Julia, let’s expand that shade range and get these bras out to everyone! The people deserve them.
More From The Strategist
- Hark, the Advent Calendars Arrived (Very) Early This Year
- The Best Things Strategist Editors Have Bought This Year (So Far)
- 63 Things You Should Never Buy Full Price
- The Strategist Fall 100
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
