Cheryl Shops

Now that it's finally spring in new York, I have a bunch of cute little strappy sundresses waiting to be worn. But today I remembered I can't wear them yet because I need to get a new strapless bra. Shopping for bras falls into my trifecta of the three most annoying things to shop for —jeans and swimsuits are the other two—but strapless bras are even worse, especially because they are hard to find in my size. I made somewhat of a mistake going to a department store to shop for one; they had just two styles in my size. (Note to lingerie manufacturers: There are many women out there with small band sizes and large cup sizes, and they need strapless bras!!) One of the styles was heavily pushed by the saleswoman; it had that sticky, gummy stuff around the top, which supposedly helps it stay up, but I felt like it actually forced the bra down. Also, I felt like I was wearing armor; Brienne of Tarth I am not. Thankfully the other was the Chantelle Sensua bra, and even if I had tried on 20 styles, I think it still would have been my favorite. (Side note: Chantelle is generally my bra brand of choice; stick with what you love, right?) The cups are a bit stretchy and come up high enough so that you don't have that low, smushed effect that tends to happen with strapless bras. It's well constructed too, with underwires but without annoying side boning that digs into your ribs after a few hours. It also comes with detachable straps, so you can halter, crisscross, or one-shoulder it up. I loved it so much, I bought two: one in nude, and one in black. Which means you'll be seeing a lot of my strappy sundresses for the next few months.