I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Influence Central for Vanity Fair. Product samples and compensation have been provided. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I spent part of last week in New York City getting to know more about Vanity Fair. As a company that has been providing everyday elegance to women through their beautiful lines of undergarments since 1919, you are likely familiar with this brand.

But during this visit, I was able to really dig in and learn more about the WHY behind Vanity Fair. One of things that immediately struck me about this company is the high value they place on acknowledging and celebrating the achievements of women. Every blogger at this meeting was surprised to find framed quotes decorating our meeting space, and every quote was such an affirmation to read. It was a treasure to see our words of encouragement highlighted in such a way, and it spoke volumes to me about what this brand views as important.

We also spent quite a bit of time learning about the different bras and underwear in the Vanity Fair line. The degree of intentionality that went into each and every design was SO impressive, friends. Vanity Fair has spoken to (and more importantly, listened to) countless women in order to better understand what a woman needs to feel more confident and comfortable throughout her day. I saw some incredible innovations last week (strap adjusters in the front and a cutting edge material that breathes and even keeps you cool, just to name a few!).

Vanity Fair seems to have precious little interest in developing “ok” products. They want each and every item that they make to be the item that you reach for as soon as it’s clean (you know what I’m talking about, ladies…the bra you wear out the fastest because it’s the one you want to wear all the time!). After hearing about all the thoughtful design elements of each of their lines, I was eager to get to try them on for myself!

We headed to the world-famous Macy’s on Herald Square to receive an expert bra fitting. Did you know that 80% of women are currently wearing the wrong size bra? If you have never been fitted for a bra you will definitely want to pay attention to when your nearest Macy’s, Kohl’s or JCPenny will be offering a bra fitting service so that you can find out what size you should currently be wearing. And even if you have been fitted in the past, you likely realize that our sizes tend to change, ESPECIALLY after having children! It’s good to get yourself re-fitted every few years or more frequently when going through pregnancy and post-partum life. 🙂

During my bra fitting, I learned a few really important things I wanted to share with you.

1. Give yourself a bra fit test If you aren’t at a place where you can be fitted by a professional. Put two fingers in between your strap and your shoulder (fingers should be laying flat and not stacked on top of each other). If you can’t, your bra is likely too tight. Give this same test to your band. Additionally, the center front of the bra should be flush to the chest. And you should be able to wear the bra on the middle hook. This self-test isn’t as accurate as a professional fitting, but it’s a good alternative option when you need one!

2. A quality bra company should be consistent in their sizing. So once you are properly fitted, that will be your best fit in each of the styles for that company. With that said, you will likely prefer certain styles over others, because the cup shapes and the band styles are going to have some variation. Try on multiple styles, rather than just one style, in order to find your best look.

3. Put your clothes back on! In order to get the best idea of how the bra is going to look on you day-to-day, you should put your clothes back on in the dressing room to see how the bra looks under your clothes. Keep that in mind before you head to the store to try on new bras so that you are wearing the type of clothes that the bra you are shopping for would be worn under.

4. The lift test. Finally, you should move around a bit in the dressing room, and lift your arms out to the side, and straight ahead of you. You want the full and complete picture of how this bra performs, especially since you’ll be doing much more than standing with your arms straight down while wearing it.

My bra fitting experience was really enlightening for me, and I’m so thrilled with the bra I chose (I have a whole post coming to you about it, but spoiler alert, I’m in love with the Body Caress, both wired and wire-free!).

I loved getting a feel for what Vanity Fair holds important, and perhaps the best way that this was demonstrated to us was in discussing their partnership with Dress for Success and the Buy One, Get One, Give One campaign. I am SO excited to tell you more in the coming months about the commitment Vanity Fair has made to this very worthy organization that helps lift women up by outfitting them for job interviews. The goal is to be able to donate 50,000 new bras, and in so doing, to potentially provide every single Dress for Success client with a new bra as part of her interview attire. We briefly heard from some of the women who run this national nonprofit, and in just a matter of moments, an entire room full of women found themselves on the verge of tears as we heard a message of hardship and message of hope. Good things are happening at Dress for Success, friends!

Vanity Fair tickled me with their uplifiting messages, impressed me with their design concepts, and most importantly of all, thrilled me with their desire to run a campaign that would uplift women who are out there trying so very hard to provide for themselves and their families. They are the women who do, and Vanity Fair is passionately dedicated to those women, be they Dress for Success clients, business executives, or even you or me!