Shopping, or hell, even wearing a bra, sucks. But Harper Wilde actually tried to fix what’s wrong by going the Warby Parker route, and pretty much succeeded.
In the last year or so, I’ve gotten more and more accustomed to wearing a bralette or unlined bra. Yes, that’s a privilege of someone with a smaller, more-manageable bosom, but you can’t really wear those with t-shirts or button-downs without letting everyone in a 10-foot radius know where your nipples are located.
At this point, it’s like everyone and their mother wants to reinvent the bra but Harper Wilde realized that what needed to change was the experience of finding the bra that fit the best. Everyone who wears a bra needs to try it on first, which seems like common sense, and yet a ton of new, online-only bra companies make you purchase first and then they wash their hands of your dealings until you need to return the damn thing because it most likely doesn’t fit.
Harper Wilde is like the Warby Parker of bras. Just choose three bras from the three styles: The Base (lightly-lined, everyday), The Boost (push-up), and The Flex (convertible strapless), and pick your size and color. Once you get your bras, try ‘em on for a week and choose what you want to keep. The return label is already in the box, so you don’t need to go through any hassle dealing with customer service asking a thousand questions as to why you’re returning something. Did I mention that they’re only $35 each? Because they’re only $35 each.
I chose to try out The Base, which is a really great everyday bra, and I haven’t even noticed the fact that I’m actually wearing something with an underwire. And once again (like the bras from Lively), the details matter because they put the damn strap adjuster in the front. Halle-fucking-luja.
The major downfall though, and one that many bra companies share, is that the size range only goes up to DD, which is pretty laughable. Though, I do have high hopes that they’ll expand their size range. It does however come in a couple shades of nude for different skin tones and black.
In a world where somehow, bra shopping is like trying to get government clearance, Harper Wilde figured out that all you need to do is give the people what they want.