The Journal

The Best Full Bust Clothing Designed for Confidence and Comfort -- Five Ways Embrago’s Built-In Full Support is Really Different

Read about why and how Embrago is changing the game for full-busted women, who now can (and should) go braless.

There’s a preconception in our society that as we move through the decades of our post-20’s adult lives that it is a universally desirable thing to be – or at least look – like the youngest version of ourselves possible. To be “still” young, strong, beautiful. It’s such an ingrained and assumed shared value in America that it’s never even put up for discussion. But I’m here to say, it’s not my goal to be “still” anything. I like being "finally." If you think about it, maybe y

Do you ever feel left out of the self-care movement? I do. I mean, I LOVE the idea of self-care. It’s such a compassionate concept. It makes so much sense: you can’t give what you don’t have, etc. Totally agree! But I also kinda feel … ineligible. Like a few other things in life, I missed class the day everyone else learned about self-care. Maybe it's my generation (Gen X: “strong survival skills and the ability to handle anything” ) or my cultural background (a relentless e

I understand why some men are afraid of women. Sometimes I’m afraid of us, too. They say fear comes from the unknown, so I guess it makes sense. I grew up with mostly male company: brothers and boy cousins. I didn’t have a sister. My mother didn’t have a sister. I can count on one hand all the times I ever saw my by-marriage aunts or my one girl cousin. As a result, I never saw groups of women interacting with each other. Besides my mother, my closest family relationships wer

They say, when you are dissatisfied with your career, that you should think back to what you loved to do when you were 10. Do you remember your 10-year old self? I didn’t. At least not when I was 25, 35, or 45. But then I passed 50 and learned that a magical thing happens to you at midlife. (Yes, there is gold to be found in the hills of aging-related indignities!) As the physical cycles that have ruled your life since puberty begin to fade to the background, you start t

I debuted Embrago at an international lingerie trade show in New York last weekend. At shows like this, brands traditionally hire young, beautiful models to show off their samples. So, as a woman well past 50 modeling my own designs, I was in a category of one. But many of the buyers and retailers attending the show were women my age or older. Many, like me, have mature skin that is pale from long days at the computer, and bodies that are full-busted in a softening midlife

I am going to New York City. I am not taking a bra. And I am more relaxed and stress-free than I've ever been before a trip. This trip will be a mix of business and pleasure. My schedule is packed. I’ll be meeting new people, walking a lot, moving things, standing for hours, sitting for hours, working all day, going out at night, up early and at it again each day. This kind of trip used to stress me out, big time. Worrying about travel delays, worrying I won’t sleep, and mos

“Small but big”. That’s what the bra shop lady said to me with a thick accent and a resigned shrug, as if to say, “I can do nothing for you.” She left me there in her makeshift dressing room, a curtained-off corner of her dingy one-room bra shop on the east side of Baltimore. Half undressed. Unfittable. I was 24 and it was the early 90's. I was in shape, fit and strong. But I felt alien and unacceptable in my small-but-big body, with its lean frame and large bust. Thirty year

What a welcome summer this is: Seeing people, leaving the house, traveling! Still. Is anyone else finding the transition a little difficult? After more than a year of enforced quietude, filled with Zoom and sourdough, suddenly everything is crazy busy again. The entire world is trying to make up for lost time. Tensions are high, to-do lists are long, people are restless. And for some of us, clothes are a problem. Maybe we're reluctant to let go of the comfort of #wfh wear. M

I'm writing to you at THAT time of the evening. It's about 8:30 pm, after dinner. That time when you really wish you could take your bra off, but you need the support just as much as you need the relief. Or maybe you are with other people and it wouldn't be appropriate. Either way, I am delighted to let you know that now, you have another option, and I invite you to discover it: Embrago’s debut collection of bra-free clothing. Bringing Embrago to life over these last five ye