Happy New Year! We love a good resolution (ours is try more shapes of pasta and read more rom-com novels). For us, improving your life is always on trend and very, very in.
What we don't love? All the negative self-talk that is so often part of the conversational mix this time of year. People love to talk about grand designs they have on renovating their bodies at the top of a new year, but what if this year, you just...didn't? Hear us out: what if your hopes for a fresh start were gentle, kind, and accepting? What if this is the year where you decide you're good enough already?
At Underpinnings, we truly believe that every body is a good body. It's fine to not love your body each and every day (hard to be upbeat when you have period cramps!), but we try to remind ourselves that our bodies do so much for us and are vehicles for the things that make us special. Scars? Symbol of experience. Bad tattoos? A timestamp of a moment. Stretch marks? A reminder that you can grow. Weight loss? Weight gain? Normal and natural over any lifespan. Gills you sprouted on the side of your neck? Actually, talk to your doctor about that. The point is, you're never too big, too small, too old, too young, too anything to pursue your dreams and goals. You deserve a life you love right now, and we believe great underwear that suit you the way you are play a small part in one.
As 2024 dawns, we want to take a moment to reaffirm our values and be accountable to our community for the last twelve months. Over the last year, we've been proud to bring in several new brands that offer great fit to people we weren't serving well before. We found some good front-closure pieces that help our clients with mobility issues! We added a dry erase board and markers to our supply closet for visitors with communication differences and we instituted lights and music protocol for those with sensory issues. We found some great larger-cup, larger-band fashion pieces to replace those that just didn't feel current and fun. We upped the number of sustainably made pieces in our inventory. When we redid our website, we made our official policy to make the lead image one of models of color, plus-size models, or mature models whenever possible.
Where did we fall short? Well, after a lot of consideration, we realized we're simply too small a space to really excel at swimwear. To offer the same commitment to size range, fit, fashion, and price in bikinis as we do in bras, we just need a lot more space. We're bummed, but for now, we're going to put it on pause. Hopefully, we can bring it back soon. We've made a similar (and tough!) decision about nursing pieces. We have several nursing-friendly bras and lounge pieces we'll keep around, but for now, we're going to stick to what we're good at. If you really want a swim or nursing piece from a brand we stock, you can always email us at hello@underpinningslingerie.com and we'll see if we can special order it for you!
Like we say in our mission statement, we want to promote meaningful diversity and create an atmosphere of inclusivity and care. Just down the page, we also say we know we're going to fall short sometimes. We want to celebrate the ways we've grown and change for the better and be forthright about the ways we didn't live up to our own standards.
We're excited about the little slice of acceptance and warmth we've built over the last five years and we want to thank you for being the most important part of it. Come visit us soon to raise high your boobs and your glass of champagne! Cheers!