This Racerback Bra Helped Ease My Chronic Pain & It's The Only Bra I'll Ever Buy

Have you ever loved a bra so much that you’re tempted to buy a bunch just to pass them out like party favors to all the moms at your kid’s birthday, doing your best impression of Oprah when she gave away all of those cars? You get a bra! And you get a bra! And you get a bra! That’s exactly how I feel about Davy Piper’s Carol Racerback Bra.

I have a chronic nerve condition that causes wide-spread pain across my body. Any clothing that’s too tight across my skin is a no-go. When I was first diagnosed, I struggled to find bras that I could wear for more than a couple of hours at a time. Underwire was completely out of the question, and the pressure from tight straps and bands on most sports bras was highly uncomfortable. Enter Davy Piper’s Carol Racerback Bra.

I feel like I won the Facebook algorithm jackpot with this find. During my quest for comfy undergarments, an ad for this exact bra popped up one day. I clicked on it and the rest is history. The bra arrived and it checked every single box for me. Now, I own three. In short, it’s the perfect mom bra.

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Stats

• Price: $34.99
• Sizes: S-XXL, regular and “busty” (the XXL “busty” fits up to a 42 “G”)
• Colors: Seagrass Blue, Grey, Grey Heather, Twilight, Soft Pink, Mocha, Evergreen, Burgundy Plum
• Who it’s for: Anyone with breasts who craves comfort and coverage.

The specs

Made from luxe French terry fabric with a blend of 92% rayon and 8% spandex, the material of this bra is thick enough to provide good coverage without padding under most tops. The front crossover design offers light support and gives your girls a subtle lift without any underwire.

The band of the bra is about 2 inches wide and is really stretchy, so it’s not tight-fitting at all. (I regularly nap in it without issue.) Plus, it doesn’t roll up on you the way that some other bra bands do.

Though I’ve not done it myself, the stretchy crossover style of this bra is something that you could totally nurse in. In fact, Davy Piper’s sister brand, Kindred Bravely, has an almost identical bra nursing and sleep bra. (I did a quick boob pop-out to test this theory and it worked better than most styles I wore while breastfeeding my kids nearly a decade ago.)

How Davy Piper’s Carol Racerback Bra fits and feels

This bra is supportive like a sports bra, but not too tight to wear while you're just lounging around. The racerback design in the back is wider than on other bras I’ve worn, so it fully covers the top of my back and doesn’t create any weird bulges around my armpits the way other bras sometimes do.

In fact, I find the bra as a whole to be super flattering and comfortable. It doesn’t squish into my skin anywhere, so it’s comfortable in a way that’s also figure-flattering, especially around my ribcage thanks to the wide band. Sometimes I forget I even have it on.

Davy Piper offers their Carol Racerback Bra in both regular and busty size options. By “typical” bra measurements, I usually fall somewhere between 36B and 38C. In the Carol bra, the regular large fits me like a glove. Davy Piper’s website has some handy tools that are great for finding your perfect fit: an Insta-Bra Fit Finder and a size chart. I used them both during my initial purchase and they work well.

The brand also has an amazing return policy, so if you don’t love it or it doesn’t fit right, you can return or exchange your bra for free within 90 days.

How easy is it to wash and keep this bra looking nice?

Moms are busy humans by nature, so easy-to-care for clothing is a must. I’ve washed and worn my Davy Piper’s Carol Racerback Bras for a little more than three years now and keep three in steady rotation. I can throw them in the washer and dryer with any load of laundry and they come back out as good as new. (In fact, I’ve only ditched one so far in three years. It was a very pale cream color and the sweat stains under the armpits started to bug me.)

But I know the real question on your mind is this: Can I wear it more than once before I wash it? Yes. 100% yes. It won’t stretch out too much and I won’t tell a soul. I can usually go a couple of wears between washes if I’m just working from home or lounging and don’t get sweaty or messy.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• So much stretch without stretching out
• Under $35
• Easy to wash
• Soft and comfy

Cons:

• Though sizing is pretty inclusive already, it would be great to see sizes above XXL
• Sweat stains can happen on lighter colors

The final verdict

I build my wardrobe around these bras. Whether I’m shopping for something specific like a cocktail dress for a wedding or just some tank tops to wear while I’m running errands, you’d better believe I’ll end up with something that works with this bra.

One thing I adore about Davy Piper as a brand is that each item they make is named after a real woman and their story lives on the product page. Here’s a snippet of Carol’s story: “Carol, who lived most of her life with crippling arthritis, still found the strength to raise children as a single mom in the 1950s and 60s. She did it with grace and without complaint -— and while also standing up for women’s rights. For a lesson in living a life on your own terms, Carol makes the perfect teacher.”

As a working mom, raising two active boys, and living with chronic pain, it’s all I can do some days to roll out of bed. This bra has made my life easier in ways I never knew I needed. No matter what your life looks like, as a mom, I know that comfort is key, so I just had to share.

The TL;DR

Davy Piper's Carol Racerback Bra is the most comfortable bra I've ever worn and every mom needs one.

Had To Share highlights the products and finds that Romper editors and contributors love so much, we just had to share in the group chat.