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UPDATE—JULY 19, 2022: Good news! You can now get the unbelievably comfy Natori Feathers bra during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2022, where the styles are discounted more than 30%. Snag one in every color, then scroll over the find the best Nordstrom Anniversary Sale deals on fashion, lingerie, and beauty.
ORIGINAL STORY—NOVEMBER 24, 2021: Plenty of lingerie companies claim to sell the “world’s best bra.” But no one bra will be the “best” for everyone—people with small boobs shop differently than people with big boobs; women who are nursing have different needs than those who’ve had mastectomies. The “best bra” is what’s right for you at that given moment in your life. In the age of online reviews, though, it doesn’t hurt to start your search with the most highly rated options on the market. And if you’ve looked at all the usual suspects—the Nordstroms, the Amazons, the Bare Necessities—you’ve probably already heard about the wonders of the Natori Feathers bra.
The Natori Feathers collection isn’t new (and the brand has been around since 1977). And at first glance its signature plunge bra doesn’t seem all that different from other lace-trimmed styles in any department store. But the magic of the Natori Feathers bra isn’t in being the sexiest bra—it’s that it’s so damn comfortable. (There are other factors that work in its favor too: It’s available in a bunch of different colors and in sizes 30A through 36G.)
I was getting a bra fitting at Town Shop, the famed lingerie store on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, several years ago when I first tried the Natori Feathers plunge. I walked out with one in a blue-purple shade (a color I normally wouldn’t have picked out), in a 34D (a size I had never worn before). It didn’t take long for it to dethrone all the beige T-shirt bras I had been hoarding since college as my Absolute Favorite Bra. Why? The mesh outer cover contoured my breasts and molded around my torso—I could wear it for long hours and forget I had a bra on. And somehow the colorful fabric was pretty much undetectable under everything, including white tees.
It’s not the flashiest undergarment in my intimates drawer, but it’s definitely my favorite. And while you might not see it on your social feed like the latest Savage x Fenty launch, the Natori Feathers has a devoted fan base.
When Lady Gaga wore a black Natori Feathers bra to the 2019 Grammys after-parties, former senior culture editor Mattie Kahn chatted me the link. “I just wanna say I own this bra and it is great,” she wrote.
Turns out Kahn was also introduced to the Natori Feathers at Town Shop. (“I grew up on the Upper West Side, which means that like many, many women, I got my first bras there,” she said.) Two or three years ago, she went to replenish her bra supply, and one of the store’s clerks suggested she try the Natori. But she was skeptical: “For context: I’m 5'2" and wear a 32D. I have only ever wanted my boobs to shrink, not to look bigger. I don’t do plunges. I don’t do push-ups. I do black T-shirt bras that sometimes feature subtle lace. But you don’t cross the women at the Town Shop. You strip; they make suggestions. So I decided to go for it.”
She left the store with four Natori Feathers.
“It fits like a dream,” Kahn said. “It’s comfortable, but also kinda sexy. And it’s seamless under shirts of all kinds and fits. I have recommended it to 90% of the women I know, from cup size AA to DD. It’s a cult and a gift. I intend to wear it forever.”
Cora Harrington, founder of The Lingerie Addict and author of In Intimate Detail, has written about the Natori Feathers bra many times over the years. And though she remembers not being overwhelmed by it the first time she saw it, a representative for the brand reached out and sent her one to try—and she hasn’t looked back since. “It’s a bra I purchase again and again and again,” she says.
The main draw of the Natori Feathers is its shallower cup: “I have what’s called a shallow/full-on-bottom bust profile, along with widely spaced breasts,” says Harrington. “That means I don’t have a lot of breast tissue at the top of my breasts to fill out more full-coverage bras, and also that my breasts are fairly far apart on my chest. The Feathers’ shallow cup and plunge style is perfect for busts like mine.” Comfort is subjective, she adds, but the Natori Feathers delivers on that front for her too. “It’s a workhorse bra that goes with almost everything,” she continues. “I find myself reaching for the Feathers again and again. It’s a bra I pack on every trip.”
One of the big things the Natori Feathers has going for it is accessibility—not only in terms of its price point and the variety of colors and sizes it comes in, but also in regard to where you can find it, which is pretty much anywhere. It’s sold by Amazon, Shopbop, Bare Necessities, Bloomingdale’s, HerRoom, Journelle, Macy’s, and more. At Nordstrom the bra has more than 3,300 online reviews. So you could say it’s popular.
Lori Marten, Nordstrom’s vice president and divisional merchandise manager for women’s specialized, tells Glamour that the retailer has been carrying the Natori Feathers since 2010. And though Nordstrom can’t comment on specific sales, “customers appreciate the fit, beauty, and function of this feminine everyday style,” plus the fact that it comes in so many different fits and colors. “With this T-shirt bra, you get the beauty of the lace with the benefit of it not showing underneath your clothing,” she says. It’s a bra they often recommend to prosthesis customers, she adds.
There is no bra that works for everyone all the time, but the Feathers is popular for a reason—and it’s not because they bombarded everyone with Facebook ads. “There is no better marketing than word of mouth,” Harrington says. “It’s clear the work was put into engineering the product. It’s a bra that checks the boxes of both pretty and practical. And it’s the kind of bra that, once you try it, if it works, then it really works.”
