Whew, there sure has been some negativity around the lady parts lately, hasn’t there?  I don’t know about you, but I could use some uplifting news!  And who better to lift our spirits when it comes to lady parts but the women at title nine, the self-styled “boob whisperers.”

If you’ve never heard of title nine, allow me to introduce you:  it is a women’s clothing company specializing in sportswear and bras (they are so passionate about bras that they have created a bralicious spinoff, Bounce).  The company was founded by Missy Park, a lover of sports and supporter of women, in 1989.  She named her company after Title IX, a piece of 1972 legislation that requires schools that receive federal funds to provide girls and women with equal opportunity to compete in sports.  Don’t you just love this woman already?

I first discovered title nine when a catalog arrived in my mailbox one lucky day.  I sat down to a lovely lunch, flipped open the cover, and lo and behold—these ladies had me at hello.  And the better I got to know them, the more I loved them.  Here’s why:

1. No one in this catalog is looking at my man with Bette Davis eyes.  That’s right, ladies—here we have a catalog full of women in their bras who actually consider you to be their target audience!  The models have strong, beautiful, athletic bodies—and instead of hooking an index finger through their underwear while biting their lower lips, they are busy doing stuff they love to do, like yoga and running on the beach and walking through a market with flowers and singin in the rain.  Usually the models are looking at their own lives, but if they look directly at us, their gaze is open, frank, and full of humanity.   These women are sexy because they are being themselves.
2. There are some great copywriters at this company!  Seriously, how can you not love people who call themselves the boob whisperers?  That’s gold.  Solid gold.  And it’s not even the funniest thing they say—the catalog and website are full of hilarious and uplifting descriptions. There’s the Frivolous Bra, which reportedly voted for Ralph Nader, the Born This Way Bra, “Clearly designed for the woman who’s happy with what she’s got and does not need a bra to try to make her into something she’s not,” and the Hallelujah Bra—“Behold cups that perfectly encapsulate our breasts!” The more you read, the better you feel just knowing that there are people out there who get it—we need bras, we need clothes to work out in, and we need to feel good about ourselves.  And we’d love to laugh while we’re at it.
3. “Bravangelists” give us the scoop on size, shape, and sportability.  Funny though they may be, these women are serious about bras.  They give you all kinds of ways to make sure you get the bra you want and need—the right fit, the right balance between supportive and sexy—the right bra for you.
4. They’re great bras!  So of course I bought one—or two or three.  And I love them.  Just think, all those years spent choosing between frumpy and floppy, and here I could have had just right all the time.  Kinda makes you feel like Goldilocks has finally come into her own.
5. Clothes that make you feel good about being you.  Although I’ve waxed poetic about the bras, I don’t want to leave out the sporty stuff—title nine makes awesome bathing suits, dresses, skirts, and workout clothes.  The things I’ve bought from them are some of my favorite pieces—like all great clothes, they make me feel more like myself when I wear them.

As I was perusing the title nine website, I found more and more things to love—profiles on the model athletes (“all are ordinary women capable of extraordinary things”) an explanation of the Title IX legislation and why it matters, and pages and pages that are clearly the product of a company with a conscience—a company by, for, and about women.  Yeah, they had me at hello—and this gal will keep coming back to the boob whisperers for many years to come.