Remember the Art Bra Auction, the benefit for breast cancer, that I mentioned a while back?  Well, it was months ago and I almost forgot about my incredible purchase there, until I found a nondescript package in the mail the other day.  Trying to remember what I may have ordered, I opened it to find this original piece of art–or should I say–bra art?

It really is quite unique . . . it’s fashioned from vibrant, purple bandanas, studded with beads and suspended bangles, and is quite attractive.  The creator said she was trying to put a more positive, fashionable spin on the bandana, which is many times the traditional headgear of patients undergoing chemo.

But, did you ever see a reversible bra before?  Look at what’s in the inside!

Lovely, turquoise, sequined flowers decorate the inside of the bra!

OK, so this bra is not meant to be covered up by big, bulky winter clothes, but rather to be displayed as the art it is . . . I’m just not sure where I’ll wear it yet . . . other than the bedroom!

Thanks to the creators of the Art Bra Auction,  (Life After the Storm) ,for a very worthwhile, charitable cause, with a lot of fun along the way!!!

I attended a most unusual event last night: the Art Bra Runway Show and Auction, which featured grown women (like my age!) parading around in bras, decorated in themes like: “Mardi Bra,” “Under the Big Apples,” “Erin Go Bra,” and “Booby Prize.”  Before you think it was too kinky, please know that this fashion show and auction benefits a wonderful cause–supporting Breast Cancer awareness and particularly honoring those living, surviving, and thriving after breast cancer.  Learn more about this noble cause at “Life After the Storm.”

“Mardi Bra”

Suffice it to say, by waving my auction paddle (in the shape of a bra!) around during the excitement of the night–and with the unintelligble words of the auctioneer among a room full of women’s laughter–I am now the proud new owner of my own art bra, which was modeled by a good friend of mine, who is a breast cancer survivor-and who definitely knows how to live!

The creation I ended up with is aptly named “Hey Baby, Nice Bandana!”  Created by Jill Devereaux Donohue and inspired by the “dreaded headgear” of the bandana, which usually signifies a symbol of loss.  Instead, the artist took a purple bandana, decorated it with beads, medallions, and all kinds of glitter and bling, turning it into a symbol of healing and bravery.  Donohue said she also wants those fighting cancer to feel “sexy the whole way through the fight!”  After my new bra visits Yale as part of a museum display, then goes on to grace this group’s culminating event, “The Pink Tie,” in October, it’ll find its way to my home.  I’ll post a picture of it then; last night I was too busy waving my bra paddle around in the bidding process to snap a photo!

Congrats to “Life after the Storm” for an awesome event!