The mundane relationship (can I call it that? a relationship?) I once had with my underwear turned sour after I had kids. I have drawers packed full of pre-child underthings that don’t fit. I keep cramming myself into all of it like a 5′ 2″ sausage into a lacy casing, but it’s uncomfortable and usually pretty unattractive.

It’s probably not healthy to use tight-fitting underwear as a punishment for an addiction to smoked brisket, but it’s the only way I’ll learn. As the elastic waistband from an aqua Sisqo-era thong cuts into me I begin to reconsider my second serving of delicious barbecued meat. It’s a foolproof diet plan, but there are consequences. Horrified friends, family interventions (my mom puts underwear in my Christmas stocking each year), and a disapproving husband led me to make some changes.

After the hotel/granny-panty incident I made a decision. I would start caring about my appearance again — all.of.it. I’m a big believer in look good = feel good, even for those things no one but me notices or sees. Stuffing myself into old underwear was not a good look. I threw out a bunch of stuff and had grand plans to hit the mall.

THEN!

I checked the mail and there was a FedEx package full of beautiful bras and underwear. For me! I was pretty taken aback because I hadn’t ordered any and then became a bit angry because I thought someone was sending me a very overt hint or inappropriate birthday gift. Then I remembered I was working with BlogHer on a review of Vanity Fair’s® new Modern Coverage Collection of bras and panties from the IlluminationÆ Line.

Whew.

I tried:

• Vanity Fair® Advanced Support Underwire Bra: Looks great under tank tops and T- shirts. Awesome all-around bra.
• Vanity Fair®Look Lifted Underwire Bra: Way more comfortable than any other underwire bra I’ve worn. I fell asleep with it on and didn’t notice.
• Vanity Fair® Front Close Underwire Bra: I haven’t worn a front-close bra in *so* long. This looked great under a racerback dress. It took me a hot minute to remember how to put it on but I liked the fit of the bra. Saved me from using my strapless bra that somehow shimmies down to my waist at inopportune moments.
• Illumination® Hi-Cut Panty: Not my typical underwear. At. All. I’d probably never have picked these out for myself. However! I have never worn a more comfortable *anything* in my life. I’m serious. Full disclosure: I most certainly would not parade around in these in front of anyone. They aren’t that kind of underwear (but my lifestyle doesn’t demand much underwear parading so the point is moot), BUT they look amazing (pretty much invisible) under form-fitting clothes and don’t cause wedgies (TMI, sorry) so they’re winners.

Giveaway: Would you like to win a $100 Visa gift card? Simply visit the Vanity Fair page on Facebook and leave a comment on this post telling me which bra you like the most.

SWEEPSTAKES/GIVEAWAY Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
• a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
• b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
• c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
• d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• The Official Rules are available here.
• This sweepstakes runs from 9/10 – 10/7.

Be sure to visit the Vanity Fair® brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggersí reviews and find more chances to win!