New Year’s Lingerie Resolutions - keep it safe, keep it clean and how to deal with unwanted Christmas underwear!

Lingerie needs security in China

The story of how one Chinese underwear nabber was foiled by the sheer volume of lingerie he’d pilfered might look like a surprising one-off, but we know better! This particular knicker thief, named only as Tan, lives in the Guangxi region. He used a master key to break into neighbouring flats and steal underwear which he then stashed under the acoustic tiles in corridors and stairways in the building he inhabited. Eventually there were so many items in his hoard that a ceiling tile collapsed, strewing underwear sets down a stairway, and leading to the police being involved. The cache was so huge that police officers carried it downstairs and laid it out on the pavement outside the building … more than 2,000 sets of women’s underwear were extracted from the building’s ceiling areas.

The man concerned has admitted that he may have a mental illness and says he cannot recall when his obsession with stealing underwear began. But he’s not an isolated incident. In Hubei a man has been charged with stealing women’s lingerie to wear himself and in Zhejiang province a man was arrested for stealing 17 pairs of women’s knickers in a single day!

Dirty undies taken to a whole new level

Undercover reporters in New Jersey, USA, have been investigating what major stores do with returned underwear. And it’s not nice! The team bought lingerie from Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s Marshalls, Nordstrom, The Gap, Victoria’s Secret and Wal-Mart, then removed all the tags that suggested the garment was unworn and put tiny black dots on the manufacturer’s labels so they could identify items they’d previously purchased. They then returned the garments to the stores. And …

Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s, Nordstrom and The Gap made the returned goods vanish - they simply didn't reappear on the shop floor. But at Marshall’s and Victoria’s Secret underwear and swimsuits that had been purchased had new tags put on them and were put straight back on the shop floor. What’s even worse is that the swimsuit had its protective liner removed, making it completely clear that the item was not brand new. Still the Marshall’s staff put it back out for sale. And at Wal-Mart, even though one of the sales team actually questioned whether the underwear should be redisplayed, it was! The companies went on to admit their failings and said they would re-educate their staff.

How to deal with the wrong lingerie!

It’s such a disappointment when we’ve dropped all those hints and yet we get given something … unfortunate, for Christmas. Lingerie in the wrong size, the wrong colour or just inappropriate for our personalities - most women have had experience of this at one time or another. So how do you deal with it? First, don’t drop hints! We got quite explicit with our lingerie lists this year - one of us even bookmarked the Shirley of Hollywood black corset she wanted on her partner’s laptop.

Stuck with something unsuitable, our suggestion is to be honest but tactful and to ask about exchange policies. For example, “Darling, that basque is lovely but it’s just a bit too big/small/shows under my favourite dress - does the retailer have an exchange policy? I’d just love to get something that fits better/

works with the dress you bought me last year/looks right under that low cut top you love so much.”

The truth is that nobody is going to look or feel great underwear that doesn’t fit or feels uncomfortable, and your partner didn’t intend to get you something that doesn’t work for you, so a frank but loving question, followed by a swift exchange of garments, is the best possible result. We have a generous and clear returns policy for this very reason … and it’s one reason our clients come back to us time and again.

But suppose the item isn’t returnable or exchangeable for some reason? One of the lingerie.co.uk team has the best story, although it takes quite a bit of nerve to carry it off. Given a rather scratchy and too tight thong by her then fiancee, and discovering it couldn’t be exchanged, she went out for lunch with him at a posh restaurant. “Guess what I’m wearing,” she whispered to him, and then told him. Just before their desserts arrived, she went to the ladies and when she returned, whispered again … “Guess what I’m not wearing any more…” Sure enough, her thrilled partner guessed she was not sporting the thong and when they got home and he found out for sure that she was naked under her dress, he was so delighted by her naughtiness that her apology, a couple of weeks later, that she must have dropped the thong from her bag after taking it off, more than made up for never seeing the offending garment again!

Winter Solstice lingerie news …

Partnerships to look forward to in 2015

Rita Von Teese and Christian Louboutin - a lingerie link up that we can’t wait to see. The lingerie line, designed by Dita is labelled XXXtian in homage to Christian’s signature Xtian. This is the first time the French shoe designer has entered the lingerie market so it’s going to be an interesting departure for him. Dita’s capsule connection is a seven piece, including bra, suspenders and kimono and the price starts at £68.00 per item.

Wearing your Christmas lingerie like a pro

If you’ve ever watched those lingerie models in TV adverts and wondered how they manage to look so effortlessly sexy, we’ve got some tips to help you wear Christmas present underwear as naturally, and sexily, as they do.

1.    Start with your regular daywear - of course your lover wants to see you in your scanties, but you need to feel comfortable too and that means that you need to choose outwear that you feel happy and confident in. Blouses and stretchy skirts are easy to get in and out of, whilst tight trousers/leggings and huge jumpers can look ungainly as you try to strip them off.

2.    Make a scene - if you’re modelling your Xmas presents at home, set the mood by choosing music, lighting candles (closing the curtains so nobody gets a sneak peek!) and making sure the room is warm and your partner has somewhere to recline and watch you. If you’ve been given a sexy fancy dress outfit, like our super-cute playing doctors dressup set, consider adding a few props to your display, like cocktails served in test tubes or bandages to tie your lover to the bed in a little light bondage scenario.

3.    Don’t drink too much - Dutch courage rarely works the way we want it to. Whilst a single drink can be a great mood booster, more than a couple of tipples will leave you adrift from the moment and, in the worst of scenarios, shaky, clumsy or even throwing up! So keep the rest of the booze till after your little ‘show and tell’ and reward yourself with a second glass once the excitement is over.

4.    Take your time - dress as slowly as you’ll undress, that gives you a chance to experience your new undies for yourself and to get into the right mood to give a lovely experience to your loved one. Listen to your favourite music, take a little time to pamper yourself, and relax.

5.    Have fun - if what you’ve been given doesn’t make you feel good, there’s no need to wear it. You are bound to have something sexy and confidence building in your drawer or cupboard that you can wear and look and feel great in. The point of this experience is for you both to enjoy it and if your new lingerie doesn’t contribute to the mood, dump the gift and go for the tried and trusted garment that delivers. Once New Year’s over you can decide whether to tackle your lover about an exchange of items or just let the undies slip to the back of the drawer …

Lingerie hotel

If you’re thinking of a quick and dirty break between Christmas and New Year, our new fave haunt is Hotel Vice Versa, Paris. Kitted out entirely by lingerie designer Chantal Thomass on the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins (lust, envy, sloth, gluttony, pride, greed or wrath) the rich and elegant interiors are designed to provoke at atmosphere of luxurious thrill-seeking romance… it’s absurdly easy to get sexy in this environment!

Real bodies, realistic lingerie, Lingerie Fashion Week New York … the world’s best underwear stories

Aerie wins with real women

When Aerie, a brand that’s part of the American Eagle family said that it would stop airbrushing its lingerie models’ pictures, it made a bit of a splash. Now the results are in - and they’re very interesting indeed. Whilst American Eagle’s sales decreased overall by 7%, Aerie’s sales rose by 9%. The airbrushing alone wouldn’t have delivered this jump; Aerie lingerie has been sold in the same stores as American Eagles’s other clothing, rather than separately and underwear has generally outperformed other clothing sectors as when money is tight women are happy to spend a little on a nice pair of knickers or a pretty bra but not so happy to spend a lot on an outer garment. Even so, the idea of real women in real undies has served the brand well because it has a practical purpose - the average woman can see how the lingerie will look on their own bodies much more clearly than when looking at a perfect, airbrushed, unreal body.

Lingerie Fashion Week - New York style

And Aerie is also right on trend. The catwalks of the New York City Lingerie Fashion Week (LFWNYC) were thronged with gorgeous underwear worn by gorgeous bodies, both male and female. Some of these bodies were utterly unreal, the bodies of those genetic lottery winners who were somehow born with six packs, perky buns and stunning shoulders.

Others though, were more like the average … and while they might be considered ‘normal’ they looked anything but average in their designer underwear. Lingerie brands run the full range of underwear from wedding lingerie to maternity wear, from men’s sportswear to bespoke corsetry and each of those styles and specialist areas was represented on the catwalk.

Choosing the best underwear for your body

Whilst there are hundreds of guides to choosing the best wedding gown, the perfect little black dress, the ideal winter coat, guides to choosing lingerie are rarer and often less inclusive. We know that, just like LFWNYC, underwear is worn by everybody, male and female, young and old, and of every shape, size and colour.  So here are our tips for choosing underwear if you’re not one of those who ‘won’ the genetic lottery.

•   Work for fit, not look. While the way a garment looks is important, the way it feels on your body is more so. If the lingerie is too tight, digs in or feels uncomfortable as you move, then it won’t make you feel good about yourself, no matter how glamorous or sophisticated it looks.

•   Use your body type. While willowy women can wear most things, curvier bodied females can benefit from choosing one long-line and one short item; so a plunge bra with a long girdle or suspender belt, or a longline bustier with a pair of side-tie panties or a G-string. This prevents any bunching up of the flesh between two long-line garments and flatters the more voluptuous figure.

•   Look your age. Rather than trying to hide your age, use it to your advantage. Sheer fabrics flatter older skins and have a sophistication that younger fabrics like animal prints can’t deliver. For older women, elegant robes in rich colours make a cosmopolitan statement, whilst for the mature gentleman, a thong can be a stunning undergarment, flattering the male torso without creating unattractive crease lines.

•   Adapt your underwear. For those with mobility issues or with other physical needs, great lingerie need not be a no-no. Side fastening underwear can be easy to get on and off as well as looking stunning, and both men and women’s underwear comes in side-fastening options - we’d recommend the Pistola by Sensualle as a very raunchy garment for a man, with a straightforward velcro fastening that anybody can utilise. Women with mobility issues often find that babydolls are simple to wear and very sensual in appearance. 

Counterfeit knickers, bra revivals, spare underwear and caffeinated pants - our week in lingerie

Scandale

Halle Berry is reviving a lingerie line that was launched in the 1930s in Paris. The line, called Scandale, is redolent of the history of Parisian women and their intimate apparel. According to Ms Berry, the new line will keep intact all the qualities of Parisian style but ensure that femininity, sexiness and self-empowerment are to the fore because, the actor says, ‘… I have a pulse on what American women want … what you put under your clothes is the first step in making yourself feel good about yourself.’

There’s no doubt about that! So what do we think of Halle’s ambitions? Well the first thing is that we’re delighted she’s going to be selling her undies through Target, a very mainstream shop that will ensure the products are within the price range of the average woman, not reserved for the super-rich and ultra skinny.

Second it’s great to know that she understands that women mainly buy underwear mainly for themselves, not to please men, although, ‘when they find something they feel good in, and that makes them feel sexy and feminine and empowered, their partners also reap the benefits.’

If you can’t get to a Target but want to enjoy a feminine, sexy and self-empowering bra set just like the ones Halle has designed, we’d opt for the Gracya Szahira bra set, with its grey on black dentelle lace design and elegant white bow details it has all the style of Paris without the French couture price.

Counterfeit underwear

The owners of Birdies Panties in Kansas were shocked when their stock was confiscated by Homeland Security! The Missouri based underwear retailer had printed a line of women knickers bearing the KC of the Kansas City Royals, a baseball team that had just beaten the mighty San Francisco Giants. However, the Major League Baseball organisation found out about the undies and reported them as counterfeit as Birdies Panties didn’t have a licence to print them.

Coffee in your pants?

Also in the USA, two companies have fallen foul of the law. Norm Thompson Outfitters and Wacol America, marketed some caffeinated underwear, rather like leggings or long johns, that were impregnated with caffeine that should, they claimed, assist ‘fat destruction’. The Federal Trade Commission said that the claims were based on inaccurate science and could not deliver on the promise that wears could lose two inches off their hips and an inch of their thighs in a month.

Knickers in a twist?

3,000 women were recently surveyed to fid out what they carried in their handbags. The facts are staggering. First, the average handbag weighs 5.5lbs - more than a cat, and about the same as a small dog! Second, 36% of women carry spare underwear in their bags. Now at that point we’d have had to ask some supplementary questions like:

1.    Are the spare knickers sexy upgrades in case a woman gets lucky or comfy big pants to jump into when the evenings over and they’re heading home?

2.    Do women transport their alternative underwear loud and proud or tuck it away in a little pouch or make up bag?

3.    How many women actually use their spare knickers on a regular basis?

But amazingly, the surveyors didn’t enquire, so we’re left to wonder …? Perhaps we should launch a survey of our own!

Lingerie pillage, word power and pin-up style - a roundup of the best in lingerie …

Underwear transgressions

A New Zealand estate agent has appealed a misconduct case which cost him his job and his licence. What’s this got to do with sexy underwear? Well, he was caught going through the lingerie drawer of a client during an open house called to try and sell their property … not once, but twice.

On the first occasion the man had apparently taken knickers and a brassiere from the drawer and was holding them in his hands - he was asked to leave the room to talk to potential buyers and then, later in the day, returned to the drawer and again took items from it and handled them.

His defence was ‘I looked in the drawer more out of curiosity and intrigue than out of malicious intent’ but the tribunal found his behaviour to be ‘a gross invasion of privacy and a severe breach of trust.’  Now he’s appealing the suspension of his licence for six months saying that he feels his human rights have been abused and his privacy breached … which is quite a claim, from a chap who had his mitts on somebody else’s lingerie!  But there’s an interesting point here - if, like us, you’re building a nice collection of special underwear, and you’ve got people regularly visiting your home, think about just how enticing your lovely undies are and perhaps keep them somewhere a little secluded, to remove the temptation for others to rifle through your lingerie!

Lingerie Exhibition

Zoe Buckman is a feminist artist, and she’s also a fan of hip-hop who’s used her love of the genre to create a groundbreaking exhibition called EVERY CURVE, which links vintage underwear and hip-hop lyrics to highlight the contrasting roles of women as sexual objects, love objects and creative beings.

                       
Her work, which has lyrics from The Notorious B.I.G and Tupak Shakur machine embroidered onto vintage lingerie, makes a fascinating and thought-provoking exhibition, currently on show at the Allen Koppel Gallery in Chicago until 31 October.

Whilst Buckman’s approach is deliberately to challenge preconceptions, the idea of personalising lingerie is one that we’re totally in tune with. Much of the beautiful underwear we sell is already personalised, like the Gilda and Pearl Goddess babydoll* which is made to order, but any item of underwear could be further personalised, for example by adding ribbons, trims, and even personalised items of jewellery to create a completely unique and personal look. If you’re handy with your needle you could even monogram your lingerie or embroider a special message on it, for your loved one’s eyes only!

Lingerie tips for the Pin-Up Look

If vintage underwear and the Pin-Up era are your passion, we’ve got a couple of tips to help you achieve the Pin-Up look.

•   Work on your hair. While it’s traditional to have long hair, it’s not essential and a bandana or fascinator can be a great way to ‘vintage up’ a short modern hairstyle. Alternatively there are fantastic vintage wigs that are comfortable to wear. If your hair is long enough, pincurls and Victory rolls are the classic hairstyles.

•   Classic make up. The Pin-Up face has flawless pale skin, structured brows, strong lips and natural cheeks. Choose a foundation with medium to high coverage, and as pale a colour as you can wear. A simple natural blush in soft pink (cool toned skin) or soft peach (warm toned skin) should be gently brushed just over the cheekbones. Brows are well shaped and relatively dark … the Scouse brow is too far one way, the Cher tattooed line too far the other! Use an eyebrow pencil to maintain definition, and a really good eyeliner to get a smoky, sultry look. Lips should be soft bubblegum pink or strong red and well defined - use a lip liner and blot the first coat before adding another to get long-lasting colour.

•   Underwear. You knew we we’re coming to it, didn’t you! Great glamour comes from the best underpinnings and that means perfect undies for you. Not for anybody else, or for the public gaze, but so that you feel like a star whenever you wear them. From silk stockings to hand-made corsetry, your lingerie should give you the boost that allows you to walk into every room like the star you are.

3D, Royalty and Pregnancy - a week of lingerie news

We’ve seen the future of lingerie - and it’s printed

Remember that a few weeks ago, we reported on a strict new ruling about lingerie that insists that in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, nothing lacy could be sold. The theory was to stop retailers selling poor-quality synthetic underwear that could harm women’s reproductive health. Well, a German lingerie brand, Lascana, has just developed a new lingerie line that is definitely synthetic but will escape the ban. Why? Because it’s not woven or sewn - it’s printed on a 3D printer! The clamshell lingerie set was inspired by Botticell’s ‘Birth of Venus’ and features a clamshell bra and panties.

The Russian lingerie market is around £3 billion in value, which means that any company that can find a way to get its sexy undies to Russia legally is likely to make an absolute killing. It’s not even out of people’s price range, although you might have to save up for it - the bra and knicker set will probably retail at around £60.

A future royal in Britney’s knickers?

No, not a scandal about her love life, rather, a bit of astute marketing. When Britney Spears was in London last week to launch her new underwear collection, she is reported to have said that she would love to see Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, in her designs, and to that end she’s going to send every single item in the new lingerie line to the Duchess. Kate, who’s currently expecting her second child and wrestling with terrible morning sickness, just as she did when carrying Prince George, hasn’t commented on the offer and we don’t expect to see any underwear selfies of the Duchess in Britney’s scanties any time soon!

Oddly, Britney chose to comment on the role of men in her life when she was interviewed in Denmark, suggesting that women don’t necessarily need a man - just a good bath and some nice underwear! Of course she’s got to sell her line, but it’s a bit of an odd approach, we think. Perhaps she’s just a bit jet lagged.

Perfect underwear for pregnant women

Dita von Teese has been pondering the pregnant form and its underwear needs too, apparently. She has designed some undies that work for expectant women, based on the experience of friends of hers who wanted sexy but comfortable lingerie. Of course every woman wants to look good when she’s expecting, and many men find this an alluring and appealing stage of a woman’s life, But finding underwear that works can be difficult. Our recommendation for an investment lingerie item that will take you from your first weeks to beyond childbirth is the Lise Charmel Splendeur Inca robe which rides magnificently over any size of bump and has a rich pattern that flatters any shape or size.

Lingerie controversy - undies in the news this week!

Ladies in lingerie

It’s been a week of hot heads and high words around women’s underwear this week!  Perhaps the hottest - and least controversial - story is the one that featured Lindsay Lohan out partying with E.L. James of Fifty Shades of Grey fame. Yes, one of the wildest ladies on the planet was out and about with the leading erotica writer … not only that, Lindsay was wearing black lace lingerie and E.L. sported a mask. Can we be totally honest? We think our Princesse Suabi mask is prettier by far than the one E.L. wore … the delicate touches of gold in our design are really flattering and the lace detailing is more feminine and mysterious than a solid mask, which, when worn in public can give off more of a Zorro vibe than a sensual one!

As for Lindsay, her cute underwear was part of a London Fashion Week jaunt, not a failure to remember to put her outwear on. One of the most intriguing rumours emerging earlier this year was the Lindsay might be asking E.L. James to write her memoir - we can’t imagine anybody better to bring us the scandals and excitements of Lindsay’s life so far!

Lingerie is not a crime

Franchise brand Tezenis came under fire on Twitter this week, after an Oxford Street shop window displayed a pair of Tezenis knickers with the message ‘crime scene’ printed on them, as if they were draped with yellow police tape. The backlash was fast and furious, with many people taking to social media to comment on the connotations of rape that the panties suggested, and also saying that they found the underwear ‘gross’ and ‘sexist’.  Many commentators highlighted the way that sexual violence appeared to be condoned by the slogan.

While the company has refused to talk about the garment, in a statement it released soon after the uproar began it said that the item had been removed from the store and would not be available to purchase online.

Hi jinks on high!

Good old VietJet are at it again. A ‘test’ advertising campaign featured Vietnamese beauty queens in yellow and red bikinis, thigh highs and red high heels, acting as cabin crew. Stills leaked from the ad caused an outcry, not least because of last year’s VietJet stunt which led to a £100,000 fine for the airline. On that occasion a bunch of bikini sporting beauty queens promenaded down the aisle of a packed plane - in the air - and handing out teddies to delighted looking male passengers.

One reason for the kerfuffle was the the song to which the beauty queens were strutting had the lyric ‘I’m crazy for banana’ which is suggestive to say the least, more seriously, there were concerns about whether safety regulations had been breached. Whatever else you say about VietJet, they’re really good at gaining publicity - and choosing underwear!

Women and men and underwear - our week of weird and wonderful lingerie stories

Saudi lingerie swoop

Months ago we reported on a story about lingerie shops being forced to hire Saudi female shop assistants. This week, 27 (yes, 27!) lingerie shops were closed in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia because they had failed to employ local women.

The regulations, brought in at the beginning of the year, state that only Saudi women can sell women’s items and that a failure to replace male staff with female in lingerie shops could mean both shutting the shops and taking action against the men working in them. As a result of a series of raids, twenty shops in Jeddah were also shut down for violating the ‘ladies only’ lingerie rule. The new legislation is designed to try and ensure employment for local graduates and particularly for women, so as to reduce dependence on foreign workers.

Man pants not hero wear!

No, it’s not just an excuse to show you Dwayne Johnson in his pants - we don’t need any excuse to do that, we just do it anyway! So, back to the point. The UK advertising watchdog has stopped an underwear brand from running an advert, despite the hi tech pants having the backing of Sir Richard Branson. Wireless Armour says its ‘mesh of pure silver’ encases the wearer in a ‘cage of metal’ that apparently protects male fertility by blocking electromagnetic radiation from wireless devices carried in the male pocket.

The brand was called ‘underpants for superhereos’ by Sir Richard (hence Dwayne, who is currently  in cinemas as Hercules, a super hero - see, there is a reason for that picture!) but the ASA says the cited research doesn’t back up the claim that mobile phone radiation can negatively impact male fertility. Therefore, it says, the campaign must be withdrawn until adequate evidence is produced to substantiate the claims Wireless Armour make.

Bearded lady underwear

That warbling Eurovision winner, Conchita Wurst, has debuted in the underwear industry in a big way! She began by taking the catwalk with Jean Paul Gaultier in the summer, and now the 25 year old has appeared in a shoot with Karl Lagerfeld and Ashleigh Good, who is currently pregnant.

The shots show that Conchita has no problem getting into racy undies and, in one shot, is entwined with Lagerfeld himself who describes the singer as 'really hav[ing] a voice…’ he also said, ‘She has done something that's never been done before. We have all heard of "bearded ladies" but no one has ever seen a bearded man posing as a lady. This brings new meaning to the term “drag”’

And if you’re loving the Conchita look, we recommend the fabulous Magic Instinct body by Antinea … sleek, svelte and with beautiful lace panel inserts, this body is a real winner - a bit like Conchita herself!

Sue, Sue and blue - lingerie in the news!

Sue

The underwear designers and manufacturers, Zephyrs, expected to be famous for their ground-breaking (or rather boob-shaping) kidney shaped bra inserts, shaped to increase volume and cleavage in a natural fashion. Instead they are suing their law firm, McDermott, Will & Emery for approximately $6 million! years of design on the part of Zephyrs founder Debra MacKinnon led to a patent application in 2008, but according to the claim, when the actual patent was granted in 2012, serious flaws were found in the claim document, allowing giants like Amazon and Victoria’s Secret to create similar systems without breaking patent law. As a result, Zephyrs has been fighting a rearguard action to protect intellectual property and bring their lawyers to book by claiming damages because they haven’t been able to collect royalties on their design. A ruling isn’t expected before the end of the year.

Sue

Whatever your view of Lingerie Football, I’m sure you assumed that the players were getting well paid for their skills - and for wearing a little less than the average footballer whilst playing! But it seems that’s not necessarily the case - a  former Las Vegas Sin player, Robin Johnson, is suing the Lingerie Football League for which she played. Her claim is that the league, now known as the Legends Football League, failed to pay the necessary  minimum wage and overtime to hundreds of its employees.

Johnson played for the league for two years and says that she and many other employees were classified as independent contractors who weren’t entitled to minimum wage payments and overtime, which she claims is hard to believe, given that players must both play as part of a team and obey team and league rulings, which denies their independent status. The ‘Lingerie League’ began as a half time skit but is now a ten team USA league, a five team Australian one and a four team league in Canada. Minimum should apply to clothing, not pay, says Robin Johnson!

Blue is the new black!

At least for intimate apparel. From regularly kingfisher-haired Nicole Richie’s revelations (she spends around £15,000 on underwear every year) to Bar Refaeli’s most recent photos, revealed as part of Top Model, being filmed in Warsaw, Poland, every shade of blue is turning up in underwear.

Wearing blue lingerie can be complex - it’s a cool colour which can drain the life from a warm complexion and is prone to bring out blue elsewhere, so if you have blue eyes (or hair) it can be a sophisticated look - although it’s not great if you have leg veins you’d rather not draw attention to.

Blue undies aren’t impossible though. Blue works well with peach and white, as seen in the Reve de PeintureAntinea nightie by Lise Charmel, and this is a particularly good choice for warm-toned skins and for blondes and redheads. If you want to conceal leg veins, made more obvious by blue undies, a pair of flirty fishnets like our LegAvenue lace-topped stockings will do the job perfectly, whilst ramping up your sex appeal!

Power Lingerie and lingerie power … our week in underwear!

Looking good over thirty, forty, fifty … and beyond, the secret of dressing for success according to Angela Bassett

If you’re one of of those people who findings lingerie ads intimidating and believes there’s no room for women of different shapes, sizes, colours or ages, the last few years have given a refreshing glimpse into how great women can look, whatever their age, colour or shape.  The latest contestant for this list of cuties is Angela Bassett, fifty-five years gorgeous!

Currently starring in American Horror Story, the stunning Bassett has also just completed a photoshoot for Violet Grey. She’s seen wearing black undies that highlight her superb body and while we can imagine that she has been primped, polished and posed by a team of experts, she also says (can this be true?) that it only tens her ten minutes to get ready to go out and face the cameras!

Her secret, she says, is that she decides what feeling she wishes her appearance to transmit, focusing on such words as flirty, sensual or powerful and then choses an outfit that matches the feeling. It’s a fascinating view into how this truly passionate actress has navigated the years that some of us find particularly troubling, and perhaps there’s a technique there we could use ourselves? Rather than asking ourselves ‘do I look good in this?’ or ‘is this too young for me?’ we could pose the question ‘does this choice support the emotion or mood I’m trying to express’ and whether that’s ‘cuddly’ or ‘dominating’, ‘sweet’ or ‘self-confident’ and then we could choose lingerie that matched the feeling we’d like to project. On that basis, we recommend something from the brand ‘Fearless and Fun’ this week! Isn’t ‘fearless and fun’ what most of us what to project? Of course it is, so we’ve picked out this fabulous skin-tight, wet-look mini dress as our highlighted lingerie of the week. It’s not what you might think of as classic lingerie, which is why we’re focusing on it, because we know that impactful dressing is something that needs to be a conscious choice for empowered women and while you might not choose to wear this dress clubbing (maybe not the first time you put it on, anyway!) owning and wearing something as dramatic and sexy as this projects a sense of a woman who’s in charge of her own destiny, and that’s a great place to start your journey into ‘mood dressing’.

Bra Banks and investment dressing

And while we’re talking about empowering women - get rid of that bra! No, not the one you’re wearing, but the one you never wear… the impulse purchase that turned out to be less comfortable than you thought or the (heaven forbid), gift bra from your lover that just isn’t you …

The average British woman has 16 bras but only wears four or five of them regularly and that means there’s a pile of unworn lingerie in many drawers that could be benefiting women elsewhere. Against Breast Cancer has a campaign that will re-home unwanted bras with women in parts of Africa where bra ownership is expensive. For many women in the developing world, it can require between 10-30 working hours to earn the money to buy a bra, which means they just don’t ever get enough spare cash to make the investment. So why not recycle something you don’t wear - or maybe even get a bra bank for your workplace? Then you can invest in a new bra that really does work for you, knowing that your unwanted underwear is making another woman happy or helping fight breast cancer by funding research into cures.

Sexy fruit, confusing underwear and caring for your scanties - our week in lingerie

In advance of the Qixi Festival in China, which is an event dedicated to fruitfulness and young love, one grocer in Nanjing has discovered a way to make his fruit more attractive. He’s dressing them in sheer panties! It’s a double joke, because the grocer is based in a region of China known for underwear production. The price is as ripe as the peaches, at 60 Euros for nine (admittedly the lingerie clad fruit arrive in a satin lined box) but it’s not winning over many fans - potential buyers seem unimpressed, maybe because they prefer a bargain or maybe because they can’t work out what to do with nine pairs of tiny pants when they've eaten the contents.

If you’d like to look a peach in some sheer undies, here are our top tips for perfect presentation:

1.    Exfoliate! The nether regions are very erogenous but also benefit from good maintenance. Buffing your butt with a sisal glove, or using some sugar scrub will remove any dry skin and improve the circulation

2.    Moisturise. Once your skin is peachy smooth, a good moisturiser keeps it that way. There are many treatments on the market that aim to reduce cellulite or improve appearance, and while the jury is still out on their effectiveness (the action of massaging the product in may be as effective as the product itself) you can’t go wrong with something that smooths and softens the skin and smells great

3.    Sheer or not? Not everybody likes to sheer look - if you don’t, consider wearing a tiny sparkly g-string under your sheer panties. It offers the best of both worlds and is a sexy way of highlighting the semitransparent nature of the sheer garment. Our Roza Genezis Shortybriefs, matched with the Venus G-string by Lola Luna are a perfect pairing for this kind of treatment.

Victoria’s Secret slapped

No, it’s not a spanking story! Lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret has been walloped in the courts by Thomas Pink, bespoke shirt maker of London town. The undie seller started a range of retail outlets called Pink in 2012, and has now been told it must rename them across the UK. It seems that the staff of Thomas Pink have been turning away annoyed customers seeking sexy lingerie whilst furious shirt seekers have berated the staff of Victoria’s Secret for not having well tailored shirting to sell!

Caring for your naughty nighties

Or, for that matter, any other kind of lingerie. How do we look after such precious garments? First, hand wash them, even High Street brassieres should be kept out of the washing machine and even more, away from the tumble dryer. Anything will elastic will last longer if hand washed.

Of course we don’t want stinky undies, so it’s important to undertake the hand washing process properly:

•   fill a bowl with lukewarm water and a little hand washing liquid

•   fasten hooks and eyes or press studs, so that they don’t tear lace or other fragile materials

•   check your garments - if you have sweat marks, lipstick stains (we won’t ask why!) etc, dampen those areas with cold water and rub with a little stain removing product or neat hand wash

•   insert your undies and ensure they are fully under the water - this can take a while if you have padded items

•   leave for 15 minutes to soak

•   swirl around in the water for a couple of minutes - no need to scrub

•   rinse in cold water and lay on a clean towel for half an hour to absorb much of the water, then line dry if your sexy secrets are safe to hang outdoors! If not, leave them on the towel but lay it over a radiator on a low heat.

World Cup lingerie tips from Mario Götze’s girlfriend!

One of the most shared photographs of the World Cup (remember that? It seems a long time ago, doesn’t it?) was of Mario Götze scoring that winning goal and running over to smooch his partner, model Ann Kathrin Brommel. The twenty-three year old is an established glamour model, pop artist  and blogger and super selfie taker. So we’ve got five tips on how to look good in lingerie, drawn from Ann Kathrin’s extensive selfie portfolio.

1.    The most important part of any selfie is the angle - before you begin your selfie session, take your phone and an hour of free time to selfie yourself from every angle. Hold the phone high, and low, photograph your right and left profile. Look up, look down. Then take another hour to look at the photos and rank them in order of attractiveness. At the end you’ll know two things - your best angle and your worst! Make sure all your selfies are taken from your best angle … look at Ann Kathrin’s selfies - almost every one is taken from the same angle because she know’s what works for her.

2.    Next, check your background. While you can’t control the background in spontaneous selfies, you can in posed shots. Find an uncluttered background. It doesn’t have to be plain - lingerie can look fabulous set against brocade wallpaper or with you curled up on an embroidered throw. What you don’t want is a lamp growing out of your head or a pile of paperwork lurking in the corner of the shot.

3.    Learn to breathe and relax. It’s a good idea to take a nice deep in-breath and hold it as you take your selfie - it elevates the breasts which can be important to a lingerie selfie! Also, it helps you to stay still. The way glamour models do this is to breathe in, then breathe out, looking away from the camera and as they breathe in again, look back at the camera, imagining somebody really special has just walked into the room. That gives you that all-important wide-eyed and expectant look!

4.    Take loads of shots - finding just the right one might take ten or twenty shutter-clicks but what’s your hurry? Photography is an art, and it requires patience …

5.    Finally, wear something you love. Ann Kathrin can get way with the toughest outfits, but if you’re starting your selfie career we’d recommend (a) a bikini and (b) something with a pattern. The Coffee Land bikini is ideal, as it’s sexy, flattering to all skin tones, and has removable padding for added va va voom! Ann Kathrin also rocks the slicked-back hair look in her selfie, but most women prefer a tousled beach hair look, and if you’re one of them, simply tip your head down and rub your fingers over your scalp to get that mussed up vibe going!

La Senza woes continue

For the second time in two years, underwear specialist La Senza has gone into receivership. Nearly half their stores have already closed and while their locations are being fought over by mobile phone companies and other retailers wanting those prime locations, no substantial offers have been made for the chain which was rescued by an Arabian consortium in 2012. It’s rumoured that former owner Theo Paphitis, now the owner of Boux Avenue, was interested in the shops, but not the business. The shops that have closed have had their sale stock sell out in a matter of hours, suggesting that the lingerie brand still has some life in it yet!

Hidden undies, royal romances and underwear nobility… this week’s lingerie round-up

Lingerie history exhibition

New York often leads the way in fashion - and this year it’s leading the way in underwear fashion with a superb exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology whose museum is featuring more than seventy items from the history of underwear in a show entitled ‘Exposed: A History of Lingerie’

As you’d imagine the exhibition covers the evolution of underwear from both a fashion and a technology perspective. The earliest item is a turquoise corset with sleeves! It dates from around 1770 and has crossed ivory ribbons that are almost identical to the kind of stomacher ribbons we wear on our lingerie today. If you’d like to emulate the 18th century version of sexy undies, why not try our Adorable corset with crisscross ribboning along with a pair of gorgeous white boudoir gloves

One of the things that most impressed us was the range of colours shown in the earliest garments, with 17th and 18th century corsets that both raised women’s breasts to a vast and unnatural height and whittled their waists but also, hidden under their outer clothes, exhibit a lush range of colours and fabrics, rich stitching and embroidery and elegant ribbons and lace.

Princely interest in underwear model

We used to call him the playboy Prince, although he’s somewhat lost his title to his strawberry-blond nephew Harry, but Prince Andrew still has an eye for the statuesque female. This month it’s been Dara Tomanovich, the gorgeous Canadian who was a lingerie model for Marks and Spencer, amongst others. Andrew invited Dara to join him at Ascot, where he and Dara graced the Royal box and garnered many admiring glances. Ms Tomanovich wore a white fascinator in her brunette hair and a severe grey dress that did nothing to hide her awesome curves. She’s no stranger to eligible males, having also wined and dined with George Clooney

Underwear prince becomes a designer

Think of a David famous for his body … no, not Michelangelo’s David, nor even dear David Beckham. We’re talking Gandy. The ineffable prince of the catwalk scanties, David Gandy himself, is about to launch an underwear line. Yes, both making and modelling his pants! His collection, for Autograph at Marks and Spencer, will include boxers and nightwear … and we’re pretty sure that much of it will be bought by women who wish their men would get some of that Gandy appeal!

Lingerie, football and the joy of glam art

Sporting undies

If you’re expecting to be a football widow, or even if you’re a super-keen football fan (and who wouldn’t be with such talent as Iker Casillas on show?) there is a way to garner some attention. Did you know that the Lingerie World Cup took place earlier this year? It was hosted by the Netherlands, whose male team are barely featuring in the betting at 35-1, which makes them rank outsiders. But their lingerie team lifted the world cup … and there’s a real explosion of lingerie sport at present with the Lingerie Fighting Championships (Mixed Martial Arts) taking place in Vegas (where else!) and the Lingerie Bowl being played at half time at the SuperBowl in the USA. The national women’s rugby team in Australia has just picked a former Lingerie Football League (USA) player to represent them at the national level too!

If you’re up for some sporty style, we’d say pick your team colours (either local or national) and invest in a teddy! Our current top tip is G-World’s Scrumptious teddy which is quite stunningly beautiful and also very easy to move in, so that your athletic performance can be fully appreciated. It even comes with its own gorgeous stockings.

Arty undies

Speaking of stunningly beautiful, while the wedding of the year may have been Kim and Kanye’s lush Florence nuptials, one little detail of their ceremony hasn’t been given the attention we at the Lingerie Blog think it deserves. One present that Kanye gave his wife was a portrait, on metal, of Kim herself, clad only in a thong and a pair of red Louboutins. The portrait is apparently as unconventional as Kim herself. It was painted by renowned street artist Bambi.

Back to Brazil

And football, and underwear. We couldn’t close this blog without sharing one of the rising stars of football both nationally (Brazil) and internationally (Chelsea) Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Júnior who’s better known just as Oscar, has joined the list of football stars from Beckham to Drogba to Ronaldo to appear in his scanties in an advert. Young Oscar’s boyish good looks made him a natural choice for Calvin Klein and just ahead of the World Cup, being hosted by his own nation, he’s made his debut as an underwear novel. We’re charmed by his natural appearance and we predict that, as ever, the Calvin Klein magic will extend to this newest recruit to the illustrious line of men who’ve bared nearly everything!

Ribs, curves and thongs ... our week in lingerie!

Ribs

It’s always New York where controversies  happen, isn’t it? And this week it’s La Perla New York that’s bought itself a bit of a storm in an AA cup. Well, not so much the cup as the mannequin wearing a red bra.

Spotted by a shopper, the mannequin in question had visible, some might even say, excessively skinny, ribs. The person who took the photo tweeted it with the message, ‘How does #LaPerla think ribs on a mannequin is ok?!’

Good question. Apparently it doesn’t, but by the time La Perla responded, quite a list of twitter users had joined in the controversy, stating the mannequin was awful and gross. Now the lingerie brand has tweeted in turn, saying the mannequin had been removed from the store and that she wouldn’t be used again.

Curves

And now for something completely different. Nicki Minaj is famous for the opposite of ribs – her stunning décolletage and wondrous rear end have been assets only slightly less popular than her music and now Ms Minaj has launched an advertisement to support, not her curves, but her wine! She made the ad to feature her Myx Fusions wine label and she was wearing, amongst other items a stunning purple-blue Stella McCartney balconette bra and pantie set, over which she put a fringed skirt (more fringe than skirt, to be honest) and finished the look with a pair of Versace platform shoes.

Her new look, with her natural curls and lovely curves, is definitely a good vintage and for those who have a derriere to admire, taking a leaf from Nicki’s book is a great idea. 

Thongs

Our favourite bottom-enhancer at present is the Malaguena by Wolbar, which really gives a stunning definition to every rear, and the sheer fabric and dainty bow stop it being even a little bit trashy – it’s a perfect romantic garment which wins votes from women and their lovers – truly a top performer!

One little note – Nicki was apparently nicely oiled up for her video, and we all know that baby oil is the finishing touch of choice of both bodybuilders and beauty contest entrants, but if you want to get the look, it may be better to find a water based body glosser as your bedsheets will probably not recover from being exposed to a lot of baby oil!y.