Paying it forward, underwear throwing and full spectrum lingerie - a campaigning few weeks in the world of underwear

Bra love

From Australia, heart-warming campaigns by Mummie’s Paying It Forward. This month they have asked for bras to be donated to the Uplift Project which supplies brassieres to women in disadvantaged communities. The power of social media is fuelling the organisation which has now provided donations and volunteers to no fewer than 16 separate charitable aims. Women use spare time in their day or spare rooms in their homes to store and sort donations. The Sydney based campaign is seeking the following bra sizes:

            •           Size 8 to 16 (A-D) in good condition

            •           Size 18+ in any condition 

            •           Size E+ in any condition 

            •           Maternity and mastectomy bras in any condition 

            •           Swimwear in good, clean condition.

As one of the volunteers said, ‘It’s the little things you don’t think about that makes a difference.” Of course we’d agree, and being able to donate a bra to a woman who isn’t in a position to buy her own strikes us as not such a little thing at all.

Underwear protests

The female students at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath found a novel way to protest against a campus dress code - the statues and sculptures in the college grounds were draped in lingerie. The protest was in response to a notice posted around the college asking girls to dress with ‘levels of respectability in mind … students are not permitted to wear provocative clothing’. One student says girls were asked not to wear sleeveless tops and shorts as they were distracting and could make male students feel uncomfortable.

As a result, the girls protested that the restrictions would limit their own comfort and male students have backed the girls in their call to be allowed to choose their own clothing. Describing it as ‘creative and non-violent’ methods of protest, they helped dress the statues in bright lingerie. The latest news is that new posters have been put up, stating that the previous dress code has been rescinded. 

Really nude lingerie

In a thought-provoking article, Theresa Avila has rounded up some of the difficult questions being asked of the fashion industry, including lingerie manufacturers. We’re really aware that our customers come in every shape, size, colour and of all ages, and try to cater to their needs, but if you can’t find it, you can’t sell it! So in going the extra distance we’d like to highlight our stunning Milk Chocolate Ujena bikini - nude for darker skin tones, beautifully constructed to work for all sizes, and with an elegant coordinating cover-up, the whole ensemble is just perfect for summer.

A lingerie challenge, a lingerie hotlist and how to have the coolest lingerie in the hottest weather!

Jodie Layne (@jodielayne) has a challenge for you! In an article entitled I Wore Sexy Lingerie For A Whole Week And I Think It Changed My Self Image for Bustle, she talks about how wearing her best underwear changed her view of herself on a tough old week. The points she makes are valid ones:

1 - she did it as a challenge, because she wouldn’t have opted to wear sexy lingerie except for ‘a reason’

2 - she let somebody else have a say in what she wore - not that they picked her outfit for the day, but by being sent a box of lingerie she was presented with new ideas about underwear

3 - the best moments came when she least expected them; through wearing lingerie every day she was surprised by how often she felt more accepting of her body or more happy with her appearance.

So what can we take from this experiment of one? 

•   Maybe that we could wear our best underwear more often and more naturally - instead of using it as a strategic statement ‘today is the day I’ll feel good about myself’ we can use beautiful underwear on any day, without forethought, because we should feel better about ourselves.

•   Perhaps that getting some input on our underwear choices is a good idea - for example, if you love a particular bra in one colour, why not order it in another too? That way you’ll be able to explore something that you know already works and you may learn something about your choices. Or maybe find out what this season’s hot colours are and order lingerie in those shades, even if you’d never normally wear them.

•   Finally, if lovely undergarments make us happier with ourselves, we should probably wear them a lot more!

Best of British lingerie

And then Forbes says that the British are coming! To their list of amazing British lingerie designers we’d add our own Jane Woolwich who is quite simply the quintessential British underwear designer. Her work is ultra feminine and flattering but what makes the Jane Woolwich brand so special is the innately intuitive use of colour and fabric which gives her lingerie real wow factor.

Cool underwear for hot babes

Baby it’s hot outside! If, like us, you're trying to stay cool in the hottest days of the year, here are a few tips that might surprise you:

•   If you own cotton undies, put them in the fridge! Yes, that old T-shirt trick really works but only for cotton or cotton and other natural fibre mixes - you can chill down your bra and panties overnight and pull them on the following morning to have a really cool, calm and collected start to the day.

•   Cologne sticks are your secret weapon! Granny knew what she was doing and a stick of solid cologne run around three areas of your body will keep you cool and beautifully fragrant. Slide it behind your knees, over your inner wrist and along your hairline at the neck to give yourself an instant temperature drop.

•   Baby powder prevents chafing, so if you're going to be wearing an underwire bra, for example, you can apply a small amount of baby powder around your bra line with a blusher brush before putting on your lingerie. It will stop the constriction and rubbing that tight underwear creates in hot weather.

•   If you need to wash and dry a special bra in a hurry, use a salad spinner! It’s just as quick as a tumble dryer but it won’t ruin your special lingerie, nor will it add heat to you, your undies or your environment!

Wedding dresses, feathers and having fun in relationships … our week in lingerie

Gown to nightie

Would you cut up your wedding dress? A Mexican lingerie company invited women to do just that. In a commercial aired on Mexican TV, five women discussed how the fun had gone out of their marriages, and the passion had slipped away from their bedroom lives. Then they were asked to bring out their wedding gowns which designers cut up in front of them!

The idea was to turn their once-in-a-lifetime gowns into sexy underwear … in one case a shortie nightie but in the other four, a bra and knickers set. Then the women disappeared to put on their new lingerie and the camera recorded their responses, and the responses of their husbands, when they emerged in their new undies.

Well … we think that’s a bit extreme, personally. A wedding dress is not just about intimacy - it’s a garment worn on a public occasion, it’s a record of a very special day and, for many women, it’s an heirloom that they set aside in the hope that a daughter or granddaughter might one day want to wear it, or at least, adapt it for their own special day.

Goose feathers to lingerie

La Perla’s evolution from mid-range underwear to haute couture continues. Their latest show in Paris included a goose-feather bra and sleeveless hoodie - and the bra alone retails at just over £1,500!

To be fair, each single feather is hand-coloured and hand sewn into place on a brassiere that is constructed to the buyer’s exact measurements. The work is done at La Perla’s Bologna factory by trained seamstresses who specialise in lingerie construction. Oh, and if you want to hoodie too, that’s a further £8,000 thank you very much!

So we decided we’d combine this week’s top lingerie stories with a suggestion of our own. If the life has gone out of your relationship, there’s no need to cut up your wedding dress. If you fancy some feathers in your lingerie drawer, there’s no need to fork out £1,500. Let www.lingerie.co.uk bring these two concerns together in the BijouxIndiscrets sexy set: leather nipple pasties, a pearl waistband, a sensual candle and a feather boa … just the thing to re-ignite your bedroom life, and at a considerably cheaper price! And we aim to send out your order the following day, no hanging around for seamstresses to hand sew each feather …