Lingerie hijacks, hi-jinks and hello boys!

It’s what we British call the ‘silly season’ for news media and to our quiet delight the political world has been a little shaken up. No not Theresa May becoming PM (although we’d love to know what’s in her underwear drawer), nor the Labour party leadership contest. It’s actually Toby Perkins, a Labour MP who had his twitter profile hacked.

For a brief and delightful period, his usually bearded face was superseded by the curvy ‘Anna Nelson’ who described herself as a ‘sexy model’ and offered to give people following the twitter account a private show. Mr Perkins rapidly regained control of the situation but endured several days of online banter about having looked rather different for a while. One tongue-in-cheek tweeter commented that something had changed about Mr Perkins and suggested perhaps he’d shaved his beard. As our photo shows, there was a bit more of a change than that!

By the way, we note that Anna chose a classic pose for her photo. Kneeling up on a sofa or chair and facing away from the camera delivers a very flattering pic, so she clearly knows her business!

Loving Mr Perkins/Anna Nelson’s stunning bra set? Try the Gracya Lucy set in brilliant white to unleash your inner ‘sexy model’ … or perhaps your inner bearded Labour MP?

‘Men’s Fitness’ on women’s lingerie

The men’s magazine has been asking its experts to help a chap who wants to buy his girlfriend some sexy underwear … comments included the suggestion that the couple go shopping together (always a good idea in our view) and that the girlfriend might think her partner doesn’t like the look of her body and is trying to get her to hide it! None of the commentators suggested what we see as the obvious solution - improving his own underwear standards so she can find out why sexy lingerie is worth investing in!

And women on men’s lingerie

Which leads us to Menagerie - a new underwear line that is making ‘Victor’s Secret’ underwear for guys. Excuse us while we yawn … we’ve been selling large numbers of lovely lingerie items for him for a lot longer than Menagerie has been around!

Top sellers in male underwear include Caraca by Sensualle - a incredibly comfortable backless mens brief (or so we’re told) with an utterly storable fake fur front panel that has stretch sides for a snug and sexy fit. And if that’s a bit too hot for summer, we’re also sending out quite a few of the ‘Robin’ version in ‘real men wear pink’ summer shades and with a jewelled back that makes this a decadent addition to your man’s wardrobe.

Does lingerie increase confidence? Should women wearing mastectomy bras pay tax? What shape should lingerie models be? We answer the burning questions in underwear!

Does lingerie increase confidence?

In short - yes! With a bit more detail, we’d accept that an anecdotal study containing just two people is by no means conclusive, but it’s definitely interesting. HuffPost sent two of its staffers off to try the effects of expensive underwear on their psyches and the results were what we could have predicted. Yes, lovely underwear costs a little more and yes, it makes us feel wonderful. What we wouldn’t necessarily have recognised though, is that both the women who took part in the experiment had quite fixed ideas on what they would wear and what would work for them - and those ideas were completely overturned by trying something new!

The effect of lingerie as a life-changing experience is often underrated - we know, because of the letters and emails we receive - that women find their esteem enhanced, their body confidence increased and their zest for living magnified when they invest in something that is for them, chosen by them, and ultimately - their own personal statement about who they are and who they wish to become.

Should women wearing mastectomy bras pay tax?

In short - no! A recently ruling by the Supreme Court has granted women wearing mastectomy bras the right to buy without paying European customs duty. The case was brought by a specialist bra company which said that its mastectomy bras, specifically created to help women who've had surgery to their breasts, are not normal lingerie and therefore should be exempt from tax. They lost in the Court of Appeal but won this week in the Supreme Court. The argument - that the bra which is despited to offer prosthetic breast support, should function as an artificial body part, not as lingerie. Five Supreme Court judges agreed … a victory for women!

What shape should lingerie models be?

BusinessInsider Australia comments on how Victoria’s Secret is ignoring the growing trend to offer a diverse range of body types, shapes and sizes in lingerie adverts. There is no doubt that VS models are all of a certain type, and it’s not the type that is widely represented in the real world. For example, the average height of a VS angel is 5’ 10”. The average height of British women is 5’ 4”. That six inch difference is massive, because to reach a VS angel height, you need to have a very specific body type - ectomorph, which around on 5% of the female population naturally falls into. So, is it okay to advertise underwear with bodies that 95% of women will never obtain?

We think the question is wrongly phrased - it doesn’t really matter how anybody advertises anything as long as the people seeing those adverts know how realistic (or otherwise) the models are. And we hope the age of women feeling pressured to conform to a certain body type is over. Here’s our evidence, Serena Williams, definitely not an ectomorph, posted a selfie in a white bra and it went viral … women, and men, are capable of recognising that Serena no more represents the average women than a Victoria’s Secret lingerie model does, but that doesn’t stop anybody appreciating both body types for their inherent beauty and charm. Loving Serena’s bra? Us too - why not try the Roza Carmen bra from our online lingerie store - it’s perfect for selfies and self-confidence!