Lingerie exhibitions, myths and colours of the year

In Shelburne County, Nova Scotia lingerie and other underwear will be taking centre stage at a local exhibition called Underneath It All which will uncover a century of women’s North American underwear from 1860 to 1960. Exhibition curator Allison Burnett is seeking vintage undies for loan or donation that would fill out the collection.

The museum wants bustles, corsets, brassieres, girdles, camisoles, chemises and slips - which sounds exactly like our own wish-list! The deadline for contacting the museum to make a donation is March 15th.

Mythbuster - wearing a bra to bed can help keep breasts perky

Dr Seth Rankin is debunking the claim that keeping your brassiere on when you sleep will stop them sagging, even though it’s claimed that Marilyn Monroe wore one every night and both Mariella Frostrup and Halle Berry swear by it. Actually, we’re puzzled … because didn't Marilyn once famously claim that the only thing she wore in bed was ‘Chanel No 5’?

Anyway Dr Rankin claims that sleeping in a bra will do little to prevent our breasts sagging because when we lie down gravity pushes breast tissue back towards our chests, not down towards our toes. As bras are designed to support the breast from below, it’s pointless once we’re lying down because the breasts will already have moved back towards the chest area. He goes on to say that bra wearing at night might restrict the lymph glands that help to flush toxins from the breasts.

So what’s the alternative? We’d recommend the Seduce Charmeuse babydoll set with adjustable straps which is comfortable in bed and won’t do any of that lymph gland restriction that sounds just horrible.

Colour of the year and whether it’s fit for underwear

One of the best ideas we were given as a New Year’s Resolution was to use the ‘colour of the year’ announcements that several companies make every year to update our wardrobes. So we took a look and we’ve decided we’ve got a hit, and a miss.

Let’s start with the miss: Greenery - lovely shade, great for walls, but really not a great underwear colour. We think it would work for certain redheads and it probably looks great against ebony skin, but for most of us this shade would be tough to pull off.

So what’s the hit? Denim Drift, which Dulux says ‘is a perfect fit to reflect the times we live in, that real desire for simplicity’ and we agree - it’s a gorgeous shade which works for all skin-tones but will be particularly gorgeous for warm honey shades which can often seem washed out by more pastel underwear shades. And it’s easy to get some Denim Drift into your underwear drawer - a great place to start is the Reve Andalou bra slip which has a flattering shape and a semi-sheer effect which is subtle and charming.