Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Whats on in Underwear

Septembers guide to what's on:

Lyon Mode City & Interfiliere 3rd - 5Th September.
lyon mode city

Exhibitions:

Fashionation 10th June - September 18th
Fusing the worlds of contemporary art and fashion, the show features the photography of Terry Richardson abd Philip Lorca diCorcia.
NMPFT, St Prince's Way, Bradford, BD1.
nmpft

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Hidden Secrets

Exhibition - Museum of Costume, near Dumfries
Hidden Secrets runs from 3 September until 31 October

Ladies, ever grumbled about the underwiring in your bra? Scowled because your control pants don't seem to be doing their job properly? Got upset when you realised the luxurious silk and lace camisole you splashed out on will have to be hand-washed?

The world of undergarments is filled with trials and tribulations, not to mention high expectations. When we don't want our assets pushed up and out, we want them flattened out of sight. And did I mention comfort?

Spoiled by Lycra, we 21st-century girls don't expect to have to suffer in the pursuit of physical perfection. But perhaps if we were to step - or rather, be hoisted - into the undergarments of our Victorian forebears, we'd pause before complaining about the state of our undies.

Click here to read more.

Ooh La La Senza! Lingerie chain planning to be more intimate

News - canada.com

Cash-rich La Senza Corp. said yesterday it will open about 15 more stores in Canada and add new intimate products as it builds its international brand name via 249 affiliated stores in 23 countries.

The 14-year-old La Senza, whose motto is: "We ship worldwide," now claims 37 per cent of the domestic market (age 15-29) for lingerie, sleepwear and accessories, against 11 per cent for arch competitor Wal-Mart Canada.

With openings in new "power centres," it will have more than 300 La Senza and Silk & Satin and La Senza Girl units across Canada by yearend and 260 stores operated by licensees in 27 countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

With problems in the U.S. out of the picture, La Senza is focusing solely on growth and market share, Irving Teitelbaum, chairperson, co-founder and CEO, told analysts yesterday.

But he is not yet ready to embrace the income trust model. Though a changeover might raise the share price with a lower tax rate that would be offered and please shareholders, the model does not fit easily with a "dynamic" specialty retailer like La Senza with international operations, he said.

"We've explored converting to an income trust as one of many options for the future," he added, "but we've so much cash we can consider strong organic growth as well as acquisitions - strictly within our sector."

Click here to read more

Elton John to peddle saucy lingerie!

News - Female First, UK

It seems that there is more on flamboyant singer Elton John's list of things he fancies than just music, saucy supermodel lingerie!

And in a bid to promote his close friend, Elle MacPherson's scanty underwear range, he has agreed to appear in a series of racy advertisements, surrounded by a bevy of skimpily dressed voluptuous models.

So enamoured he apparently is with the project, he has even penned a story titled Rocket Girl, which will accompany the ad.

"She's faster than a bolt of lightening, but prefers to do things slowly. Rough with a thug, but beguilingly smooth... "Waitress by day, super heroine by night. Rocket Girl," Femalefirst quotes the story, as saying.

Friday, August 26, 2005

Elle Macpherson - intimate stories advertising campaign

News - The Times, UK

A new style of advertising for Elle Macpherson Intimates. Macpherson had grown bored with seminaked, smouldering pictures of herself. “I’m just tired of seeing tits and arse in an ad that tells you, ‘If you wear this, you can look like this,’” she says. This time around, you can’t even see the model’s face — just the paraphernalia of her life. The viewer is left to work out the rest. It’s a far sexier way of doing things.

For each image in the campaign, Macpherson asked a contributor — Emin, Damien Hirst, Sir Elton John, comedian Sandra Bernhard and Australian songwriter Matt Ford — to write a short story. The collection makes up a special, limited-edition anthology.

Emin’s short story, is typically frank, and that was just what Macpherson wanted. “I admire Tracey’s completely honest perception of things,” she says. “She doesn’t mind putting it out there, and people sometimes find it shocking, but haven’t most of us experienced some of what she’s talking about? And aren’t honesty and rawness so much more alluring than gloss, anyway?”

Buy Elle Macpherson range

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

A sad, sad Christmas with no underwear

News - Ft.com, UK

For Claus Walther Jensen, getting his hands on bras for Christmas is one of the most important aspects of running Change, a Danish lingerie chain.

That is why the director went so far as to borrow a helicopter on Monday morning to secure one of the last European Union import licences for bras.

“We had 45,000 panties in Christmas colours but their 45,000 matching bras were trapped in a warehouse,” said a relieved Mr Walther Jensen after his helicopter dash.

“Other companies are suffering. I’ve got my goods in but I don’t want to win market share this way.”

Click here to read the full article

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Madonna looks at taking legal action against new lingerie range

News - Digital Bulletin, UK

LONDON - Madonna, who is recuperating from a horse riding accident on her birthday last week, is to attempt to stop a new underwear brand that features images of her taken by an American photographer in 1979.

The range is called Madonna Nude 1979, based on the photos taken by Martin Schreiber, when Madonna was attempting to establish her career as a performer, and supported herself with jobs including nude modelling.

The underwear features Madonna's face on T-shirts. The range also features bras and underpants inscribed with her name, the letter 'M', and somewhat puzzlingly the words "just a virgin". The full range can be seen on the website Madonnafashion.com and is to be sold in the UK through Figleaves.com.

Click here to read more

Textile quotas leave stores facing crisis

News - Guardian, UK

British retailers could face a shortage of bras, T-shirts and men's trousers because of restrictions on Chinese textile imports, a trade organisation warned today.
The British Retail Consortium blamed the introduction of a new quota system in June, which followed a surge of Chinese clothes into the EU.

Because of the new arrangements, several of the 2005 quotas are already full, meaning more than £50m of Chinese-made clothing has been blocked from coming into the UK and is being held at ports and airports across Europe, the BRC said.

Click here to read more

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Jen's fury at knicker pervert

News - The Mirror, UK

Jennifer Aniston has hired a gang of heavies to guard her film-set trailer after a pervert broke in and knicked her knickers, then flogged them on eBay.

The sexy star, filming The Break Up in Chicago with heartthrob Vince Vaughn, 35, was furious after finding someone had broken in and made off with her bras and pants.

But the 36-year-old former Friends star was horrified when her frilly smalls appeared on the internet auction site. So now her private quarters are being guarded around-the-clock.

A pal said: "Jen was really freaked out." Well, it was pretty bra-zen behaviour.

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Underwear is everywhere, and it's never been more in style

News - CBS News, US

Briefly Noted: Underwear Trends.

Once, underwear was considered unmentionable. Today, Americans are flaunting it, spending $13 billion every year on intimate apparel.

And there's something for everyone: briefs, boxer briefs, trunks and cycle shorts for men - bikinis, thongs, hipsters and boy shorts for women. And it's not just the style, it's the fabric too - everything from nylon and lycra to pima cotton and microfiber.

Forget the bottom of the hamper. Underwear is top drawer.

Rebecca Apsan is what you would call a connoisseur of lingerie. For 27 years, she's been selling some of the sexiest underwear in her downtown Manhattan boutique, La Petite Coquette.

Aspan says boy shorts are hot right now in women's underwear. "These have taken not the place of thongs but they've been selling very, very well," she says.

Click here to read the article.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Hi-tech pants keep troops cool in the sun

News - The Guardian, UK

There will be no more "going commando", or melting boots for British soldiers sweating under the desert sun, the Ministry of Defence revealed yesterday.
Regiments in Iraq and Afghanistan are being equipped with new kit, including "anti-microbial" underpants designed to prevent, to put it euphemistically, uncomfortable chafing.

The pants were designed - so far only in a unisex version - in Northern Ireland and are manufactured in China, defence officials said yesterday.

"The term 'go commando' will probably now disappear," Colonel Silas Suchanek who led the team responsible for procuring the equipment said, referring to the slang phrase for going without underwear.

Click here to read more..

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Camisoles fit full figures

News - STL Today

It’s probably no surprise that the camisole has made its way out of the underwear drawer and into many women’s closets. But what’s a bit interesting is that this trend has fully saturated the plus-size market.

Refusing to simply hide their curves behind oversized tunics and formless jackets, today’s plus-size woman wants stylish pieces that highlight her assets. And many find the cami, in its many incarnations, to be the piece of power.

Once just a supersexy undergarment, the cami can now be paired with jeans, a skirt, gauchos or a great suit to a make a statement that is both chic and feminine.

Click here to read more

Monday, August 15, 2005

Cure for the syndrome of 'no-butt'

I do not have this problem: "Bubbles is a comfortable and sexy solution to a well-known syndrome familiar to the unshapely woman otherwise known as 'no-butt'. No goofy, uncomfortable, padded underwear here!" says Karen Jones, founder of Sweet and Vicious LLC, which now grants exclusive distributorship to Laura di Laura Campiotti for the Bubbles Butt Boosting Lingerie brand

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Pant dividers

My underwear drawer needs some organisation and I have found on a blog with an image of a drawer with panty dividers* A nice idea although they do not seem to have a great deal of sets in the drawer.

If there was a method for orgasnising at least a hundred sets of lingerie so I don't have to hunt through looking for matching garments each morning then that would make getting dressed each day a little quicker and easier. I shall look and keep you updated on my progress on finding a suitable method to store underwear. If you have any suggestions please email me.

*(If you are in a open plan office make sure the coast is clear before you click to see the panty diverders as there are some risky images on this website)

Female bonding

‘Extraordinary things can happen when women take pictures of other women. The subjects are often freer to act out their erotic fantasies and to reveal their true selves.’
Text taken from Katharine Hibbert’s report in Style magazine, The Sunday Times supplement.

In advertising underwear are the majority of photographs taken by men to appeal to women or is there a change with more women photographing lingerie to charm women to ultimately buy the garment? If there isn’t perhaps a company could try this..

The article highlights images for an up and coming exhibition of Women photographing Women being held at Stephanie Hoppen gallery, London SW3 from September 13 to October 8th.

To visit the Stephanie Hoppen gallery click here

Friday, August 12, 2005

Bleeping bikini busts beach burn-up

News - Fashion Guide

A new bikini that bleeps every 15 minutes to prevent holidaymakers from sleeping in the sun is set for launch in Britain.

New Look, Britain's third-biggest women's clothes retailer, was to launch the "Tan-Timer Bikini" on Brighton beach on the south coast.

Some 59 per cent of Britons admit to nodding off in the sun, so the electronic device, which attaches to the swimsuit, bleeps every quarter of an hour to remind dozy Brits to wake up and seek shade or roll over to toast the other side.

The bikini is to hit stores across the kingdom next week.

Click here to read more

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Saudi Govt Begins Survey of Women's Stores

News - Middle East North Africa Financial Network, Middle East

Three government administrations are coordinating their efforts to begin surveying the job opportunities available for women in women's retail stores. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce would be cooperating to conduct the survey and register all the stores selling women's apparel and determine the fines to be imposed on them if they do not employ Saudi women and the mechanism for enforcing the system.

Saudi women interested in working in these stores will be provided with training before they are to enter this field starting next year. The Ministry of Labor had announced two months ago that shops selling women's items would be restricted to employing Saudi women only as part of its efforts at providing more job opportunities for Saudi women. Stores selling lingerie have a year to begin hiring, training and fully employing Saudi women. These are the stores on streets, in shopping centers and in department stores. The following year, stores selling abayas and women's ready-to-wear clothes are expected to comply with the new system.

Click here to read the article

Charlotte Church too good for Wonderbra!

News - Femalefirst, UK

London: Teenaged singing sensation Charlotte Church has reportedly refused to do a commercial for bras. .

Church turned down the Wonderbra offer, made just days after the teenager was snapped looking sexy in a bikini while on holiday in the Caribbean.

The star’s mother Maria confirmed the brunette beauty won’t be posing for the padded bra firm.

“At her age she doesn’t need a Wonderbra, she has a great figure. I’m sure she was flattered, but it’s just not her thing,” she was quoted by Femalefirst, as saying.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Hurrah for the curvy figure!

I am thrilled to see for autumn/ winter the curvy figure is back in fashion and the corset shall be hailed the hero once again!

New Cams, Web Sites Fuel 'Upskirting' Trend

News - WKMG Local6.com, Yahoo UK

Web sites displaying secretly shot images and video from under women's skirts are apparently helping fuel a trend called "upskirting," according to a Local 6 News report.

Upskirting is usually carried out by men carrying hidden cell phone or mini-cams in bags. They stand close to unknowing women wearing skirts and film their underwear or thighs. Often, the images are then posted on Web sites.

The practice has become so popular that an Internet search for the term "upskirting" revealed more than 1 million Web sites, according to the report.

Very very wrong.

Click here to read the full article

Sara Lee Posts 4Q Loss on Higher Costs

News - WJLA-TV Washington D.C

CHICAGO (AP) - Food and household products maker Sara Lee Corp. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $148 million Thursday that reflected higher commodity costs, weak European sales and charges related to a sweeping reorganization.The company, whose brands include Ball Park franks and Hanes underwear, also announced a $2 billion share repurchase program and plans to reduce at least $1.5 billion in debt over the next two years.

Click here to read the article

Other articles on Sara Lee 4Q
Click here AP via Yahoo! News

Click here CNN Money, USA

Limited sales edge up, but Express weighs

News - Reuters via Yahoo!

Limited Brands on Thursday said sales at stores open for at least a year rose a weaker-than-expected 1 percent in July as weak demand at its Express outlets offset growth at Victoria's Secret lingerie stores.

Click here to read the article

Friday, August 05, 2005

The thong sinks to the bottom

News - Guardian Unlimited, UK

The news, together with helpful photos, was all over the papers this week. It's the start of a "thong goodbye", said the Daily Mirror. "Bottom falls out of the thong market", reported the Sunday Times; without doubt, "thongs ain't what they used to be", according to the Daily Express
The fall in popularity of women's thong-style undergarments - sales are down 17% from 2003 - was not widely lamented. "There is a god, girls," sighed Amber Graafland in the Mirror. "Women are finally turning their backs on the most hideous piece of lingerie since the chastity belt." The fashion for "this ridiculous excuse for a pair of knickers" had first begun in 1930s strip clubs, and then surfaced on Brazilian beaches in the 70s.

"In 1997, however, it won fashion respectability when a Gucci model wore one on the catwalk," said John Elliott and Sarah Keenlyside in the Sunday Times. Since then, "the thong's association with 'tabloid' celebrities has tarnished its image", and it now accounts for only 23% of the women's underwear market, down from a giddy 31% at the end of 2003. They believed this was "part of a move away from overtly sexual clothing".

Click here to read the full article

Monday, August 01, 2005

Putting your underwear on backwards



A man's view on wearing underwear back to front, first done as a mistake later recorded on the blog as a little test. Cute and a little humorous. Click here to read the article

New Dove Ads Bring Inspiration, Ridicule

News - News Yahoo, UK



CHICAGO - Gina Crisanti was taking out the trash at work one day when a stranger approached her with an odd request. It was a talent scout who wanted her to try out for an ad campaign to sell Dove beauty products — wearing nothing but her underwear.

The offer was puzzling to say the least. Crisanti, a 24-year-old cafe worker, has never thought of herself as anywhere near supermodel stature — curvy and closer to 5 feet than six.

But that, it turns out, is the point. Crisanti and five other "real" women — ranging from size 6 to 14 — are the stars of a Dove ad campaign that shows them wearing only bras, panties and big smiles on billboards, bus stops and trains in Chicago, New York, and other big cities.

"It is our belief that beauty comes in different shapes, sizes and ages," said Philippe Harousseau, Dove's marketing director on the "Campaign for Real Beauty." "Our mission is to make more women feel beautiful every day by broadening the definition of beauty."

Click here to read the article

The thong goodbye

News - The Mirror, UK

The thong goodbye and good riddance to this hideous piece of torture says Fashion Editor Amber Graafland. There is a god, girls. The bottom has finally fallen out of the thong market.

Sales have fallen by 17 per cent in a year, showing that women are finally turning their backs on the most hideous piece of lingerie since the chastity belt.

Tarty, unsightly and like straddling a piece of cheese wire, this sadistic piece of underwear has finally been rejected in favour of more comfortable alternatives.

This ridiculous excuse for a pair of knickers should have remained confined to the strip clubs they came from way back in the 1930s.

Click here to read the article

Last year's thong

News - Daily Mail, UK

At the height of their popularity they accounted for a third of the women's underwear market. But thongs ain't what they used to be.

Sales have fallen by 20 per cent in the past year after they increasingly became seen as a symbol of 'chav' culture.

Click here to read the article

Whats on for August

31 July - 2 August Lingerie Americas, Altaman Building & Metropolitan Pavilion, 135 West 18th St New York 001 203 618 009.
Click here

31 July - 2 August Intimate London Body & Beach, Earls Court 2, London 01792 365906
Click here

16 – 17 August Turkish Fashion Fabric Exhibition, Olympia 2, London W14 020 88788985
Click here to read more

18 August Lingerie Boat Trip (Dixie Queen) departure from Tower Pier 7.30pm early stop at St Katherine’s Pier from Tower Hill tube station 01793 720210

21 – 23 August Harrogate Lingerie & Swimwear Exhibition, International Centre, Harrogate 020 79736401
Click here

If you event is not on the list and you would like it included please email us..

No more thongs for German youth

News - Webindia123 - India

The German mail-order giant Neckermann, because of energetic protest from customers and advocacy groups, has stopped selling thongs for young children.

The Frankfurt-based company had offered the thongs for 3- and 4-year-olds in its fall/winter catalogue, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Monday.

The German anti-sexual-abuse society Wildwasser had repeatedly protested the selling of the underwear. Several mothers have also complained with the company, the magazine said.

Such underwear for small children is not only inappropriate, they said, but could draw the attention of a potential pedophile.

A company spokeswoman said Neckerman respects the complaints of its customers and will stop selling the underwear. She strongly dismissed, however, the claim that the thongs would arouse a potential pedophile.