POOR Miss Lucarelli. Our sixth-grade English teacher became the inadvertent object of our mirth the day we caught her tugging at a corset strap that had strayed from the sleeve of her shirt. More shaming than dandruff, that risqué glimpse of underwear made us giggle till we hurt. Today it would scarcely rate a glance, that sort of exposure having lost its taint back in the day when Madonna was a girl. In fact, if Miss Lucarelli deliberately wore her corset outside her shirt, it would establish her as a paragon of hip, a role model for the throngs of women who buy lingerie for shaping and comfort and, increasingly, for show.
Lingerie items have become “display pieces,” said Stephanie Solomon, the fashion director of Bloomingdale’s. Corsets, slips, panties and camisoles are as extravagant in their design, and as coveted, as Louboutin platforms or a YSL tote.
Lingerie’s cachet as a sexy, emphatically visible component of a woman’s outfit has contributed to rising sales. According to NPD Group, the market research firm, sales of bras, panties, slips, corsets and even old-school relics like garter belts, climbed to $10.6 billion for the 12-month period ending in July, a 10 percent jump over the previous 12 months. Clearly, the category known quaintly as intimate apparel has climbed to the top of women’s shopping lists.
Here is what Excite.co.uk painstakingly uncovered...all in the name of market research of course...that Ann Summers, despite being a little "high street" has a great collection and Agent Provocateur also comes up trumps. The celeb's first stop whenever they want to be spotted shopping, Coco de Mer, also deserves a quick mention for it's "horse tail belt". Quite.
"Excuse me while I answer my panties.”
You may hear this in the future, and now you’ll know why. Call Me Panty is obviously targeting the geek who likes to wear women’s clothes (male or female geek.) The panties ship in a heart shaped box and have a fake cellphone.
Real men will take out that fake phone and put in the latest Hello Kitty or diamond encrusted phone. Recording a sexy message with video would definitely help the coolness factor.
Women may want to set their phone to vibrate when their man calls.
