Posts from August, 2012

How Victoria’s Secret Helps the Lingerie Industry

Doutzen Kroes for Victoria’s Secret

Victoria’s Secret gets a lot of flak within the lingerie industry. “Icky Vicky” is one of their most common nicknames, and I don’t know a single lingerie blogger who’s given one of their bras a positive review. Their sizing chart makes no sense, and even though I wear a size they carry (a C cup), I don’t shop there anymore because the bras just don’t fit. Add in their problematic marketing, child labor issues and, most recently, the hosiery knockoff scandal, and well…let’s just say the VS PR team really earns their paycheck.

But that’s not what today’s article is about. For all of Victoria’s Secret’s problems, I think they fill a vital role within the lingerie industry and also within the lives of individual women.

I don’t know how it is in other countries, but in the U.S., Victoria’s Secret is the lingerie store. And they are most women’s first exposure to pretty, lacy, and (dare I say it?) sexy lingerie. Most department stores (think Macy’s and J.C. Penney’s) sell really boring underwear. Everything’s white, beige, or black. The only nylons are control top pantyhose. And every store carries the same 10 brands (which, coincidentally, are all owned by the same company…but more on that later). I remember being an early 20-something with a budding interest in pretty lingerie (this is pre-Gap Body, pre-Aerie, and pre-Lingerie Addict), and feeling like my choices were extremely limited. Except when I walked into a Victoria’s Secret.

With over 1,000 stores in the U.S., Victoria’s Secret is everywhere. Every mall, shopping center, or downtown district has a VS. I grew up in a city with no lingerie boutiques (which is true for many women in America) and Victoria’s Secret was the only place to pick up anything remotely exciting. Not only did they have a larger lingerie selection than the department stores, the staff was consistently friendly, and, best of all, the prices were within even a student’s budget.

Now I’m not waxing poetic about VS. They’re not one of my top 5 places for lingerie shopping. But when you’re brand new to the intimates and don’t know where else to go or even how to even start, Victoria’s Secret can be a gateway to the world of lingerie.

To illustrate, when I was in college, lingerie boutiques felt very inaccessible to me. I didn’t know a good bra from a bad bra. I didn’t know why Bra X cost more than Bra Y. And I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on any of my clothes, including my underwear. Add in how the lingerie boutique experience can be a little uneven (especially, I think, if the sales staff has already decided you’re not a customer), and well, lingerie shopping can be extremely intimidating…especially for a newbie.

But when I shopped at VS, I felt like it was okay for me to “just look around,” and also felt like it was okay for me to explore all this new stuff I was interested in. I experimented with garter belts and thigh highs and cheeky panties and bustiers and bright colors and sheer lace and so much other stuff I couldn’t find elsewhere. Victoria’s Secret was literally my entry point to lingerie. I picked up my first “sexy” lingerie set from them. I bought many of my first bras from them (and looking back, was introduced to some of my favorite styles this way). I bought a ton of cute panties from them. And before I knew anything about Kiss Me Deadly or Huit or Wacoal or Hopeless or any other of the brands I know and love now, I had a place to buy lingerie that made me feel pretty.

Victoria’s Secret gets a lot of hate for their sizing practices, their over-emphasis on sexy, and the quality of their products (and rightly so), but I think they have another purpose in the industry at large, and that’s introducing women to lingerie. Victoria’s Secret helps make lingerie seem normal.

For me, Victoria’s Secret was the first hint that there could be something better out there for me to wear beneath my clothes. And honestly, I’m not sure I’d have even started a lingerie blog without a VS nearby to keep my interest going during those early days.

So what do you think, dear readers? Is Victoria’s Secret all bad or do they actually help the industry? I’d love to get your thoughts in the comments.

Treacle

Treacle

Lingerie Blogger. Sugar Junkie. Sci-Fi Geek.

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Lingerie of the Week: Evollove ‘Bird Song’ Balconette Bra & Brazilian Brief

The reasoning behind why I chose this sky blue, bird print bra & panty set for this week’s Lingerie of the Week is simple…it made me smile.

I adore everything about this set, from the lovely, whimsical print to the sheer lace accents. The only thing I don’t like? The size range. This bra is only available in D-G cups. But if this is in your size, I recommend picking it up now; I have a feeling it won’t be around long.

$102 for both the bra and panty, available at Journelle.

Treacle

Treacle

Lingerie Blogger. Sugar Junkie. Sci-Fi Geek.

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Real Talk and a Rant

(cross-posted from The Lingerie Addict Tumblr and Facebook)

There are people who think I should only post photos of small-busted women. There are people who think I should only post photos of full-busted women. There are people who think I should only post photos of women with tattoos or plus sized women or older women or women who aren’t photoshopped, and so forth and so on.

I don’t know what’s been going on lately, but I’ve been getting a ton of angry messages from people who think I have some kind of personal grudge against them because my blog isn’t just about the women they think should be represented all time (usually couched in language similar to “women who look like me” – whatever that happens to be).

First of all, as a muscular, scarred-up, size 10, afro’d, black woman who never sees anyone that looks like her in any mainstream media anywhere (unless it’s a photo of myself that I posted myself), I understand that kind of frustration. Truly. Underrepresentation is unfair.

But before you send me an angry message complaining that I never post about anything for full busted women or I never post about anything for plus size women or I never post about for small busted women, please take a few minutes to search the platform you’re on. Because while I fully acknowledge that making TLA’s blog and social media more diverse is an on-going project (and one I am fully committed to), there is a huge difference between me *never* posting a certain a thing and me just not posting it on the day you happened to stop by.

In other words, everything I post is not going to be 100% relevant to you all of the time. That’s an unreasonable expectation.

I am not a body size blogger. Full busts, small busts, petite sizes, plus sizes…none of those are the sum total of what TLA is about. I’m a lingerie blogger. And that means I post photos of the lingerie that inspires me, which just so happens to include a LOT of different things at a lot of different sizes. Some of it might work for you. Some of it might not. And that’s okay. Because there is somebody out there it applies to.

And now you know. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

Treacle

Treacle

Lingerie Blogger. Sugar Junkie. Sci-Fi Geek.

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The 7 New Rules of Lingerie

Maja Ogonowska

Awhile back, I did a post on the 7 Deadly Lingerie Sins. It’s become one of the most popular articles we’ve published to date (people really love sin, apparently), but I think it’s time for a bit of an update, and a new, 2012 spin.

Since I’m always around lingerie in some capacity, I hear a ton of lingerie rules everyday. And most of them, while well-intentioned, are pretty generic. You know what I mean: get a bra fitting, don’t wear the same bra more than one day in a row, have at least one bra that matches your skin tone, and so forth and so on.

It’s important stuff – there are lingerie newbies being born every single day – but it can also be a little repetitive…especially if you’ve been interested in lingerie for awhile and are already familiar with the basics.

So I felt like it might be nice to have a second set of lingerie rules that supplements the first few we always hear about. And since I love coming up with arbitrary lists of rules (don’t judge; it makes me feel wanted), I’ve put together a few things I think every Lingerie Addict should keep in mind when it comes to intimate apparel.

1) Affordable is subjective. One of the most popular questions I get is “Where can I find an affordable lingerie?” And while I understand what people are trying to ask, it’s not the best way of asking it. “Affordable” is incredibly subjective and what’s a good price to me could very well be too high (or too low!) for you. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being on a budget. But if you have a price point in mind, it’s hard for other people to connect you with the right choices when you’re being vague about what you can afford.

(On a related note, no criticizing other people’s budgets. If you don’t spend more than $5 on a pair of tights, good for you. If you refuse to spend less than a $100 on a bra, kudos. I’m glad you have a system that works. But it doesn’t mean everyone else needs to shop the way you do.)

2) Lingerie is not just about sex. I am so tired of constantly being told that lingerie is only for women who are in heterosexual relationships to wear for their men. Don’t get me wrong…it’s great if you’ve found lacey knickers help out with your love life, but lingerie is more than just a bedroom accessory. And if your significant other isn’t into lingerie, that’s okay. Wear it for you. So many people think lingerie is only bras and garter belts, but it also includes robes and chemises and slips and loungewear and so much more. The whole point of lingerie is to make you feel good. The layer closest to your skin should help you feel comfortable and confident and amazing and awesome all day long. And if that’s not what’s happening, that’s a problem. Let’s start moving the conversation beyond the sexy sexy, and to how our intimates make us feel.

3) Be willing to look around before insisting no one makes anything in your size. At least once per day, I get an email or a Tumblr message from someone who tells me that no makes pretty bras above a D cup or below an A cup. Ladies, that is simply not true. Now, you may not be able to find those bras (they’re called “extended sizing”) in your local shopping mall, but they are out there, and part of being a proactive consumer is looking around before giving up. There have never (and I mean NEVER) been more lingerie options available for women at either size of the size spectrum than right now. Whether you’re a 28AA, a 42N, or a 50DD, I know for a fact that there is at least one brand out there is making pretty bras in your size. You just have to look.

4) But avoid looking for unicorns. While being a proactive consumer is good, having unreasonable expectations is not. There is no 100% silk, handmade, quarter cup bra in a F cup that retails for less than $25. Unless it’s being made in a sweatshop. And those are not okay. Shopping for lingerie is already hard enough; don’t make it any more difficult than it has to be by setting yourself up for failure at the start. Having a sense of what’s out there is part of being an informed consumer.

5) Everything is not going to fit you perfectly. That’s okay. It’s true for everyone, and it’s not always the fault of the lingerie. If you’re an E cup, a flimsy bralette is going to look different on you than on a B cup. If you have shallow boobs,  you won’t fill out a bullet bra the same way someone with full boobs does. If you have a high waist/hip ratio, every panty brand just won’t work for you. Unless you’re the actual sample model for someone’s company, trial-and-error when it comes to what brands are best for your body should always be expected. And when you do find something that works, buy it…because that brand has already shown you that you’re their target customer.

6) Never feel ashamed of your lingerie choices. If you like really skimpy, tawdry, X-rated lingerie, embrace it. If you only wear the vintage stuff, go for it. If it’s silk 24/7 for you, fine.  And if you prefer plain, organic cotton briefs, that’s great too. What you like is what you like, and that’s okay. And no one else should me making you feel like there’s a problem with your choices. If it’s being made, that means someone’s buying it. And as the saying goes, the world takes all kinds.

7) Be a conscious consumer. There are tons of different ways of being conscious, and I’m not here to say one kind is better than another. We all have limitations on our time, but it’s worth looking at where your undergarments are made, who made them, and what conditions the people who made them work in. I know how overwhelming that kind of research can be, but if it helps, think of the thing that matters most to you (organic or fair trade or locally made, etc. etc.) and start from there. When it comes to making things better within the lingerie industry, consumers have the ultimate power…we just have to exercise it.

As always, I love to hear what you think, so if you’ve got a rule of your own or disagree with what I’ve listed here, let’s talk about it in the comments!

Treacle

Treacle

Lingerie Blogger. Sugar Junkie. Sci-Fi Geek.

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Weekly Lingerie Sales – 8/25/12

Picnic Pinup Shorts and Halter via Chansonette Collection

Meredith

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