Winter doesn't seem to want to go away. So here I am, in the first few days of spring, staring at leftover snow outside my window, and thinking of velvet lingerie.
One of the things that's been most important to me in the last nearly-10 years of lingerie blogging is that indie designers have a direct conduit to me to share their latest collections.
I know a lot of people filter their emails through agents or assistants or what have you and I know there are lots of good reasons for doing so. But I want to be able to see a new collection and communicate with a new designer without having an added layer or filter between us.
The Lingerie Addict has never been a "pay to play" blog (that is, a website where all the content is sponsored). That's intentional. If the goal of The Lingerie Addict is to help connect people with the lingerie of their dreams and make the world of lingerie a more open and accessible place...how can we do that if our content is limited only to those companies with the largest advertising budgets?
All that's to say today's lingerie of the week happened because an indie brand, Ulalume Lingerie, sent an email asking me to look at their new collection. When I did, I promptly fell in love with this vintage-inspired velvet loungesuit.
Some of you may remember the article we wrote about Pre-Code Cinema Lingerie and I feel this loungesuit has that same vibe. So much modern-day lingerie is based on the idea of sheerness or shaping or being skintight. The idea is to be as light, thin, invisible, and unnoticeable as possible.
But a loungesuit made from a vast expanse of dusty rose crushed velvet with generously draped sleeves? Well there's no hiding that away, is there? No tucking it underneath leggings or wearing it subtly under a sundress.
If you look at historical fashion, there's a direct connection between the amount of fabric used and the wealth of the wearer. Because cloth was so expensive, having the money to afford a floor-length tunic or a wide-panniered skirt was a sign of a fabulous wealth.
In some ways, that relationship between fabric and luxury still exists today. There's something so opulent, so extravagant, about draping yourself from head-to-toe in velvet. I'm enamored, and I'm so happy this designer got in touch to share their line.
Ulalume Lingerie is made to order, and the Colette Loungesuit retails for $196. Both custom sizing and design changes are available if you contact the designer directly.
What do you think of this loungesuit? Are you as smitten as I am? And since velvet was a big trend last winter, did you pick up any velvet pieces?