The 2015 Oxford Conference of Corsetry fell a scant five weeks before my wedding date. Flying in the face of good sense, I attended anyway. I had other reasons to be in England, and one of them was the undeniable pleasure of spending an extra day with my corsetmaking colleagues, taking pictures in the Sparklewren showroom. Sparklewren, Karolina Laskowska, Vanyanís, Emiah Couture, Holly Rafaela, and Pop Antique (that would be […]
After decades of ignorance, ambivalence, and outright hostility on the topic of nude underwear for darker skintones, the lingerie industry has recently undergone a complete (and completely unexpected) upheaval. Suddenly, brands that have never considered producing for or marketing to women of color are reconsidering their strategy and questioning conventional (read: conservative) knowledge. What’s at stake? The possibility of being ignored by a rapidly growing — and increasingly vocal — […]
Angela Friedman has such a delightful talent for creating lingerie that evokes a sense of nostalgia. Drawing its inspiration from the jazz era lingerie silhouettes of the 1920s and 30s, her newest collection, Autumn in New York, has all of dreamy moodiness of the 1934 jazz standard of the same name. Sleek silks and sweeping sheers are equally at home lounging to Billie Holliday records as they are making dramatic […]
Please note some photos may be NSFW. Sometimes it’s hard to get excited about lingerie when you can’t see yourself wearing it. The industry’s standards of beauty and femininity remain rigidly unrealistic, and many women (myself included) feel left out. As with most innovation in the industry, it is the independent brands that are affecting change. March & August, a handmade Canadian brand, have spent the last year demonstrating a […]
This blog post contains images which are NSFW. There is a saying in the fashion industry that everything old is new again, and this is perhaps no more true than in the world of lingerie. The basic silhouette of the bra and panty has remained unchanged for decades, and a global, interconnected intimate apparel industry (run by only a handful of major companies) means less variation in both style […]
