Nightwear has not been a strong area for many lingerie shops during the recession with swimwear and lingerie doing a lot better. Christmas has always been a strong time for nightwear sales with it making the ideal gift, particularly for men buying presents for their partners. However during the rest of the year sales have been on the whole poor. So what is doing well and what should you look out for. Of course good value for money has to be top of the list, with simple co-ordinated sets available from Caprice, Lepel and Pour Moi. Cami tops and shorts are a definite favourite over the warmer months with matching long bottoms available for those cooler months. Baby dolls are still very strong and are surprisingly more something women buy for themselves, rather than a gift from a partner. With nighties, the chemise or short nightdress is definitely a favourite.
Some manufacturers have gone for co-ordinated ranges with matching lingerie, although in reality most people will either go for the lingerie or the nightwear and not feel the need for a matching bra and nightdress. Material wise, cotton is still king with modal cotton a firm favourite for those cooler months. The perfect compromise when looking at value for money is loungewear ideal for lazing around the house, yet at the same time great for under the duvet.
I was talking to one the reps yesterday whilst buying some of our new ranges for Spring Summer 2010 with two of the ranges being bright summery prints. Being one of the old school, having been in the industry since the early 1960's he was talking about the revolution when Berlei introduced a corselette that wasn't white, black or pink, but the revolutionary colour of navy blue, the first fashion colour he could recall. Berlei hired a bus and drove a bus full of models wearing the new designs and colours into central London to launch the range.
Now I know that corselettes are not commonly worn in todays day and age, although retro is certainly making a come back with lines such as Kiss Me Deadly and the interest in burlesque. Yet the legacy of the blue corselette is certainly with us with the plain white, nude and black lingerie supplemented with a fantastic range of colours materials and styles. Lingerie has become firmly established as a fashion item, both in its own right but also as an integral part of an outfit. A strap on show, a peek of bra, sheer blouses with the bra fully on show, corsets etc. Lingerie is made to be seen and not just in the bedroom.
Buying lingerie for the lady in your life, what do you look for and how do you get it right? So many men struggle to choose the right thing with their partners paying a visit to the lingerie shop a week later to exchange it for something they really like. So how do you go about it, the easy way is to go with them, credit card in hand and let them pick themselves. Being a bit more creative, visit the lingerie shop beforehand and pick out a number of sets that you like, that you think she will like to, then take her along and let her try the collection on and take her pick. Buying as a surpise then do your homework first, you'll be surprised at how many men go to buy lingerie and when asked come out with the old cliche "she's about that big" showing two hands. Take a peek at her underwear drawer and check her bra size and what size bottoms she wears. Take a bit of notice of what she wears, you know! Does she wear a thong or briefs or does she prefer boyshorts. With bras does she like a bra that plunges? Is it wired? Is it padded? What colours does she like and would she wear?
Think about are you buying the lingerie for her, expecting her to wear it on a regular basis or are you buying it because you lke it and it might not be on that long. The two are very often not the same, so you need to think about the occasion you are buying for, a spicy little number for the bedroom, might not be the ideal Christmas present, as she will think you,ve bought yourself a present, whereas the sophisticated, yet sexy set, might well be. If you are unsure, steer clear of bras as getting the right size can be a nightmare (the reason, good lingerie shops offer a proper fitting service) and perhaps look at nightwear. Above all armed with your homework, don't be afraid to ask the advice of the staff in the shop.
I blogged last week about our intended visit to Harrogate for the Lingerie Show to buy for Spring Summer 2010. My first stop was the Curvy Kate stand as I had been really impressed with samples I'd had from them and felt that this was the label that would really give Just Bras that something extra. I'd made an appointment before the show, to guarantee a slot and was a little dissapointed when on arriving at their stand, there was no one there to see us. After a ten minute wait the sales rep arrived with a model, modelling one of the sets from the Curvy Kate Showgirl range, both a little out of breath, they apologised and explained that the model had been parading the streets of Harrogate in her underwear for the press. Well the proof of the pudding is in the eating and on browsing the latest online news for the lingerie world I came upon the picture and article below : http://www.thepress.co.uk/news/4551012.Harrogate_Lingerie_and_Swimwear_exhibition/
To cut a long story short, Curvy Kate will be in Just Bras for Autumn Winter 2009 and Spring Summer 2010 and the model in question is the model nearest the camera.
MODELS brought traffic to a standstill in Harrogate – dressed in skimpy underwear. The girls stepped out into the street after modelling at the Harrogate Lingerie and Swimwear exhibition.
Josephine Anderson, 24, Laura Butler, 23 and Nicole Fletcher, 25, were the centre of attention as they paraded around in their lingerie, with shopper Brian Connelly, one of those who couldn’t believe his eyes when the trio sat next to him.
He said: “I was in total disbelief – it must just be my lucky day, I guess.
“You don’t expect to get three gorgeous girls like that to come and sit next to you while you’re sitting around.
“It certainly livened up waiting for the bus to come, that’s for sure.”
The plain white bra is still the mainstay of the lingerie business or is it? Can a lingerie shop stock a white bra and have something to offer everyone, sadly the answer is no. 'Everyday bras' to one person is something completely different to the next. When you walk into a lingerie shop and ask for an everyday bra, what exactly are you looking for? A T-Shirt bra lightly padded with no seams that won't show through clothing, an underwired balconnet bra, a plunge bra, a full cup bra, a non-wire softcup bra, a cotton bra, an embroidered bra, a lace bra, a pretty white bra, a plain white bra, ouch - I'm out of breath now. So when you walk into a lingerie shop and ask for an eveyday white bra what do you really want. Three T Shirt Bras for £25, black white and nude, a Panache Tango II (our best seller), Ballet Rose Underwired Bra, Triumph Amourette, Lepel Fiore, Royce softcup bra, Triumph Doreen, Vanity Fair Side Shaping Bra, Panache Tango Plunge Bra, Ballet Cotton Moulded Bra, Freya Rio, Fantasie Belle. The list could go on and on, all bras stocked at Just Bras Lingerie Outlet and all everyday bras. Other shops will have other options, so when you say I want an everyday bra, have a think, what do I really want?
