Someone told me the other day, that the market can seem so redundant; same old, same old.  It’s not easy buying for margin and profit. You have to focus on inventory that sells quickly and often.  In the USA, in particular, that often means basics, no nonsense, practical merchandise that speaks to a broad customer base.  How, then, to balance the reality of the bottom line with the beauty of exquisitely designed lingerie?  In this business, it is a tight rope act.  And, it requires an education in beauty, quality and garment construction.

A few years ago, making my rounds of the Curve show in NYC and also Paris, I happened upon a German label that caught my eye simply because of its visual allure. It was technically detailed and so different than the rest of what I was analyzing.  What made it interesting was that Birgit Rieker-Jongen, the managing director, clearly understood the essence of lingerie, having grown up in her family’s corsetry manufacturing business, Escora.   When she launched the Coco Cavaliѐre  brand in 2010, her eye for gorgeous underpinnings right on the pulse of intimate trends proved uncanny.  This is not a collection for the faint at heart, it is a treasure chest of fine jewels and a design trove worthy of reviewing as you might a gallery of fine art.  It is important to give visionary product a platform because creativity deserves full disclosure and we deserve the pleasure of creative surprise.

“Creativity Is A Continual Surprise” ~ Ray Bradbury

December Rose

What is December’s rose?
She survives to the last minute
Succumbing only to the first snow
I know those winter blossoms
Dark as the early night
Might be a promise; Just a bud
Basking in the fading autumn light
Still she endures
Only one single rose
And when I cut her loose
And introduce her to the bedroom fare
Warm and moist
She blossoms there.

There is something magical about a delicate flower surviving winter’s first frost.  So when I saw the Rose Noir style from P.J. Luxe, I remembered this verse that I wrote some  years ago when in my rose garden, I noticed a single bud ripe in the dying December light. Part of P.J. Salvage’s forage into the luxury sleepwear market, this design takes their signature pajama business to a whole new level of modern living .  Very contemporary in its use of digital printing techniques in fashion right color combinations, the P.J. Luxe collection continues the lifestyle journey that is the signature of this brand. Accessible comfort  has blossomed into sophisticated comfort at great value. Embracing the ever growing need for loungewear that just feels right, it is a cozy soft PJ available in sizes S-XL. Constructed in a luscious modal fabric, one might believe they are lying in a bed of roses.

“God Gave Us Memory So That We Might Have Roses In December”
~ James M. Barrie

When my girls were very young, I took them to see The Nutcracker Suite at Lincoln Center.  We sat way up high, which for ballet, has its advantages.  You can see the entire scope of the stage and all the visual variety offered by this timeless production.  What’s more, the dancers float below you, commanding the imagination even as the story itself unfolds in a dreamy fantasy.  When we left the theater, I let them each choose one souvenir from the gift shop.  The only thing they wanted was a worn out signed pair of toe shoes worn by a member of the troupe.  They told me that memorabilia (no they did not use these words)  of the dancer’s hard work would remind them that true beauty does not come without focus and practice.  I was very pleased at their insight, so I bought them.

Passing by the Stamford  theater yesterday, the marquee announced a local production of The Nutcracker Suite and for some reason, I thought about that magical day so many years ago and the exquisite Gold Hawk lingerie I had an opportunity to see awhile ago.  Like the intricately woven tale of a child’s dream, Gold Hawk is the 10 year old  vision of founder Michele Dahan. A multifaceted fashion company with many components, lingerie is just the first layer.  But it is the; exquisite workmanship of gorgeous lace applique silks mixed with everyday style that initiates the brand story. Intricate attention to detail, sensual draping of beautiful fabrics and a flair for the dramatic  transform these intimates into another level of reality. Maybe we can’t all grow up to be the sugar plum fairy, but we can still feel the power of the dream. That’s what elegant lingerie is really all about.

“I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind.”  Emily Bronte

When my 31 year old daughter was a teenager, she sneaked down to the East Village with her best friend to get a tattoo inscribed on her back.  I, born of the age when body ink was an indulgence of the not so nice girls, remained cool, but was admittedly a bit taken aback. It was not until my young design team did a shirt pull-up in my office to reveal all their backs adorned with intricate motifs that I acquiesced to the trend.  But it was several years later when my very conservative sister decided on her 6oth birthday to have an intricate garden inked across her back and shoulders that I realized that body art was here to stay.  Like any creative statement that is well executed, tatoos can be a beautiful commitment to the wearer’s own unique fashion style

Every Lou Paris product recalls for me individual body art statements. They are beautiful design expressions rendered with an eye for edgy acceptance.  The Parisienne collection, shown here, is engineered with transparent cutout embroidery on voile and could easily be a garden painted in the flesh.  Available in 32-38, B-F cups this full cup bra with matching boy short it gives the impression of midnight ink penned around a woman’s curves.  This brand, whose narrative is anchored in the love affair of founders Lucienne and André who met on the Orient Express, is a metaphor for bold defiance and provocative style.  Defying convention so many years ago, they founded Lou as an artistic lingerie tale worthy of a company whose French roots have now blossomed worldwide. Sexy, sultry, slightly salacious, but definitely intimate exploration, you might want to add Lou to your underwear gallery.

 “Good Girls Go To Heaven and Bad Girls Go Everywhere”
~ Helen Gurley Brown

I know I have been on Robe Triage for the past week.  I already mentioned that this is a key holiday gift item, part of my mythology and hard to ignore by a veteran comfort monger, which I am, to a fault.  I have more hang around the house clothes than regular wardrobe pieces and so foraging through the markets for items of great repose, seems a likely pastime for me, particularly when cold weather hibernation sets in.  Today’s pick of the pack is Laurence Tavernier’s fringed blanket poncho which is their number one best-selling item. This one-size wool cashmere cover-up is available in 4 lengths and 12 colors year round.  It’s one of those special items, worthy of the investment because it will be worn constantly, both inside and out. (And also, she’s worth it!)

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“Too Much Of A Good Thing Can Be Wonderful”
~ Mae West

November: a month of Thanksgiving and a reminder to be grateful for our loved ones and all the bounty that surrounds us all. Sometimes we are so used to the most obvious comforts that we forget what life would be like without them. . . Today, in her Intimate Pleasures column, Margaret expounds on the meaning of Gratitude.  READ MORE

Personally, I am very grateful that this year has been better than last, that I have been given the gift of a beautiful grandchild and that he has proven to be a true treasure at the end of a dark tunnel.

I want to thank all my readers and all of my partners who have made Lingerie Briefs so successful.  It is true, what one really believes in and really works for will happen.

This afternoon, while standing on the sidewalk, which was already plush with decorating regalia: white bark, holly berry twigs, wreaths and pine cones, I watched a long haul truck unloading Christmas Trees in the parking lot of our local Fairway.  Shivering in my fleece jacket, I could not help daydreaming about the stark beauty of the desert landscape and how a week ago, I was basking in the southern Baha climate of 80° days and 60° nights. Between the flurry of the holiday action in front of me and the pipedream of the easy going desert lifestyle I just left, I was reminded of Bedhead’s Santa Fe cotton flannel bathrobe.   It’s probably the old robe warrior in me, but how perfect this style would be for the mild Cabo winter and how appropriate it could be for a woman with a certain casual mindset.  Soft, easygoing luxury, it is exquisitely sewn in the USA and available in sizes S-XL.  Created in one of Bedhead’s exclusive prints, it is artfully rendered in colors worthy of a southwestern sun.  This design makes a definitive statement.   When a woman puts on a robe, it should be a clear expression of who she is.  This is the best gift of all.

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“The Excellence Of A Gift Lies In Its Appropriateness Rather Than Its Value”  ~ Charles Dudley Warner

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