Lingerie and underwear for a special sexy & romantic present |
Watch her eyes light up!
Lingerie has always been one of the sexiest presents you can give to your wife, girlfriend or lover.
For our range of lingerie, we have teamed up with Figleaves
Figleaves
At Figleaves, our philosophy is to provide a simple, one-stop shop for all your lingerie, men's underwear, hosiery, swimwear and activewear needs - whatever your size, sense of style or budget.
We are committed to providing the greatest selection of brands on the net and to making your shopping experience as easy and enjoyable as possible. We combine the benefit of the latest innovations in online shopping with a solid retailing background - our buyers have over 35 years experience with such established high street retailers as Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Allders and TK Maxx.
In the five years we have been selling underwear, we've grown from a staff of 4 to a 150-strong team, with an ever-growing customer base, and this has taken us into the Top 20 of UK Internet retailers.
Click here to visit Figleaves now: FREE delivery over £25 - 90% of orders delivered same day - 95% of products in stock - FREE UK returns!
And to help you choose just the right present for her, Figleaves have produced a very useful 'men's guide to buying lingerie' - with plenty of photographs of women wearing underwear (in case you don't know what they look like). Click here to read the guide.
All the pages on Figleaves can be sorted by price (up or down), so you can easily choose a quite cheap - or very expensive - item.
Click here for women's underwear at Figleaves.
And, don't forget that if you need any help on choosing underwear for your wife, girlfriend .. or any other female friend, just to email us. We're here to help ... and that's the LovefromMe difference!
Elle Macpherson's success with her lingerie range ....
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Elle Macpherson Intimates
Elle Macpherson has done what no other model has done, says Guy Dennis in the Sunday Telegraph:
she has turned herself into a substantial business. "Elle’s a lingerie nut," say her partners at Bendon, the New Zealand underwear maker.
When she tipped her smalls out of a suitcase at their first meeting in 1990, "the guys’ eyes were like saucers".
Since then, sales of the
Elle Macpherson Intimates
range have gone through the roof, rising by 30% in Britain last year;
she now plans to conquer the US and the Middle East.
Much of the success is down to her meticulous attention to design. "She’s extremely disciplined. You don’t look like that unless you are."
(The Week, November 2004)
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Elle Macpherson has done what no other model has done, says Guy Dennis in the Sunday Telegraph:
she has turned herself into a substantial business. "Elle’s a lingerie nut," say her partners at Bendon, the New Zealand underwear maker.
When she tipped her smalls out of a suitcase at their first meeting in 1990, "the guys’ eyes were like saucers".
Since then, sales of the
Elle Macpherson Intimates
range have gone through the roof, rising by 30% in Britain last year;
she now plans to conquer the US and the Middle East.
Much of the success is down to her meticulous attention to design. "She’s extremely disciplined. You don’t look like that unless you are."
(The Week, November 2004)
Bras
Buying underwear for any woman can be a bit of a minefield. Particularly this bra size thing. Now, I've read that nearly 80% of women wear the wrong size bra, but this doesn't mean that you can just guess. Basically, you've got two choices: buy a bra the same size as she normally wears (after surreptitiously examining the label one morning) or, engage her help in the - obviously completely scientific - exercise of measuring her size ("just out of interest"). You could then be the first person ever to buy her the correct size bra!
Click here to read all about measuring her bra size or click here (or on the image below) to read everything you ever wanted to know about bra sizes - yes, you too can become a bra sizing expert.
Once you've sorted out the size, you need to think about the type of bra. There should be no problem if you've read the Figleaves advice and want to just buy a bra you like the look of.
However, if you want to read in detail about all the many types of bra, and become a real expert on the subject, click here for the essential men's guide to buying bras.
And, don't forget that if you need any help on choosing a bra for your wife, girlfriend .. or any other female friend, just to email us. We're here to help ... and that's the LovefromMe difference!
- underwired - bras which, literally, have pieces of curved wire underneath, to support the breasts
- non-underwired - often called 'soft' - bras without underwiring; much more comfortable, but only suitable if she has good-sized, non-droopy boobs
-
padded - bras which contain integral or separate pads; a good choice for the A or B cup woman; the pads can be lightly-padded fabric or can be:
- gel pads - contain silicone gel, which moulds to the breasts; very effective, but provides quite a lot of extra weight to the bra, which can be tiring for everyday wear
- air pads - the best ones can be blown up with a special little pump; a bit uncomfortable when fully-pumped, but produce a dramatic increase in size (LovefromMe's Mary-Clare attests to their effectiveness: "I'm a small A-cup but when I wear air pads, I'm often amazed by chance comments, when I'm out clubbing, like:'nice pair!'")
- push-up - actually 'push together and up', as pioneered by Wonderbra; produce a really good cleavage; if she has small breasts, padding helps the effect considerably
- balconette - sexy, low-cut cups (often called 'demi-cup' or 'half-cup'), which sit underneath her boobs (like a balcony, you see); pushes up, rather than together; OK for small breasts, as long as it is padded, to enhance the effect
- demi-balconette (what??) - like a balconette, in that it pushes up ... but not like a balconette, in that it doesn't have particularly low-cut cups (I know ... blame Figleaves for this strange hybrid style)
- multiway - bras with detachable straps which you can put on as normal shoulder-straps, halter-neck, just a back strap, cross-over straps, etc - according to what the straps on her top or dress are like
- strapless - normally moulded (see below); not actually strapless, in that they have just a back strap, so she can wear them underneath strapless dresses
- stick on - an unusual, new type of strapless bra, comprising a pair of self-adhesive silicone cups (normally padded) with a strap joining them together, which she sticks on to her boobs; virtually invisible under most tops
- smooth - often called 't-shirt bras'; completely smooth cups, with no lace, bows or seams; can be worn under tight-fitting tops, for a sort of 'no bra' effect
- moulded - bras with cups made out of a stiffened fabric; again, useful under tight tops, because you don't see the shape of the bra
- triangular - literally a triangle of fabric (as used in a lot of bikinis); if she's a small cup size, these will make her look flatter than normal; if she's a bit bigger, they'll produce an interesting 'bouncing' effect
- clear straps - clear rubber straps which don't show so much under backless or strapless tops
Knickers and thongs
:
- Briefs - normal, fairly brief knickers; called 'hipsters', if they're very brief.
- Midi briefs & Maxi briefs - 'big knickers' (think Bridget Jones), which often fall into the category of 'control briefs' - ie they flatten her tummy - and are not normally renowned for their sexiness.
- Hi-leg (briefs) - cut high on the legs (normally with just a string of elastic at the sides).
- Thong - show off her bum and have a little triangle of fabric at the top. 'Low-rise' means they won't show above her jeans, which is either good or bad, depending on her attitude to the undoubted sexiness of showing the top of her thong.
- g-string - like a thong, except without the little triangle; often have diamante (fake diamonds) at the top.
- Shorts - originally designed to not show a visible knicker line under tight jeans - at LovefromMe we call them hotpant knickers, but lingerie manufacturers call them 'shorties', 'boy shorts' or - confusingly - 'girl shorts'. These can be very sexy, if low-cut ... and if she's feeling very daring, they can be worn out clubbing as well!
- French knickers - like shorts, but typically quite loose, often with slits at the sides and normally made out of silk, satin and/or lace.
Bear in mind that some women, for everyday wear, prefer to wear knickers made out of natural fabrics (ie cotton, or - if you're feeling well-off and want to buy a really luxurious present for her - silk).
If they're just to wear out for the evening, you probably won't need to worry about this, though - and remember, in any case, that virtually all knickers and thongs have a cotton gusset.
And a note on sizing - if they're too small, they'll cut in badly on her hips, which will show underneath skirts and thin trousers. But if they're too big, they might be baggy on her bum. The best thing is to surreptiously root through her knicker drawer and see what size she normally wears.
And, don't forget that if you need any help on choosing knickers for your wife, girlfriend .. or any other female friend, just
to email us.
We're here to help ... and that's the LovefromMe difference!
One last point - you've probably noticed that very few real women (as opposed to those shown on TV and in films) wear matching knickers and bras. So a great idea would be to buy her a matching set. Most of the knickers available at Figleaves have matching bras - so why not splash out on the one you love? (If there is a matching set, the items will be shown at the bottom of the individual product page.)
Camisoles, corsets, bustiers, basques, bodies and chemises
A classically sexy look - and liked for that by women as well as their men.
As well as particularly provocative underwear, women who only want to be a little bit daring often wear them as outerwear - mainly for clubbing or parties.
Corsets have been very popular for quite a while - sometimes in the form of corset-style dresses -
with many celebrities wearing them on and off-screen/stage, or just to look sexy in a photoshoot, including:
Destiny's Child,
Destiny's Child wearing corsets
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Jennifer Ellison wearing a corset
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Kelly Brook wearing a corset
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Jessica Simpson wearing a corset
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Pamela Anderson wearing a corset (but only just!)
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Heather Graham wearing a corset
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Halle Berry wearing a corset-style dress
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Sophie Ellis-Bextor wearing a corset
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Liv Tyler wearing a corset-style dress
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Heidi Klum wearing a corset
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Jennifer Lopez wearing a corset
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Jane Fonda wearing a corset
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What used to always be called ' corsets' (or ' corseletes', or ' corselettes') are often (and interchangeably) now called ' basques' ' bodices' or ' bustiers'. If you're interested, click here
bodice:
a woman's sleeveless undergarment, often laced at the front.
basque: a close-fitting bodice extending from the shoulders to the waist and typically having a short continuation below waist level (from the tradtional costume of the Basque people).
bustier: a close-fitting strapless top for women
corset: a woman's tightly fitting undergarment extending from below the chest to the hips, formerly worn to shape the figure.
corselette/corselet: a woman's garment combining corset and bra
... so now you know! (definitions from the 10th edition of the Oxford English Dictionary)
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to read the actual definitions of all these different types -
nothing wrong in being fascinated by women's underwear, after all!
basque: a close-fitting bodice extending from the shoulders to the waist and typically having a short continuation below waist level (from the tradtional costume of the Basque people).
bustier: a close-fitting strapless top for women
corset: a woman's tightly fitting undergarment extending from below the chest to the hips, formerly worn to shape the figure.
corselette/corselet: a woman's garment combining corset and bra
... so now you know! (definitions from the 10th edition of the Oxford English Dictionary)
Corsets were originally intended to pull in the waist and push up the breasts, to give an 'hour glass' figure
(you know - holding on to the bedpost, while the maid laces her up).
Click here,
to look at a modern version of one of these - available from Figleaves - or
click here to see a picture of
Kate Beckinsale wearing a corset in the film Van Helsing
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A few of the modern ones are designed like this, but the vast majority are now much more comfortable to wear.
They nearly always have an underwired or moulded bra-type top, so are sold in the normal bra-type cup sizes and
don't need a bra underneath.
They normally have 'boning' in them (which used to be strips of bone, but is now normally plastic),
which pushes in or up and helps to shape the figure.
Women with smaller breasts can get a good 'push-up' effect, whilst the better endowed can use them for the serving-wench-spilling-over-the-top look.
Corsets normally have attached suspenders, which can usually be taken off, if she wants to wear the corset out somewhere as outerwear and avoid looking like an exotic dancer.
Camisoles, on the other hand, are looser fitting and very rarely have attached suspenders.
Without a bra, camisoles have a natural 'girly' look to them.
They will often have some shaping under the bust, but a woman with small breasts will look rather flat-chested
in one, unless she wears a push-up or padded bra underneath.
Or if she has bigger boobs, they might look a bit droopy unless she wears a bra underneath.
'Bodies' used to be called 'leotards', a term now only applicable for gym and exercise wear (you'll know what I mean if you've seen the video for 'Call on Me' by Eric Prydz - click here,
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Chemises - used to be called 'slips' and are, basically, short dresses - sometimes doubling as nightwear (then, alternatively, called 'nighties'). They are normally fairly see-through and, again, could be worn out clubbing or at a party (with a bra and knickers or thong), if she's feeling daring ... or very daring if it's a 'baby doll' type (as shown below)!.
Buy a set? -
corsets, camisoles and chemises often come in a matching set.
So, if you wanted to really splash out, you could
buy a camisole and matching knickers, a corset and matching thong ...
or even a chemise with matching bra and knickers.
(If there is a matching set, the items will be shown at the bottom of the individual product page.)
And, don't forget that if you need any help on choosing underwear for your wife, girlfriend .. or any other special woman in your life, just to email us. We're here to help ... and that's the LovefromMe difference!
... and more women's underwear
So what else do Figleaves sell?
suspender belts
stockings, tights, over-knee socks and garters
nightwear, including pyjamas
swimwear
bridal lingerie
if she's pregnant: maternity wear
'activewear' - sports bras, running shorts, leotards, etc, etc
etc!
And, don't forget that if you need any help on choosing underwear for your wife, girlfriend .. or any other female friend, just to email us. We're here to help ... and that's the LovefromMe difference!
... men's underwear - coming soon!
www.LovefromMe.co.uk
email:
tel: 01305-871561
fax: 0870-831-2726
post: 13 Market Street, Abbotsbury, Dorset, DT3 4JR
all layout images, webpage and text © Andrew Green
product descriptions are extracted from (and are therefore ©) Figleaves
where specified, other text © The Week
most of the corset photographs were unattributed, but a lot of them were found on www.staylace.com