Luxury Lingerie Shopping

Well this is an interesting lingerie tidbit. In fact, it is a new twist on buying vintage lingerie! It seems that Queen Victoria’s 1890s handmade knickers went on auction, expecting to reap about $1000.The purchaser, however, paid a cool price tag of $9000 (US / CDN).

Acquired earlier this week at a British auction in Derby England, the royal knickers boast a fifty inch waist with drawstring and open-crotch. Barbara Rusch, the Toronto, Canada woman who is the lucky winner, has collected Queen Victoria’s items for the past twenty-five years. Not only was she the winning bidder of the bloomers but she also obtained a Queen Victoria chemise, with a bust size of sixty-six inches, for a mere eight thousand dollars. It was valued at six hundred dollars.

Most of Queen Victoria’s undergarments were embroidered with her initials VR (Victoria Regina) crested with her crown above. In addition to the knickers and chemise, Barbara also owns a pair of pink hand-embroidered silk stockings and other pieces from Queen Victoria’s garments and jewelry.

As the president of The Ephemera Society of Canada, Barbara has permitted her private collection of Queen Victoria items, entitled “Ephemera from the Age of Victoria”, to be displayed for the enjoyment of the general population.

Okay, before you say this article is written about men’s underwear and leave, please wait because this huge, men’s label also produces some fun women’s undergarments as well. But first, I just had to let you ladies know about the 2007 focus of bruno banani. I think it is no surprise that women take more pride in their underwear than men do, so bruno banani sent out his style wardens to strip search men to find out if it was true that eighteen percent of German men do not change their underwear daily. To combat this trend, the company launched their “We Fight Against the Horror” campaign with their special task force “bruno banani Underwear Control”. It apparently proved the message that bb is “not for everybody”, just as their slogan says.

So now that we have had our chuckle for the day, let’s take a peek at the “Funtastics” women collection. Comprised of camisoles, bras and assorted panties, the line comes in varied names such as Venus, Lover, Kiss, Persephone, Tender, Breeze and Mafia. The Honey set in pretty pink, white and green stripes includes a sweet panty with scalloped legs and fancy braided waistband. The Tune ensemble is a striking black collection with tiny white stripes and bold yellow accents on the neck of the camisole and bra straps.

Quickly perusing all the pieces together, one can see that the Funtastics Collection ranges from fun and playful sets, elegant and classic, as well as chic and sexy. The only drawback to the collection is the sizing seems to be limited or inconsistent as not all lines come in all sizes.

Definitely a serious designer collection, founded in 1993, bruno banani marketing has always been successful because it is unique and bb follows its own instincts rather than market fads. In addition to the latest “Underwear Control” campaign, the company has previously conducted “Adventure Tests” in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA, the desert region of Ophir in Africa, and an eco-challenge in Australia.

It is always nice to see any company giving back to the community but here are some quick highlights for lingerie companies around the world who have supported charities or community events through donations of money, time or sponsorships.

• Le Mystère has raised over $600,000US for The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women. You may have heard of Le Mystère as the company who makes the “Oprah bra” when Oprah named their Tisha bra as one of her favorite things.

• Marks and Spencer is the largest corporate sponsor of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Organization. Aside from raising over £7,000,000 to date, M&S created and launched a line of post-surgery lingerie from which they donate ten percent of all sales.

• Joe Boxer, who sells fun whimsical men’s boxer shorts, ladies panties and little boys; Tshirts and shorts, regularly sponsors many charitable events and organizations. Some of them have included Dream Foundation, Literacy Partners, Inc, Robert Kennedy’s Waterkeeper Alliance, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre and the Pediatric Aids Foundation.

• Gaiam donates $5US which is about twenty percent from the sale of their Thoughtful Tees line to customer chosen non-profits around the world including World Wildlife Fund, Action Against Hunger, Heifer International, Doctors Without Borders, Rebuilding Together, Urban Zen Initiative and The Conservation Fund.

• Playtex (UK) is hugely active with the Walk the Walk Moonlit Marathon by donating office equipment, volunteers and creating specialty products to be sold and monies donated to the cause of Breast Cancer Research.

• Donna Karan New York supports many organizations. One of the areas in which they participate is children oriented areas such as Over the Wall, a camp for children who are seriously ill and RxArt, a non-profit that decorates a child’s hospital surroundings into beautiful creations. They have also offered per unit donations for bras tried on and purchased in stores during Breast Cancer Awareness times of the year.

Ohhhh yes! Pamela Anderson will soon be launching her very own sexy lingerie line. The Lingerie Post just updated with a quick article about it — so make sure you check that out right here!

A few things I’m thinking about:

1. Will she go for slutty/trashy or classy? Both are so possible — I just don’t know.
2. Will she do the modeling herself? I mean, it’s realistic, Photoshop on standby!

If her lingerie ends up looking like these — they’ll sell!