Tomima - Lingerie and Underwear Expert

Shirley of Hollywood intimate apparel is celebrating it’s 60th year in business this month.  As it’s name suggests, Hollywood starlets put Shirley of Hollywood on the map for symbolizing sexy quality lingerie that makes women feel fabulous and men wanting more. 

Shirley has always been meticulously crafted and found the finest fabrics and finishes such as trims and lace to craft their provocative garments. Owned by the Schlobohm family for three generations, Shirley of Hollywood has always been a family business.  From private label for Playboy to major retailers, Shirley can be found in more than 3,000 stores world-wide.

Not to leave anyone out, Shirley of Hollywood in 1987 created the Intimate Attitudes Collection.  This collection offers fabulous lingerie styles for the fuller figured woman with sizing starting at 1X and going up to 6X. Quite a ground breaking and risky endeavour that paid off. In 2003, they got into the mens underwear business with a line called Gyz (pronounced "guys").

Famous for their catalogs and visually provocative models,  Shirley launched the careers of several famous women: Brooke Burke, Victoria Silverstedt, Leanne Tweeden and Tyran Richard.  Several went on to become Playboy Playmates.

With 60 years under their garter belt, Shirley is producing a great commemorative collection that has Hollywood glamour as its inspiration.  The collection includes fabulous signature corsets.

The constant with Shirley of Hollywood are their chopper bras or shelf bras, a best seller year after year.  And, their crotchless panties are always a hit because they are beautifully made and hide their feature flawlessly.

Find Shirley of Hollywood Lingerie at HerRoom in:
Sexy Lingerie
Sexy Bras
Sexy Panties

Since this is just the second year of The Undie Awards, it was everyone’s assumption that there would be several winners this year that also won last year.  We were very surprised to find this not to be the case.  In the post, I will discuss the Overall winners between 2007 and 2008.

The overall favorite bra for average figure in 2007 was a push-up bra by Wonderbra - style 7234.  In 2008, the overall average figure went to a Vanity Fair contour t-shirt bra - style 75-266.

The shift went from a push-up bra that gives more shape and volume to a contour bra that is full coverage and has a thin layer of stretch foam in its seamless cups for modesty.  It would seem that women are trending away from the va-va-voom look to a  shape that is comfortable, flattering, and more natural.

For the overall favorite full figure bra category, the winner in 2007 went to "The Oprah Bra" by Le Mystere - style 9955.  However, in 2008, there was a tie for two very similiar Vanity Fair bras - styles 75-005 and 75-134. 

The Le Mystere 9955 Tisha bra was really quite a breakthrough bra for large cup sized women.  Finally, there was a seamless and contour t-shirt bra in their size.  This bra also scored highly in 2008, but it lost out to two bras with seamed cups (also known as cut and sew bras).  There is no better support than a multi-section cup bra.  Yes, the Le Mystere 955 is invisible under clothing, but it also a large bra that doesn’t breath very well because of the foam used to line the cups. Both Vanity Fair winners are back-to-basics in terms of fit, shape and support.  My guess is that full figure women have both a t-shirt and a section cup bra, but they find their section cup bra to be the most comfortable.  This is why I think these basic bras without any of the latest technology tied for Favorite overall bra in the full figure category.

The Favorite Overall Panty between this year and last was quite a surprise.  Whereas in 2007, thongs garnered the top 2 positions for everyone’s favorite, this year, the first thong appeared in 4th place.  For 2008, the top two postitions went to very basic full brief panties.

2007 was the year of Hanky Panky thongs.  Everyone loved them and was wearing them every day.  Now, in 2008, women are reaching for briefs, with the most popular being the Vanity Fair Perfectly Yours Ravissant Brief - style 15-712.  Yes, the brief known as "the granny panty" is everyones favorite again.  The reviews on the voting tell the story.  Over and over again, women commented on its comfort, coverage and the fact that it doesn’t show panty lines.  This is important.  I think most women have been convinced that the only way to avoid panty lines is to wear a thong.  Wrong.  The old-fashioned brief with no hi-cut to the leg also does a pretty good job of hiding under clothing as well.  Women still have thongs in their panty collection.  But, for every day comfort and converage, they are wearing their basic briefs and loving it.

So, here are my final thoughts on all of this.  There is clearly a trend back to basics.  Yes, women probably have a variety of items in their lingerie wardrobe.  But what they are loving is their basic undergarments that do the job, and are comfortable.  Women are creating two lingerie wardrobes for themselves - one for everyday and one for special or weekend wear. 

Find the Undie Award winning lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties
Shapewear
Thongs
Sports Bras

I’ve been seeing the word "Simplex" a lot lately. In fact, a quick search shows HerRoom offers 16 items made with simplex, and several of them incorporate simplex into their product name. It looks to be a trend in lingerie. So, what is simplex and is this a good thing to look for in lingerie and specifically bras?

Let’s start with defining simplex. For that, I’ve turned to two great sources. My friend, Ellen Jacobson, President of Elila Lingerie, and Beverly Johnson, Author of "The Bra-Makers Manual" and a true expert in bra construction and fit. Beverly has written about simplex several times on her blog. True simplex is a nylon knit with a little stretch - not like nylon that’s combined with spandex. Molded simplex bra cups can stand on on their own - even in the bigger cup sizes - without needing interfacing or other fabrics fused or layered onto it. And, simplex tends to have a matte finish. Ellen takes the definition a little farther. She first points out that the word simplex in Asia or Europe simply means a knit or "tricot" fabric you see in bathing suit material but without the spandex.

However, simplex’s more correct definition is a type of knit that has a "V" shape pattern to it’s knit. This makes it great for molding to the body. And, because of this type of construction, rather than just stretching up and down, and left and right (known as a 2-way stretch), simplex has what is called a mechanical stretch - it can stretch in every direction. But, it also gives great support because the stretch is controlled and not overly stretchy. It’s more like our skin, it stretches a little in any direction, but bounces back and gives great support. So, seamless molded bra cups made in simplex will be light-weight, but hold your breasts firmly without sagging - even in the larger cup sizes. A simplex cup will feel like wearing a second skin because of it’s all around firm support that stretches to give your breasts a natural look.

Here are some bras using simplex fabric in their seamless cups:

The Fantasie Smoothing T-Shirt Bra style 4510

The Lilyette Technocomfort Unlined Bra style 947

Also, Olga company is also launching throughout 2008 several underwire and minimizer seamless cup styles that will be using molded simplex in the cups.