Tomima’s Blog - Lingerie & Underwear Expert

Has Victoria’s Secret gone too sexy and lost it’s core business? Several blogs and articles are claiming this to be the case. Due to it’s success with "Pink," the stores now have a decidedly young and very sexy feel when you walk in. Many long-standing customers now feel they are "too old" to be shopping at Victoria’s Secret and are going elsewhere.

"We’ve so much gotten off our heritage … too sexy, and we use the word sexy a lot and really have forgotten the ultra feminine," said Sharen Turney, Victoria’s Secret’s chief executive. "I feel so strongly about us getting back to our heritage and really thinking in terms of ultra feminine and not just the word ’sexy’ and becoming much more relevant to our customer," Turney said. The new goals of Victoria’s Secret are to down-play "sexy" and focus on sophistication. "We will also reinvent the sleepwear business and focus on product quality," she said. "Our assortment will return to an ultra feminine lingerie brand to meet her needs and expectation." So what was the wake-up call for Victoria’s Secret? Their 4th quarter in 2007. Sales slipped and profits fell by 12%. Management has informed Wall Street to expect below expectation performance in the first quarter of 2008.

When a downward trend appears, management tends to go running back to the core concept. Victoria’s Secret was started in 1977 in San Francisco by Roy Raymond in an effort to create a lingerie shop that both men and women would feel comfortable shopping in. The idea was to give the store a British feel and make the customer feel like they were one of the "upper crust" shoppers. The stores were filled with dark woods, elegant fixtures, carpeting, furniture and thoughtful staff. A lot of change is going to need to take place to get Victoria’s Secret back on its original message.

During this year’s Undie Awards,  votes will count for more than opinions on underwear. For every person who goes to the Undies and votes, HerRoom, the sponsor of the awards, will donate 25 cents to the  National Cervical Cancer Public Education Campaign. As a woman-owned site with a natural concern for women’s health, this seems like a good way for HerRoom to raise  both money and public awareness.

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, about 11,070 cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States and 3,870 women will die of the disease. The National Cervical Cancer Public Education Campaign is committed to eliminating cervical cancer completely and now that a cervical cancer vaccine is available, 70% of cervical cancers can be prevented.

The Undie Awards, which had over 12,000 participants last year, give underwear and lingerie-wearers out there (which is probably most of us) a chance to tout their favorite styles, both overall and in individual categories. And  unlike American idol, where the least popular gets voted off, knowing which products are consumer favorites can definitely make it easier to shop.

 To cast your vote and and to help make a difference in the fight against cervical cancer, go to  The Undies and click on Vote. After you’ve voted,  click on the Count Me In button to make your two cents worth of opinion worth 25 cents in the campaign to wipe out cervical cancer.

Last week I had the great pleasure to spend a fabulous and informative afternoon with Liels George. Over the last six years, Liesl has been the designer for Goddess bras and now the new elomi bras. Born and raised in South Africa, and currently living in the UK, Liels is simply lovely. As she walked toward me to shake my hand, I was struck by her Cleopatra coloring, and her buxom shape. "How fabulous!" I thought to know that the designer for these full figure bra lines is herself full figured.

I’ve always known that Goddess bras were the first full figure bra line in the United States. And, their success has sustained the test of time. So, I wanted to know what Goddess, and now elomi, have done and continue to do to ensure that their bras are some of the best fitting full figure bras in the world. Liels was more than kind to share her knowledge.

Underwires - Starting with the underwires, Goddess and elomi underwires have a wider sweep or a longer diameter. Most underwire bras come up on the sides in front of the arm. However, a full figure girl has more breast tissue under her arm. This common wire style could rest on sensative breast tissue and cause pain. By opening up the wire further, and going farther under the arm, the Goddess and elomi underwires scoop up all a woman’s breast tissue and pull it into the bra cup. As Liels in her lovely British accent explained, this tends to have a minimizing effect and a better overall breast shape. She also uses very strong underwires. Liesl made the interesting point that when a woman complains of her underwires sticking outward in the middle of her chest, it can also be caused by cheap and flimsy underwires not being able to withstand the weight of larger breasts.

Soft cup Bras - I then asked Liesl about her design of soft cup bras. She had some very interesting insights. A soft cup bra, she feels, is popular because women who have had a bad experience with uncomfortable underwires feel this is their only option. In truth, she said, if the woman was able to get into her correct underwire size, she would probably stay with an underwire. After all, underwires will always give you a more defined silhouette. However, there are a lot of women out there who want soft cup bras, so she will continue to design them. The elomi bra line, though, will only consist of underwire bras for now. An additional point about soft cup bras. With a soft cup bra, it is apparenlty impossible to get the center panel or gore to lay flat against the sternum. Only an underwire can achieve this.

Bra Straps - since Liesl’s arrival, all bras by Goddess and elomi  have been designed with restricted stretch elastic. Liesl explains that a rigid strap gives great support. but, when a woman moves, if the strap doesn’t have some give, it will pull or get out of place and be uncomfortable. On the other end, an elastic strap will give too much movement and thus reduce support. Also, a stretch elastic tends to curl into a "U" shape when stretched. This creates an even narrower strap on the shoulder which digs in. Restrictive stretch straps are wide and comfortable. They don’t curl, and provide just enough stretch to allow for movement without feeling bound. Oh, and as for those padded straps, Liesl has some designs that incorporate them, but she is not a fan. A padded strap reduces the length of strap adjustability. And, this limitation can prevent women from buying an otherwise fantastic product.

Bra Backs - Liesl prefers the leotard back styling. A leotard back design incorporates the strap into the back and gives a rounded or leotard back style to a bra rather than a common camisole back. There are several reasons for this design choice. According to Liesl, this design helps to reduce the  bra back from creeping up your back and the subsequent back fat this may cause. But secondly, and more important,  leotard back styling helps to better distribute the breast weight across and down the back rather than just at the shoulders. This goes a long way towards increasing comfort for full figure bra wearers.

Cup Design - Liesl is credited with coming up with the 4 section cup design seen in both the Goddess and elomi bra lines. As she stated, the best supporting cup will always be a multi-section cup. However, the 4th section Liesl has added is along the side. Rather than putting a support panel inside the cup, she has incorporated the panel into the cup construction itself. This helps to push breast tissue forward and further reduces breast spillage out the sides. She also made a very interesting point about the differences between US women and UK women. Over in the UK, there isn’t a thought about whether bra seams show through their clothing. It’s only in the US that women are obsessed about seamless bras.

Find elomi and Goddess lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras