Archive for the 'Women's Lingerie' Category
Maidenform’s Total Solution Bra & Victoria’s Secret Perfect One Bra – Is There a Difference?
August 03, 2009
If you haven’t yet taken a look at the "Total Solution" line of bras from Maidenform, it would be worth your while to do so. They are the newest cutting-edge technology in bra support without seams.
Maidenform calls this patent-pending feature "Smartzone" cup technology. But, even with all the tags they have attached to these bras, the customer probably doesn’t appreciate all they have to offer. So, I’m going to take a shot at explaining it.
If you look at the inside of the cup on any of the Total Solution bras, you will see that the cup has three color sections. The thin foam inner lining of the cup is all one piece, but to the naked eye, the foam looks like nothing more than foam that Maidenform simply put a print on.
What you are really looking at, however, is three different foam types (each with its own color) with different qualities — fused together to form one complete cup lining.
Okay, I know that is hard to follow. So, look at this image that Maidenform provides:
Their illustration shows three sections with the words Firm, Evens Out Bust, Shape. These word describe what each section does, but in sort of a marketing way. After listening to Maidenform executives explain all of this to me in NYC last market, I can tell you there is a lot going on.
Let’s start with the "Firm" foam–it’s very rigid. I pulled and tugged on it and it wouldn’t stretch. So, having this kind of foam in the bottom of the cup gives you great support and lift to your breasts. The "Evens Out Bust" foam has some stretch. Having this type of foam across the mid-section of your breast helps to shape your breasts while eliminating nipple show-through. Finally, the "shape" foam is quite stretchy in all directions. Having this foam across the tops of your breasts means that it stretches as much or as little as you need to make this bra give you a custom fit without gaping. So, as you can see, there really is a lot going on with this bra.
So what does all of this have to do with the Victoria’s Secret Perfect One bra? Well, Maidenform and Victoria’s Secret cut a deal, and the result is that the Victoria’s Secret bra uses the same technology in their Perfect One bra. The Total Solutions bras and Perfect One bras are basically the same. However, their cut is slightly different – the Victoria’s Secret bras have less breast coverage.
Now that I’ve explained all of this, I am going to muddy the waters a bit. Maidenform Company also makes the Lilyette brand of bras. Lilyette bras are known for being a great solution for women with full- figure cup sizes. Well, Maidenform took this same Smartzone technology and then added a nipple cover panel inside the "perfects" foam section to help reduce nipple showthrough. They named all of this "Absolute Solution" and sell this modification to the Smartzone technology under their Lilyette brand. So, for full figure women, you can now get this same technology with the added benefit of more nipple coverage. Women of most bra sizes now have access to this great new breakthrough!
Find Maidenform lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties
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Posted by Tomima at 12:12pm
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Emporio Armani Underwear – The Beckhams and Angelina
July 23, 2009
It’s been fun watching the launch of Emporio Armani underwear for men and the recent Emporio Armani lingerie lines because the marketing buzz it has created has been fresh and exciting.
The latest buzz was that Armani had signed up David Beckham and Angelina Jolie for the next round of ads. One can only imagine how fabulous it would have been to see both of them sporting Emporio Armani underwear as well as their tattoos. And I wonder if the Armani marketing team thought about putting the men’s items on Angie and the women’s on David?
Well, all my fabulous fantasies of this pairing were dashed today when US Weekly quoted Beckham on the topic as saying "I don’t think that’s true. I definitely don’t think that’s true." Oh well…
However, on this same topic, I came across a great video to share with you–Emporio Armani’s behind-the-scenes video on YouTube of David and Victoria Beckham during one of their joint photoshoots in underwear and lingerie, Definitely worth a gander.
And, of course, you can purchase both men’s and women’s Emporio Armani underwear lines at HisRoom and HerRoom.
Posted by Tomima at 7:38am
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New Information for People With Fabric Allergies
July 18, 2009
There is a new test available to clothing manufacturers to determine if a garment is hypoallergenic.
The Hohenstein Institute, based in Germany, has figured out how to analyze a fabric’s interaction with living skin cells and determine if that fabric will induce an allergic reaction or skin irritation to the wearer.
HerRoom.com and HisRoom.com are constantly contacted by people with latex allergies looking for underwear and lingerie they can wear without irritation. Though we do our best to identify items the manufacturers have told us qualify, read any of the customer reviews on these items and you will see people complaining that they don’t work.
I contacted Sam Moore from the Institute and had a fascinating conversation with him. First, he is not aware of any underwear/lingerie brands on the market that are free of latex and spandex. Without either fiber, a garment would only have as much support as a draw-string could deliver.
I asked Sam about products containing latex and/or spandex where the offending fiber is covered by another fabric, cotton for example. Why wouldn’t this type of garment work for consumers? His answer was enlightening. Both latex and spandex break down in the wash. Therefore, small particles of the offending fiber will work their way out of the casing and eventually wind up on the surface of the fabric covering them. So, even if latex or spandex is covered, the wearer is not protected and an outbreak will occur.
The Hohenstein Certification on products will be of great interest to those consumers with skin sensitivities and allergies. Scientists have identified more than 3,700 substances that are skin allergens.
The Hohenstein test currently costs about $3000 per garment. At that price, it’s prohibitive for a retailer such as myself to have the test conducted on everything I sell. However, manufacturers could find great financial benefit in having their products Hohenstein certifiied. As of this writing, Fruit of the Loom has made an inquiry.
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Posted by Tomima at 6:37am
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