Tomima's Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

You know, I always thought  this, but recently my instincts were legitimized.  Fifteen years ago, Alan Greenspan began tracking sales of men’s underwear because he had a hunch that consumer spending in this category predicted overall consumer spending trends.

What he found is that men’s underwear sales are consistent and predictable and never drop.  That is until men start to feel pinched for cash.  Then, they hold on to their underwear and don’t replace it for a while.  It became known as "briefonomics."

So, here’s some good news.  Men’s underwear sales are up this year on my HisRoom site.  And, the latest men’s underwear sales nationally showed a 4.7% increase for the first half of 2009.  Hopefully, this strong trend means we are nearing the end of the recession.  Or, at the very least, the end of threadbare undies on the men in our lives.

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Posted by Tomima at 6:56am
Tags: Men's Underwear
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It’s only good news that we American women have company with British women.  The truth is that the average woman in both America and the UK is getting bigger.  A recent study revealed that the average UK gal is now a size 14/16 – pretty much the same size as the average American female.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average American woman weighs in at 164 pounds and wears a size 14.

The plus-size lingerie manufacturer Eveden (makers of Goddess, Fantasie, Freya and elomi) recently shared that bra band sizes of 44 and 46 see the largest increase in sales year after year.  And cup sizes are also on the rise with a new emphasis being placed on G cup sizes and larger (in the US, that would be a DDDD cup). As for their knickers business, 40% is in sizes 16 and larger – that’s XL and larger in US sizing.

Last year Eveden introduced a new line, elomi, to address the fuller figure market with larger cup and band sizes.  With the launch of elomi, more than 30% of sales were in the G cup or larger size range.  HerRoom.com also carries elomi and we tracked the same results in our sales of elomi bras.

With our female population growing in size, it’s nice to know that lingerie manufacturers are providing pretty and supportive alternatives to meet the new size range.

Find elomi lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties

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Posted by Tomima at 10:25am
Tags: elomi, Full-figure, plus-size
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For me, this was an exciting and fascinating discovery.  A bra from the 1950’s sold at auction last week for more than $5,000.  It was made for Marilyn Monroe and could have been worn under her famous white dress known for flying up over a New York City subway vent in the movie "Seven Year Itch."
 
There are so many intruiging aspects to this bra.  Marilyn was a size 36D, but this bra was designed to give her an even larger bustline.  Let’s start with the double straps.  This was a very clever design because it pulled the breasts up from both sides – like a cradle or hammock – to maximize projection and volume.  Back then, the conical shape breast positioned straight out in front was the preferred look. This bra would definitely achieve that look.
 
There are said to be two cups inside this bra.  The inside cup is an underwire half-cup or shelf bra style.  It would be similar to today’s support panels that help support the breasts from below and position them up higher to show off a woman’s waist.  Then, another cup on the outside was fashioned.  It actually projected one inch from the undercup.  This gave Marilyn the illusion of more breast tissue.  Today we use bump pads to achieve this same affect.  This outer cup has vertical ribbon seaming for additional support as well. It looks a lot like our very popular Shirley of Hollywood chopper bra.  

This bra for Monroe was a combination of cream and nude tones to look invisible under clothing.  So, when you think about it, this bra was way ahead of its time and incorporated technology and themes common in today’s bras – support, volume and invisible coloring.  Truly a fascinating find.  I only wish I had known about it in time to bid on it.

Find Shirley of Hollywood and all bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

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Posted by Jan at 7:24am
Tags: celebrity bras, marilyn monroe
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