Tomima's Blog – Lingerie & Underwear Expert

 

Last year, I blogged about the 2009 winner of the Lg Nobel Prize.  As a reminder, the Lg Nobel Prize honors ideas that celebrate the unusual and the imaginative and spur interest in science, medicine and technology.  The Award is considered the highlight of the scientific calendar each year.  Last year’s winner was a brassiere that, in an emergency, can be turned into a pair of protective face masks.  So, here’s the punch line:  you can now purchase this bra for $29.95 in scarlet red under it’s new name – The Emergency Bra.

The inventor, Dr. Elena Bodnar, in 1986 started her medical career studying the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster.  She discovered that if people near the disaster had had cheap gas masks in the first hour after the disaster, much sickness could have been prevented. So, I get the genesis of this idea.  But let’s take a little walk down reality lane.

Okay, an alarm goes off signaling a nuclear plant explosion, and you’re wearing this bra.  Now what? Superman would duck into a near-by phone booth.  But those aren’t around any more.  What’s a woman  to do? Basically, she must disrobe down to her bare breasts to retrieve this device.  Standing topless, she now must decide who gets the other half?  My guess is she already has quite an audience to chose from. But if this device is really life saving, my next guess is that all are rushing towards her with outreached hands trying to snatch the two masks away from her.  They’re red, so they’re hard to hide.  Personally, none of this sounds good to me.  I think I’d opt for staying clothed and running for the hills.

And, here’s a second thought.  This bra is commonly known to exist.  You’re a woman in the crowd and others know you have this life-saving device strapped to your chest.  I wouldn’t want to be the victim in that strip search scenario either.

So, here’s an idea. Throw out the element of possible death, and turn this bra into a new-fangled kind of dating prop.  No more "spin the bottle."  Instead, it’s "Does She, or Doesn’t She." You two simply agree to the rules of the game. Toxic fumes optional…

 

Posted by Tomima at 9:00am
Tags: bra news, bras, e-bra
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There was a scene in an old "Sex and the City" episode where Carrie was cradling a phone between her shoulder and ear while she was pulling lovely lacy bras out of her bathroom sink, then hanging them over her shower rod to let drip dry.  Guess what?  She had it right.  This is really the best way to wash your lingerie – by hand in warm water with gentle detergent and then left to dry.

Why is this the best choice?  It’s because of all the elastic and stretch fabrics used to make lingerie.  Spandex has been revolutionary to lingerie because it gives a custom fit, reduces wrinkles and prevents bagging.  But, spandex breaks down in heat.  Keeping your lingerie away from hot water, chlorine and the dryer is the greatest gift you can give your lingerie – including hosiery and shapewear – and will exponentially increase its lifetime.

I hear women say they wash their lingerie in Woolite.  Back when Woolite came in a jar, it was designed to wash wool sweaters quickly.  Their advertising gave women the impression it was a mild detergent when in fact it was not.  But today, Woolite products have changed.  All are designed to go in to the washing machine, and they even have something now called Woolite Extra Delicates Care.  I haven’t tried it, but it sounds like it is a mild version of traditional Woolite.

With our busy lives, it is less and less likely that we will hand wash our lingerie.  Washing machines today have also become more sophisticated–they have delicate cycles and better control over water temperature and load sizes.  So, washing your lingerie in a washing machine has become safer.  That said, there are a few things you should do before dropping your lingerie into a washer.  First, hook your bras shut.  Those little hooks can catch on to other clothing. When this happens, you can cause damage to your bras as well as other clothes in the wash. You should then put your bras in a lingerie bag or one of these new washer bags specially designed for contour bras (bras with pre-formed cups).

Not containing your bras in some kind of washing bag can create havoc in your washer.  The straps can get caught in the agitators or wrap around something and become stretched.  This happens, and your bra can be stretched out and no longer wearable.  Your lingerie investment is lost.

The water temperature should be warm but not hot.  Cold water simply does not wash clothing as well as warm, but hot can deteriorate fibers in your clothing and loosen dyes which can then bleed on to other clothing.

Don’t wash your bras with items such as towels, blankets, jeans or other items that create a lot of lint.  That lint could end up in your bras and could create pilling on your lingerie.

I wash my panties, shapewear and hosiery in individual laundry bags – and not in with my bras.  Again, these items are delicate and you don’t want them catching on other clothes and being ruined.

Finally, let me close with another point about bras.  Unless you are a profuse perspirer, you don’t need to wash your bra after every use.  You can wear it up to 3 times before needing to launder it.  However, it should not be worn 3 days in a row.  You should alternate it with another bra, because a bra needs a good 24 hours to breath and relax back into shape before it is worn again.  This alternating also helps to extend the life of your bras.

 

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Posted by Tomima at 10:50am
Tags: hosiery, lingerie, lingerie bags, panties, shapewear, washer bags
1 Comment »

 

I received an email of this photo of Kate Moss from Denise, a treasured reader of my blog, along with her comment that it looks like even models could use an Underwearing makeover.  Boy is she right!

Clearly, a strapless bra is in order on Kate.  But, you can kind of forgive her for this omission since no model ever seems to wear a bra on runways or even out in public.  But the bigger shocker here is her obvious spare tire.  I’m secretly jumping for joy to learn she is mortal and has one like the rest of us.  But, I digress….

Here’s the point I want to make – Everyone can use shapewear from time to time.  You might  be surprised to learn that HerRoom gets many email inquires from thin women asking why certain shapewear pieces on our site only start at size Medium.  Yes, several shapewear manufacturers make the assumption that small women don’t need it (all, by the way, run by men).  But they are wrong. 

Small, thin women can show bumps and lumps just like the rest of us, whether it be a panty line or a little tummy.  Now, do they need firm control shapewear?  Probably not.  There are great light and medium control shapewear pieces that can be worn to smooth you out and pull it in a little. For example, Spanx came out with their Skinny Britches shapewear that comes in a rainbow of colors, has light control and no edges that will show.  And Body Wrap makes a collection of shapewear called Lites that has light to medium control and is comfortable to wear all day while keeping you smooth.

So Kate, get thee in some shapewear!  And thank you Denise for your email.

 

Find shapewear for all body types at HerRoom in these departments:
Shapewear

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Posted by Tomima at 9:04am
Tags: Body Wrap, kate moss, models, shapewear, spanx
2 Comments »