Before I was in the lingerie business, I had given birth to two girls. I distinctly remember the maternity lingerie I bought. Few if any stores had maternity lingerie.  So, I went to Target, found 3 awful looking white bras and these big white granny-panties that came up and over my belly.  As I purchased them, I felt resigned to giving up on anything pretty or sexy for the next 6 months.

Boy, is today’s maternity lingerie different.  I look at it and it almost, ALMOST makes me want to think about having a baby again.  Gone are the institutional-style underwear pieces.  Replacing them are beautiful looking bras and panties in a variety of styles, colors and trims.  In fact, they have become so pretty that I suggest them to all my friends with pregnant daughters. I can’t imagine a better gift for a mother to give her daughter once she hears of the pregnancy.  What an emotional lift to a mother-to-be to see that she can still look pretty during this special time.

Taking this one giant step further, I ran across these great videos by HotMilk Maternity. What I love about them is that rather than a woman dealing with her condition and feeling like she’s sort of all alone, these videos bring the man in their life into the whole experience.  I know you’ll love watching both.

Find HOTmilk lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties

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Valentine’s Day is coming, and our emails are sounding the charge.  Scores of men are shopping online in the lingerie category, looking for something to present to the women in their lives. Guess what they’re looking for.

Let’s start with color.  By a landslide, the inquiries are for black.  There is something about black lingerie that just does something to men.  By the way, this is good news for us as the recipients. It is much easier to turn around and wear that black item over and over again.  How many of us have red bras we rarely wear?

Next on their list is sheer.  Boy, do men love sheer.  It must be in their DNA because even our cross-dresser customers want sheer lingerie.  Sheer can come in many different styles from bras to nightgowns to panties. And, of course, anything sheer in black is at the top of the list.

Men also like outfits.  We are fielding scores of questions about garters and the stockings that go with them.  So, building on a theme here–a sheer black lingerie ensemble is a home run for men.

And finally, we are seeing a lot of questions about shelf or chopper bras.  Interestingly enough the inquiries are coming more from women than men, but there are still a lot of men wondering about how to size them.  Personally, I wouldn’t advise a man to purchase this item unless he is very familiar with his partner.  Sagging is an unattractive symptom for many women in these bras.

So, be a tease this Valentine’s Day and have some fun wearing lingerie you’ve never dared to wear before.

Find Valentine’s Day lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Sexy Lingerie

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I remember when I was in high school, my mom refused to let me buy some red high-heel shoes.  Her reason?  In her mind (as well as my father’s I later discovered) a woman walking around in red high-heeled shoes was considered a ‘woman of the evening,’ a ‘call girl,’  a woman with low morals.  Needless to say, this was news to me.  And, look how things have changed.  I frequently slip on one of my many pairs of red-heeled shoes for a fun pop of color.  And I’m not alone.  All the fashion magazines have woman parading around in red shoes. It’s the new black!

So, we just finished Valentine’s Day.  Red, without a doubt, is the color of this holiday.  I think if you polled most women, they would say that men love red lingerie.  We at HerRoom sold a bunch over the holiday. But, according to a recent British survey most men do not like red lingerie.  In fact, the color came in last as the sexiest lingerie color.   What a surprise!

According to this survey, black is men’s favorite color of sexy lingerie.  Coming in second is white.  Now, I find this very curious because neither black nor white is really a color.  So, this feeds right into the hand of another statistic, and that is that many men are color blind.  If you were wearing red, they may not have even known it!  It probably looks grey in their eyes.

Next Valentine’s Day, do yourself a favor if shopping for a fun little valentine outfit for your beloved.  Pick black or white.  Not only does he prefer it, but it can be used over and over again throughout the year.  Consider it lingerie recycling.

Find all colors of lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Sexy Lingerie

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Came across both of these this week.

The first bra is called ‘The Husband-Hunting Bra’ by Triumph.  This bra has a countdown clock that a woman sets to her personal deadline date and time for when she expects to be married.   Once engaged, she inserts her engagement ring into a slot in the bra, the clock stops counting down and begins to play the wedding march song. The bra is playing to Japan’s singles market as the country’s marriage rate continues to fall. Think it will help?

The second bra is called the Horny Bra.  A Slovenian company has found material that inflates when one’s body temperature climbs.  So, when you put this bra on, it allegedly senses if your body temperature is climbing due to arousal from seeing some cute guy, and the bra ‘inflates’ cup size and  turns into a more serious push-up bra.  When you cool down, the bra does as well, taking your bust  back to where it started.  Warning: Women experiencing hot flashes should probably steer clear of this one.

Find interesting lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Sexy Lingerie

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Valentine’s Day will be here soon, so the race is on to find a fun/sexy lingerie outfit to entice your significant other.  Being in the business, we see all sorts of Valentine-themed items from manufacturers–with hearts, cupids, erotic cartoons and racy sayings– every year.  And every year, we give them a rousing pass. 

Years ago, we made the decision at HerRoom and HisRoom not to offer such items.  Why?  Because they look ridiculous the rest of the year.  In our opinion, if you’re going to invest in lingerie, it should work for more than one night.

Instead, we work hard to put together a fun collection of black, red and pink accent items that are high quality and don’t scream Valentine’s Day when you look at them.

So, check out our Sexy department for some great Valentine ideas.  And, we’ve even put together a top 10 list of sexy looks ranging from "Hot", "Hotter," to "On Fire."  And, check out our video of regular and plus size Valentine lingerie.  Surely you’ll find something there that suits your style.

Find some Valentine lingerie ideas at HerRoom in these departments:
Sexy Lingerie

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International burlesque star Dita Von Teese now has her name on a collection for Wonderbras, recently launched in Europe. To kick off the line, Ms. Von Teese posed in a giant swinging black sequinned bra in London’s Covent Garden while wearing a peach evening gown and heels.

Her Wonderbra collection of lingerie reflects 1940′s glamor. One of Ms. Teese’s first jobs was in a lingerie store where she performed bra fittings.  Fascinated by lingerie, she started collecting vintage pieces, which became the inspiration for her new line from Wonderbra.

Her Collection includes panties, suspenders (garters), thongs and bras, which Von Teese declares are extremely comfortable.  Unique to some of the bras is the use of a wire along the top of the cup rather than along the bottom.  Some of the panties and bras from this collection also have magnetic clasps for quick release. All items have the retro flair of burlesque and mid-century Hollywood.

Though modeled alluringly by Ms. Teese, the early reviews of the bras are cautionary.  They are beautifully made.  However, the wire along the top of the cup shows through clothes and seems to not fit all women.  The collection is made with heavy embroidery and detailing  Honestly, these items look more like stage costumes.  They are probably best suited to be worn by themselves and not covered with clothing.

 When will the Wonderba Satin Teese Collection from Dita Von Teese hit the USA?  No one is telling yet.

Find other Wonderbra lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras

Jennifer Michelle, President of a Little Lingerie Company, has outlined in her blog how to update this sexy idea. First, strapless bras work best. Buy balloons sold as "water balloons" since they are small. When whip-stitching the balloons to your lingerie, keep in mind that your lingerie will stretch. I suggest attaching the balloons with small safety pins for simple attachment and a more controlled placement. Michelle also recommends mixing the balloons with ostrich feathers for a more theatrical effect. So, if you’re looking for some new way to seduce your partner, give this a try. Pick some fun striptease music, and find an old-fashioned hat pin. However, give some thought to where and when… your little routine could get a bit noisy.

Find some enticing lingerie not made with balloons at HerRoom in these departments:
Sexy Lingerie

I read recently that a 52 year old woman here in the United States is suing Victoria’s Secret.  The reason? While trying to put on one of their V-strings, some decorative metal item popped off and ended up giving her corneal trauma.  Her name is Macrida Patterson, she’s a Los Angeles Traffic Officer, and she’s wanting unspecified monetary damages.

Now, I consider myself a bit of an authority on lingerie, and I had never heard of a V-string.  So, this article piqued my curiosity more from a technical perspective.  What on earth was this garment she was trying to put on?

I found my answer when searching on Victoria’s Secret’s website.  a V-string is just is just their clever new name for a crotchless panty.  Or, to be more specific, it’s a split crotch panty – most crotchless underwear on the market today is in reality a skimpy panty with a vertical slit going down the center from the front to back.  Though all but one style has now been taken off their site, I find it interesting that Victoria’s Secret has the little secret of selling rather erotic lingerie, and soft pedals it by calling it something else. Given their primary customer is in her teens and 20′s, exposing this fact in Officer Patterson’s lawsuit might just cause VS to rethink their marketing strategy.

Find lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Sexy Lingerie

Panties

Now you’ve got the critical info–what to buy? Well, if you see quite a few of the same brand, you can take it up a notch and choose a luxury item in that brand. For instance, if she buys herself mid-range Le Mystere bras like this racer-back bra, why not go all out and buy her this sexy, lacy confection from Le Mystere. Or, how about buying her something you know she won’t buy for herself? We all hear that thongs are the most comfortable panties ever–but some women won’t even try them. Let her try them out on your dime. She might especially like Hanky Panky’s Color Play Thong, which comes in an array of pretty exciting colors. Better yet, it’s one size fits most, so you can hardly go wrong.

If you absolutely can’t find her sizes, you’ve got a few choices: guess and hope for the best, ask her outright, or buy something not quite as dependent on fit, like a silk nightgown, or slinky robe. Luckily,we got some suggestions here too.This Mary Green Stretch Silk Satin Doll Chemise will make any woman feel gorgeous and the movie-star calibre matching robe will help through winter nights to come. If she’s more of an all-cotton woman, Hanro makes the softest, sleekest cotton sleepwear imaginable, like this Hanro Taitu Babydoll, Or one of Hanro’s beautiful cotton robes – like this Hanro Short Waffle Robe.

Of course you’d like something you want to see her in, but if it’s too gimmicky or plain uncomfortable she’ll wear it for you, but it won’t leave the drawer more than a few times a year. The key is to choose something that’ll let her know you think she’s special but will also be comfortable. Many women are so hung up about body image that they don’t realize that, to the men who love them, they are hot, hot, hot. So if you bought her a blender last year, this is the time to go all out and show her how she looks in your eyes.

Find gift ideas for lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Thongs
Sleepwear
Sexy Lingerie

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