Aubade: Destination Paradise

March 22, 2016

Lise Charmel: Spring/Summer Inspired Romanticism

Lise Charmel's Inspired Romanticism

March 16, 2016

Barbara Lingerie: Your Best (French) Friend Forever

It’s an Old World French tale that sounds like a New World California reinvention story: In the 1930’s, an enterprising French astrologer named Charles Fossey, otherwise known as “The Burmese Fakir,” decides it’s time for a career reboot. With a robust social network of high-brow women, Fossey asks himself: What interests all women all over the world? The answer is simple: their bodies.

November 17, 2015

Lingerie IQ

The Unbearable Beauty of Blue

In the early 1960s, French painter Yves Klein rocked the art world when he drenched naked female models in blue paint reminiscent of lapis lazuli and made full-body imprints on canvases that sold for millions. Klein used blue so pervasively in his work that, during his so-called “Blue Epoch,” he trademarked his own ultramarine pigment, calling it “International Blue.” Of the color’s expansive radiance, Klein once said : “Blue has no dimensions. It is beyond dimensions.” (Anyone interested in Klein's masterpieces will enjoy this short video of Klein's models drenching themselves in blue to the sound of live symphony musicians. Oh those wild sixties!)

November 12, 2015

Lingerie IQ

Why French Women Don't Love Nude Bras

French style secret #1: When it comes to bras and lingerie, French women love color.

October 19, 2015

Lingerie IQ

5 Empreinte Bras You Can't Live Without

If you had to live on a desert island, you’d want food, water, and Empreinte bras. Five of them, to be precise: The Melody, the Thalia, the Grace, the Cassiopée, and the Kaela. These five bras are the BMWs of lingerie for full-busted women, defying the misperception that French lingerie is only for small busted women and that if it’s beautiful, it can’t be comfortable. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

November 26, 2015

Lingerie IQ

Spotlight on Maison Lejaby & Sneak Peek at 2016 Collection

In the 1930s, Marlène Dietrich captivated audiences when she appeared in stockings and suspenders in the film The Blue Angel. Among her admirers were Marcel and Marguerite Blanchard, owners of a small cinema in the French département of Ain, along with Marguerite's sister Gabrielle who was known as 'Gaby'. Swept away by this glamour, Gaby began to sew lingerie and bras that her brother-in-law had made. 'Bras by La Gaby' were renowned in the area. The brand was named after her in 1930 and Lejaby was born.

November 16, 2015

Lingerie IQ

In Praise of the Bodysuit

October 20, 2015

Lingerie IQ

The Sumptuous World of Rosy Lingerie

Since 1947, Rosy Lingerie has been regaling French women. Resolutely modern with a vintage touch, Rosy rode the wave of exalted sensuality that characterized the 1950s with lingerie that accentuated women's curves. Its advertising campaign at the time celebrated a new French girdle with the slogan: "Rosy has the secret of the perfect shape; the Rosy girdle proves it."

October 09, 2015