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Heritage

Fierce Fabulous French Women We Love

Part 18th century Lady Gaga, part Madame de Châtelet, De Stael was a fiercely fabulous French aristocrat who rocked the 18th century by championing women’s rights, religious tolerance, and intellectual freedom long they had landed squarely on our cultural map. She was political when women were supposed to be apolitical and was well-known for her salons with political radicals, artistes, and assorted literary iconoclasts. Her ideas so deeply challenged the status quo of her times that Napoleon itched to be rid of her. “I shall break her, I shall crush her,” he declared. “Let her keep quiet, it’s the wisest counsel she can take.”
November 25, 2015 

Heritage

What We Wore and How We Wore It

This famous contact sheet by pioneering motion photographer Eadweard Muybridge shows the many layers of undergarments women wore in the late 1800s: pantalets, petticoats, bloomers, bustles, corsets, crinolines – getting dressed and undressed used to be “an operation to be repeated several times a day so that one’s outfit would always be appropriate for the circumstances,”...
October 22, 2015 

Heritage

Dream Weavers: The Finer Things in Life are From Lyon

Like many of the finer things in life, silk has a sexy French history, and the city of Lyon is a big part of it. It all started back in the 15th century when, unhappy with the exorbitant costs of imported silk from Asia and Italy, King Louis XI established silk production in Lyon. A century later, the enterprising King Francis I secured Lyon as its French capital and the City of Silk was born.
August 31, 2015 

Lingerie IQ

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

Word Play: How Lingerie Came to America - Literally

Back when your great great grandmother was wearing bloomers, American women flocked to France to buy lingerie. This was in the 1800s when the word itself didn’t really exist in the American vocabulary. We Anglo-Saxons incorporated it into our English language as a stand-in for frilly, naughty undergarments (like we did with other French words too sexy or sassy for our Puritan ways.)
October 08, 2015 
You Say You Want a Revolution?

How the bra was born

For centuries our busts were supported by whale and steel boning. Women could barely walk...

Color Me Gorgeous

Color Me Gorgeous

The real reason “lingerie” is a naughty word in English and how color is connected to our...

A Brief History of the Corset

A Brief History of the Corset

Find out why women suffered to be beautiful at all costs. The real reasons will surprise...

The Big Reveal

The Big Reveal

Remember when simply revealing a bare ankle caused a sex scandal? Here’s the short sexy...

Liberté, Egalité, Lingerie

Liberté, Egalité, Lingerie

French Women Talk Lingerie: They Own HOW Many Bras?

They Own How Many Bras?

Get out your calculator: We asked French women on the streets of Paris how many bras they...

Couples Therapy à la Française

Couples Therapy à la Française

French men riff on who and why they buy lingerie for their partners. Imagine if men all...

French Women Talk Lingerie Everything but Nude

Everything but Nude!

We asked French women on the streets of Paris what color bras they wear. We asked French...

The Secret Powers of Lingerie?

The Secret Powers of Lingerie?

“My little personal pleasure.” “Like jewelry, only hidden.” “It gives me confidence.”...

You Don't Have to Be French to Wear French Lingerie

You Don’t Have to Be French to Wear French Lingerie

French women explain why they prefer French lingerie – and encourage American women to...

French Panties With a Twist

French Panties With a Twist

How many panties and different panty styles do French women wear? French women riff.

From Corsets to Crazy Comfort

From Corsets to Crazy Comfort

The French have been innovators in lingerie for the last 200 years: New fabrics and...

From plunge to push up

From Plunge to Push-Up

French women wear them in all styles: Demi-cup, balconette, triangle bra, plunge bar,...

From Solo Shopping to Group Sprees

From Solo Shopping to Group Sprees

French women buy lingerie with their partners, with their girlfriends, or solo. The point...

Lingerie: A His and Her Gift

Lingerie: A His and Her Gift

French women love to receive lingerie as a gift. Men love to give it. It’s the ultimate...

Lingerie Is An Integral Part of Fashion

Lingerie Is An Integral Part of Fashion

It’s unanimous: For French women lingerie is fashion and not strictly utilitarian....

Bra Fitters Are a Woman's Best Friend

Bra Fitters Are a Woman’s Best Friend!

The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker – AND the bra fitter. A good bra fitter is...

The Alchemy of Lingerie: Beauty + Comfort = Power

The Alchemy of Lingerie: Beauty + Comfort = Power

French women agree: There’s a certain je ne sais quoi that happens when you wear lingerie...

All Grown-Up: The Thrill of Your First Bra. French Women Talk Lingerie on the Streets of Paris

All Grown-Up: The Thrill of Your First Bra.

We asked French women to recall their first bra. They shopped with mom or dad, wore that...

French Women Talk Lingerie on the Streets of Pa

To Match or Not To Match?

French women love to match – and they do so for themselves, generally on a daily basis....

French Women Talk Lingerie The Naked Truth About Seduction

The Naked Truth About Seduction

French women on the streets of Paris reflect on the art of seduction, feeling good in...

Passionata's Playful Passion

Passionata’s Playful Passion

Spring/Summer 2016

Simone Pérèle making of

SIMONE PERELE: BEHIND THE SCENES

Spring/Summer 2016

Barbara Edition culotee

The Icebreaker

When very cold is very hot: Barbara breaks new ground

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