FEMINISM AND LINGERIE

“I derive power from my femininity. And any attempt to make femininity trivial or unimportant is an attempt to take away my power. So I’m going to wear the red lipstick.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez American politician and activist

Feminism and lingerie, is there a link?

In that quote by Cortez, let us replace lipstick with lingerie and you get the point.

I am feeling inspired to write about women’s rights and lingerie. And why not? After all, I am a multi-faceted female that demands equality and pretty lingerie at the same time. Does that make me less of a feminist? I think not. Reducing feminine interests such as lingerie, make-up, fashion and other “femine stereotypes” as superficial is an exercise in reducing the feminine. Therefore labeling her as inferior.

Throughout history, the Patriarchy has demanded beauty as an attribute of a woman’s worthiness. Over time women have had to trade beauty in exchange for a little bit of power. Due to the history of these “superficialities” practicing any of these beauty rituals has consciously or unconsciously made women feel like a bad feminist.

We spent our childhood hearing and internalizing gender discrimination; “You look like a girl…you act like a girl… you run like a girl”. As if the feminine was inherently wrong or inferior. Combined with feelings that our value was only as beautiful or as perfect as we could be, many women have felt confused and lost when navigating the beauty and feminine superficiality.

Lonely Lingerie celebrates the strength and individuality of women, as Helen Morris the Designer says “For women who wear lingerie as a love letter to themselves”.

Speaking from experience I have often felt the very subject of lingerie as trivial and superficial. Coming from my unconscious bias, I have at times been embarrassed to say I work in the lingerie industry, let alone run a lingerie blog in case of been labeled frivolous. I am now making a conscious effort to call out any unconscious biases that I may have around sexuality and gender.

The lingerie industry has much to blame for sexualizing and objectifying women – continuing that old sexist agenda. Lingerie has for most of history been attached to the idea of the boudoir; seducing men or entertaining men. Nowadays as we move away from those sexist notions and towards female emancipation, women are seeing lingerie as a tool for personal empowerment.

“Don’t save your good lingerie for dates, wear it for you” - Burlesque star and lingerie designer Dita Von Teese

Woman and society are finally finding value in the feminine, and as more women find authority through their own feminine divine, society will have to become aware to not trivialize and sexualize women. Removing the stigma of shame around female sexuality and the female body will further enable us to have a more gender equal and body inclusive society. When certain characteristics of women are no longer labeled as inferior or trivialized then we will have true equality.

“Mentors of mine were under a big pressure to minimize their femininity to make it. I’m not going to do that. That takes away my power. I’m not going to compromise who I am.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Putting lingerie on and feeling empowered is a revolutionary act. Wearing lingerie, owning my sexuality and femininity empowers me. Here I am imperfect and all, rejecting the beauty standard and loving myself whole. I adorn my body because I want to, not because anyone has asked it of me, or for anyone’s viewing pleasure. I am taking back my ‘trivial’ femininity and owning it. I practice self-love and worship my divine feminine. For other women it may be make-up, killer heels, or getting their nails done, whatever our society may deem superficial, if you find power in the act of doing so, do it.

As I experience my body and become more accepting of my feminine preferences, I can not help feel a certain identity and power within owning these idiosyncrasies. I refuse to be part of the system that trivializes the feminine and promotes personal anxieties. Until all aspects of the feminine are embraced and not trivialized women won’t have true equality.

In the meantime, I will continue headstrong, wearing lingerie and red lipstick.

LIVY LINGERIE BRAND REVIEW

I’ve been vacationing in Lille for Christmas and was pleasantly surprised to stumble across the Livy store on the rue de la Grande Chaussee. To be completely honest, I hadn’t heard of Livy until my charming shopping experience, so I did some research. Below is a recount of my experience in the store and a bit of background information about the brand.

French lingerie designer Lisa Chavy founded Livy in 2017. Working in the lingerie industry for over fifteen years, Lisa worked five years in luxury for brands such as Christian Lacroix and Galliano. Lisa launched her own ready-to-wear lingerie brand with the idea of wanting to bring affordable luxurious lingerie to women. She partnered with the president of French lingerie label Etam and she now works with the finest French lace manufactures such as Sophie Halette and Noyon, adding a classic lace touch to her contemporary designs. Livy offers lingerie, swimwear and loungewear for a youthful, cosmopolitan woman. The lingerie collections are made of three lines ‘Paris’, ‘New York’ and ‘L.A.’. Inspired by these cities unique lifestyle each line offers a different aesthetic all with the recurring theme of modern luxurious sensuality. Paris is described as sexy and chic, New York as graphic and innovative, and L.A as casual and slow-life.

Contemporary French lingerie Brand Livy

“Today’s women are international. We are multi-faceted and open to new experiences and reinvention – LIVY is a celebration of free-spirited women and we do not restrict ourselves to any particular age group or body shape. A LIVY woman is smart, independent, ambitious and explorative. The name LIVY resonated with me due to its similarity to the word En Vie, which means Alive in French.” - Lisa Chavy”

Lisa Chavy Creative Director of Livy

As I entered the Lille Livy store, I found myself completely taken by the in-store experience and wonderful product range. A charming, modern store layout lit with warm lights and product elegantly presented. Presented was an extensive collection of new and past pieces. I really loved their selection of everyday, modern, practical lingerie merchandised with more special, sexy lingerie. Needless to say, I just had to try on everything and buy a Livy lingerie set irrespective of my modest budget post-Christmas expenses. The store assistant was very helpful, friendly and polite, and after I choose about five sets (yes couldnt help myself!), she kindly put me in the change room.

Trying on various styles in size 32B and bottoms between XS-S, I found the brands sizing both in the fit of the cup and bottom styles to be a bit inconsistent. As I am on the smaller scale of a 32B (my actual size is 30C) I found that non-wired, triangle styles worked best for me. I had a good chance to examine and admire the finer details of the lingerie and was very impressed with the attention to detail and quality of Livy’s lingerie. I am always conscious of the fitting room lighting as many women know lighting is crucial in either making you feel great about your exposed body or not so good. In this case the fitting room lighting was a bit dark in my opinion.

As a lingerie designer myself, I am always on the lookout for innovative lingerie design and sewing finishes. I was pleasantly enthralled to find some very thoughtful design and functions. I especially liked the considerate touch of having a fabric cover for the bra back hook and eye closure, an invitation to uncover your back bra as a styling option. The designers have really thought through the idea of innerwear as outerwear. A lot of their collection felt very ‘fashion’, with trims and fabrics that lend themselves to be purposely revealed. From a design point of view, I have to say am very influenced by Livy’s perfect balance of vintage, innovative and modern designs all coming together seamlessly.

My choice was hard to make, I considered purchasing two sets but practiced a little bit of self-restraint, I could have easily bought at least three had I the budget! I settled on winsome, white and yellow lingerie set part of the L.A. collection titled Monterey. The balcony bra priced £130.00 featured a 70s inspired, eye-catching yellow stripped elastic strap, retro style off-white lace with nude tulle cutouts and silk chiffon binding. On the cup, there is one large white lace floral applique. The front draws you in with a simple piece of nude tulle joining the cups and what looks like a monowire but is actually just the casing extended and joining at center front. This particular piece was made in Tunisia and the attention to detail and fine finishes really have a luxurious feel and look to the set. My only criticism would be that the strap does not allow for resizing, it is a set length. As I am short in the torso, the straps will need customization, at that price point you would expect that practical option. There was only one bottom option for the knickers, a cheeky Brazilian cut priced at £55.00 in silk and lace, featuring matching yellow elastic sides and the same white lace floral applique at front.

Monterey set by Livy

Having worked in retail management for many years, I am always very aware of the service that I receive in any store I shop. I am not a big online shopper, I love to see, touch and try the product before I buy it. I also think that supporting retail stores and boutiques is so important in our ever-changing economic climate, so I always make an effort to go instore. I was very satisfied with the level of customer service I received in the Livy Lille store. The sales assistant was attentive but not overbearing, she suggested styling options and was happy for me to try on as much as I wanted. I spent an hour in the store and could have easily spent more but I was content with my choice. Overall a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend Livy. I am super excited to wear this unique piece of lingerie, I am also excited for the future of this modern brand and look forward to being a returning customer. The magic of the French woman has always captivated me and now I feel I have a little bit of that je ne sais quoi.

Rating:

Product Quality *****

Design ****

Retail experience *****

Online experience ****

Pricing *****

VICTORIA’S SECRET & HER SEXIST DINOSAURS

Okay, I am going to be real honest about this whole Victoria’s Secret runway model thing. Since the Victoria’s Secret Chief Marketing Officer, Ed Razek said to Vogue:

“We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes. No one had any interest in it, still don’t. It’s like, why doesn’t your show do this? Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy.”

I’ve been angry. Really angry.

Here is a women’s lingerie brand for ‘female empowerment’ and yet they market and campaign very out-dated sexist ideals of beauty. The whole Victoria’s Secret runway has always bothered me, like a beauty pageant, a uniform of tall, thin model beauties walking down a catwalk, saying in one way or another, this is the standard of beauty. No voluptuous beauties, athletic women, no petite women, no transgender women. This is a standard of beauty prescribed by superficial, sexist men, pushing that age-old patriarchal agenda. And I am tired of it, so tired.

Victoria’s Secret Runway show

In this changing climate of body positivity and inclusion, women want representation. Countless women voiced their anger at the comments of Victoria’s Secret CMO and took to social media and the web including the Victoria’s Secrets Instagram to voice their disapproval and disgust. Not to mention declining store sales in the past financial year as consumer tastes and awareness has changed. Women most certainly won’t be sold no ‘fantasy’. This is not the 1950s, women will no longer spend their money on brands that take them for doormats or support brands that prescribe sexism and discrimination.

We now stand in solidarity; we want change, we want representation.

And you know what else, women are not ‘entertainment’, do not reduce us to that. We have been objectified long enough. I hope this is the last year of the show, that there is enough public pressure on the company that they make some significant changes to the messages they are sending to women.

In complete opposition, what Rhianna is doing with Savage X Fenty lingerie is a beam of hope and inspiration. A truthful and beautiful representation of women of all shapes and sizes, a celebration of womanhood and diversity. We need more Rihanna’s in this world and less Victoria’s Secrets.

Rhianna’s Savage Fenty lingerie runway show

Victoria’s Secret is so out of touch because they are a bunch of sexist, narrow-minded men sitting around a table making all the shots. Am tired, I am full of rage of been dictated by the soulless, sexist patriarchy. You know what I want, I want a seat at that table, with those dinosaurs selling women feelings of ‘not good enough’, so I can shake things up, change things for the better. And so can you, choose not to buy Victoria’s Secret, choose to have a voice, be an activist. Hustle and unite, put pressure on these big corporations via social media, and keep hustling until we have change.

Until I get there, I won’t stop. Female rage and all.