Lingerie shopping can be expensive for the discerning female; a man in a lingerie store is an entirely different category. Usually, he’s uncomfortable enough to buy whatever the salesclerks are suggesting; another strong possibility is that he’s buying everything in sight because each piece is so small, without paying any regard to what his wife or girlfriend might like or what might look nice on her body type. For most men, the lingerie selecting process is one of taste: theirs…and, let’s be honest here, what kind of lingerie does a man NOT like?!
A woman is unlikely to buy Christmas lingerie for a few reasons: 1) because it has a very short season and 2) because lingerie doesn’t generally have holiday themes, except of course Valentine’s Day. Perhaps her husband or boyfriend has expressed an interest in Mrs. Claus, but in that case, the desired costume will be a Rockette’s Christmas Spectacular red velvet coat. This garment is, of course, special and not to be worn at any old time, but it is far from a lingerie special spotlighting a red velvet thong lined with white fur.
Christmas lingerie must be more beautiful than that in order to sell itself. How to be beautiful and sexy without looking like a cheap holiday tie? Well, a bra with tiny pine trees is out, as is one with tiny gingerbread men. Cute is cute, and beautiful is beautiful. Christmas lingerie, like any other lingerie, can be cute, but it has to be beautiful if it’s going to appeal to a large enough number of consumers to make mass-production worthwhile.
Imagine a white nightgown and matching robe designed to flow like snowflakes softly to the ground. Made of silk and adorned with glittering threads (not sequins, but those glittering thread filaments that are popping up all over the fashion industry) that are stitched in a flowing pattern. The pattern should be indistinguishable as a ‘thing’. It should not be embroidered in the shape of snowflakes or of snowmen or of snowballs. Really, it shouldn’t. It should simply enhance the flowing line of the silk in everyday lighting, and in dimmed lighting, it should catch the soft light and reflect it back to the eye of the beholder. With Christmas lingerie, as with all beautiful lingerie, iconic is out, and suggestion is in.
Upon seeing the aforementioned silk nightgown and robe, some might have snow come to mind. Others might see ice cream or milk. Still others might imagine a white cat. It is not important that the lingerie impress the same idea on every person who sees it; rather, it is important that it appeal to a vast majority of the people who see it. For this reason, Christmas lingerie should go for ideas, not for icons.
The other beautiful thing about this kind of a conception of Christmas lingerie is that it is not limited to Christmas. It might be originally conceived as Christmas lingerie, or be inspired by Christmas themes, but that does not necessarily mean that it will only be appropriate for two nights out of the year. In some cases, the beautiful lingerie that I described above could be worn all winter, or if the fabrics are right, all-year round. Now that’s smart lingerie!