by Ali Cudby
It’s my favorite time of year…fashion, glamour, and a little insight into what dresses capture the fancy of celebrities. To be sure, I’m no fashionista – my expertise is focused on what’s under those gorgeous gowns.
When women know they’re going to walk the red carpet, you’d think they would have their foundations in order.
I’m always fascinated when that’s not the case. So here you go – my annual assessment of the boob-boos at this year’s Golden Globes.
All Photos Courtesy of Huffington Post’s Golden Globes red carpet coverage.
Rosario Dawson: When you are busty, as she is, a high neckline and clean expanse over the chest can make breasts appear larger and, in this case, smooshed. (Yes, that’s the technical term.) A different bra would have helped – something that angled her a bit higher and more projected.
This seems to mostly be a matter of the wrong dress for the body.
Sally Field: The dress is flattering, but oh my, that’s a low-cut number for a woman of a certain age. I didn’t like it…I really didn’t like it. The same overall effect could have been achieved with fewer inches of exposed bosom.
Mayim Bialik: What you can’t see so much in this photo is that the bodice of the dress cut into her underarm, producing a dreaded flab flub. In any other circumstance this would be a normal byproduct of a real woman’s body…on the red carpet it’s an avoidable stylist error. A woman should be dressed to her best advantage, and this dress didn’t do that for this stunning young woman.
Sarah Hyland: Her personality is so charming and I adore seeing her on the red carpet. I presume she wants to make it clear that she’s not the teenager she plays on Modern Family, but the extent to which her girls are pushed up ends up being distracting.
Katharine McPhee: Lest you think I’m opposed to showing some skin, I include this photo as an example of how to do risky right. This dress is daring and fabulous – kudos!
Jessica Alba is so stunning (and OMG that necklace!) but her bodice is unfortunate. There is no need for lumpy cups. Her stylist should hang their head in shame.
Claire Danes: Another example of curves done right. Can you believe this woman had a baby a month ago?!?
Jennifer Lawrence usually has an impeccable sense of style, and there was a lot about this dress that was right…except the draping at the breasts. 
In this picture by John Shearer from The Merced Sun-Star it’s more obvious. The detail over the bodice gave a drooping look to an otherwise amazing dress. Plus, who can resist a girl who manages such an effortless and audacious acceptance speech!
Ali Cudby is the author of the book Busted! The Fab Foundations™ Guide to Bras That Fit, Flatter and Feel Fantastic (December 2011), and CEO of Fab Foundations™, an intimate apparel consulting company.
Ali can be found on Twitter@alicudby, and you can be a fan of the Ali Cudby’s page on Facebook. To learn more about bras that fit,download a free chapter of Busted!
Category Archives: Fab Foundations
Fab Foundations: LINGERIE FOR THE HOLIDAYS – HELP YOUR CUSTOMER FIND THEIR BLISS
by Ali Cudby
Holiday gifts are fun at any age. Giving lingerie is a double whammy of fun – your lover gets to unwrap the gift, and then you get to unwrap HER when she wears your offering. At the same time, selling lingerie to men is often a different experience than selling to women.
Buyers are — for the most part — purchasing some aspect of a fantasy they envision for the special person in their life (whether the purchasers and receivers are men or women…lots of different people like lingerie and we are all-inclusive). What’s important for a retailer is asking the right questions, so that you’re steering your buyer to the aspect of fantasy your purchasers want most.
EVERY DAY SEXY:
50 Shades of Grey has been a boon to the lingerie market, and has inspired many folks to experiment (in and out of bed). Leia Lingerie, a UK-based retailer, recently reported an 82% increase in basque sales year-on-year and an almost 100% increase in sales of suspender belts as a result of the 50 Shadesphenomenon. Perhaps your customer is seeking something titillating that can be worn every day (or maybe just on date night) – but that is ultimately designed to leave the house.
Adding a basque, waist cincher and/or suspenders is one way to add these elements to a lingerie drawer. The new Chantelle Paris-Paris collection is a luxurious way to bring sexy to every day lingerie.
http://www.chantelle.com/us_en/collection/paris-paris.html
STAY-AT-HOME SEXY
Sometimes sexy is intended to stay in, rather than go out, and understanding those small but significant differences will help guide your customers to the mood they are trying to set with their gift giving. Sexy sleepwear is a great suggestion, particularly when there’s some question about the recipient’s size, since dazzlers like this Chemise from Shirley of Hollywood are often more forgiving on curves.
FETISH
Perhaps your customer looking to sprinkle a little bondage and/or fetish wear into a lingerie wardrobe. Of course, there are grades of “fet-wear” and understanding what a customer wants is key – it all comes down to asking the right questions and making it easy for them to share what they want. It’s easy for lingerie professionals to get blasé about fet-wear…so remembering that many buyers find it difficult to admit their desires (or even define them) can make for a more relaxed buying experience. Someone who is looking to dabble might be an ideal candidate for Coquette’s new Spellbound Collection.
These beautifully rich, luxurious and demure looking corsets have been designed with a light bondage twist that incorporates the company’s exquisite corsetry with a subtle hint of fetish.
Spellbound consists of three pieces that use a ribbon belt for discreet dual purpose. Whether you are looking for a regular ribbon and bow or want to take it to the next playful level, the ribbons add a nice touch to the lingerie.
COSTUME:
Sometimes, it’s fun to BE the gift under the tree. When your customer mood turns to play, costumes can be an ideal direction. From schoolgirl to a sexy holiday sprite, understanding the role your customer wants to play is key. This costume from Delicate Illusions says it will be a Merry Christmas, indeed!
Whatever your customer chooses, it all comes down to how their gift makes them – and their lover – feel. When buyers feel good, they often buy more. Providing a supportive and positive environment can boost both your customers’ confidence – and your bottom line.
Ali Cudby is the author of the book Busted! The Fab Foundations™ Guide to Bras That Fit, Flatter and Feel Fantastic (December 2011), and CEO of Fab Foundations™, an intimate apparel consulting company.
Ali can be found on Twitter@alicudby, and you can be a fan of the Ali Cudby’s page on Facebook. To learn more about bras that fit,download a free chapter of Busted!
Four Ways to Improve Your Lingerie Blog
by Holly Jackson
Everyone knows they should have a blog, but not everyone knows how to maximize the time and effort that goes into maintaining one. Blogs can be incredibly powerful marketing tools in the lingerie industry since we’re all so photo driven, but they can also be a massive time suck if you don’t have a plan and some hard goals in place.
Luckily, there are some easy ways to make the most out of your blog that won’t eat up all of your free time. I generally recommend implementing each of these suggestions one at a time so you can track your metrics and figure out what works best for you and your audience. All you need to do this is Google Analytics and a little free time.
1. Don’t expect sales right away.
Blogs can do a lot for your business, including driving lots of traffic to your online or brick and mortar boutique. Unfortunately it takes a certain number of visitors per month to make those statistics work in your favor and that number is pretty high. If you’re just starting out focus on things like traffic volume and the time that people spend on your site. Increasing those two metrics will get you much closer to lots of sales than embedding ten purchase links into every blog that you write.
2. Don’t worry too much about bounce rates.
Everyone knows that bounce rates are supposed to be low, but lots of people don’t realize that low is relative. Many very successful blogs have bounce rates that range between 60-70% percent and do just fine. Focus on other metrics like time on site and unique visitor numbers to give you a more accurate picture of how your blog is doing.
3. Networking has many forms.
Networking can be beneficial to your blog, but asking people to read it or to like you on Facebook isn’t the way to go about it. There are lots of diverse ways to stealthily network and provide real information to your readers at the same time. You can post interviews or profiles of new designers, or even post some of your favorite pieces that show a trend or a theme with links back to where you found them. All of these things will encourage other people to promote you and to read your blog, and you haven’t had to beg anyone for a thing.
4. Use your sidebar.
If you have a well designed blog, it’s usually easier to sell off your sidebar than within a post. Make sure that you’re using it to showcase your newest products or your bestselling pieces. These can all be linkable, and people are much more likely to click on them as they read that way.
Holly Jackson owns The Full Figured Chest Copywriting, and specializes in lingerie writing and online content creation for lingerie companies. Her work can be found on lingerie boutique websites across the world as well as in national level campaigns. She currently writes six regular lingerie and marketing columns, and is a regular contributor to The Lingerie Addict and The Lingerie Journal as well as
McPeteSez. In 2011, The Lingerie Journal named her their number one copywriter in the lingerie industry.
Holly can be found tweeting @thefullfigurechest, here on Facebook, and reviewing the newest full-busted lingerie at her blog, www.thefullfiguredchest.com. Her list of copywriting services can be found here.
Fab Foundations: The New Age of Shapewear
by Ali Cudby
Do you remember watching the shapewear scene from Bridget Jones’ Diary? You know the one…our intrepid heroine brings home her sexy-yet-skanky boss, only to realize that she’s wearing unattractive control bottoms beneath her clothes. For any woman inclined to help manage her curves for a night on the town, it was an unsettling reminder of the realities of the undergarment selections of the day.
Thankfully, the new age of shapewear is upon us, and today women have the option to enjoy the benefits of supportive foundations and feel gorgeous – simultaneously. From looks to technology, we are no longer relegated to our mother’s girdles or Bridget Jones’ granny panties.
One trend getting increasing play from lingerie manufacturers is having shapewear that matches the lingerie collections, creating both a coordinated ensemble and a sexy line beneath clothing.
Prima Donna Twist is one brand that has introduced such lines. The Tresor collection pairs a midnight blue bra and all the benefits of Prima Donna’s renowned fit excellence with a high waisted shaper that slims the middle and creates a smooth line at the bottom. The look is boudoir-worthy while also possessing shaping benefits.
Bali’s forthcoming Lace’N Smooth collection will be available this summer. This new addition to their shapewear line features 360 degrees of stretch lace. The fabric offers firm control but doesn’t show under clothes. One particularly interesting piece is the Slim Couture Flip-Top Tank, which is reversible, and can be worn as either a lace-front or solid tank.
Other brands that feature the improved look of shapewear include Bethanny Frankel’s Skinnygirl and the upcoming relaunch of the classic brand Scandale. Both brands may be designed primarily as underwear, but are pretty enough to pass for outerwear.
Bethanny Frankel models her Skinnygirl shaper, worn
here as outerwear.
When it comes to today’s shapewear, it’s not just about good looks – the garments also getting smarter, as the technology going into fabrics and manufacturing processes are becoming more sophisticated.
Wacoal’s cellulite-busting iPant is constructed of nylon microfibers that are embedded with microcapsules containing caffeine to promote fat destruction; vitamin E to prevent the effects of aging; ceramides to restore and maintain the skin’s smoothness; and retinol and aloe vera to moisturize and increase the firmness of the skin.
The iPant is designed to release these beneficial ingredients into the skin while a woman moves throughout the day.
Similarly innovative, Body Wrap® shapewear involves seamless engineering of garments using advanced circular knit technology. This technology allows different knitting constructions, from high compression to high breathability zones, to be knit seamlessly within one garment, eliminating side seams and chafing points. Through seamless engineering, the company can determine the level of volume, control, compression, support and comfort that is needed in targeted zones.
Body Wrap® is being offered in an increasing range of colors and styles, for even more options under clothes.
Smart, good looking, and modern sounds like a better choice all around…sort of like Colin Firth’s Darcy in the Bridget Jones movies.Ali Cudby is the author of the book Busted! The Fab Foundations™ Guide to Bras That Fit, Flatter and Feel Fantastic (December 2011), and CEO of Fab Foundations™, an intimate apparel consulting company.
Ali can be found on Twitter@alicudby, and you can be a fan of the Ali Cudby’s page on Facebook. To learn more about bras that fit,download a free chapter of Busted!