Agent Provocateur just wants to have fun

Last season, Agent Provocateur co-founder Joe Corré described the brand's aesthetic as "a superhero costume to wear under your clothes", and while he vaguely touched upon its idea of alternate personas last year with witch and pirate-themed lingerie, this fall we can really see what he means.

With a cult following and stores scattered all over the globe, it comes as no surprise that Agent Provocateur is one of the most popular designer lingerie brands in the world. For all their success, it's incredibly delightful to see them milk it the way they do in 2009/2010's introductory collection "The New World Order", each range actually the costume of a powerful superhero (i.e. Crystalina, shown at left) created for the AP universe. The photography is absolutely stunning-- by far the most impressive campaign I've seen them do yet-- and each "superhero" has her own video showing off her talents, not to mention her gorgeous lingerie. You wonder how much the campaign cost, but you know Corré doesn't care. He's having a blast, and "New World Order" shows it.

Check out the dazzling new collection here.

Shh! Party at Journelle!

If I were only in New York, I'd be all up on Journelle more frequently than dudes on a girl wearing their products. With their marked emphasis on quality products and customer comfort, Journelle is the creme de la creme of east coast lingerie retail. Those ladies definitely know how it's done, and when they get the community involved, they up their ante even further. What they've got planned this evening has my name written all over it:
But alas, my being thousands of miles away renders my attendance impossible (I like my language as fancy as my lingerie). If you're around, why not use this get-together as an excuse to buy yourself something and subsequently blame it on the (free) alcohol? Hell, it's better than buying it sober and getting in trouble for it. Summer sales, man.

Journelle, 3 E 17th St, 7-9 PM
RSVP@journelle.com (Quick, children! And buy me a present to thank me for filling you in!)

All the Real Girls

In what has so long been a culture busying itself on the necessity of physical perfection, especially that of a woman, it's so refreshing to come across gorgeous fashion that embraces real women. Such a phenomenon is visible in Studio City lingerie boutique Faire Frou Frou's recent photo shoot, which includes close friends of photographer Krista Mason. The following photos show women draped in some of the most high quality lingerie available-- women who are real, sexy and confident in their own skin, and Mason captures that beautifully.See the rest of the shoot here, then score the pieces you like at the Faire Frou Frou summer sale!

New Agent Provocateur bridal collection!

Fresh off of the romantic spring collection Pan and the Vestry of Virgins, Agent Provocateur has just released a brand new bridal collection entitled The Brides of Ulysses. It's certainly a fantastically demure collection and the promotion photos are wonderful. My favorite range is definitely the gorgeously retro Lois (pictured).
I do wonder: is this the fourth, "surprise" collection that Joe Corre described in the fall issue of Knickers Forever? As I have no plans of getting married soon, I hope not, but as a poolside collection dropped last year after the exciting "Let Them Eat Kate" bridal campaign, I doubt this is the last of AP before summer.

Holy AWESOME.

Oh. My God. Do you recognize this baby?The right answer is YES. YES OF COURSE YOU DO WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU.
I've been looking all over for answers as to how I could fill this black void in my soul and THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE SEARCHED FOR. It's by new-ish American brand Letters of Marque and I need it NOW, so I can start my reenactment of "Toxic 2, but better". How did I come upon this FANTASMIC discovery? Thanks to my new favorite website, Knickers, which is just... AMAZING. Go read it. Now. OMG, it has everything a lingerie aficionado could EVER want. Um, bargains? News? The experts to help you find ANY lingerie you see ANYWHERE (such as in this case)? It even has this super awesome quiz that tells you what kind of style lingerie you are. I'm a Flirt (totes accurate and cue R. Kelly)!

It's... it's just awesome. Go.
Go now.

New Agent Provocateur collection drops!

If there's anything that is guaranteed to catch my attention in terms of complete and total adoration, it is the following: Greek mythology and Agent Provocateur. WHAT DO YOU KNOW. Pan and the Vestry of Virgins collection, the 2008/09 range I've most anticipated, is out TODAY! Peep it with me and fall in love.I wasn't crazy for Angharad when I saw it first in last winter's "Lady of the Manor" collection, but this is GORGEOUS. White eyelet with peachy satin bows? Virginal indeed!Natalia is like Jesse from last year but WAY prettier. *Sigh*, this looks like wearing a violet underneath your clothes.

This is Nicola. I SWOON. Oh my God, that floral print? DIE. That red edging with the red stockings is just so painfully gorgeous. I NEED IT.

What are you waiting for? FREAK OUT here!

You're so wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully pretty!

I was looking at underwear on the Refinery 29 blog and OMG, I've fallen in love with a new brand called Wundervoll. Not the sexiest name, but oh, the brand itself is gorgeous. Seriously, look at that high-waisted beauty (which reminds me-- has anyone noticed that all of a sudden, high-waisted underwear is HUGE? I think I know why...)

It's simplistic, but totally sexy at the same time. It brings to mind if Helmut Lang did lingerie, which would be AWESOME.

All in all, Wundervoll is succeeding at making the basics sexy again. Best of all, they make cottony shirts and pants to wear over them for optimum couch potato-ing-- which I FULLY endorse. You'll look hot, no matter how many crumbs you have dangling off the little threads of your sweater.

Props to the homebodies.

Check out Wundervoll here, and buy it here if you can understand German. (I can't, and I'm okay with that.)

Huge La Perla sale next week!

You ladies know I'm allll about fancy lingerie. However, I've never been a chick who freaked out over La Perla-- they've just never really held my attention is all. Buuut they are having a massive sample sale (up to 75% off, ladies) on 5th Avenue starting Monday the 24th and ending that Friday. So if you're a La Perla kind of girl, I advise you head on down there and get something pretty and recession-friendly!

La Perla 5th Avenue: 260 5th Ave (between 28th and 29th), 9am-6pm

Happy shopping, darlings!

In other lingerie news, the amazing Journelle is going to be featured on Tim Gunn's Guide to Style tonight on Bravo at 10/9 C. I'm tuning in, how about you?

Spotted: Blair Waldorf wearing what I wanted for Christmas

Something about the bottom picture leaves me so full of envy that it should be criminal. Okay, whatever, Ed Westwick's hot, don't care-- this is something I prioritize way over man-candy.
As I was watching the preview for next week's Gossip Girl and did a bit of a double-take near the end. As the camera panned a scantily-clad Leighton Meester, I stopped for a moment and thought-- "OMFG, is she wearing last season Agent Provocateur?!"The picture doesn't show it well, but if I'm correct, that is indeed Winter 2007/2008's red Gangster set. Normally, I'm Team Waldorf, but no fair. Plus, way to disobey your own code-- in the back-to-school episode, Blair was seen ripping on a potential minion for wearing last-season Tory Burch. Isn't lingerie just as bad? Minus 1 for inconsistency!

*Sigh*. The bitchery is only a defense mechanism. I'm too jealous.

Journelle online boutique is finally open!

All right, so I'm sort of late on this-- but better late than never, eh?

Just when you thought there weren't enough fabulous online lingerie shopping resources, New York's Journelle, the secret object of my affection-from-afar, finally steps up and opens theirs. And, um, GAWD do the buyers here have some good taste: they've got Bela's Dead, Mimi Holliday, Myla, Made by Niki, even some Jimmyjane gear? An au-dessous aficionado's dream.

Check it out, and don't have too much fun! Buy me stuff plz, you knowz what I likesz k?

Agent Provocateur has more surprises for us!

I won't lie-- when I saw Agent Provocateur's much-hyped "Season of the Witch" collection, I was pretty unimpressed. If it wasn't AP, it might be better, but most of the pieces seemed inspired by ranges from past seasons-- except for the stunningly original sets Maschina (shown left) and Manuela. Even so, most of the designs seem like they would only really work in fall.

This is why I was hella excited to hear that Agent Provocateur has not the usual two, but THREE more collections for this year's campaign! Yes, Joe Corre has revealed this year's creative line-up in the latest issue of Knickers Forever, and it goes as the following:

• Season of the Witch, of course
  
• Pirate Provocateur
  
• Pan and the Vestry Virgins
  
• ...and the last one will be a secret!

I'm digging on it so much now. After hearing about them, it makes the theme of the season awesomely clear-- it's very much reminiscent of a giant fairytale-- starting with Grimm's, then pirate folklore and Greek mythology. Pan and the Vestry Virgins is one I'm really looking forward to! It seems like Corre's going to have a lot of fun with this season. "I think of Agent Provocateur lingerie as a superhero costume to wear under your clothes. At any moment you could rip your dress off and transform yourself," he says. Sounds like my kind of adventure!

Check out "Season of the Witch", starring Daisy Lowe, right here.

I'm Dead, I'm Dead, I'm Dead

Halloween is approaching fast, and if I had the dough, I'd want the real costume to be underneath my clothes. And what better for a lingerie nerd to wear on Halloween than the sickly sweet British brand Bela's Dead? Inspired by the darker arts, such as my favorite Humbert Nick Cave's classic Murder Ballads, the pieces bear typically less-pleasing imagery, such as rotting apples and some fancy dead guys hunting. In its short run, the brand has become instantly popular and frequently sells out at high-end lingerie boutique Glamorous Amorous. I'm dying for these sets here:Um, Rita Hayworth at the graveyard. Dig.#1: I want this slip. #2: I want this basque. I want it all. Please give.Rock this camisole with the matching French knickers and you're pretty much the coolest chick at the slumber party. Too bad it runs together as, ohai! $520!

When I heard about this brand, I was instantly enchanted. I'm all about rocking old-school goth and designer lingerie is obviously a huge obsession of mine, so Bela's Dead has definitely made it onto my shortlist. It's sexy, powerful and also a very interesting commentary on women's sexual power. Oh, and the art is RIDICULOUS. It's so intricate, it's unbelievable.

Girl, if I had the money, I'd be all up on this shit faster than a zombie on brains. Theming your similes is fun, BTW.

If you want it, you can get it here. And then you can give it to me. That's what friends do!

Kthnx! (Yep, couldn't pull off goth for long)

Y Lolita Hazed

Dita von Teese can teach you-- but she'll have to charge.

If there was any woman who's got some serious milkshake, it's burlesque icon Dita von Teese. The girl is FULLY committed to glamour and wants Earth to stop trying to deny it. After all, it's her thing. So why not share your goods with the world?

This fall, Von Teese is releasing a collection of seriously hot lingerie for Wonderbra like only she could do. After all, this woman knows classy underwear like nobody's business, so it's fantastic that she's now dropping her knowledge on us mere mortals.
Not exaggerating either-- the girl's kind of a goddess. If there was a church of Ditaism, I would, in a heartbeat, become a priestess of it. Von Teese is nothing if not a feminist icon. She prides herself on always looking her best and encourages women not to save their hottest looks for sex.

"I don’t believe that beautiful and sexy lingerie should be something a woman just puts on for her lover; I have always enjoyed lingerie as a way to add beauty and glamour to my everyday life, and having that little beauty secret with you on any given day is a wonderful way to seduce yourself… which is ultimately what a glamour girl’s best strategy in seducing others!"

And if anyone should know the confidence lingerie gives you, it's someone who wears it every day. And I follow her philosophy wholeheartedly.

I want to be just like this woman. What I would give to walk a mile in those Louboutins...

(Starting tomorrow, you can buy Dita's collection at asos.com! See her whole collection and more here.)

Fifi Chachnil for Topshop launches in a week!!

OMG really I love lingerie. Loooovvee. And to me, it is one of the two things (second being champagne, yumz) that must be quality if I'm going to spend money on it. Fifi Chachnil, whose sets I pined for in Faline Tokyo, is definitely quality. It's pretty much the lingerie to wear if your secret ambition is to look like a French pin-up girl, which is totally true for me. I mean, come on, they totally sell petticoats!This is why I'm totes ecstatic about her having a collection coming up at Topshop. In the midst of the sadness of the online lingerie sale, this is lovely, light, still quality and, for what it is, won't break the bank! Keep in mind that if $70 for a bra shocks you, full-price at Topshop is basically half-price at Agent Provocateur.

Mark your calendars! Fifi Chachnil hits Topshop on August 12th. If I was in a city with one, I'd be first in line. (*Sigh*, I'll find redemption someday...)

Temperature's Rising: Deborah Marquit

Let's admit it: no matter how much we want to deny it, lingerie has become so tasteless. Companies are trying so hard to be sexy that they've gone to ridiculous amounts to do so. Ouverts? Keyholes in the backs of briefs? Overdone patterns? No thank you! What we really need is lingerie that is simply done, but with an extra-shocking detail that isn't too out there.

Deborah Marquit, whose lingerie I swooned over in the Spring 2008 Missbehave, has done such a thing. Her lingerie is in classic shapes, but with crazy awesome extras: one set is in vinyl, another, the most popular, is fluorescent and glows in a blacklight. This is where Marquit's stuff really kills it. It comes several ravey colors, like pink and yellow (shown), orange, lime and purple.

The lace has this super vintage look, so you can end up looking like Marilyn Monroe and Barbarella's test tube baby. This stuff is shocking and grabs attention, when deep down it is just like classic lingerie you know and are comfortable with.

The fluorescent set comes in the bare necessities: underwire bras (shown at left), string bikinis, garter belts, thongs, strapless bras (shown at right), underwire demi-cup bras, bikini briefs (shown at right) and boy briefs (shown at left). No weird attempts at being overly shocking.

This stuff is unbelieveable. It's simple, but hella flashy in just the right way. I'm totes smitten.

Be forewarned! Cop it so you have something to really be proud of. Everyone knows it's what underneath that counts.

Find this set and more at deborahmarquit.com.