CONFESSION.
Whilst most women were eschewing their bras during lockdown I was buying them.👀 .
I love lingerie. I love lace. I love how I feel in pretty bras and matching underwear. I love the sensuous secret I wear beneath my clothing. I wear them for me. .
It wasn't always this way. I have spent a fuvkton of money on lingerie intended for someone elses gaze. I have memories of a desperate trawl around Victorias Secret in 2005 on a wonderful girls trip to Atlanta. Trying to find something to spice up my flailing relationship. I wasn't the problem but I didn't know that. Then. .
I go back and forth about the reasons why I like these, not always comfortable, contraptions. And I'm fully cognisant of the patriarchys heavy hand in my learning. Maybe it's also generational. Functional Playtex bras figure prominently in memories of my mum when I was growing. Perhaps it's that.
One of my favourite ways to wear your happy is to place lace or silk next to my skin. Lockdown could have been a mental health nightmare had I not chosen to dress for work every day (bar Sunday. Because Sunday). Menopausal body changes mean that I get refitted every few years. I have such fond memories of the impeccable, nay almost spiritual, experience I received at Rigby and Peller in Conduit Street, Mayfair, a few years back. It was my 2nd visit. I walked in one afternoon with my youngest daughter in tow. We were doing research for a (unpublished) blog post on bra fitting. Three women greeted us. Black fitting specialists. THREE. We grinned back. One exclaimed as she put her coat on 'No! I'm going on my lunch break! I want to stay!" Man I'm smiling at this memory. I'm not going to explain further. If you know you know. .
Back to lingerie. I believe that greying, old, crappy underwear makes you feel the same way. I deserve better. I'm worth it. And so are you. . I often receive messages from women wishing they had the confidence to wear their happy. Its a gradual process. Start with one little change. Trust me. It'll grow. .
So. Bras and lockdown. Am I alone?