It might have a reputation as the birthplace of sexy lingerie, but even in France titillation is taking second place to comfort and practicality. 
 
The very word "lingerie" is a French export -- used from Japan to Holland to Brazil -- but France has been slow to adapt to a changing mood in the global industry which no longer treats expensive underwear primarily as a weapon of seduction. 
 
The shift has been noticeable in recent years in other Western countries, measured most notably in declining sales at Victoria's Secret, the US store that brought sexy lingerie to the mass market in the 1970s and then made billions worldwide by promoting images of impossible physical perfection.&nbsp; 
 
Judging by its typical billboards and shop windows, France held out longer than others, but could not ignore the change forever.&nbsp; 
 
"The priority is no longer seduction, it's no longer about attracting men's attention," said Pascale Renaud, who directed a short film to launch this year's French expo, Promincor-Lingerie.&nbsp; 
 
No photo-shopped sexualised models in her film -- instead it is women of all sizes and ages, exercising, dancing, meditating, riding motorbikes... essentially, being real people.&nbsp;

"Women are playing things differently these days... We see it in all the publicity," said Renaud.&nbsp; 
 
"Things that were seen as faults in the past -- a few extra kilos, lines, scars -- today, these are signs of individuality."&nbsp; 
 
The products featured at the expo were themselves signs of the changing mood.&nbsp; 
 
Empreinte's plus-size bras were pitched as something "to be forgotten once they are on", while another model in black lace was trailed as "sports chic", with the focus very much on assisting posture and distributing weight.&nbsp; 
 
Another with straps that can be crossed at the back was specially designed to cushion movements associated with boxing and horse riding.&nbsp; 
 
"Women complain that they can only find bras that either squash or bother them, or don't offer support. It has taken several years to get here," said its director Noemie Berthaux.&nbsp; 
 
- 'Inclusivity' - 
 
As with so much else, the pandemic has accelerated the trend.&nbsp; 
 
With many turning to yoga during the past year's lockdowns, the bra-and-leggings combo has become particularly popular. 
 
Ethical concerns as well as practical ones are driving the change.&nbsp; 
 
"After #MeToo, pictures of objectified women with large breasts and idealised bums are no longer acceptable," said Brigitte Chauchon, commercial director for Lejaby. 
 
"There's a strong demand now for inclusivity. We are moving away from this model of women with perfect measurements." 
 
That means au revoir to push-up bras in favour of practical shapes, ecologically-sourced materials and maximum comfort. 
 
Glamour still exists, but its meaning is being redefined. 
 
Flesh-coloured tones, once seen as dowdy and unflattering, are "now much more fashionable," said Stephanie Perele, a director at her family's brand, Simone Perele. 
 
"We're now having fun working with transparent designs, adding little details." 
 
"Underwear can be invisible, like a second skin, but still very sophisticated," added Chauchon. 
 
"It's about women who are pleasing themselves, comfortable in who they are, who have their own lives that are free from traditional demands."

It might have a reputation as the birthplace of sexy lingerie, but even in France titillation is taking second place to comfort and practicality. The very word "lingerie" is a French export -- used from Japan to Holland to Brazil -- but France has been slow to adapt to a changing mood in the global industry which no longer treats expensive underwear primarily as a weapon of seduction.

It might have a reputation as the birthplace of sexy lingerie, but even in France titillation is taking second place to comfort and practicality. The very word "lingerie" is a French export -- used from Japan to Holland to Brazil -- but France has been slow to adapt to a changing mood in the global industry which no longer treats expensive underwear primarily as a weapon of seduction. The shift has been noticeable in recent years in other Western countries, measured most notably in declining sales at Victoria's Secret, the US store that brought sexy lingerie to the mass market in the 1970s and then made billions worldwide by promoting images of impossible physical perfection. Judging by its typical billboards and shop windows, France held out longer than others, but could not ignore the change forever. "The priority is no longer seduction, it's no longer about attracting men's attention," said Pascale Renaud, who directed a short film to launch this year's French expo, Promincor-Lingerie. No photo-shopped sexualised models in her film -- instead it is women of all sizes and ages, exercising, dancing, meditating, riding motorbikes... essentially, being real people. "Women are playing things differently these days... We see it in all the publicity," said Renaud. "Things that were seen as faults in the past -- a few extra kilos, lines, scars -- today, these are signs of individuality." The products featured at the expo were themselves signs of the changing mood. Empreinte's plus-size bras were pitched as something "to be forgotten once they are on", while another model in black lace was trailed as "sports chic", with the focus very much on assisting posture and distributing weight. Another with straps that can be crossed at the back was specially designed to cushion movements associated with boxing and horse riding. "Women complain that they can only find bras that either squash or bother them, or don't offer support. It has taken several years to get here," said its director Noemie Berthaux. - 'Inclusivity' - As with so much else, the pandemic has accelerated the trend. With many turning to yoga during the past year's lockdowns, the bra-and-leggings combo has become particularly popular. Ethical concerns as well as practical ones are driving the change. "After #MeToo, pictures of objectified women with large breasts and idealised bums are no longer acceptable," said Brigitte Chauchon, commercial director for Lejaby. "There's a strong demand now for inclusivity. We are moving away from this model of women with perfect measurements." That means au revoir to push-up bras in favour of practical shapes, ecologically-sourced materials and maximum comfort. Glamour still exists, but its meaning is being redefined. Flesh-coloured tones, once seen as dowdy and unflattering, are "now much more fashionable," said Stephanie Perele, a director at her family's brand, Simone Perele. "We're now having fun working with transparent designs, adding little details." "Underwear can be invisible, like a second skin, but still very sophisticated," added Chauchon. "It's about women who are pleasing themselves, comfortable in who they are, who have their own lives that are free from traditional demands."

Even in France, lingerie shifts from sexy to comfortable

It rarely sees the light of day but the upscale bra is the most tested, sweated over and highly engineered piece of clothing of all.

AFP went behind the scenes at some of the most famous French lingerie houses to draw back the veil on the almost exclusively feminine world of bra making.

No other item of clothing provokes such fierce emotions.

Some swear by traditional bras, others prefer the structural minimalism of modern bralets and crop tops, while a growing feminist minority entirely reject what they see as a symbol of female oppression.

Designed these days using 3D modelling, bras made by most big French brands are sewn to the millimetre and samples are worn by testers before going on sale.

It takes up to two years from the first preparatory sketches for a new model to end up in the shops, according to their makers.&nbsp;

Prototypes are on average remade and altered around 40 times. The width of a pencil mark can often be the difference between two cup sizes, they say.

In the high-end family-owned Simone Perele lingerie house, new products are road tested by 80 of the bra makers themselves, said Stephanie Perele, the grand-daughter of the label's founder.

They wear them for three days, washing them every night to see how the materials hold up before making up to 10 adjustments in the lead up to the final test.

These multiple dry runs on real women explain why there is no such thing in Paris as a male "corsetier" working on commercial women's bras.

A women-only world 
And it is also why even the most sensitive male fashion designers have their work cut out reimaging a piece of notoriously intricate apparel that has between 20 and 30 parts.

The managing director of Aubade, Martina Brown, said that for its latest collaboration it asked the Dutch haute couture house Viktor &amp; Rolf to come up with 12 shades of its trademark fuchsia colour for a new range.

In the end Aubade went for their 13th suggestion, she told AFP.&nbsp;

"They had limitless ideas, some of which unfortunately weren't doable. We had to drop the frills and the bows on the bonnet -- but we did manage to get them into the embroidery. We also had to say no to their neoprene fabric, which was very cute but which scratches," German-born Brown added.&nbsp;

"Comfort is what it is all about now," said Alain de Rodellec, head of the French lingerie industry body, Promincor. It has organised a huge "Lingerie Rocks" show Sunday to mark the halfway point of Paris fashion fortnight.

"The bra is the first thing many women put on in the morning, and it is against the skin all day long," he noted.

Seduction is not a priority for most women. "Push-up bras are losing ground in favour of a more natural hold," Rodellec said.

More and more innovative bras are been made without underwiring, which can be a challenge for the "corsetieres" particularly when dealing with more ample bosoms.

However, only one in four women in France take a D cup or bigger, while more than half fit into a C.

A genius girl and girdles 
The world-famous French lingerie industry was launched in the 1820s. The corset soon became commonly worn by pretty much all women, regardless of their class.

But by the end of the 19th century, as more women took up sport and other leisure activities, their needs changed.

Francois Auguste Gamichon made the first big technological breakthrough with an elastic meshed bra made with a mix of materials including vulcanised rubber.

He and his nephew Paul-Maurice Kretz, who brought into his firm, Chantelle, in 1898, won gold medals for their patents at the world fairs in Paris, Milan and London.

But it was a woman, Herminie Cadolle, who in 1889 came up with the key idea of supporting the chest from above with shoulder straps.&nbsp;

Her company, Cadolle, is still a leading brand.

By the start of the 1930s, when dresses became thinner and more body-hugging, bras began to reflect women's natural proportions.

The golden age of French bra making followed World War II, with the dawn of Christian Dior's "New Look" in 1947.

New brands multiplied including Empreinte, Simone Perele, Lise Charmel and Aubade in 1958.&nbsp;

Competition was intense to invent models that neither compressed or nipped the breasts but gave women a dramatic profile.

The real revolution came when the US chemical giant DuPont invented Lycra the same year. This elastic fibre could be stretched to seven times its size before regaining its original form, and gave unmatched comfort.&nbsp;

With the feminist revolution of the late 1960s some women burned their bras in protest at the all-powerful patriarchy at the Miss America beauty pageant.

A new "no bra" movement took up the torch last year in the wake of the #MeToo revelations, although the vast majority of women would still rather not live without what for them is a functional fashion item. 
&nbsp;

It rarely sees the light of day but the upscale bra is the most tested, sweated over and highly engineered piece of clothing of all. AFP went behind the scenes at some of the most famous French lingerie houses to draw back the veil on the almost exclusively feminine world of bra making.

It rarely sees the light of day but the upscale bra is the most tested, sweated over and highly engineered piece of clothing of all. AFP went behind the scenes at some of the most famous French lingerie houses to draw back the veil on the almost exclusively feminine world of bra making. No other item of clothing provokes such fierce emotions. Some swear by traditional bras, others prefer the structural minimalism of modern bralets and crop tops, while a growing feminist minority entirely reject what they see as a symbol of female oppression. Designed these days using 3D modelling, bras made by most big French brands are sewn to the millimetre and samples are worn by testers before going on sale. It takes up to two years from the first preparatory sketches for a new model to end up in the shops, according to their makers. Prototypes are on average remade and altered around 40 times. The width of a pencil mark can often be the difference between two cup sizes, they say. In the high-end family-owned Simone Perele lingerie house, new products are road tested by 80 of the bra makers themselves, said Stephanie Perele, the grand-daughter of the label's founder. They wear them for three days, washing them every night to see how the materials hold up before making up to 10 adjustments in the lead up to the final test. These multiple dry runs on real women explain why there is no such thing in Paris as a male "corsetier" working on commercial women's bras. A women-only world And it is also why even the most sensitive male fashion designers have their work cut out reimaging a piece of notoriously intricate apparel that has between 20 and 30 parts. The managing director of Aubade, Martina Brown, said that for its latest collaboration it asked the Dutch haute couture house Viktor & Rolf to come up with 12 shades of its trademark fuchsia colour for a new range. In the end Aubade went for their 13th suggestion, she told AFP. "They had limitless ideas, some of which unfortunately weren't doable. We had to drop the frills and the bows on the bonnet -- but we did manage to get them into the embroidery. We also had to say no to their neoprene fabric, which was very cute but which scratches," German-born Brown added. "Comfort is what it is all about now," said Alain de Rodellec, head of the French lingerie industry body, Promincor. It has organised a huge "Lingerie Rocks" show Sunday to mark the halfway point of Paris fashion fortnight. "The bra is the first thing many women put on in the morning, and it is against the skin all day long," he noted. Seduction is not a priority for most women. "Push-up bras are losing ground in favour of a more natural hold," Rodellec said. More and more innovative bras are been made without underwiring, which can be a challenge for the "corsetieres" particularly when dealing with more ample bosoms. However, only one in four women in France take a D cup or bigger, while more than half fit into a C. A genius girl and girdles The world-famous French lingerie industry was launched in the 1820s. The corset soon became commonly worn by pretty much all women, regardless of their class. But by the end of the 19th century, as more women took up sport and other leisure activities, their needs changed. Francois Auguste Gamichon made the first big technological breakthrough with an elastic meshed bra made with a mix of materials including vulcanised rubber. He and his nephew Paul-Maurice Kretz, who brought into his firm, Chantelle, in 1898, won gold medals for their patents at the world fairs in Paris, Milan and London. But it was a woman, Herminie Cadolle, who in 1889 came up with the key idea of supporting the chest from above with shoulder straps. Her company, Cadolle, is still a leading brand. By the start of the 1930s, when dresses became thinner and more body-hugging, bras began to reflect women's natural proportions. The golden age of French bra making followed World War II, with the dawn of Christian Dior's "New Look" in 1947. New brands multiplied including Empreinte, Simone Perele, Lise Charmel and Aubade in 1958. Competition was intense to invent models that neither compressed or nipped the breasts but gave women a dramatic profile. The real revolution came when the US chemical giant DuPont invented Lycra the same year. This elastic fibre could be stretched to seven times its size before regaining its original form, and gave unmatched comfort. With the feminist revolution of the late 1960s some women burned their bras in protest at the all-powerful patriarchy at the Miss America beauty pageant. A new "no bra" movement took up the torch last year in the wake of the #MeToo revelations, although the vast majority of women would still rather not live without what for them is a functional fashion item.

The inside story of the bra

A city court of Everett in Washington ruled in favour of lingerie-clad servers in baristas, a popular coffee chain Monday.&nbsp;

A judge hearing to the plea said that they should be allowed to serve coffee wearing their desired clothing or lack thereof.&nbsp;

The baristas have been involved in an ongoing tussle with the city since the month of August when officials passed two ordinances barring them from serving steaming hot beverages while scantily-clad. A group of baristas sued the city, claiming the ordinances violated their constitutional rights.

US District Court Judge Marsha Pechman took the sides of the baristas and said&nbsp;that Everett&rsquo;s rules &ldquo;are a likely void for vagueness under the Fourteenth Amendment and the ordinances otherwise fail to provide clear guidance and raise risks of arbitrary enforcement.&rdquo;&#39;

The ordinances in question prohibited exposure of &ldquo;more than one-half of the part of the female breast located below the top of the areola&rdquo; and &ldquo;the genitals, anus, bottom one-half of the anal cleft, or any portion of the areola or nipple of the female breast.&rdquo;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
<div style="padding:8px;">
<div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;">
<div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;">&nbsp;</div>
</div>

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ9bG5Eh3ny/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Come get a pick me up in Arlington! I&#39;ll be here 12-7, come help me celebrate my birthday weekend ??????</a>

<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Candy Girls Espresso (@candygirlsespresso) on <time datetime="2017-10-07T20:11:38+00:00" style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;">Oct 7, 2017 at 1:11pm PDT</time>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

Finding references such as &ldquo;anal cleft&rdquo; to be not &ldquo;reasonably understandable,&rdquo; Pechman agreed that such ordinances violated the baristas&rsquo; right to free expression guaranteed by the First Amendment.

While putting the ban&nbsp;in place, the had blamed a &ldquo;proliferation of crimes of a sexual nature occurring at bikini barista stands&rdquo;.

It had further added in its complaint that they found evidence &ldquo;relating to the adverse impacts of the conduct of bikini barista stands&hellip; dressing in a manner that is closely and customarily associated with adult entertainment or adult situations.&rdquo;

Judge Pechman said it wasn&rsquo;t her responsibility to comment on taste or decorum, concluding that: &ldquo;While some customers view the bikinis as &#39;sexualized&#39; to others, they convey particularized values, beliefs, ideas and opinions; namely, body confidence and freedom of choice. Moreover, in certain scenarios, bikinis can convey the very type of political speech that lies at the core of the First Amendment.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The baristas went to court to appeal against ban citing 'First Amendment violations'

A city court of Everett in Washington ruled in favour of lingerie-clad servers in baristas, a popular coffee chain Monday. A judge hearing to the plea said that they should be allowed to serve coffee wearing their desired clothing or lack thereof. The baristas have been involved in an ongoing tussle with the city since the month of August when officials passed two ordinances barring them from serving steaming hot beverages while scantily-clad. A group of baristas sued the city, claiming the ordinances violated their constitutional rights. US District Court Judge Marsha Pechman took the sides of the baristas and said that Everett’s rules “are a likely void for vagueness under the Fourteenth Amendment and the ordinances otherwise fail to provide clear guidance and raise risks of arbitrary enforcement.”' The ordinances in question prohibited exposure of “more than one-half of the part of the female breast located below the top of the areola” and “the genitals, anus, bottom one-half of the anal cleft, or any portion of the areola or nipple of the female breast.” Come get a pick me up in Arlington! I'll be here 12-7, come help me celebrate my birthday weekend ?????? A post shared by Candy Girls Espresso (@candygirlsespresso) on Oct 7, 2017 at 1:11pm PDT × Finding references such as “anal cleft” to be not “reasonably understandable,” Pechman agreed that such ordinances violated the baristas’ right to free expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. While putting the ban in place, the had blamed a “proliferation of crimes of a sexual nature occurring at bikini barista stands”. It had further added in its complaint that they found evidence “relating to the adverse impacts of the conduct of bikini barista stands… dressing in a manner that is closely and customarily associated with adult entertainment or adult situations.” Judge Pechman said it wasn’t her responsibility to comment on taste or decorum, concluding that: “While some customers view the bikinis as 'sexualized' to others, they convey particularized values, beliefs, ideas and opinions; namely, body confidence and freedom of choice. Moreover, in certain scenarios, bikinis can convey the very type of political speech that lies at the core of the First Amendment.”

Washington judge rules in favour of 'bare-ristas', says yes for bikini coffee

lingerie

Lingerie, News on Lingerie, stories on Lingerie, articles on Lingerie, Lingerie stories at Wion, Lingerie news, Lingerie latest news