The most wonderful wedding dress won’t look perfect with ill-fitting and badly-matched bridal underwear.
Silk and satin underwear feel beautiful next to the skin and leave you feeling sensual all day and into the evening. They are also popular with bridegrooms as they are so tactile. Lace can show through very sheer clothing so it is important to bear that in mind if your outfit is thin and clinging.

Many brides like to wear a basque or bridal corset with suspenders holding up slinky white bridal stockings.

Other ladies prefer to wear separates of a bridal bra and panties.

Don’t forget that special outfit for your wedding night.

For more ideas, look at Bridal corsets and Bridal hosiery.

That mysterious place that transcends time and space; where satin, lace and frills abound and can turn a macho man into a wreck. You can’t put it off any longer, you want to buy the woman of your dreams some gorgeous frillies and you are only a mouse click away from a purchase.

Some men poke around in underwear sites to have a gander and see a gorgeous item of frippery. What size are you going to need?
Thud. That was the sound of your heavy heart. Help! It’s like being plunged into a foreign country without a phrasebook.

You need to understand a few basic principles. Actually walking into a shop won’t be any easier (in fact, it’ll be far more embarrassing all round) and the assistant won’t have a clue what size your girlfriend is.
“She’s your size. But thinner. What size are you?”
The chances of the shop assistant telling you her bra size are slim and it really won’t help you to make a purchase.

What can you do?
Firstly, peep into her underwear drawer. Bras have little labels inside near the clasp. The writing can fade, so check newer ones. If you find ones of different sizes, look at the ones you she has worn recently, as they’ll be the ones that fit properly now. There will be two parts to the size, a number and a letter, for example 38D. Watch out for some bras which may have metric measurements and never confuse centimetres with inches. Buying your beloved a size 80 inch chest is going to be a disaster…

…to be continued

Back to Satin Underwear for more browsing …

Women have been using special garments to support and keep their breasts tidy for at least four thousand years but there was a lot of development before we ended up with the satin bra. There are visual records of a special sort of corset from around 2500BC which enhanced the breasts of women from the ancient Minoan civilisation from Crete.

Two thousand years later, the Greeks wrapped the breasts in fabric called the “Apodesme” to prevent them from wobbling. The Romans borrowed many aspects of the earlier Greek culture, including the Apodesme which they dubbed the “Mamillare”. We can thank the Romans for their Latin words which eventually became used for things like mammary glands and even the names of mountains, like Mam Tor in Derbyshire which was so appelled because it was thought to look breast-shaped.

There was little real innovation for centuries. In mediaeval times, the breasts were of less interest than a slim waist. In the thirteenth century, one shop window advertised garments that “contain the larger one, supports the weak, gathers the floppy”.
Crikey.

In the next century in France, women were suppressed by a law which stated that “no woman will support the bust”. The suppression of women by men seems to be a common theme throughout history.

Another hundred years later, around 1550, the steel and whalebone corset became popular. Catherine de Médicis, the wife of King Henri II of France, banned “thick waists” from her court. The corsets of that time were very hard and cruel, leading to permanent deformation of the female ribcage.

By the time of the sixteenth century, however, women could begin to enhance their figures and for the first time, records have been found of women using handkerchiefs as ‘falsies’ to make their breasts look larger.
A century later, women wore washable panties for the first time. Men had been able to access them for centuries, yet women, with their greater need for proper nether garments to accommodate menstruation, didn’t have them. The term “drawers” was used for the first time now, so called because the garments were worn by being drawn (pulled) upwards.

Corsets continued to deform women’s ribs and internal organs until the invention of “combinations” in 1877. A French corset-maker called Herminie Cadolle then invented the “Bien-être” which meant ‘Well-Being’. For the first time, the breasts were supported from above instead of being pushed upwards by a stiff corset.

Sixteen years later, Marie Tucek invented the “Breast Supporter”. It was the nearest thing to a modern bra with separate cups called pockets, hook fastenings and shoulder straps.
In 1912, the term “brassiere” appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary for the first time. It comes from the French word for upper arm.

Mary Phelps Jacob of New York and her maid, Marie, grew tired of bulky corsets showing and being uncomfortable underneath sleek evening gowns. They produced an innovative backless bra from two handkerchiefs, ribbon and a length of cord. Her friends thought it was a fantastic idea and so she applied for a patent for it in 1914. She was probably not short of money and so sold the patent to a company called Warner Brothers Corset Company for just $1,500. Warner’s, who allegedly made over 15 million dollars over the next 30 years from the patent, still make bras today.

During the First World War, the War Industries Board in America asked women to stop buying steel corsets to save metal. Topical sources said that up to 28,000 tons of metal was saved – enough to build two battleships.
In the Roaring Twenties, the time of the Great Gatsby and flappers, being flat-chested was fashionable. We find it strange how a body type that is determined by genes can be in fashion or not…..In response to what was considered attractive, Warner’s produced a special bra which flattened breasts.

The famous Maidenform Company was formed in the 1920s. Its owners thought up the idea of different cup sizes for the first time which was developed further by Warner’s. Ten years later, brassiere was shortened to “bra”.

The 1930s movies helped to promote the “sweater-girl” look which used pointed bras and eventually underwired bras.
The Second World War again led to shortages in materials which led to nylon being developed for parachutes and synthetic fabrics were eventually also used for bras.
Fashion changes came thick and fast. The first bikini was introduced in 1946 in Paris. The strapless bra came into the lingerie headlines in the 1950s. The Hippy movement which began in the 1960s encouraged women to burn their bras. Since then, many innovations in fabrics and styles give modern women more choice than ever before, including satin underwear such as the satin bra and satin panties.

Satin is a delight to wear and would make any woman feel special and luxurious. Satin lingerie oozes charm and femininity and it almost flows over the body, clinging to every curve and accentuating feminine features. It is not surprising that satin underwear is one of the most common types to be available today due to its suppleness and the comfort it gives to the wearer. The feel of such a soft forgiving fabric next to the skin is quite a sensual experience and it will make every woman look and feel beautiful. Satin or silk is often the material of choice for women’s camisoles or slips as it provides a soft and silky layer between a woman’s soft and silky skin and the comparative roughness of her outer clothes.

Most manufacturers and designers have a satin collection within their range of garments as they understand the versatility of the fabric, and it’s not just women who can enjoy the luxury of this material. Satin underwear for men is available which can help a man feel comfortable through the day under his business suit, but also help him feel more exciting and sensual in the bedroom. Satin underwear for men is sophisticated and sensuous and available in a wide range of sexy and comfortable styles. One should always be careful though, as some versions of satin can be difficult to care for so always read the garment care labels. Some silk satins require careful hand-washing and ironing while still damp but good quality silk is often machine washable. Nowadays, satin fabrics can be made from many fibres including easy-care polyester.

In recent years some designers have begun to make satin lingerie items as outerwear – a term the French label dessous-dessous (and of course, lingerie itself is a French word meaning underwear for either gender). In the English language the word “lingerie” describes garments which may be erotic and are almost always visually appealing. Satin is ideal for this as the silky feel lends itself to feelings of luxury, sensuality and it is of course very sexy. If you want to make your partner feel special and loved, then satin underwear and lingerie make an ideal present. and of course, if you’re about to get married it makes ideal bridal underwear.

Find out more about the development of fine lingerie with the The satin bra – a history lesson.