Guest Post: Linda Krijthof

Trendy-Lingerie.com — I’ve got to get something off my chest — both as a woman and as the owner of a lingerie store. It’s about the news articles, complete with photographs, of Elizabeth Hurley dressed in a transparent sari that revealed she was not wearing a bra.

In the pictures her bare left breast clearly shows through the sheer material.

Elizabeth Hurley shows off (photo mirrored)

By now we’re all used to seeing artists and movie stars who to one degree or another flaunt their bras, panties, boobs, and more in public.

Mixed Feelings: From Shock to Jealousy

I have mixed feelings about this practice, and perhaps you do as well. What I think and feel when I see women expose their lingerie or themselves ranges anywhere from shock to delight, and from bewilderment to jealousy.

Face it: I’m old enough to have caught the tail end of last century’s hippie revolution. Love, Peace, Casual Nudity and Free Sex were fascinating concepts I was aching to explore, were it not that I was still under the care of a fine set of rather strict parents.

Certain things were just ‘not done,’ my mother assured me, and I clearly remember how hard I had to fight for the right to wear short skirts. Every outing was preceded by a lengthy approval process which included a near-sermon by my overly concerned father.

Were they alive today they would be horrified by such trends as exiting a car in an unlady-like fashion giving photographers the opportunity to document whether or not you forget your panties.

So part of me still has that built-in and drilled-in belief that, as my mother put it, “young ladies do not reveal their underwear,” and “certainly do not allow their private parts to be seen or touched until the evening of their wedding day.”

I must admit that from the very first time I heard those exhortations they fired my imagination — initially filling my mind with horror, but as I got older more often than not with strange desires and exciting thoughts.

I well remember the moment when I changed from a fairly conservative girl into a rebellious young women determined to pursue her new-found sensuality. Not all at once, of course, but with hindsight I can clearly point to an event that became the watershed in this process.

It was the day when I caught a boy I liked peeking down my blouse.

He wouldn’t have seen much of anything save for a sensible bra that fully enclosed my ‘treasures’ (mom’s terminology at its most daring). But instead of horror or anger, that quick peek gave me something else: a heady mixture of pride, power, sensuality and excitement so delightful that I knew I had to have more of it.

Discovering and Developing Your Sensuality

As I grew up I went through various stages: from some extended flirts with exhibitionism to the more socially-acceptable pursuit of a career in fashion management.

Motivated by my deep love for sensuality I was determined to open my own lingerie store, and eventually did just that.

The store is doing extremely well, and I have no need to ‘market’ it here by mentioning the name. What I will say is that my approach to lingerie is that of a woman who to this day likes to combine the practical with the sensual.

In this case that means my store sells lingerie that works well at what it is supposed to do. High-quality bras, for instance, made of good material and designed in such a way that they provide the maximum in support.

At the same time my mission is life is to help women discover and develop their sensuality. My store does not carry foundation ware — plain and sturdy underwear in designs your grandmother would have recognized.

Instead I sell bras, panties, corsets, camisoles, and so on of exquisite beauty and quality. It is lingerie that is meant to make the women who wear it like the most beautiful creatures on earth.

It is not unusual for a customer at my store to spend upwards of $500 on just one bra and panties set.

And each of those sets comes with my personal exhortation to show it off — whether to your husband in the privacy of your own bedroom, the backseat of a taxi cab your share with a friend, or, yes, to the sales clerk at your favorite shoe store.

Sensuality and lingerie go hand in hand.

Jealous

You see, my mixed reaction to Elizabeth Hurley’s decision to expose her breast comes not from being a fuddy-duddy. On the one hand I think, “Good for her!” I’m delighted to see a nice breast displayed in such a sensual fashion.

On the other hand I am shocked and bewildered. Bewildered as to why she displays herself in such a public fashion. I prefer a somewhat more subtle approach as opposed to situations that feel like staged publicity events. The frequency in which these kind of photo opportunities are scheduled(?) shock me.

And before you ask, as someone who makes a living selling lingerie I’d rather see here or anyone else show off an exquisite bra or well-crafted corset. In that regard I am well-pleased with the underwear as outerwear trend — just as I am very happy with the Marilyn Monroe lingerie and bullet bra trends.

Having said all that I am also jealous. There she is, 44 years old, showing off a fantastic body in a very sensual manner — with her nearly bare breast for all the world to see. I love to be looked at like that

Then again the way celebrities like Ms. Hurley go about it, the whole event comes of as a routine exercise devoid of any titillation. That kind of approach lacks the subtlety that makes showing something, be it lingerie or a part of the body that supposed to be covered by it, a sensual rather than a banal experience.

What do you think?
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Linda Krijthof owns a highly popular lingerie store somewhere in the Netherlands. She submitted this guest comment for publication.