blogleaves

Double duty

It's finally cold in New York - the kind of cold that makes your skin dry and your hair full of static. Luckily, there's the new Skinsations collection from Cuddl Duds. As seen on the Today Show, this loungewear contains tiny microbeads of aloe, which moisturize and nourish your skin while you wear it. Stay warm, stay moisturized - problem solved.

Sienna's big knickers

Ever since big knickers appeared as outerwear on the spring/summer catwalks we've been laying bets on which daffy celeb would be the first to step out in this frankly rather odd look.

So it was a little worrying to find these snaps of Sienna Miller at the NY premiere for Factory Girl - given that most of us spent 2005 in peasant skirts and ponchos thanks to her famous boho chic, it's not impossible that this will catch on.

We say: very nice that big knickers are back in fashion - just don't forget your skirt, OK?

Below are a couple of our favourites, from Charnos (left) and Ballet.

Sienna image: Rex

Pink pants, Sienna's knickers and a dolphin in Speedos

Lots of swim and underwear news today:

• Try not to get locked up in this Arizona jail if pink underwear is not your thing (via The Daily Sentinel).
• Marine researchers in Florida save Scrappy the dolphin from death by Speedos, reports the St Petersburg Times.
• Dame Kiri Te Kanawa does not wish to be pelted with undies, says the Mercury News. Wise woman.
• If it's good enough for the Pope's altar cloth, it will certainly make a nice G-string. But not everyone in the Polish village of Koniakow is impressed with their lace makers' new product range, says the BBC.
• And if it's good enough for Sienna, it's good enough for us. Sienna Miller scored $300 of Le Mystere knickers at Sundance, according to The Observer. Click here for our Le Mystere selection.

Lighten up

Just in time for Valentine's Day, a company called Enlighted has come out with light-up bras. These bras are powered by a 9V battery and contain up to 10 light-emitting diodes (LEDs). As they state on their website, "Light-up bras make a popular addition to any outfit and will definitely bring you attention."

Attention, indeed. While they do call to mind a childhood favorite of mine, the Lite Brite, I'm going to take a pass on this one and stick with more traditional Valentine's lingerie this year.

   

Katie's in control

Matrix/Starface

Celebs - they're just like the rest of us, even in these size 00 times. Here's Katie Holmes at the Armani couture show in Paris and, yes, that is the bottom of her control pants you can see just under her hand. Always cheering to see an A-lister having a 'real woman' moment, n'est-ce pas?

If, like Katie, you need a helping hand occasionally, find our control knickers here.

PS. If, on the other hand, you are already the proud owner of some celeb-style control pants and want to tell the world about how great (or not) they are, now's your chance - product reviews have arrived at figleaves.com so please do stop by and share your thoughts.

Wedding Bells

How lovely is this page from Town + Country Weddings featuring all things lace? Plus, much to our delight, there's the Flirt set by Passionata - how very bridal trousseau.

   

Celeb Bikini Clinic

Thanks to Sky Showbiz for alerting us to this year's most peculiar bikini celeb spot - Uma Thurman sporting the kind of high-waisted bottoms that have not been seen since Hollywood abandoned its strict no-navel policy. Click here to have a look.

The lovely Uma has nothing to be self-conscious about (we say: roll down that waistband) but if you, like Uma, are looking for a little tummy-coverage on the beach we'd recommend a tankini or a cutaway swimsuit over the maxi-pant option.

Chantelle in Easy Living

Little wonder that we all pounced on the February issue of Easy Living magazine, since it devoted a whopping 18 pages to our favourite subject - underwear. This lovely half cup bra by Chantelle was given a whole page to itself.

Monochrome Set

Bored of the sales? Me too. We have some big spring/summer lingerie trends on the way, but in the meantime here's the first of this season's mini-trends.

Sure, black and white always looks chic but, thanks to catwalk endorsements from the likes of Chanel, Luella, Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren, it happens to be looking particularly good for 2007.

Allumette (left) and Princesse Tam-Tam (right) are the first lingerie houses off the mark. Go buy it.

Mystery knickers and Johnny Fartpants

Lots of underwear-related news today:

• It's the famous Viz cartoon strip come to life: American company has invented a pair of pants designed to "trap the smell of farts", reports All Headline News.
• Movie director Paul Verhoeven still has the knickers that Sharon Stone famously didn't wear in Basic Instinct, says The Sun.
• The plot thickens in Wiltshire - who is behind the mysterious knickers that have been appearing on gravestones and road signs in the village of Purton since November? (via the BBC).
• So there were no goody bags at The Golden Globes this year, but celebrities at Sundance have been scooping up the swag. Teri Hatcher for one has been stocking up on underwear.

Beer vs. push-up bras

That might sound odd for a headline, but Fox News reports that a beer called Boza has breast-enhancing properties. (I half wonder if they are referring to some type of misplaced beer gut.) Supposedly men are going in droves to Bulgaria to pick up this brew for their wives and girlfriends now that the EU has lifted customs duties on the drink.

That's not all, though. Wikipedia has loads of other fun facts about Boza:

• In Turkey Boza is served with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas.
• The Ottoman Empire was known to feed its army with Boza as it is rich in carbohydrates and vitamins.
• In Bulgaria it is part of the traditional "Banitsa with Boza" breakfast.
• In Albania it is mostly produced and sold in the northern part; you can easily find it in the candy and ice-creams stores of the capital, Tirana.

As the ingredient behind the bust enhancement is unknown, I say stick with push-up bras if you're looking for some added oomph and leave the beer for football games and breakfast.

Made in Syria

In today's global lingerie news:

• Forget France, Italy and even China - chances are, you are unwittingly going about your business in underwear made in Syria, reports Time magazine. Who knew?
• And the subtle-as-a-brick award for Valentines advertising goes to Lovable lingerie, whose billboard features former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins clad in a red lacy bra and chewing on a stuffed rhino. "Horny?" asks the billboard. Not really, since you ask. Anyway, you won't be seeing it at Auckland International Airport, reports stuff.co.nz.
• You're a lazy lot, aren't you? Our recent UK figleaves.com home page asked, "Are you a saint or a sinner?" and guess what? Yep, twice as many of you clicked on the "sinner" image (cheating with shapewear) as the "saint" (a sports bra for the gym).

Buy this woman a bra

Action Images/WireImage.com

In the 'ouch' corner today, here's Austrian tennis player Tamira Paszek snapped during her second round match (which she lost, by the way) at the Australian Open. How uncomfortable?

Clearly Anna Kournikova's famous message ("Only the ball should bounce") has been forgotten. Never mind; now that she's out of the competition, maybe Tamira would like to browse our sports bras - rude not to, really, when we're offering two for £50 in our USA PRO promotion.

Best left to the experts

Bikini design - not so easy, is it? Or so reality TV contestants on both sides of the pond have been learning to their cost this week. Click here to see Project Catwalk's sorry efforts (Tymoor's lemon yellow concoction was bad enough to see him booted off the show, despite fellow contestant Monika's reinterpretation of the bikini as, er, a one-piece).

Meanwhile, was America ready for tight pink Speedo-style swimwear? Not according to Donald Trump, who fired Carey from The Apprentice (now in season 6!) for his out-there creation, reports buddytv.

Biel in a bikini

Okay, so we can't exactly tell you how to get a body like hers, but we can tell you where to find this fab bikini, as seen in Us Weekly. Jessica Biel is wearing the Juta by Vix, which just hit our US site. It will be on the UK site in the next few weeks, so we'll be sure to update you once it's available on the other side of the pond.

JT's underwear of choice

He brought sexy back, but do you know what actually covers his sexy back? As People Magazine reports, Justin Timberlake is a fan of the new Soy range from 2(x)ist - a collection of men's underwear made from soy bean fiber.

The new Soy collection is kind of like the Swiss Army knife of men's underwear; it does a little bit of everything. Soy is a renewable substance, and this unique fabric contains 18 different types of active amino acids as well as moisture-wicking properties. It also protects against UV light, ecoli, staph infection, and yeast.

I've seen and felt the samples, and the fabric is super soft - kind of makes me wish I had some Soy tees of my own. For now it's only available on the US site.

Now that we know what he wears underneath, we'll get to work trying to figure out who he's dating...

Best supporting lingerie

Oh joy - now that the Golden Globes have officially kicked off the awards season, we're looking forward to spending the next month poring over all those red carpet images (and nailing our Joan Rivers impersonations in time for the Oscars).

So what can we glean from the Globes? Well, white is looking hot - as seen on Teri Hatcher, Cameron Diaz, Heidi Klum, Salma Hayek, Kate Winslet and Drew Barrymore.

But the big story as far as your underwear drawer is concerned is the strapless dress. Best of the bunch was Reese Witherspoon's neon yellow number, but Heidi Klum (again), Kate Winslet (again), Angelina Jolie, Naomi Watts, Jada Pinkett Smith, Rachel Weisz and Mary J Blige also bared their shoulders for the cause.

Here, then, are three of our favourite looks - and, of course, what to wear underneath.

Please, please, can I look like Helen Mirren when I grow up? The deserving double winner of two Best Actress gongs, she looked typically wonderful in this deep plunge frock.

If you fancy having a Helen moment, here's a selection of plunge bras to wear underneath in the UK; in the US.

Ooh look - Ugly Betty is not remotely ugly after all.

Here's America Ferrera flying the flag for the super-flattering square neckline - just the thing to enhance your cleavage. Our recommendation? A balconette bra. Balconettes in the UK; in the US.

If you want to know how to do strapless, ask an A-lister - Reese Witherspoon shows us how to work it in a punchy yellow knee length number that's light years away from the usual red carpet cliche.

Strapless is a huuuuuge trend for spring/summer, so a strapless bra is well worth the investment, we reckon. Find one in the UK; in the US.

All images: Rex

Set the budgie free

How's that for a headline? We couldn't resist nicking it from Australian paper The Age, which reports that this season's swimwear for men is "all about celebrating the male form".

Inspired, predictably enough, by Daniel Craig's blue La Perla shorts in Casino Royale, fitted trunks are the way to go this summer - so look out for fitted trunks by Calvin Klein, Boss Black and Bruno Banani hitting the site over the next couple of months.

But it's not all bad news for boardshorts - did you see the image of Democrat senator Barack Obama emerging from the sea looking rather dishy in his trunks? Here it is in The Times. Obama failed to see the funny side  but we think he should be pleased - after all, being papped looking wonderful in a bikini didn't do French presidential hopeful Segolene Royal's political ambitions any harm.

P.S. Pictured above are Sloggi's Aruba trunks; click here for more fitted trunks, here for boardshorts.

A dog's life

OK, so the shorty might have overtaken it in the fashion stakes recently but the thong is still making news. Our favourite current lingerie-related story concerns a dog named Arnie, who hit the headlines when he ate a thong belonging to his owner, Miriam Walters, and had to be rushed to the vet. "Mrs Walters admitted to feeling 'incredibly embarrassed' when surgery revealed the contents of his stomach," revealed the BBC.

If you share Arnie's fondness for thongs, you can see some of our latest styles here.

Spread the Love

Ah, February...love is in the air.

Oh wait, it's only January. Good of you to plan ahead, though, as Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

Luckily, InStyle landed on our desks today and, lo and behold, there's the lovely floral set by Elegantly Scant. What a beautiful piece to buy for yourself or, better yet, for him to buy for you. (Try out our 'send a hint' link where you can point him in the right direction.)