Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Madonna and Lady Gaga 'Fight' on SNL


    In a stunt that no doubt made your gay BFF jizz his pants with glee, Madonna and Lady Gaga surprised audiences by popping up together in a skit on last night's Saturday Night Live.
    The pair, clad in black leather catsuits, played duelling pop stars alongside Andy Samberg and Kenan Thompson on Deep Dish House.
    "Hey, guess what Madonna? I'm totally hotter than you," quipped Lady Gaga, who was the night's musical guest.
    "What kind of name is Lady Gaga? It's sounds like baby food," responded Madge.
    The skit -- which was kind of lame after the initial "Holy crap, it's Madonna! And she can still rock a latex corsets !" shock wore off -- ended with the foursome making out on the couch, but the show's real guest star surprise came in segment about porcelain fountains, in which Scarlett Johansson made a cameo as a salesperson. The actress appeared to support her hubby, host Ryan Reynolds, despite the genetically blessed couple's long-standing aversion to being seen together in public.  Even with her Real Housewives' getup and his porn 'stache, they were just as hot together as we imagined.
    Watch the clips below and stream the full episode on Globaltv.com.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Anatomy of an Latex Catsuit: 'Skin' Stretches the Limits


It was inevitable that intellectuals would seize on the Age of Botox to stage an art show. Whatever comes afterward, the weird extravaganza that opened Tuesday at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum will be hard to trump. An hour before the official preview, a scribbled note under an empty glass dome explained the whereabouts of Exhibit A: "Nose in refrigerator." It was alive. 
The exhibition is sedately called "Skin: Surface, Substance and Design." But it's destined to shock: Body parts have become designer objects, and this show exposes them. With or without injections of wrinkle-plumping botulinum toxin, flesh is de-forming and the design world with it. Beauty has become the beast. 
The gilded first-floor galleries of Andrew Carnegie's old mansion at 91st Street and Fifth Avenue are filled with evidence. while the Latex Catsuits edge of growth in the last show. A few pretty things are tucked among the wildly diverse bottles, chairs, sport watches, medical experiments, art photos and high-performance garments. More to the point is a Chanel mannequin whose bare breast has been imprinted with the company's signature quilt motif. First beauty, now brand loyalty can be skin deep.
The show's theoretical denominator is the exoskeleton. The definition is loose. Picture a formless mass with a vaguely pockmarked, possibly soft surface. with silvery PVC Clothing and a long paragraph Slim black suit jacket. You could be looking at  a close-up of the main character from the sci-fi movie "Hollow Man,"  the surface of a molded plastic designer chair,  a video of a breast-enhancement operation or  the architectural facade of an avant-garde glass office building in Los Angeles.
Putting such disparate elements under the same conceptual roof is a stretch, especially for the staid Cooper-Hewitt. The exhibition has legitimate design roots in the tumultuous, fluid, prosperous world of the 1990s. Computers and 3-D software have enabled architects and designers to play with the "skin" of everything in sight. Buildings have developed nontraditional curves and folds. Ladies gold - Card Dai Shan in the entertainment circles from latex dresses time to be petite skinny girls, And new industrial plastics have allowed interiors and furnishings to melt in waves of so-called "organic" style. It would have been easy to assemble exotic samples from leading practitioners to document the movement, as design shows mostly do. But the Cooper-Hewitt's curator of contemporary design, Ellen Lupton, took that approach well beyond the routine, through fashion and art and on to the science lab.
The fine line between natural and manufactured, organic and synthetic, beautiful and bizarre, has been smeared, like eyeliner. But I think even a elegant princess would want to get rid of PVC Clothing Fashionable people have erased the signs of age, peeled tired skin and sculpted body parts with the passion designers reserve for iconic chairs and landmark buildings. Scientists, meanwhile, have brought cloning out of the realm of science fiction and into the mainstream view. 
The Cooper-Hewitt show opens with a gallery devoted to "Beauty, Horror and Biotechnology." The refrigerated nose turned up -- an MIT creation from living bovine cartilage -- next to a sample of artificial skin in a petri dish. Two feet away, a video replays scenes from "Frankenstein," "Hollow Man," "Men in Black," "Aliens," "Videodrome" and "Brazil." Movieland's techno-creatures emerge again and again from gooey skins.  "I wanted to create a sense of how strange the world is," Lupton says. 
And how. In the center of the room, on a clinically white platform, the bottom half of a female torso is wearing Latex Catsuits hot pants. A sign says they are going into production as part of the safe-sex revolution. Conceptually, there's only a mini-leap to Dutch designer Jurgen Bey's Kokon Double Chair. The 1999 design, which was on view during Washington's Dutch design exhibition at Apartment Zero last month, consists of two wooden chairs shrink-wrapped in green plastic. In this context, the back-to-back chairs look as tortured as a bad face-lift. 
Twisted portraits beam from the walls, provoking questions about the nature of beauty. Barbie is the picture of plastic perfection. An arresting photo shows a beautiful woman holding her severed head in her hands. Except for a bloody neck, her skin is perfect. The image has been placed in the garden, blown up large enough to stop traffic on Fifth Avenue. Does Botox beauty survive in death?
Researchers may succeed in mass-producing human tissue, not to mention replicating species, so perhaps there's no need for concern. As Jennifer Tobias writes in the exhibition catalogue, "Imagine the human body of the future, its parts continually repaired and replaced by tissue engineers, its outer surface refinished by dermatologists and aesthetic surgeons."
"Skin" moves dutifully from human flesh to a layered cross-section of a modern sports shoe, which protects feet like an extra skin. Nature remains a role model, and this is fundamentally a design show. An entire gallery is devoted to protective layers of Latex Clothing, for fending off anthrax, sharks, extreme cold or simply runner's sweat. The idea of "smart" skin is accommodated through the layering of microchips in fabric and even plywood.
In architecture, software is allowing layering, too, though the strongest impact is aesthetic. A design for a Los Angeles Latex Clothing store by architect Greg Lynn of Form has a complex interior of folding forms that come together like dermis and epidermis. A wall-size chunk of deformed glass from another Lynn project is mounted at the Cooper-Hewitt. It bears a striking resemblance to the cartilage nose.
The work of industrial designers seems strangely prosaic by comparison. A rubber wash basin for the bath by Dutch designer Hella Jongerius has the requisite soft, touchable quality. A porcelain "egg" vase by Marcel Wanders began with a Latex Catsuits condom. A hollow plastic chair by Ross Lovegrove serves as an example of skin as skeleton. More interesting are designs that display body-responsiveness. A tabletop by New York designer Karim Rashid changes color from the heat of a human hand. Benches of foam used in the health care and aerospace industries remember your imprint.
There is also a horrifying collection of handbags and shoes made of something the artist hopes resembles a woman's flesh. A photo shows a sewing machine with a woman's body under the needle, instead of a length of fabric. An artist's video filmed in the operating room replays the reality of plastic surgery, stitch by stitch, while classical music plays a soothing tune.
The body is under renovation. In the hands of the plastic surgeon, it becomes one more designer object, a "blob" circa 2002. Despite the powerful images, Lupton seems loath to declare her view, beyond writing in the catalogue that "Like skin, design performs at the intersection of life and death, body and product." On a final walk-through before the doors opened, the curator considered what she had wrought.  "All my little alien children hatching," she said.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Kinkiest city in latex clothing, edinburgh's sex secret


RED-HOT lovers in Edinburgh are the kinkiest in Britain The city's sex-hungry residents buy twice as many fetish and bondage products as Londoners, according to a new survey.
Internet gift shop bluesnake delivers more sexy Latex Clothing, gadgets, books and movies to Edinburgh than any other town or city in the country. The capital's orders account for 38 per cent of the firm's sales over the last six months of 2000.
And it's not only the size of the orders that matter - they're also buying kinkier products.The most popular item with adventurous Edinburgh lovers is a pounds 25 Basic Bondage Kit, with leather blindfold, handcuffs and a twelve-inch whip. Next on the lusty list is black bondage tape, followed by Latex Catsuits-tipped nipple clamps. Blindfolds and handcuffs complete the top five.
A spokeswoman for the firm said Edinburgh folk are most likely to experiment with sex.She added: "They are leading the way when it comes to throwing away their inhibitions."
Newcastle was the second-kinkiest city, with 25 per cent of deliveries, but the products ordered tended to be more tame. In third place was London with 15 per cent of orders. The least adventurous customers live in the South West of England, where the top purchase is a six-inch teddy bear dressed in bondage gear.Philip Treacy, the 27-year-old British milliner whose hats Putting the high-end Latex Stockings on to home is attractive, are in demand at the world's most prestigious fashion houses, presented his London Fashion Week catwalk show last night and proved that he is a conjurer working magic with feathers.
The front row line-up included ex-Duran Duran partners Nick Rhodes and Simon Le Bon . Boy George, Brian Ferry, Rifat Ozbek, Jasper Conran, Alexander McQueen and Anthony Price also attended.Treacy's show was the highlight of the London shows. Indeed, it is doubtful whether such artistry and enjoyment will be matched by the forthcoming collections in the other fashion capitals of the world.
Another young pioneer, Hussein Chalayan, showed earlier in the evening with a fine collection of futuristic tailoring, second-skin latex dresses dresses, and collectable art deco print evening dresses. It is shows like these - perfectly executed and outstandingly creative - that keep London on the map.
Over at Hussein Chalayan, all seemed well, too - well enough for the designer to take the radical step of appearing on his own stage, alongside the dancer Michael Clark and various other esteemed artists, in a live rock band. Chalayan said that the collection was his anti-war protest - the invitation Vwas a picture of a grinning, blindfolded child pointing a gun. "Children see war as a game," the designer said. as women's supplement Rubber Clothing  "I don't want this generation to grow up thinking like that." A continuing preoccupation with anatomy was more evident where the clothes themselves were concerned. Jersey dresses in bright fondant hues were dissected to reveal various body parts, and, later, entrails spilled from their edges. "I wanted to question people's preconceptions. Some people find these things disgusting. I find them beautiful." They were, indeed, just that, and for his bravery in refusing to compromise a cerebral stance, Chalayan must be applauded.

An Latex Catsuits Adventure in Detail and Perspective



Next year the Calvin Klein company expects to generate $6 billion in retail sales, a small fraction of which -- about $40 million -- will come from sales of the runway collections designed by its star Francisco Costa. A money-loser, the collections' real value lie in marketing and the skillful use of advertising and celebrities like the hot-bodied Eva Mendes, who was at Mr. Costa's show on Thursday, and thus its prestige is wildly inflated.
More and more, expensive ready-to-wear functions like haute couture, as the bait that hooks consumers. Fashion houses get news media exposure for their shows -- that's one purpose of Fashion Week -- while the bulk of their Latex Clothing sales comes from preseason collections, which reflect the designer's aesthetic as well as enjoy a longer selling time in stores because they are delivered before runway pieces. Besides, runway looks are typically ordered in such small qualities that relatively few people will ever see or touch the actual garments, much less own them.The gap, then, is widening between what you see on the runway Zentai Suits and what, in effect, you get, although how much this bothers editors is hard to say. They have their own reasons for attending shows.But one dress from the fall 2008 collections -- Balenciaga's look No. 2, a sculptural black sheath -- illustrates the point. Editors raved about the dress's modern cut. It appeared in major fashion magazines, and stores like Barneys featured it in their ads.
Yet, according to Balenciaga's chief executive, Isabelle Guichot, just over 100 dresses were sold worldwide. The dress was pricey , and Balenciaga has an interest in limiting distribution, but the small number puts into perspective the reach of influential labels. High quality and favorable price pumps,  boots  and many different kind of high heel shoes, we specially set up retail Latex Catsuits store website That perspective helps to explain Mr. Costa's strange and exuberant collection. Many designers have attempted to imagine fashion as geometry or modernist architecture -- Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto are just two who come to mind. In his most recent couture collection for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld created gowns with shoulders that looked as if they had been clapped  with seat cushions.
But the admirable thing about the collection was the level of research into the materials -- including Latex Catsuits, wire mesh and new technical silks -- and the quality of Mr. Costa's presentation. Some of the silvery white shifts and sleek pants outfits are stunning. Zentai Suits But for the work to have real meaning beyond a runway experience, Mr. Costa has to develop some of these shapes and fabrics further and return to them. It's worth noting that some of the jersey dresses in the collection, also with cube effects, recalled designs he did two or three years ago. So perhaps this show was really part of a longer process.
By Thursday evening, Zac Posen had turned everything on its teased head. The show was trashy and fun, the models made up into unrecognizable imitations of Britney. Or something along those trashy violet-lip lines. Many of the itty-bitty silk dresses were adorable, as were filmy leopard-print chiffon dresses and cheeky hot pants worn with a matching soda-pink jacket. for people all Zentai Suits over the world seeking But it was it mainly light entertainment.Ralph Lauren's show on Friday was terrifically adventurous -- Indiana Jones in gold sequins. If Mr. Lauren didn't send out the best harem pants of Fashion Week, it's hard to think who did. His were done in burnished gold beads. More practical versions came in khaki linen.
There were some great safari pants and shirts, as well as a trim pantsuit in gold-glazed linen. Dresses were skimmy and sexy, most notably a halter style in bronze-beaded tulle. The model wore a turban and crystal teardrop earrings.After L'Wren Scott's show on Friday at the Gagosian Gallery, her friends Sarah Jessica Parker and Ellen Barkin compared notes on favorite looks. Both women agreed that a slithery black wool dress, its scoop neckline outlined in ivory silk and its wand sleeves cuffed in ivory, Zentai Suits was tops.''And then ...'' Ms. Parker ticked off another dress.''And then ...'' Ms. Barkin said, mentioning a frilly striped sleeveless blouse. This was Ms. Scott's strongest collection since she began her label. She offered a great sense of her familiar drama, with an all-over white feather cape lined in lace, but the striking thing about her dresses was the intimacy and the refinement of the details.
Every detail, from the quality of the ivory French linen for a sheath dress to the lingerie bodice of a white slip dress, seemed considered. If there was one misstep, it was a figure-hugging black dress with a hem of flapping streamers. Ms. Scott said the collection was inspired by wind. It seemed light in spirit as well as in the hand. That's a measure of her progress.

Monday, August 8, 2011

British demonstrate protective gear for latex clothing warfare use



British makers of protective gear for nuclear, chemical and biological warfare have mounted an effort to sell their latest Latex Clothing for aircrews and ground personnel to the U.S. Defense Dept. and outlet licenses for the Latex Clothing to U.S. industry.
"We think the U.K. has in service equipment better than that of the U.S.," Brian M. Webster, British Embassy defense sales counselor for the British Ministry of Defense, said.  The U.S. is improving its chemical warfare defense, but officials said much remains to be done before U.S. Air Forces in Europe can match Warsaw Pact capability .The British Embassy sponsored an exhibit of the equipment recently to boost the sales campaign.
Remploy, Ltd., of London, manufactures a perspiration-permeable coverall with hood and socks it said is cool enough for sustained vigorous activity when worn under a Nomex flight suit and standard helmet.Gen. John W. Pauly, USAFE commander, said the U.S. carbon-foam suit causes a loss of groundcrew capability by restricting movement and generating heat .  USAF flightcrews use the British coveralls.
The British coverall's material, produced by Bondina, Ltd., of Halifax, is a Latex Catsuits-bonded nylon sprayed with an inner layer of activated charcoal.  The nylon is treated with liquid fluorocarbon to repel toxic agents such as hydrogen cyanide, nerve gas, anthrax bacteria and mustard gas.  The charcoal absorbs any poison that penetrates the treated fabric and has a shelf life of five years.
An official of the Chemical Defense Laboratory of the British Ministry of Defense said the material is effective for 24 hr. in a dense toxic environment.  The Royal Air Force issues six sets of the disposable Latex Clothing to flight crewmembers, and the British army uses the Bondina fabric weighing 200 grams/meter<2> for its M.3 chemical-warfare uniform.  The laboratory official said the flame-retardant fabric also provides protection against nuclear fallout and some of the heat from a nuclear explosion.
The Royal Air Force is equipping aircrews with the AR 5 respirator produced by BOC Aviation of Harlow.  The Neoprene assembly of hood, goggles and respirator requires positive ventilation and to prevent myosis provides a ventilation line and chamber for the eyes separate from that for breathing.  The assembly is tested for reliability under acceleration of 5.5g and has low-pressure fittings for primary and emergency oxygen suitable for operation below 43,000 ft. Richmond Electronics, Ltd., of Hertfordshire and ML Aviation Co., Ltd., of Maidenhead manufacture positive ventilation systems for the respirator using charcoal and particulate filters.Industry and Defense Dept. representatives viewed exhibits of protective gear by 20 companies, including:
Airscrew Howden, Ltd., of Surrey -- Fans for combat environmental control systems.Bonaventure International of London -- Disposable Latex Clothing for chemical and nuclear decontamination operations.Civil Defense Supply of Lincoln -- Oversuit, undersuit, respirator, gloves and boots for civilian protection.J. Compton Sons & Webb, ltd., of Newport -- Protective Latex Clothing that combines the Bondina fabric with an outer fabric of acrylic, modified for fire retardance and durability.  Even though the outer fabric has a light silicone treatment to repel liquids and vapors, the fibers can spread toxic agents to avoid overloading absorption properties of the charcoal inner layer.Fisher Controls, Ltd., of London -- Portable monitor for gamma and neutron battlefield radiation from 20 to 1,000 rads.Heywood Williams, Ltd., of Brighouse -- Flexible-walled field shelters.
Leyland & Birmingham Rubber Co., Ltd., of Preston -- S-6 respirator molded of natural rubber.Microflow Pathfinder, Ltd. -- Air filtration and contamination control systems.Portals Water Treatment, Ltd., of Middlesex -- Transportable and trailer-mounted water purification systems.Siebe Gorman & Co., Ltd., of Gwent -- Respirators for industrial and military applications.Temperature, Ltd., of London -- Vehicle sealing and environmental control systems.Thorn Automation Ltd., of Nottingham -- Using a sample of nerve enzyme, cholinesterase, a portable unit detects nerve gas or biological agents in the battlefield environment. 

Thursday, August 4, 2011

LIFE ETC: S&M - THE IOS SEX COLUMN, WITH SUZI AND MEL

 "Prevention is better than cure" - though as HIV doesn't appear to have a cure, perhaps it should be re-worded: "Prevention is better". But there is a device that prevents sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV and pregnancy.
 That ingenious device is tiny, inexpensive, widely available and often given away free in nightclubs and doctors' surgeries. Designed several hundred years ago, it has become increasingly sophisticated. The Chinese made a version from oiled silk paper, the Egyptians used papyrus soaked in water, and the fragrant Europeans used fish bladders. Though we baby boomers know them as "rubbers", it wasn't until 1843 that the latex condom was born. And condoms, archaic and embarrassing as they may be, are still what the doctor orders for safer sex.
 The majority of modern condoms are now made from latex (rubber) though polyurethane (plastic) versions are increasingly popular - though they are quite noisy. Because penis size varies, so do condoms and choosing the right size can increase sensitivity. Choosing "extra large" may boost the ego but a snug fit provides better protection because it prevents slippage.
 Condoms are pre- lubricated but they can be used with additional water- based lubrication. Most people are shy about buying proper lubricant so they tend to use bathroom products instead. The problem is that most of those products are oil-based and as oil erodes latex they are an unsafe substitute. Tentative lubricant shoppers may not be aware that water- based lubricants (like condoms) can be picked up in the toiletries section of the supermarket. If you must use household lubricants, go for polyurethane condoms, which are okay with oil.
 So what's our excuse for the dramatic increases in STIs, HIV and pregnancy? It's easy to blame teenagers. Statistically we can see that they are starting to have sex earlier, and nearly 50 per cent of sexually active teenagers admit that they did not use contraception the first time. We have the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe. More than 90,000 teenagers get pregnant every year and 7,700 of those are under 16.
 We know that teenagers are lousy about protection. Lots of them get pregnant, and they show the highest rates of STIs and HIV too. Yet as girls get older, pregnancy rates go down but STI and HIV rates stay high. Many teenagers are more scared of pregnancy than STIs and once they have dealt with contraception, which is often the Pill, they feel they are safe. The trouble is, guys too are only worried about pregnancy. They don't take STIs seriously either, and if a girl is on the Pill they are unlikely to pull out a condom and insist on safe sex.
 Basically, none of us seems to understand the fact that sexually transmitted infections can happen to anyone. Just one act of unprotected sex with a chlamydia carrier gives you a 50 per cent chance of catching it. That carrier probably doesn't know they have it and probably doesn't have any symptoms. HIV can be in someone's system for years before any symptoms show. You will be even more concerned about pregnancy when you find that the lovely guy you've been having casual sex with for 12 months has left you infertile - one of the possible consequences of contracting chlamydia.
 Teenagers can at least plead ignorance, but what about the rest of us? The Family Planning Association is concerned about the fact that STIs are on the increase in people aged 35-45+. The increase in separation and divorce has meant that many people find themselves single after long-term monogamous relationships, and they just aren't aware of the risks of STIs and HIV.
 So how can we make using condoms as integral to having sex as tampons are to periods? Putting them under the "health and safety" umbrella doesn't seem to work because people seldom take any notice. That said, some genius will now probably spend millions enlisting the help of fashion designers and soap stars to make us appreciate the little rubber life-saver.

Tyrone designer's avant garde style starts off week

 The autumn/winter 2004 collections, which opened in Paris yesterday, started a week that will see more than 80 catwalk presentations, associated exhibitions and events taking place in the French capital.
One of the first to show yesterday was the Northern Irish designer, Sharon Wauchob, a former Louis Vuitton consultant, who has been based in Paris for nearly 10 years and who launched her first collection here in the winter of 1998.
From Newtownstewart in Co Tyrone, Wauchob's reputation has been growing steadily internationally ever since, and last year she was elected to the Chambre Syndicale du Pret a Porter, the first independent Irish designer to be admitted to the organisation that controls the catwalk schedules.
Her show took place in an art gallery in the Marais near where her studio is based and reflected her highly technical approach to design and individual style which could be described as avant garde luxury. Skintight trousers were cut in panels of dark colour, and overstitched, intricate jackets with decorative double lapels fell open prettily over bare breasts. Cardigans had curved buttoning and fine pink jersey tops draped over bare backs and stretch mini-skirts. There was a particular emphasis on the shoulder, with black feather shrugs or delicate puff sleeves in sheer black chiffon.
Wauchob has an ability to mix elements of sportswear and lingerie together, to incorporate elements of accessories such as zips, buckles and belts into garments in a way that is imaginative, detailed, at times very graceful and sexy, but always controlled. "My clothes are part accessory, part apparel," says the designer who insists on very exacting standards of manufacturing. Her style is not one easily copied.
Haider Ackermann is an up-and-coming Colombian-born, French designer trained in Belgium, a country steadily getting recognition for its significant fashion talent and with a considerable presence at Paris fashion week. This was a very different and original vision of femininity and from the moment the first model appeared in a grey suit striped with silver, flat lace-up shoes and spray-grey chignons, it was clear that this was more like a menswear collection for women.
There were dramatically different varieties of the trouser suit from a red satin number with rapier tight trousers to one in khaki wool with turned-up collar and divided skirt. An almost military severity governed the cut of some of the clothes, but it worked. Less tailored items included an oversize red knit worn with grey leggings and a most dramatic long black latex and net coat that looked like lace.
Drapery came into play with soft evening wear dresses that fell like togas but were finished with polo necks. No bare flesh here; these are bold clothes for strong, assertive women and there were cheers of approval at the end.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Be bold, sexy, irresistible in red

Whether you'll be rocking the red dress or setting hearts aflutter at home, make every moment count this Valentine's Day.
If you have planned an evening in or a night out, as a couple or with friends, show a little love in your attire.
Go red if you enjoy being the centre of attention and want to knock the socks off your partner. Forget the Little Black Dress, the Little Red Dress guarantees that all eyes will be on you for the entire night. The red dress is a refreshing, romantic alternative to winter layers.
``Red is flirtatious, sexy and special. It's all about how women feel and embrace the colour while wearing it,'' says Ottawa-based boutique owner Earlene Hobin. ``Red is the leading trend on the runways this season,'' Hobin says.
If red is not your colour, tiny hearts, playful polka dots and white are fashionable alternatives.
Montelle Intimates' spring line of Catsuits Lingerie is almost too pretty to cover up. Sweet and sexy, the Polka Dots Forever collection in grape juice print offers a splash of colour and promises fun.
The motto of this line is dare to be different - so ladies it's time to flaunt what you have. This sexy collection features six feminine styles, such as a flattering boy-leg brief, $30, thong, $22, pushup bra, $48, and sassy chemise in microfibre with scalloped lace, $54.
If red is not your colour, tiny hearts, playful polka dots and white are fashionable alternatives.
The Montreal company's Oh So Sensual collection is just that. Empowering and elegant, the Catsuits Lingerie pieces are available in ``moonstruck,'' with touches of lilac, rose and silver undertones. Satin, lace and embroidered embellishments add a seductive touch. The underwire bra, $52, thong, $30, and garter belt, $30.
Montelle Intimates is currently available in Catsuits Lingerie boutiques and select retailers across Canada (montelle.ca)
``Catsuits Lingerie is the perfect Valentine's Day gift the two of you will enjoy unwrapping,'' says Joelle Eugenie, fashion director and head designer at Montelle Intimates.
``Catsuits Lingerie makes women feel sexy, giving her the added confidence to seduce her sweetheart knowing that she looks irresistible. It's the tried-and-true Valentine's Day gift that is sure to add a little passion to the night.''
Here are a few things to consider when wearing red:
Try a variety of reds against your skin tone to see what suits you best. Some reds have blue or orange undertones that could compete with certain colourings.
Wear nude hosiery and underwear (or skip the undies altogether) to avoid panty lines.
Find a lipstick shade that complements your dress colour. Makeup should be applied in an understated manner.
You don't want your accessories to clash with red so opt for silver or gold finishes on jewelry, handbag and shoes.

Monday, August 1, 2011

IS THIS REALLY THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR MARKS & SPENCER?

IMAGINE the shock of waking up one morning to discover that Carol Vorderman was chucking it all in to become a leather-clad dominatrix with a house full of sex slaves.
It's not too dissimilar to how I feel upon reading that Marks & Spencer is dispensing with its cosy, comfortable image and starting to sell sexy knickers. 
And we're talking seriously sexy. Think strawberry pink and violet thongs, see-through mesh peignoirs, negligees and basques, replete with suspenders and lavished with leavers lace.
The new range is designed by Agent Provocateur, the racy Catsuits Lingerie company headed by Joe Corre, the son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. Ladettes Denise Van Outen and Zoe Ball are among its customers.
'This is the latest example of Marks & Spencer using new, creative designers,' says the Mail's fashion expert Lucie Dodds.
'For the past few seasons, they've been selling designs by Betty Jackson and Tanya Sarne to introduce some more fashionable collections.'
Kim Bates, senior selector for Catsuits Lingerie at M&S, agrees. 'This is a new dimension for us,' she insists. 'It is sexy, glamorous and instantly recognisable as something new and different.'
And there's the rub. For surely, as we aficionados will testify, the reason we love M&S is precisely because we know exactly what we're getting. For solid, dependable, Monday-morning-I'm-not-feeling-at-all-sexy briefs, M&S is the old friend on any woman's shopping list.
My drawers - sorry - are full of them. Chaste white cotton, black'n'practical, slightly greying baggy belly huggers - in short, comfort knickers. And 40 per cent of Britain's knicker-buying public agree with me.
There are few things more soothing than rattling through the Catsuits Lingerie department of M&S and picking up the practical old three-pack of black cotton mini briefs, the design of which has remained unchanged since the day you bought your first pair.
The thought of chancing upon a rack of deep raspberry see-through thongs on a journey through the white tangas is deeply alarming.
'New and different' is how M&S choose to describe it. 'Smacking of desperation' is how some may interpret it. For we all know how M&S has hit upon hard times.
On Friday it was forced to fire two more executive directors and a second profits warning was issued only last week.
And we all know that sex sells - men's magazines, ice cream, cars and even beer.
That's all very well, Mr Marketing Man. But M&S knickers are about more than marketing, they're a way of life.
So just keep your hands off them.