Lingerie Secret Santa 2016

Lingerie Secret Santa 2016

Meet the lingerie Santa pangolin, a late-night whimsy of ours brought to life by Marianne of Pop Antique. If you're lucky, the warehouse are remembering to stick Pangolin cards in your orders this week.

Lingerie Secret Santa is upon us! For the last few years we've been exchanging surprise gifts with other small indie brands (mostly organised by Karolina Laskowska).

I'm excited this year to welcome Elissa Poppy, a fascinating new latex collection, and brands from Chile, Brazil and Mexico (albeit we did have to get two of them to swap with each other due to the ridiculousness that is import duty into Brazil from the UK and the US). But we are getting more global!

Abigail Greydanus
All Undone
Alma Robles Lingerie
Betty Blues Loungewear
Buttress and Snatch
Elissa Poppy
Harlow and Fox
Karolina Laskowska
Kiss Me Deadly
Manoela Marandino
Pillowbook
Playful Promises
She and Reverie
Sugar Lace Lingerie
Tight Laced
Toru and Naoko

Last year, Karolina got Sandmaiden to send me a gift - they're an eco-friendly loungewear specialist and make merino wool cami set and robes in the winter, which are amazing and rare. Now you might notice that this year I've got eco-friendly loungewear again, and that's because outside of work, that is in fact what  I spend much of my time wearing! I work from home, I'm often hyper-sensitive, so things made from soft, natural fabrics in flowing shapes work really well for me.

That said I was mildly concerned when I opened this pretty package from Larkspur, because there was a hint of beige. I have some beige issues :)

 

But you know, what, it is BEAUTIFUL. It's a modal/silk mix, which for some reasons I find quite often in US indie design but never see in the UK. It's extremely soft but has more resiliency than pure silk jersey, so it's easier to take care of, and it's carefully seamed so there's no overlocking to rub on your skin. There's a tiny bit of lace and you can reverse it. I'd love to show you a picture of it on its own but as modal/silk is very fine, I'm afraid it's completely obscene and definitely wouldn't get past the nipple censors!

 

The cami and knicker came with a playsuit, made with a wrap design that means it's easy to size and fit, in blue cotton with a silk trim. Again all the seams are hidden. Oddly enough I've seen a wrap cami before - in a boudoir brand. It effectively means its ouvert, which has its uses.

However in all other respects, it has nothing in common with boudoir style. "You look cute. Why are you looking cute? What is going on?!" demanded my sibling when I asked them to take the picture.

 

Apparently, the blue is created using indigo, a natural dye that I recall as having originally been highly sought after in Britain, as it's not remotely natural to here. These days the plant-based version is almost as rare again!

Many thank-you's to Amanda from Larkspur for breaking my issues with hints-of-beige - I'm pretty certain I'm going to wear the camisole to hospital, it's that comforting. Do you see anything on their site you love? Do you keep an eye out for eco-brands, or are you after something else as a present?