London Designer Aliza Reger gives her seven top tips on how to choose the perfect lingerie for your Valentine
Men brave enough to buy their other half lingerie for Valentine’s Day have a new source of help - a fool-proof buying guide from a London designer.
Aliza Reger, head of the Reger brand founded by her mother Janet, devised a set of purchasing tips to help stop women receiving poorly chosen gifts.
She said: “It’s amazing how many men go to a lingerie department, hold out their hands in a cup shape and say, ‘about this big’.”
The designer’s “Reger’s Rules” cover how to choose the right size, style and colour of lingerie.
According to Debenhams, 26 per cent of women have received underwear from partners that they have never worn, and 22 per cent have worn such a gift only once. But 78 per cent of women say they would be flattered to receive a lingerie gift they liked.
Reger’s Rules
1. Size Matters
You have to get to grips with your partners size before you can think about anything else. Find the size of both her bra and knickers by discreetly taking a peek in her underwear drawer and checking in the labels of sets you know she wears.
2. Taste Test
What are her tastes? Does she wear bold colours, pastels, floral or modern geometric prints? Does she like sophisticated and luxury fabrics or prefer frills and pretty details? What type of bra, lower cut, smooth, higher cut?
3. Original Sin
Don’t try being original by purchasing something you have never seen her wear ,such as fishnet lingerie, cut out underwear, a half-cup bra, see-through knickers, or a shocking pink set if she only ever wears black.
4. Think before you Thong
Thongs are a love-hate thing with many women, but popular with a lot of men. Personally I think a lacy Brazilian knicker is wonderfully sexy and shows just enough cheek, however each to their own – a soft thong can be more comfortable than it looks!
5. Forget Flights of Fantasy
Don’t buy lingerie if it is your fantasy and it’s not something you have mentioned before. She has to like it to wear it. That “Sexy little Devil” outfit complete with flashing garter and thigh high plastic boots might look good in the catalogue, but may well be your ticket to a single bed in the spare room.
6. Get Touchy Feely
Feel the fabric on the inside of any lingerie you are thinking of buying. If it feels rough to the touch then it is unlikely to be comfortable to wear. Check for raised seams or spikey, hard lace that would be uncomfortable against the skin. It is difficult to feel sexy when you are wearing something that rubs and chafes the skin.
7. Timing is everything
And finally says Aliza: “Don’t let your excitement get the better of you and insist she tries on your gift the moment she opens it. Otherwise it will look more like a present for you than for her.
Article7 tips on how to choose the perfect Valentine's lingerieAliza RegerDebenhamsValentine's DayReger’s Rules: how to choose the right size, style and colour of lingerie
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