Buying bras and panties

How to buy your lady lingerie that she’ll actually want to wear

Lingerie stores can be intimidating for men, but we’ll help you out with what to buy and how to buy it. “Sales associates are trained to narrow down the playing field by asking a lot of questions and making suggestions, so men won’t feel overwhelmed by the selection,” says Sara Tervo, PR director and spokesperson for Victoria’s Secret. Here are seven suggestions for getting her something for her, not something for you.

1. Kick it up a notch
Women tend to enjoy items for special occasions that they may not buy themselves, Tervo says. If she usually wears a t-shirt and flannel pjs to bed, take it one step further to a baby doll (see below) or a more daring choice. “Try to make it special and fun and slightly sexier than the usual,” Tervo says.

2. Underwear individuality
Base the lingerie on her personality. If she’s daring and assertive, go for the novelty lingerie. But if she’s more reserved, she’d prefer something subtle. Either way, you can’t go wrong with the most flattering underwear; lacy boyshorts.

3. Size matters
Don’t go into the store and measure up the sales associate to determine your wife or girlfriend’s size (“Umm, she’s about your size”). Do some investigative work. Open up her underwear drawer and check out the sizes before you go shopping. Also, peek in her closet to find out her dress, blouse, and pant sizes, so you can at least narrow it down to small, medium, or large.

4. How big are they anyway?
If you’ve ever wanted to know how women determine the 36 in 36-26-38, here’s the gist.

She measures her chest diameter, just below her breasts.

Add 5 to this number to get a number usually between 32-40 (the band size).

To get cup size, she measures the diameter of her chest directly over her nipples.

The difference between these two numbers determines cup size (for every inch, you go up a size, so to be a D-cup the difference between the two numbers would be 3 ½ to 4 ½ inches.)

5. Recognise her assets
A man should be aware of his lady’s favourite and least favourite assets and try to select a lingerie option that caters to that. “Women with smaller breasts usually like a cleavage enhancing option for special occasions, while a woman with larger breasts prefers an unpadded option,” Tervo says. “If she doesn’t like to show too much skin, slip options (see below) are ultra-sexy.”

6. Comfort counts
You can’t go wrong with sleepwear or a robe. Choose pjs, a slip, or a bathrobe. In winter, most women like to have their shoulders covered. If you buy a little slip, cami or babydoll, get a little robe to go with it for her to wear until she goes to bed, Tervo says.

7. Underneath it all
Buy her classy lingerie that she can wear under her clothes. “Women prefer something that’s sexy but can be worn on a daily basis,” Tervo says. A lot of women like to feel sexy during the day, by wearing something under their clothing that can crossover from daywear into night. Even when she’s at work, it will make her feel sexy to know she’s wearing something special underneath. And she’ll be thinking about the man who bought her that something special—all day. (Men’s Health)