Here at Boudiche towers we seem to be having a flux of Birthdays. We normally turn to Stella McCartney Lingerie for the perfect gift since we all like to think we are of course what she thinks of when designing her knickers. When our buyer discovered the new Happy Birthday knickers there was smiley faces all round at Boudiche HQ . A novelty, designer birthday gift to keep forever and ever for the rather charming price of £35 – yes please!

But wait! There is more…the latest Stella McCartney Box Set to be released is the Vintage Days of the Week Knickers Set. Featuring a contrasting colour scheme of grey with white embroidery, and electric pink with purple embroidery, these are are boldly eye-catching, and comfortable to wear. The set also comes encased in a mini-drawer set with Stella McCartney branding, and each day of the week is written on each individual drawer. There’s even a little bonus drawer for “bits and bobs”, which is perfect for stashing away any little extras cluttering up your dresser. Any lingerie lover would be very excited to add this set to their lingerie collection, and it would look adorable on display in the boudoir!

So there’s some food (or rather knickers) for thought!

Spring may not yet have sprung, but underwear as outwear hit the catwalks big-time during Fashion Week. Proving that it’s one of Spring’s hottest looks, designers including Roberto Cavalli and Marc Jacobs both mirrored what we’ve known for years at Boudiche; that lingerie is just too gorgeous to always hide underneath your clothes! Layering is key to making lingerie as outerwear work, and Boudiche have some fabulous pieces to help you achieve this versatile look:

New York brand The Lake and Stars are perfect for achieving this trend.

Key pieces from their collection include their stunning pastel-colouerd romper suit, currently featured in Grazia magazine, and the geek-chic Franklin Cami, with it’s cute glasses design. Made from fine-knit, these would both be ideal teamed with flats and jeans for daytime, and dressed up with heels for evening. For those of you who dare to bare a little more flesh, the Curveball bustier would also look great teamed with high-waisted jeans or a high-waisted skirt.

Scottish brand Bebaroque are also experts at making underwear outerwear.

Their bold prints and sumptous embroidery have had them featured in Vogue recently, and we love them! Their current collection, ‘Married to a Mermaid’, references all things nautical, so unleash your inner sailor-gal or mermaid! The Ursulla Nude Bodysuit features exquisite embellishing and would look great teamed with jeans or a skirt for a night out. The Pricilla Bodysuit is luxuriously hand-embriodered and embellished, and will certainly make you stand out from the crowd, and the sheer Saylor bodysuit with the tattoo design would look great worn on a night out.

On her recent tour, Britney Spears wore the Lascivious Candy Bodysuit, which you can buy here at Boudiche.com. Featuring a striking colour palette of hot pink and tan, this is perfect for those of you who like to show some skin. The Pussy Cat dolls would rock this piece!

These exquisite Boudiche.com options will hopefully help you work your lingerie as outerwear, and not just underwear!

On January 25^th 2010, the independent consumer advice company Which? published a report on bra fitting services, after trying and testing major high street and specialist lingerie retailers. Which? had 11 researchers, aged 25 to 70, hit the high street (department stores and shops) in search of finding the perfect fitting bra – not a difficult task, you would think? It would appear that this is in fact very difficult, with the report’s shocking findings showing that less than one in three bra fittings accurately measured up.

Overall, the survey made very distressing reading for us at Boudiche, knowing that so many women had been so badly fitted on so many occasions! The report exposed an alarming reality – that amongst many lingerie retailers, there is a severe lack of fitting knowledge and expertise. Surely an excellent fitting service is an essential, if not basic, component to any retailer specialising in, or selling lingerie?

That’s where we at Boudiche hope to help. As a small, independent company, we take our fitting service very seriously, because we know how important it is for you, our customer, to be properly fitted. In our boutiques, we have our trained, expert advisors ready to fit you, and if you are an online customer, then we also have trained fitters available at the other end of the phone to offer advice. We understand the absolute importance of helping you find the right fitting bra – wearing the wrong size can result in posture problems, acute back-pain, and even breast pain.

As well as being able to actually fit you accurately, Boudiche also offer a large range of cup sizes (from an A to GG), and our back-sizes also start at 28” – we know that every woman has different dimensions and requirements, and we want you to find the perfect-fitting, supportive lingerie for every occasion. Here are some of our favourite-fitting Boudiche brands:

• Mimi Holliday, the fabulous little sister brand of Damaris offers 28” backs available in B-FF cup-sizes – perfect for those of you needing a snugger back-band.

• For those of who are able to get away with a little soft-cup bra, then Fleur of England also combines comfort with beautiful styling with her non-wired soft-cup bras.

• If you are size DD+, you have the pick of fantastic brands including Miss Mandalay and Pleasure State VIP, offering you excellent support and style.

• If you are heading down the aisle, then Boudiche have gorgeous bridal bras and bustiers to ensure you look and feel great under your dress on your special day – Marie Jo and La Perla are popular bridal brands.

To make a fitting appointment at one of our Boudiche boutiques, you can drop by, but at weekends when it gets busier, it’s recommended that you call and book in advance: the Glasgow boutique is available directly on 0141 2216477 and the Edinburgh boutique is available directly on 0131 2265255. Boudiche.com advisors are also available on 0845 475 0250 from Monday-Friday, 10-5pm.

For those readers that do not live near our Glasgow or Edinburgh boutique we are big fans of indpependents  Kathryn Rolfe in York, Rigby & Peller in London and of course the mighty Harrods department store in London.

Ultra feminine lingerie brand Fleur of England made their first visit north of the border to host a dessert themed evening at Boudiche Edinburgh (well… we are exclusive stockists in Scotland).

Fleur herself and brand development manager Luisa braved the bitter Scottish wind – with Luisa even donning some tartan attire -  to celebrate the brands latest Winter collections – Keepsake and Dessert.

Fleur had no qualms in admitting the inspiration for the collections came from her love of chocolate whether it be; truffles, cakes, bars or just simply a delicious chocolate dessert Fleur is a big fan – a lady after our own hearts!

Whilist discussing why the brand recently rebranded from Fleur T to Fleur of England, Fleur told the ladies of Edinburgh that she is committed to making the best fitting and looking small back and large cup sized bras.

If you would like to find out more about future Boudiche events follow us on Twitter or become a fan on our Facebook page.

It has been a busy month for Boudiche designer lingerie Directors Clare & Fiona, in addition to a visit to Belgium to see the Marie Jo and Prima Donna factories, the girls have been involved in various press shoots. In fact Clare dashed back from Belgium to Edinburgh to meet with The Times who featured a lovely article on Boudiche.

Here is an unpublished photograph courtsey of James Glossop of Clare in the Edinburgh boutique from that shoot…

Not one to be left out Fiona soon made up for her lack of presence at  The Times shoot by joining Clare at Tigerlily in Edinburgh for some somewhat humorous press shots.

It was not all oranges and tea cups the girls got down to some serious posing and with the direction of Susie Lowe they  created some fierce photographs that will be hitting newstands near you soon…

Name: Kirsten

Role: Braologist (Glasgow Boutique)

Bra size: 30DD/32D (Depending on the brand)

Style: When it comes to lingerie Kirsten’s head rules her heart. She is not one for frivolous or dainty styles – this lady is a bonafied designer lingerie addict and only the best will do.  Lingerie has played a large role in Kirsten’s life for some time having studied lingerie design at the London College of Fashion. It’s now no surprise that Kirsten has a magical eye which can spot an ill fitting bra from a mile off and of course guess the correct size – without fail.  We are sure Britain’s Got Talent will be calling someday soon!

Favourite Items: Corsets, corsets, corsets need I say anymore?  Kirsten is all about creating the perfect hourglass silhouette and she has just ordered an Eternal Spirits corset for her birthday in her favourite turquoise colour (I will post photographs when it arrives).  Otherwise, a lover of investment purchasing she has quite the collection of  Australian brand Pleasure State.

Most exciting thing about working at Boudiche? Making women feel and look great, a true believer in the wonders of a good fitting bra. Kirsten is very familiar with happy (albeit slightly shocked) faces from women who thought they were B’s or C’s but in actual fact are DD+’s.

Queen of the softest leather and oversized bows – Miss Keira Thorley has now landed in the world of Boudiche. What better way to welcome the Scottish beaut than to hold a trunk show in her honour in our Edinburgh boutique (home city to her design studio).

Team Boudiche have been Keira enthusiasts since meeting her this year at  The Scottish Fashion Awards – so much so that Clare, one of the Boudiche directors recently confessed she may now own the entire collection having indulged once more this time in the metallic gold leather jacket at the event.

From the reaction of the press and guests at the event we think Clare may have some competition. The wrist bow in classic black sold out with further orders being placed! The metallic pewter and pink bows are available to buy online.

No Boudiche event is complete without a cocktail of some description … so our thanks go to Ricks at Montpeliers for creating ‘The Keira Cocktail’ which went down a treat. A Keira bow on one wrist and a Keira cocktail in the other –we can see this look catching on…

If you want to keep up with what’s going on at Boudiche on a regular basis or you simply fancy some chat about Keira, Boudiche or beautiful lingerie follow us Twitter or find us on Facebook.

Name: Steffi

Role: Web & Marketing Assistant

Bra Size: 32D

Style: Laid back, simplistic yet edgy lingerie that could (and will) be worn outside! I am a sucker for a beautiful photograph and New York brand The Lake & Stars ticks all my boxes. Ohh and  Scottish gals Bebaroque how could I forget how they revolutionised tights and now bodysuits!

Favourite Items: In my photograph I am wearing one of The Lake & Stars romper suits -as seen on Naomi from 90210 and Carrie from Sex and the City (my hairspirations!) New Season it has to be the Sedgemoor teddy and Bebaroque Gretal tights which I plan on layering up for the super cold Scottish winter.

Most exciting thing about working with Boudiche?: I really love the social aspect of my job; I get to chat with likeminded designer lingerie enthusiasts on a daily basis. Hopefully this will continue to grow as I am starting a lingerie surgery on the Boudiche facebook along with my fellow Boudiche braoligists where we can chat bras, pants and tights all day long.

Boudiche recently attended the Scottish Winter press day in Edinburgh where we had several interesting chats with journalists about Elle Macpherson Intimates now going up to a G cup.  It seems there is a buzz about this coveted brand now (finally) catering for those ladies who are considerably blessed in the bust department. However, there is a bit of confusion as to which styles are available in a G cup and how well the Elle Macpherson Intimates signature style transfers?

So we thought we would share our Braoligists knowledge with all you current A-D Elle Macpherson Intimates enthusiasts and those soon to be D-G’s.

Having inquizically examined the new styles on the Autumn Winter 2009 buying trip we can confirm that the same luxurious fabrics and fashionable styles have remained for the new D-G sizes. In fact the only real differences are those adaptations which offer additional support such as wider straps, higher coverage and a more rigid supportive lace.

Elle herself said “Our research and customer feedback has shown that our breasts are getting bigger! I’ve been working with our design team to take our sizing beyond an E cup and up to a G cup on both beautiful new designs and some of our popular existing ranges. It’s great news for the fuller-busted women who need comfort and support but want beautiful, covetable lingerie options”

At Boudiche, we currently have two Elle Macpherson Intimates D-G styles available with a further two arriving in the coming weeks. The ‘Artistry’ range is a favourite style which is one of the first to be introduced as a D-G and is perfect for everyday wear available in both cream and jet.

Elle Macpherson Intimates D-G Artistry Retro Cream

Elle Macpherson Intimates Artistry D-G Jet

Folllow Boudiche on twitter to be the first to find out when the next Elle Macpherson Intimates D-G ranges (shown below) arrive at Boudiche.

First of all, Boudiche would like to thank everyone who attended the Bebaroque event in our Glasgow boutique  (we are not just about designer lingerie you know) We hope you enjoyed the night as much as we did and managed to see your photograph in the Evening Times on Saturday!

For those of you who did not make it (it was Boudiche’s largest guest list yet) or if you over indulged in a few too many Pincer vodka cocktails and need a reminder of the nights events here goes…

Our make up artist and models arrived at 4pm, just as we returned from Cruise Clothing in Glasgow- they ever so kindly let us borrow some of their new season collections to wear with the new Bebaroque tights and bodysuits.

The models had just finished their run through and there was already a queue of guests outside the boutique, two of the models: Sophie and Polina quickly jumped into the window (dressed in Bebaroque of course!) ready to greet everyone.

The boutique was packed, the Pincer cocktails and cupcakes were aplenty and the sun was beaming through the window, so we decided to start the fashion show early!

Sophie above in Bebaroque Tawney tights

Nusi above in Bebaroque Eva Bodysuit

Gill above in Bebaroque Repunzal tights.

Our models, Sophie, Polina, Nusi and Gill did an amazing job looking gorgeous whilst strutting in their five inch heels on our four foot high catwalk!

After the fashion show, the Bebaroque tights literally flew off the shelves we were left looking in dismay at our empty cabinets! No doubt having the chance to meet Chloe & Mhari – the uber stylish ladies from Bebaroque – had something to do with it!

Until next time remember to Bebaroque!