IN FORM®

By Adam Welsch
Naomi & Nicole®

More than 100 million Americans (and countless others from around the world) tuned in Sunday night to watch the Green Bay Packers defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.  As everyone knows, the Super Bowl is the world’s premier American football event.  But how many people know it’s also a global stage for the presentation of the latest in women’s intimate apparel?  No, I’m not talking about the costumes donned by the dancers during the halftime show (electrifying as they were).  Nor am I referring to the outfits worn by the Steelers’ or Packers’ cheerleaders (since neither team even has a cheerleading squad).  Rather, I’m talking about what more than a few of the female Wisconsin faithful in attendance were sporting: cheese bras. (more…)

By Adam Welsch
Naomi & Nicole®

Last month, it was the Golden Globe®, People’s Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Awards®.  Later this month, it’ll be the Academy Awards®.  But tonight all eyes of the intimate apparel industry will be focused on Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City for the 2011 Femmy Gala.  Presented by the Underfashion Club, Inc., the Femmy Awards recognize the achievements of members of the intimate apparel industry. (more…)

By Adam Welsch
Naomi & Nicole®

What is it that inspires you, the consumer, to make a purchase of intimate apparel?  Econ 101 says that you rationally take a bra’s or panty’s price and quality into consideration when shopping for one to address one of your needs.  It’s a straightforward process when you’re buying something you’ve bought before; you know how well the piece of lingerie is made and how well it functions, and you’re able to judge whether or not the utility it’ll bring you is worth the price being asked for it.  But what happens when you want to buy a particular bra, pair of panties, or piece of shapewear for the first time?  How do you know whether the item’s price is justified by its quality since you have no personal experience with its performance?  The answer is that, to a certain extent anyway, you become a lemming.  And while this has always been the case for consumers since the inception of capitalism, the rise of the internet and its rapidly evolving social structure has made it easier, and more rewarding, than ever before to act like one of those mystical little creatures. (more…)

By Adam Welsch
Cupid Intimates

January 6^th is a day that will live in infamy in the world of women’s figure skating.  On this day in 1994, US figure skater, Nancy Kerrigan, was attacked during a practice session at the US Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, Michigan.  The ex-husband and bodyguard of Kerrigan’s rival, Tonya Harding, hired a third person to carry out the attack, which resulted in a baton blow and bruise to the thigh, and forced Kerrigan to withdraw from the competition.  Despite admitting that she helped cover up the attack, Harding joined Kerrigan the following month to skate for the United States at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.  Kerrigan won the silver medal, while Harding finished eighth.  The seventeenth anniversary of this notorious event seems an appropriate time for this blog to discuss the kinds of intimate apparel worn by female figure skaters. (more…)