A Bloke's Guide to Buying Lingerie

18 January 2011

If you've got got this far, you're already winning some Brownie points. Well done for taking the initiative to do your research, I can assure you that your lady love will appreciate that little bit of extra effort when she unwraps your lingerie gift and not only does it fit, it's something she'll love and feel great wearing too.

This guide will help you make the right choices when shopping for lingerie for your wife, girlfriend or lover. If you want to buy lingerie for the special woman in your life, this guide is your pathway to choosing the perfect gift every time.

Before we get down to the shopping, there are a few sneaky bits of information that you need to gather to ensure that you're armed with of all the intell you need to buy your woman the right gift from our selection of hundreds of garments. It's a little like being a detective, you have to amass all of the clues she's left in her closet to build a picture of her perfect gift.

Gathering Information

Print or make a note of the below checklist to gather the information you'll need. You may find that your partner has a lot of differently-sized garments. Don't panic, just make a note of all of them for now to ensure that you have everything that you need.

Bra Size:

Knicker Size:

Clothes Size:

Common Garments In Lingerie Drawer:

Common Fabrics in Lingerie Drawer:

Common Colours in Wardrobe:

Describe Her Favourite Dress and Lingerie:

If your partner knows you're choosing lingerie for her:

Overbust Measurement (inches):

Underbust Measurement (inches):

Natural Waist Measurement (inches):

Hip Measurement (Inches):

What Sort of Garment Does She Want?

Which Colours and Fabrics Would She Prefer?

Once you've collected your information, you'll want to call on a few memories to help you pick a style that you know she'll love. Think about times when she's dressed up for a romantic night in or out, what did she wear? Does your lady like to smoulder in satin or lounge lusciously in lace? Does she wear stockings with suspenders or prefer hold-ups? By envisioning the things that your partner chooses to wear when she wants to look and feel her best, you'll discover what helps her to feel confident and sexy - which is the main aim when it comes to dressing for bed. By buying her something she'll feel confident wearing you'll boost her sexual confidence too, which only serve to benefit your sex life together.

Colours and Fabrics

Once your list is filled out, you need to look at the information objectively. There may be clear colours and fabrics that are her favourite like red lace or black satin. These give you a great starting point for finding the right gift. You can search by both colour and fabric in our Sexy Lingerie section. You can also take inspiration from her collection of dresses. Lots of women wear party clothes that closely emulate the colours and fabrics she has in her lingerie drawer.

So let's say that your lady likes red lace. To find all of our red lace products, you would firstly visit Sexy Lingerie and then select the red colour and allow the page to load. Then click 'lace' from the fabrics. You are now looking at every product we stock that is made from red lace. Simple!

Choosing the Right Lingerie Size

Sizing is your next problem. Different brands have different sizes, so one size 8 is another's size 12. If your partner has 8s, 10s and 12s in her wardrobe, which do you go for? As a default, I always suggest looking at her favourite clothes. They're her favourite because she feels confident and usually comfortable in them, which is precisely what you want her to feel in her Gift Lingerie. If there is a clear majority of one size, that's your winner. Keep an eye out for anything labelled S, M, L, XL etc. These are great indicators as to which size bracket she's likely to fall into.

Bra Sizes

Some lingerie items like the Classified Gigi Basque are measured by bra size. You can easily match this to your partner's bra size that you noted during your investigations. If she has more than one bra size, she may be in between sizes which is not uncommon for women. If this sounds like your lady, check the size in the bra that she wears most often. This is likely to be the most comfortable one she owns and therefore the best fitting.

Lots of our lingerie has an underwire but is not sized by bra size. An underwire is the bit of metal in the cup of a bra that holds the shape. If a lingerie item has an underwire but no bra size, check the description to see if the cup sizes it will fit is noted. As a general rule, most of these cups will fit an A, B or C cup with some fitting up to a D cup. If your partner is larger than a D cup, avoiding lingerie with underwires that is NOT sized by cup is your best option.

One Size

The Classified Mesh Thong Body is a great gift for women that like red and black lace colours and teddies/bodies as a lingerie choice. But it's labelled as One Size. How will you know if it will fit? There are two types of One Size garments - Regular and Plus Size. If your lady is below a size 16, opt for the Regular Size. If she is a size 16+, opt for a Plus Size garment.

Once you've decided if your lady is Plus Size or Regular Size, you can ensure that the item will fit by checking the recommended sizes. To the right of the product information you'll see check boxes for the style or size you want. You can see that next to each One Size label is a note advising it will fit a size 10-14.

If you discovered the sizes 10, 12 or 14 in your partner's wardrobe, it's likely that this teddie will fit them, but if you discovered sizes 6 and 8, it will be too big.

S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL, XXXXL

These letters can be just as ambiguous as the one size label and again, will vary between brands. In order to decipher whether your lady is an XL or XXL, a S or a M, you need to refer to the size charts. Looking at the Seven Till Midnight Red Paisley Lace Basque and Thong, to the right of the product image you'll see a checklist of available sized just like the One Size option.

You'll also note the 'View full size chart' link. Clicking on this will take you to the comprehensive size chart that will give you measurements in inches, cup sizes and clothing sizes. If you have your ladies overbust (bust/chest), waist and hip measurements to hand, this chart will be especially useful to ensure that your chosen gift will fit.

Choosing the Right Style

When you were covertly (or not so covertly) collecting your lady's info, you took a note of the types of garments that can be found in her lingerie collection. If your list reads something like 'a dress with a bra in it', take a look at our A-Z of Lingerie to acquaint yourself with the correct terminology. This will give you the keywords you need to help find the lingerie that you know she likes.

If you're not finding many clues in your lover's underwear drawer, then maybe you arrived just in time to spark a well-needed overhaul. How to Choose Lingerie for Your Body Shape will help you to decipher the many shapes that us women come in, but also help you to choose the types of lingerie that suit those shapes.

Still Having Problems Choosing Lingerie?

Contact our customer services department. We have a team of highly-trained advisors who will be more than happy to help you find the right gift for your partner. You can contact us via email, speak to one of our advisors on the telephone or use live chat - whichever is easiest for you.

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