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Photo by Iryna Kalchenko.
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I once asked my French hairdresser—who has a cute little atelier in Beverly Hills—what she missed most about her home country, and she replied, "The lingerie." She went on to add, "The lingerie in the US is usually bad quality." I agreed. Exceptional lingerie is something I found in Paris while shopping as a newlywed for my honeymoon. Sadly, the lingerie was so amazing that it was stolen out of our rental car while having dinner one night in the tiny village of Eygalières.
Etam is my favorite brand of French lingerie (sadly they do not ship to the US), because it's well-made, good quality, pretty and still sensible. It's perfect for day-to-day, or day-to-night. I recently learned that Inès de la Fressange wears the brand as well. I also love Princesse Tam Tam and Eres. Carine Gilson makes amazing, sumptuously beautiful lingerie (Carine Roitfeld wears the brand), but for most of us mere mortals, the price tag is hard to swallow. One important thing to know about French women is that their underwear must always match. It is a cardinal sin to have mismatched undies. "Underwear must be matching. It is a fundamental and never to be broken rule," writer and Francophile, Helena Frith Powell informs us in her book, All You Need to Be Impossibly French.
In New York, the boutique, Journelle (1266 3rd Avenue, NY, NY 10021, 212.255.7804), has a wonderful selection of lingerie for the connoisseur or connoisseuse.
