This is the chemise that started it all. It was a terrible stretch of endless 16+ hour days at the law office (circa September 2009), finally a Friday. I wanted to take a stroll through Union Square, my home in New York the first two years of living here. I had just started a new, full-time job I wasn’t crazy about and was on the search for something familiar and comforting. I walked past Journelle and stopped for a moment to appreciate the window displays. There they were: Mimi Holliday and Damaris, two lingerie brands I had seen in ELLE Magazine during my year as an intern that sparked my interest.
I’d been to Journelle before with a girlfriend of mine, Tamara, who introduced me to the world of lingerie and even fitted and styled me in my first set a few weeks earlier. Since it was such great fun, I decided to pop in just to take a look…
And then I saw it. This chemise was perfection to me because it was everything I wasn’t. Delicate, slightly feminine and luxurious to the touch. Isn’t that sometimes what we look for in fashion and clothes, anyway? Something to better align who we desire to be with who we are now? It was certainly a case of chasing that je ne sais quoi that day, I couldn’t leave without it. The sales girl clearly sensed my stressed out state because she gift wrapped it for me (claiming it was just too pretty not to, and of course I agreed). Later that evening, I indulged in my purchase, feeling every bit of a million bucks.
What does lingerie do for you?
Chemise by Julianna via Journelle
Photos by Lydia
PS – For outtakes of this look and the Fortnight look, visit my Facebook page.
<3
'nuff said.
<3 right back atchya.
so pretty!
Thank you, Whitney
Oo I could write you a whole list in response to that question… Mostly though lingerie reminds me I am a woman, and that I can be whatever woman I choose to be. Perhaps this is reflected in the differences in my lingerie wardrobe – I have some very delicate white sets, and some stripy, fashion-y fetish inspired pieces. I don’t think women generally invest as much as they could in lingerie. The power of woman is very strong (I cannot speak for the men, I wonder if it serves the same purpose for them?!)
http://www.styleonthecouch.com
I always love your comments. I think you hit the nail on the head… lingerie can be very transformative and feels perhaps a little less costumey and forward than wearing an outfit that’s outside of your style comfort zone. I think this warrants a whole separate post, no?
Interesting you say that about men. My boyfriend does invest in his briefs (though I’m not sure he’d appreciate this revelation!) and there are definitely some he likes better than others, particularly Patagonia. We jokingly call them his “man-gerie”