Help me buy lingerie for my girlfriend!

December 30, 2003 9:28 AM

Help me buy lingerie for my girlfriend! [more inside]

OK, so like any repressed American Male who wishes to buy his girlfriend some lingerie for her to be sexy in, I am looking for some advice. I know what I like, and I know what she would like, the problem is where to buy it. I specifically didn’t buy her any lingerie for Christmas, because it is really as much a gift to me than it is to her [or more so]. Victorias Secret is well known, but the fabrics aren’t really that great. Really, the optimal situation would be to find a smaller boutique (we live in NYC) and let her have the run of the store to try on lingerie without the bossy VS “helpers” bothering her. But seeing that I do not have the finances to shut a whole store down, does anyone have any better suggestions? I don’t really want to just get a gift card [too impersonal] so I think I just need to suck it up and find a nice boutique. Preferably in Manhattan somewhere.

posted by plemeljr to human relations (10 comments total)

Neiman Marcus, or Nordstrom, if you don't mind a department store and want good quality. No fetish stuff there, but if you're just looking for whitebread sexy underwear, she won't be disappointed.
posted by trharlan at 9:48 AM on December 30, 2003

Slightly off-topic: make sure to let her pick the day you go. Most women are body-conscious and it makes us feel horrible to be trying on sexy lingerie on a 'bad body day' (during our period, right after overeating during the holidays etc...), so you'll probably have a much happier girlfriend if she gets to choose the day you go.

That said, stay clear of La Perla unless you want to spend major buck$. Gorgeous, but outrageously pricy. I second Nordstrom as a good department store. Wish I could remember the name or location of that cute little lingerie store downtown that would be exactly what you're looking for, but I can't remember for the life of me.
posted by widdershins at 10:09 AM on December 30, 2003

widdershins - yeah, we were out one time and we past a nice little boutique somewhere in the East Village, but she wasn't feeling good and I wasn't going to press the issue - and dammit if I didn't forget the place. I never really thought of going to Nordstroms or Macy's [shudder]. I guess it shows how much of a shopper I really am in general.
posted by plemeljr at 10:31 AM on December 30, 2003

Check out Azaleas, on E. 10th St. in the East Village. Small, modest prices, friendly staff.

Avoid Victoria's Secret.
posted by mkultra at 10:34 AM on December 30, 2003

You could try Kylie Minogue endorsed Agent Provocateur.
posted by riffola at 11:05 AM on December 30, 2003

I second Azaleas. My boutique of choice when I lived in NY.

Victoria Secret underwear is just nasty. I think it's more meant not to be worn, or rather worn for five minutes. I've found any purchase there to be ill fitting and made of truly unnatural fibers.
posted by heather at 11:32 AM on December 30, 2003

What's wrong with shopping online together? None of those silly sales people(which is why I won't shop at a Victoria Secret store but will order from their online store which has a lot more choices) plus you get all the fun of anticipating a package for pretty things you both picked out. Harvey's Boutique has great things and you can get some of it online here. Otherwise I would just call the stores and have my selections delivered.
posted by oh posey at 12:07 PM on December 30, 2003

Widdershins is probably thinking of La Petite Coquette on University Place, which has recently taken over the store next door and has the sexiest window display I've ever seen. I don't usually date mannequins but damn.
posted by nicwolff at 12:27 PM on December 30, 2003

You could try Kylie Minogue endorsed Agent Provocateur.

When I was in England for Christmas a few years ago a mate of mine took me to AP for a laugh (and so he could buy his wife something nice). While we were there a shy man brought up a bra and asked a woman who worked there what they looked like "off the hanger" so-to-speak. Without batting an eye, the woman ripped open her blouse and stuck out her tits at the guy and said "Like this love"

If the APs here are anything like the one I visited in England I would suggest shopping sans the GF, as the women at the shop would surely enduce a "bad body day" even with the most secure of people :)

That all being said, I prefer my wife's birthday suit to anything I have seen on the rack :)
posted by terrapin at 12:30 PM on December 30, 2003

From the SuperFuture listing for AP:

ambiance >>lesbo kink< br>
Gotta love that.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:33 AM on December 31, 2003