Crazy expensive, bejeweled bras are nothing new. Heidi Klum freakin’ wears one in every Victoria’s Secret runway show. But why should Heidi have all the spendy chest candy to herself? Here’s something different and dedicated to a great cause: Luxury lingerie company Di Murini has developed a Swarovski-studded mastectomy bra that weighs in at $1,931.58, with 50 percent of the profits going to the charity Against Breast Cancer. It’s a pretty cool addition to all the Breast Cancer Awareness Month fund-raising products, no? [Lussorian]

Pinup icon Dita Von Teese shows the rest of us how to work it, work it at the London launch of her eponymous lingerie line for Wonderbra. [9/23/09, London]

Designer Liz Franco created this hilarious send-up of this iconic British WWII poster. [Via Fraying]

To celebrate the launch of their “New World Order” line of lingerie, Agent Provocateur deposited a fleet of underwear models wearing leather, thigh-high boots in front of the department store Selfridges and managed to literally stop traffic. Wonder why? [9/16/09, London]

I’ve got a soft spot for this lingerie commercial for New Zealand-based brand HOTmilk (I know, unfortunate name). The sexy line of underthings is targeted at pregnant women and is about “empowering women, to remind them that they are beautiful confident and SEXY,” even when their stomachs are stretched to epic proportions and their nipples are leaking. While I agree with Broadsheet that we should be celebrating the beauty of the pregnant female form through other means than expensive lingerie, I think it’s refreshing to see a sexy commercial where a woman’s swollen belly is on full display and a hot sexy man is losing his s**t over it. [Broadsheet]

And you thought your granny panties were big. Tokyo-based artist Yoshikazu Yamagata created this super-sized bra and panties set for reasons that I cannot explain. Don’t fall in the cups, kids! [Style Bubble]

I would love to wear lingerie like this. Hose, garters, panties. Beautiful, sophisticated, expensive. The whole high-end shebang. This is what I imagine every Parisian woman wears starting at age 18. But, I don't. I feel like I'd be like a bull in a china shop and rip those sheer hose to smithereens within minutes. Lingerie is so complicated. Or is that me? [Fashion Copious]

Over on Slate, a male reader wrote to Dear Prudence, asking whether it was normal that his girlfriend of six months has been wearing the same bra every day for two weeks. Was she unhygienic, or simply a normal gal? Prudie responded, saying she polled some of the cleanest women she knows and they wash their bras at most once a week.

We did a little research on the topic, and while it’s pretty easy to find information about how you should be washing your bras (preferably by hand in cold water, air-dried), how often isn’t something that has been spelled out or set in stone.

Full coverage isn't just for period panties anymore. When we opened the current issue of Marie Claire with Ashley Olsen on the cover, we were a little shocked to see her wearing granny panties -- and making them look good. High-waisted briefs made the August cover of German Vogue, too. Then, while browsing for underwear online, we noticed that Hanky Panky has a few retro styles featuring a significant amount of fabric compared to their very tiny signature thongs. Has the understated sexiness of "Mad Men" rubbed off on the underwear business? For years, it's been "less is more" when it comes to undies, but now you might be able to find a pair that actually covers your butt and makes you feel sexy. But do they look like they belong in your grandmother's underwear drawer?

1. Rago Lace High Waist Brief Panty, $39, Her Room
2. Hanky Panky Silken Skin High Rise Panty, $38, Revolve Clothing
3. Hanro Grace Full Briefs, $43, Nordstrom
4. Bernie Dexter for Lucy B. Lingerie Black Power Net Vintage Repro Girdle, $56, Baby Girl Boutique

Now that fancy British underwear brand Agent Provocateur is invading New York Fashion Week, we’re going to have to pick our allegiances: Is your loyalty to American mainstay Victoria’s Secret or Agent Provocateur, home to all things even vaguely kinky? Here are a few points to consider as you choose sides…

Lingerie line Agent Provocateur has always been a cult favorite, but they’re now beginning to monopolize the sexy lingerie market thanks to lots of excellent news today:

• The label is launching a new jewelry line. (They currently offer some slightly unwearable rope and tassel bedroom accessories and a few necklaces.) The designs to launch in September will be much stronger with leather cuffs adorned with silver plates and Swarovski crystals. [InStyle.co.uk]
• Also for fall, Agent Provocateur brings back its classics collection filled with the standard colors—pink, black, white, red—and featuring lacy corsets, nipple tassels, and demi-cup bras. [ViewOnFashion.com]

Just kidding. We hate the term “spice up your bedroom.” Barf. Still, if you’re a fan of super sexy, gorgeous lingerie made by crafty folks with mad skills, you best hurry up and go check this out. I was so honored to be a guest curator on Etsy‘s blog, and we worked together to come up with 12 slamming items that range from awesome for a really, um really hot date to just-reading-the-paper-in-bed fare. You’ll love. Trust. [Etsy]

Excluding those gals who have the unique ability (and required lack of shame) to go around commando on top, we’ve all found ourselves in the dilemma of finding a super-cute top or dress… but no bra to wear with it. Since I require some serious support when it comes to my undergarments, I’ve tried just about anything to make do with what I’ve got at the last possible minute—sewing kits, safety pins (why did it take them so long to invent the Brabuddy?), tucking straps into my armpits, etc.—but now that I’m a little older, I’ve learned that the easiest solution is to just shop wiser! Why spend money on a separate strapless bra when you could buy the ultimate convertible bra that’s both strapless, strapped, racerback, and halter all in one? Continue reading...

Marilyn Monroe’s old underwear is going up for auction this weekend and her bra alone is expected to fetch up to £2,000 (about $3,285). And you thought your bras were expensive! This is no ordinary bra though, of course. In addition to being worn by one of the most famous and arguably sexiest women of all time, it is considered to be a sort of early “Wonderbra” with all sorts of special pockets, cups, straps and ribbons that helped give the illusion that Marilyn was even bustier than she really was. Auctioneer Richard Davie said: “The bra looks very complicated at first glance and it actually has four cups inside it - sort of like an early Wonderbra. There’s an inner cup which it almost hidden, which would support her chest as normal. But then there’s an another larger cup about an inch further out, to give the impression she had a bigger chest.”

It was a total misunderstanding that one time I bought a woman I was dating sexy lingerie, the slinky, lacy kind that looked like it was made out of the doilies that decorated my grandmother’s beloved sofa. She thought I was disingenuously buying her a gift that was really a gift for me. I protested, of course, because it was never my idea to veer into Victoria Secret’s during one of our weekend shopping excursions that were theoretically about her training me to be, if not fashion forward, then at least fashion neutral. A happy compromise, considering I, apparently, was clinging to late-‘90s fashion like a koala bear to the last eucalyptus tree on Earth. But, in fact, these sprees were about her dragging me by the throat to store after store.

We’ve already mentioned how sales of lipstick and home hair dye have been on the rise since the beginning of the recession, and now the Telegraph U.K. is reporting that “racy underwear” is selling at a record rate, too — at least in England.

Talk about sticking it to the man. A group of 26 women in Saudi Arabia are now “lingerie graduates.” At a 10-day retreat led by an Australian woman, the group spent 40 hours learning how to correctly fit a bra, display merchandise, and deal with customers. Victoria’s Secret even donated bras to help out with the undie education.

So why was this training needed? In Saudi Arabia, only men can work at malls, meaning that most lingerie stores are staffed by dudes. And come on, who wants their chest measured by some fumbling man who doesn’t know what he’s doing? Plus, there are no fitting rooms in Saudi stores because a woman is prohibited to undress outside her home.

Last night, my guy went to watch Megan Fox’s hot body, I mean, “Transformers 2.” One girlfriend wanted me to grab dinner and another wanted to see a movie.

But the only thing I wanted to do was eat half a bag of potato chips for dinner, flip through Women’s Health and paint my nails with a hot pink polish so bright it would blind a newborn.

So you know what? That’s what I did.

Kinda lame, I know. But I had a really great relationship with myself for those two years that I was single and last night reminded me there are some kinda lame things single women do that are actually really fun.