I'm sure you can relate: You're in the dressing room at your favorite store - trying on a bra, panties, or a piece of lingerie - and absolutely nothing about it makes you feel sexy. All you can see are the "trouble areas" that seem glaringly obvious, and you're defeated. That gorgeous piece of lingerie - that looked amazing on the hanger - makes you feel worse than the t-shirt and jeans you walked in with.
Shopping for lingerie can be TOUGH. Only rivalled by swimsuits, there are not many other types of clothing that put so much of ourselves on display when we're trying them on - and when we plan to wear them later. This makes it really easy to be critical of ourselves - and really easy to beat ourselves up when something doesn't fit right.
That being said, the perfect lingerie is out there for you - it just might take some patience, some trial-and-error, and some mental reframing of how you see yourself.
Easier said than done, right? But here are some tips to help you on your journey on how to find lingerie that makes you feel sexy.
Remember that Most Product Photos are Just Fantasy
The biggest issue we have to nip in the bud right now: the lingerie product photos. You know the ones - where the model looks amazing in this advertised garment and the photos are plastered all over the tag and the box. The model looks straight out of a magazine!
And that's because they are. Remember that those shoots are NOT real-life - and nothing about them is representative of real-life. The model may have fasted - or reduced water intake - to get to the definition they have. The model is also paid to look this gorgeous - which means their 40 hour work week includes built-in time for workouts, personal trainers, hair and makeup artists, stylists, and more. They may even have their own 5-person team working on them before a shoot!
Then we have to talk about the professional shoots. The photographer has thousands of dollars in lighting and photography equipment - and makes the model stand still while they move the lights around the model to get the absolute perfect angle to accentuate what they want the viewer to see. Past that, many times, lingerie for the photoshoot is tailored for the model's proportions - no "off-the-shelf" lingerie here! (Y'know, like the stuff you're trying to buy.)