Alex Henderson

Fashion Fetish: Make the Bedroom Your Catwalk With These Top Lingerie Trends for 2017

By Alex Henderson

Lingerie isn’t limited to just sexy sequins and ruby red lace trimmed stockings used to entice a lover in bed. In fact, the word “lingerie” has been part of the English-speaking vocabulary for generations. Flappers — the bob-wearing, jazz-loving, skirt-shortening sex goddesses of the 1920s — were avid consumers of lingerie. In the 1950s, Bettie Page’s sexy undergarments and fetish attire earned her a passionate cult following. What has, however, changed over the years is the variety of lingerie options available to curious customers. From Victoria’s Secret trendy shops in every mall to specialty boutiques, lingerie is now comprised of a variety of styles and accompanying accessories such as pasties, long gloves, fishnets, corsets and more. The options seem infinite.

Today’s lingerie world is not dominated by any one material any more than it is dominated by any one color. Material can be anything from lace or satin to leather — or, an item might feature different types of material. And a bustier, bra, corset or teddy might stick to one particular color or feature different colors.

Lisa Linh, social media manager for Seven ‘til Midnight, noted that the company is giving its customers a wide range of lingerie options in 2017.

“Our 2017 Collection includes several hot trends, including rock & roll, warm tones, and playing with sexy silhouettes with our bralettes, corsets and sleepwear,” Linh explained. “Popular colors include wine, black and dusty pink. We have a variety of lace, including crochet galloon, paisley galloon, feather and floral fence lace.”

How much an intrigued shopper will or won’t spend on lingerie depends on their budget.

XGen Products, based in Horsham, Penn. in the Philadelphia suburbs, is offering different lingerie options for different budgets. The company features different lines of sexy attire — including Pleasure Wigs, Peekaboo Pasties and Lapdance Jewelry — and customers, depending on their budgets, can either purchase one or two items or purchase multiple items and put together an entire outfit.

“We have different price points on our various lines to appeal to customers’ different needs and desires,” asserted Andy Green, president of XGen Products. “And no matter what price point, it is always of the best quality for that price point. At the end of the day, people do want something that is usable and wearable — whether it be a one-time use or a fine piece of Baci lingerie that could last years.”

According to Green, XGen’s packaging is designed to show consumers exactly what they’re getting.

“We keep our lingerie packaging clean and simple,” Green noted. “The front is always the model (photographed) from the front, and the back of the package always shows the model from behind. We always use a plus-sized model for the plus-sized items so customers can see what the item really looks like. Within each of our lines, we keep the packaging the same look and the same size.”

Green added, “We have realized that a major component of a store’s revenue is add-on sales: a customer will start with a (basic) piece of lingerie or some sort of apparel and then, go throughout the store and add on to make it a complete look. So, whether it’s our Pleasure Wigs, Peekaboo Pasties or Lapdance Jewelry — whatever they need, we have them covered.”

Heather Stockton, spokesperson for Coquette International, stressed that when it comes to lingerie, the company is determined to meet the needs of customers — and that can mean selling them either a little lingerie or a lot of it.

“Some consumers prefer more basic and affordable styles because they don’t intend to wear the same pieces twice; they purchase a new outfit for each new occasion,” Stockton observed. “Some consumers, however, prefer quality over quantity, especially those who wear lingerie often. We have seen an increase in requests for shaping designs with real metal boning in them; so, this year, we have released two new corsets featuring metal spiral boning for the first time ever to meet this demand.”

Fetish attire is an area of lingerie that was once very underground but has become increasingly mainstream in recent years. When the late pinup queen Bettie Page posed for a series of black-and-white BDSM images with photographer Irving Klaw in the early 1950s, those depictions were hardly mainstream. Many of them featured her in fetish attire (including black leather corsets, long opera gloves and stiletto boots), and Page was seen as both a dominatrix and a submissive. Klaw’s depictions of spanking, bondage and fetish attire were quite daring for that time.

Fetish attire remained underground in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, but the more mainstream BDSM became in the 1990s and 2000s, the more widespread the fetish look became. And the “Fifty Shades of Grey” phenomenon — both the E.L. James novels and the films they inspired — has only added to the prominence of fetish attire.

With that prominence has come a wide variety of options for consumers. Fetish attire was once dominated by black leather, from corsets, catsuits and thigh-high stiletto boots to opera gloves. But these days, a corset, catsuit or pair of long, over-the-elbow gloves is just as likely to come in latex or PVC — and a variety of colors are being featured in today’s fetish attire, ranging from pink and red to blue to purple. Pastels were a rarity in the fetish attire of 30, 40 or 50 years ago, but they are plentiful in fetish attire today.

The term “lingerie,” in English, is generally understood to mean “sexy undergarments,” but fetish attire is versatile. Fetish gloves, fishnets and corsets can be worn in a bedroom, a BDSM dungeon or a nightclub. And a pair of thigh-high leather, PVC or latex boots that are used as part of a dominatrix outfit in a dungeon or as part of bedroom attire might also be worn with jeans on the street or in a nightclub.

Wilson Kello, creative director of Pink Lipstick Lingerie, noted that fetish-flavored lingerie remains a popular niche in 2017.

“I saw someone adding deep burgundy accents to black garments — gorgeous if done sparingly,” Kello observed. “Here, we’ve been really materials-focused, with varying degrees of straps, open cups, chokers, mesh, lace. And black really demonstrates the contrast of fabrics there. Harsh, in-your-face bondage styles blow me away — black on black on black.”

Kello said that in today’s lingerie world, companies often find themselves balancing quality and affordability where consumers are concerned.  

“I’m sure any poll would demonstrate quality is everything to consumers,” Kello explained. “But what that poll doesn’t tell you is that if you’re like most people, you can’t afford the quality item even if you desire it. The $238 bra is not happening. So that same consumer who desires quality knows they’re trading a certain level of quality for a price they can afford. What we strive for here is actual value: a sexy item that fits and can be cared for and worn again. We’re competing in a bitter price war with people who ship garments that fall apart out of the box, and they’re gaining ground because price point is the most influential marketing tool there is for consumers.”

Jeff Baker, president of Magic Silk and its sister company Male Power, emphasized that with lingerie, quality and affordability need not be mutually exclusive.

“Quality is always important,” Baker asserted. “However, everyone has their eye on the dollar. We like to focus on value, which is a function of beauty, quality, and cost. We go on the assumption that the consumer wants it all, but we have always placed our emphasis on quality and value.”•••