CONTENTS
Appendix A: Special Bra-Fitting Concerns
Appendix B: Special Underwear Concerns
Appendix C: Sample Lingerie Wardrobes
Appendix D: Bra Size Conversion Charts
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First published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin random House LLC, New York.
This UK edition published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
FIRST EDITION
Text © Cora Harrington 2018
Internal and cover illustrations © Sandy Wirt 2018
Cover design © Ten Speed Press
Internal design by Angelina Cheney
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Cora Harrington asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780008316334
Ebook Edition © August 2018 ISBN: 9780008316341
Version 2018-11-05
Why wear lingerie? Given my longstanding and intimate relationship with this body of garments—from my first job in a lingerie boutique to a career being tight-laced into corsets only to sling them off, and as designer of my very own signature lines of lingerie and full-fashioned stockings—well, it’s a question that comes up more often than not.
Singles will confide in me that they don’t bother since they have no one special in their life to impress. Those with a special someone in their lives dismiss any need to bother because they are “past” that stage. Then there are those who believe their figure doesn’t deserve pretty lingerie. Seriously? Flying solo or not, curvy or gamine, you should never stuff your sensuality in a drawer for another lifetime. Lingerie is an opportunity! And not how you might think. Lingerie offers a chance to honor your self every day.
I like to say that lingerie allows for the seduction of self. You are the first to experience that pretty lace bra or slip into those silken knickers. You might also be the only one in on the secret under that black dress, concealing a ravishing crimson camisole you selected even if no one would ever be the wiser. Beautiful lingerie should not be limited as an instrument to catch a lover. It is a signal that you love yourself enough to take out the good stuff and feel special even on the most mundane of days. To get to this point takes a bit of practice, of course. It takes patience, at least initially, to slip into seamed stockings and hook them into place. Or to zero in on a cup shape that looks as good as it feels. But soon, these rituals will feel effortless, even fulfilling.
My own love affair with lingerie began when I was a young girl. I was transfixed by the starlets clad in slinky negligees and marabou-trimmed robes appearing in the old movies playing on Saturday-afternoon TV. My first job was in a lingerie boutique, where I learned to properly fit a bra. I shopped for vintage lingerie and studied out-of-print books on the subject (all the more reason that we are so lucky today to hold Cora’s wisdom within these pages!). So when I first started performing striptease, I distinguished myself from the other dancers in their contemporary underwear by hooking into (and out of) corsets and seamed stockings. It was a daring business decision in 1992. But I loved the way these old-fashioned wares made me feel. I could create the kind of mythic fantasy I long admired on the screen. I felt beautiful in them.
A wonderful career as a burlesque performer, a few lingerie-clad cameos on the runways, and too many photo shoots to count have followed those days. Today, I get some of the greatest pleasure designing lingerie—with all those in mind whom I’ve met and performed for over the years. For them—for you—I strive to make bewitching, well-fitting lingerie that is accessible in price and in sizing. We all think we have flaws, and I believe in distracting from those flaws, imagined or real, by accentuating the positive. I get such joy seeing