underwear as outerwear

Despite the recent transition from breezy dresses to cosy sweaters, this festive time also calls for strapless solutions and glamorous gowns… and when looking for a beautiful gown for an event, I often turn to my favourite lingerie brands for inspiration.

When it comes to accessorising with and styling lingerie as outerwear, I often hear people say that they aren’t comfortable getting creative. But as much as we love a daring outfit, there are also subtler ways to integrate lingerie into outfits on a regular basis.

Murmur works lingerie-inspired details into their designs in numerous ways, but by far my favourite is their use of shiny suspender grips as decorations. It’s a design feature I love whenever I see a brand using it, but Murmur really goes all out.

The more unique or ultra-pretty pieces I add to my lingerie collection, the more I find myself trying to ‘sneak’ some of them into my outerwear. A strappy bra peeking out from under a top there, a slip worn as a summer dress there – there’s usually a way to slip a little lingerie in if you want to.

Earlier this year, I wrote about Beba Lingerie, a Serbian brand that I had at the time just discovered – and it was love at first sight. It was giving me strong Honey Birdette vibes, with maybe a little Bordelle thrown in too, and the prices seemed pretty great for the designs on offer. I simply could not get the brand’s Becca bodysuit out of my head.

This year I’m seeing a trend of silk slips that double as both loungewear and dresses you can wear out and about. So many slips this season are designed in gorgeous opaque colours and fun prints that they’re pratically begging to be shown off in public.

The more I invest in adding beautiful and unusual pieces to my lingerie collection, the more I find myself trying to think up outfit ideas that will show them off to the world. After all, if you can wear something as both underwear and outerwear, that makes it doubly good value for money, right?

I may only own a handful, but bodysuits are one of my favourite lingerie styles – if you can get the fit right, they’re an incredibly versatile type of garment. In fact, they’re often the first thing mentioned when discussing ideas to wear lingerie as outerwear.

You may recall Keòsme from my earlier review of their Bersèra swimsuit, or my review of the Hermiona bra set by their sister brand loveJilty. Both Keòsme and loveJilty are produced by yesUndress, a Ukrainian retailer with an ever-growing number of brands under its umbrella.

The second I stumbled across Dorshelle Guillaume, I fell in love. The designs are simply breathtaking, every single one of them an ornate and unique showstopper. There’s a level of decadence and attention to detail here that is rare even amongst luxury lingerie brands, from lusciously-embellished fabrics to beaded fringing.