Carla Bruni and the Soutien-gorge She Left in Her Boudoir
Leave your abayah, burqah, chador, veil, dear musulmanes françaises at home! Carla gets away with leaving her bra at home for a State banquet in the palace, the Élysée Palace, that is. If God will forgive her for being bra-less, I’m sure He’ll forgive you for being veil-less! – © Mark


TIMES ONLINE: Should Carla Bruni have worn a bra? : France’s First Lady has divided opinion by hosting a state dinner wearing a tight Roland Mouret dress and no underwire [spelling deliberate, I assume] >>> | Friday, March 05, 2010

Saudi Women Trained to Sell Bras for First Time
THE TELEGRAPH: Using colourful bras donated by employees at Victoria's Secret, a group of 26 mostly Saudi women completed the first course of its kind to be offered in the kingdom – how to fit, stock and sell underwear.

The training organisers hope will help boost a campaign to lift the ban on women selling underwear in the kingdom.

The graduates held a small ceremony at a college in the western seaport of Jiddah this week, capping 40 hours of instruction during which they learned to overcome their embarrassment at doing bra fittings, deal with customer complaints and display the stock in an appealing manner.

"It was a beautiful experience," said Faten Abdo, a 32-year-old coordinator in the offices of a lingerie company.

"The most shocking thing for me was the bra sizes," she added. "We didn't know how to get proper measurements before."

The 10-day course comes three months after a group of Saudi women launched a campaign to boycott lingerie stores until they employ women. Almost all the stores in the kingdom are staffed by men. The only exceptions are a few women-only boutiques, some of them inside popular shopping centres. >>> | Thursday, June 25, 2009