GIFT OF LOVE
When it comes to buying underwear, most lingerie people emphasise either fit or frippery, but always one at the cost of the other. At Susan Hunter, you can have both.
The owner, Susan Moylett, has always expertly walked the line between providing the practical and the beautiful. Women can go to her store and buy corsetry garments a million times more elegant than most control-garment brands, and just as functional.
Susan Hunter is about service. Susan gives great, honest advice to pregnant women, plus-size women, brides to be, and the like. If you have a lingerie challenge, Susan will do her best to answer it or direct you to someone who can.
“Corsetry is very big,” says Susan of the coming trends. “People want control. It’s not just laissez faire and relaxed. At the moment, nobody seems to know what’s going on. But in their lives, at least, they want structure. Fitted, tight, nipped-in things — all that sort of stuff.”
She’s full of tips for when you’re buying a corset. “You must ask yourself, ‘what do I want it to do?’ Waist smaller? Boobs up? Hips out?” she says. “It’s like buying a pair of shoes. Do you want to go running in them, or do you want to go dancing? Corsets are the same; they all have a different function. “From €100, you’d get a perfectly reasonable one,” she continues. Beyond this price point, look for whether it has laces, if it is made of silk, or has steel boning.
Susan Moylett has always maintained that men are deeply romantic. Her advice for men buying for Valentine’s Day is to trust their instinct. “I find that nowadays they know what they want — they go through their partner’s underwear drawer and find their sizes,” she says.
Bras, and bra fitting, are her customers’ main requirement. “People are not taking chances. They want it right,” she says. “They’re saying, ‘I can’t afford to buy something cheap. I want quality. I want one or two good things’.” Take the time to get fitted is Susan’s constant mantra.
Stockings are going well too. From about €12, they are an accessible slice of glamour. “Like buying a lipstick,” Susan smiles.
Colour is also a big trend for underwear this season, and Susan is hugely excited by her new exclusive label for this season, Chantal Thomass. The first delivery, which arrives in March, is “very traditional, polka-dot silk”.
Beautiful lingerie is one of the cornerstones of self care. It makes us walk a little differently, feel a little taller and more beautiful.