Leather or lace?

Cartoonists have long portrayed leather and lace as residing at opposite sides of the moral spectrum. Good girls, apparently go for lace while bad girls…well. Ok, you get the picture but, as you’d expect, it’s never that simple.

Style, colour, cut, occasion are all the different ingredients which have to be considered every time you make a choice.

Buying a corset in black leather for example is certainly making a bold statement, particularly when leather corsets, these days are so well designed that they can also be worn on the outside with jeans, a short skirt or a revealing outfit for a sartorial fashion statement which would not be out of place at the Oscars’ red carpet.

Buy a teddy in lace and you have just acquired the type of sexual allure in your arsenal that used to be the preserve of Hollywood stars. Today’s corset, teddy, basque and bustier are designed to accentuate and flutter the female body, creating the right look for that special occasion.

So how do you decide?

Well, one way to choose is budget. Decide how much you want to spend and go from there.

Another would be to ask yourself when and where you would wear it.

If you are the type of woman who wants undergarments seen only in the bedroom, a raunchy leather corset with an intricate lace trimmed look might be just the thing.

If you decide that you want to accessorize your underwear with your outerwear sometimes treating it as outerwear then you need something a little more robust and probably slightly less provocative which can work with a variety of outfits.

As a rule of thumb lace is designed to remain as underwear. Leather can double as outerwear. So for an item of clothing which does both, leather – which now comes in a variety of colours – is just the thing.

Leather also is good for tight control when it comes to creating that physically perfect look. If you’re looking for tight control of bulges, good uplift to the bust and an overall smoothing out of imperfections, your leather corset is your new best friend.

Lace has a softer, more romantic image. It’s difficult, for example, to think of a candle-lit dinner for two as romantic when one of you is dressed in a leather corset. A hint of black or white lace however softens the tone of the occasion and sets just the right mood.

Just because lace is more refined does not mean it cannot create a raunchy look, quite the opposite as a matter of fact. Combine lace with a chemise or a silk shirt and a cami top, for example, and you could be well on your way to creating the perfect conditions for the re-enactment of the kitchen table-top scene from The Postman Always Calls Twice.

As always what counts is not just what you have bought but what you are going to do with it.