The Lingerie Handbook

The Lingerie Handbook is written mainly by Rebecca Apsan, but she has help from Sarah Stark. I had no idea who Rebecca Apsan was before I read this book, and learned that she owns her own lingerie outlet, La Petite Coquette (The Little Flirt), in New York City. She writes in a way that is easy to understand and doesn't feel like she's talking down to you at all.

Sarah Stark writes for Victoria's Secret, Daily Candy, and other various fashion and style websites.

This book is aimed at helping the average women build her arsenal of lingerie, decide what should be in it, or just learn where to start. The book is broken up into easy to follow chapters that are packed full of information without being overwhelming.

She covers how to decide what of your existing collection should stay or go based on wear to the item itself, whether it still fits properly, if it's uncomfortable, and things that are almost perfect. She goes over all the different types of bras, what purpose each one serves, and the proper way to measure for one. She does the same thing with panties, but this time she delves a little bit into color and fabric. Slips and sleepwear get their own section, elaborating on the importance of a good slip underneath a dress and something sexy (or not) you can wear to bed and be comfortable. While we're talking about this you wear under clothing, we can't leave out shapewear and all its inifite possibilities. Another chapter covers stockings, pantyhose, and tights, and the difference between them, as well as the best situation for each. She teaches you how to dress to undress, even while pregnant. In addition to a section on how to best care for your precious lingerie, there's even a section to help men in their search for a sexy gift for their female partners.

Every section that could possibly have an illustration, does. Each piece of lingerie that has a "right" way and a "wrong" way has a picture that illustrates each, and on the same model. The models themselves are "real" women, "real" just meaning that they don't look like they should be gracing the cover of Playboy, they're just regular women wearing what looks best for them. There are so many pictures of different bras and underwear and everything else, but no single page comes across as overwhelming in any manner. Some things are broken off into separate "tables" just to make them easier to spot and offer a nice breakup in the page.

It's a little bigger than most of the erotica books, coming in at 8 1/2" x just under 7". It is a paperback, so you can't beat the hell out of it, but it doesn't look like it's going to come undone without trying. It's spent a decent amount of time traveling with me in various bags, and if you're worried about it being too risque for public viewing? Don't. I brought this book on my honeymoon and read it on the plane home. I didn't get a single odd look from anybody who saw it.

I really liked this book. I learned a lot from it that I've been able to use to better my own knowledge, pass on to friends, and even make my own lingerie reviews a little bit better. I learned that (like most women) I'm probably wearing the wrong bra size, bot not only that, I've also been putting my bra on wrong my entire life. 12 years of wearing a bra and putting it on a certain way is a hard habit to break, but I have noticed that more often than not, I'll take the time to put my bra on the 'right' way now, which is to do the clasp behind your back, rather than put the thing on backwards and upside down to clasp it, then flip it around.

My husband has read little tidbits of it here and there, and I've referenced it when explaining lingerie to my friends. If you're interested in learning a little, or a lot, more about lingerie, its history, and how you should be sexing it up under your clothes, definitely pick this book up. It's well worth it.