When I think about lingerie, it is pleasure and confidence I feel. The opportunity to play with my body and those of others, when and if I feel like it. When I think about lingerie brands, however, it is often disappointment I feel. Despite loving the products, I cannot help but feel bored and, for a long time, I had been longing for a great big breath of fresh air.
I discovered MARIEYAT a couple of months ago. This Hong Kong born designer, new CSM graduate, was launching a new lingerie line that sought to carve itself a very personal and intimate space within the world of lingerie. After a trip to her Instagram, I fell in love. Facing an imagery mixing sexiness with fragility, sensuality with shyness, beauty with flaws, I was delighted to see a brand portraying women’s many facets.
“Ultimately, we believe empowerment comes from the mind and being honest to yourself” – Marie Yat
The products themselves are made to “embrace the body as a second skin instead of changing its form”, according Marie Yat, founder of the brand. The seamless knitwear, mainly made of cotton and silk, wants to blur the lines between unisex underwear and lingerie. MARIEYAT has therefore come up with a distinctive feature: cut outs, which gives a modern and sensual touch to the brand’s designs.
For my first order, I decided to go for a simple brief – the G-Tang Mid Waist Brief, in black. This cotton undergarment stands out thanks to the cut out at the back, leaving the lower buttocks contoured by straps. I thought to myself this would be a nice entrance within the brand’s universe, a way to try on a product I would be sure to wear – and I was not disappointed!
I received my order quickly after placing it and it arrived in a lovely packaging – carefully wrapped in tissue paper and stored within a branded bag (that I’m still using to protect books in my handbag!). The briefs themselves were as nice as expected, soft and comfortable to wear, and I found the cut outs to make me feel gorgeous. It would have been zero mistakes for MARIEYAT if the elastics weren’t a bit too tight (I took an M, it would have been probably wiser to take an L).
Similar options can be found with a thong – and can be paired with a cotton tank top/suspenders, the Niina. I had not seen that before and found them great and incredibly sexy, and should be for sure my next purchase. I was disappointed that bras are not yet available and, watching the brand’s Instagram, future products will likely not fit my size, but I think mixing up styles would work perfectly well and oh – aren’t sets passé? Rules are, anyway.
With an online shop launch last December, the range of products is still small. Expect to find two tops, a brief, socks and a dress, in black, white and baby pink, but keep an eye for new products! It’s not the most affordable lingerie, but it will bring a new style to your wardrobe, one that will make you feel sensuous and confident.
This post was written by a RWL Guest Blogger – Julie Bréthous researches and writes about feminism, counter-cultures and sex (lots of). She otherwise overthinks the vacuity of life, thinks midnight blue is way too bright as a colour, and doesn’t think at all about improving her terrible French accent. You can find her in Instagram as @juliebrets. Images for this post came via the MARIEYAT Facebook page.