Lingerie

DEAR READERS: On May 18, I printed a letter from a young woman who had been invited to a friend's lingerie shower. "Bringing a Blender in Montana" was uncomfortable with the idea of purchasing intimate apparel for the bride-to-be, so I suggested she bring a "high-necked flannel nightgown. " When I asked you readers to offer other gift suggestions, you responded with an avalanche of terrific responses. Thanks to all for your clever suggestions. Read on: DEAR ABBY: One of the most unique bridal-shower gifts I received was a set of pillowcases.

Under billowing tents in Aviator Park, Moore College of Art & Design presented its annual end-of-year fashion show Saturday night with aplomb. The collections showed depth and creativity and represented looks from decades past, with Laura Galindo's Mad Men-esquetailored pieces and Caralyn Scudner's children's wear infused with 1960s flower prints. Scudner won the Charming Shoppes Inc. Award for the most salable collection and the Jannaman Award for best construction. Great choice.

Valentine's Day, an occasion that even the state of Arizona recognizes, arrives this Friday. If the cliches hold true, you women have already bought and mailed his card. And his gift - a nice cordless drill, or a pair of ridiculous boxer shorts that will eventually become your fanciest dust rag - is already bought, wrapped and hidden. You men are presumably thinking about flowers, candy, dinner on the town or lingerie, but you haven't done a thing. It should not surprise you that when a Daily News editor assigns a pre- Valentine's Day story, the editor goes for the lingerie.

It might be the most successful panty raid in history. On Saturday, someone made off with 300 pairs of women's panties from the Victoria's Secret store in the Deptford Mall. That's about $4,500 in undies, according to a police report released yesterday. The panties were last seen at 11 a.m., arrayed on a red-felt-covered table a few feet from the front door. At 9:30 p.m. - closing time - an employee noticed that the table was empty. Nearly as unmentionable as the stolen goods were further details of the crime.

They wanted proof. So after the party, a couple of the women grabbed the flimsy nighties, ran to the bedroom and turned off the lights. "It really works!" exclaimed Helene Polyak, 30, of Levittown, as the group returned to the party. And so it was true. A "Shining stars" nightie really did glow in the dark. How can you, too, be a constellation in your own home? you ask. Just attend an Undercover Wear party and order one of the nighties. The parties are similar to other home demonstrations for makeup, household goods and crystal - but with a little more spice.

Hillary Rodham Clinton will star in an undie ad that'll begin appearing this weekend in Brazilian mags. The ad, for Duloren lingerie makers, features a photo of the first lady that unintentionally shows part of her panties beneath a tight skirt as she chatted away during a visit to Brazil last month. The copy reads: "Mr. President of the United States, Your Excellency cannot imagine what a Duloren can do. . . . A homage from Duloren to one of the most important women of the decade.

DEAR ABBY: I'm a senior in high school and about to graduate. The week after graduation, one of my close friends is getting married. I have no qualms about the marriage, but I'm confused about the pre-wedding parties. The bride and groom are registered at three stores and have had a Tupperware party already. However, I have received an invitation to a lingerie party to which guests have been instructed to bring the bride lingerie with gift receipts attached. Am I wrong in thinking that buying intimate apparel is the responsibility of the couple?

In 1947, he gave the American woman bras, nighties, peignoirs and panties, all in basic black. In 1952, he offered her panties that were crotchless. In 1981 his gift was edible panties and bras, in tutti frutti, pina colada, banana, cherry and passion fruit. Now, Mr. Frederick Mellinger of Hollywood is at it again. He knows exactly what his women want, and he's going to give it to them. Two-piece dresses with peplums and pleats. Chambray shirts and five-pocket denim jeans. Long, straight skirts that fall almost to the ankle.

There's a scene in Annie Hall in which Alvy Singer gives Annie a present, a transparent pink-and-black concoction that might loosely be called underwear. "Are you kidding?" says Annie. "This is more like a present for you. " Twenty years later, that probably still explains why so many men give sexy lingerie for Valentine's Day. Especially this year. "This should be a huge holiday, because it's on a Friday and people can make plans to go away for the weekend," says Wendy Wade, owner of the Lacey Lady in Hatboro.

Call it fantasy football. Sexual fantasy football. Leaving little to the imagination, the Eagles unveiled their 2005-06 cheerleaders' lingerie calendar this week with a fashion show at the NovaCare Center. The calendar shows the Eagles cheerleaders with most of the mystery removed, racier by a few provocative poses than the average Victoria's Secret catalog, and its introduction definitely was not family entertainment. As the calendar picture of each cheerleader flashed on a screen, the woman herself strutted across the stage in high heels clad in fancy underwear - which was still a good deal more than most of them were wearing in a lingerie calendar with a minimal amount of lingerie.

BALTIMORE - Jockey Kent Desormeaux has been removed from Preakness entrant Tiger Walk after failing a Breathalyzer test. Desormeaux failed the test at Belmont Park in New York on Friday and was removed from three mounts on the program. He has not been suspended, but the New York State Racing and Wagering Board is conducting an investigation. According to a rule in New York that went into effect April 27, every jockey named to ride is required to undergo a test for alcohol consumption.

Under billowing tents in Aviator Park, Moore College of Art & Design presented its annual end-of-year fashion show Saturday night with aplomb. The collections showed depth and creativity and represented looks from decades past, with Laura Galindo's Mad Men-esquetailored pieces and Caralyn Scudner's children's wear infused with 1960s flower prints. Scudner won the Charming Shoppes Inc. Award for the most salable collection and the Jannaman Award for best construction. Great choice.

THE CLIENT LIST. 10 p.m. Sunday, Lifetime. WHAT DO women really want? According to Lifetime, it's more of Jennifer Love Hewitt, rubbing men the right way. On Sunday - because nothing says Easter like a hot chick who gives "happy ending" massages - the television-for-women network adds the series "The Client List," produced by and starring Hewitt as a strapped Texas homemaker who's willing to try just about anything to keep...

ANNA CHAPMAN, now a television star and sometime lingerie model in her native Russia, was the face of the biggest spy swap since the Cold War when she and nine others were arrested in June 2010. Yesterday, the FBI released a trove of videos and documents about her and others. In one video, a woman in her late 20s with reddish hair and sporting big sunglasses walks into a New York City coffee shop, takes a seat and pulls out a laptop. She leans forward to talk with her companion and briefly flashes the smile that turned her into an international sensation - like America's model-turned-TV star Tyra Banks.

DEAR READERS: On May 18, I printed a letter from a young woman who had been invited to a friend's lingerie shower. "Bringing a Blender in Montana" was uncomfortable with the idea of purchasing intimate apparel for the bride-to-be, so I suggested she bring a "high-necked flannel nightgown. " When I asked you readers to offer other gift suggestions, you responded with an avalanche of terrific responses. Thanks to all for your clever suggestions. Read on: DEAR ABBY: One of the most unique bridal-shower gifts I received was a set of pillowcases.

By no means do you think lacy, cleavage-baring lingerie when you step inside Mary Rhoads' home decor/lifestyle shop in Media. The Simon Pearce glassware is lovely, but not exactly sexy. The handmade floral-print matelasse tablecloths are certainly feminine, but . . . they're tablecloths. And yet this small-business venture - launched with unfortunate timing two years ago, when a good number of Americans seemed more focused on saving their homes than decorating them - is related to apparel of all types, insists Rhoads, a former Victoria's Secret sleepwear designer.

DEAR ABBY: I'm a senior in high school and about to graduate. The week after graduation, one of my close friends is getting married. I have no qualms about the marriage, but I'm confused about the pre-wedding parties. The bride and groom are registered at three stores and have had a Tupperware party already. However, I have received an invitation to a lingerie party to which guests have been instructed to bring the bride lingerie with gift receipts attached. Am I wrong in thinking that buying intimate apparel is the responsibility of the couple?

NEW YORK - We all agree that Bart Blatstein's family knows a thing or two about revitalizing neighborhoods. But what about breathing new life into women's lingerie? That's a whole different kind of rehabilitation process. Yet that's what Blatstein's 24-year-old daughter, Jenna Leigh Blatstein, is trying to do. She's asking American women to graduate from standard Victoria's Secret stock and pay the same attention to their underwear that they do to their outerwear. "A girl can have a full wardrobe of my lingerie," said Blatstein as we perused her collection of fall and spring intimates during Fashion Week at her Soho design studio.

WEARING THE crown as winner of the 11th annual Big Beautiful Women Pageant is Chiquita McKenzie, of Maryland (left). Above, contestants prep for the lingerie competition. McKenzie on the runway (upper right). At right, producer Dave Wilkes with first runner-up Queanna Feather, McKenzie, and second runner-up Jennifer Laws, of Philly. The show was held yesterday at the Renaissance Hotel.

CHIQUITA MCKENZIE, an aspiring mortician who finished first in the Miss Big Beautiful Woman Pageant two years ago, is coming back, this time with an arsenal of new tricks in her wardrobe, which she doesn't mind letting you know includes sizes 18 and 20. She's a big girl and proud of it. At 5 feet 7, the 37-year-old weighs a hefty 250 pounds, and plans to win the crown an unprecedented second time on Sunday afternoon at the Renaissance Hotel near...