Eco-friendly underwear that turn heads

Imagine sexy lingerie in luscious, low-impact dyed colors, made from bamboo leaves, discarded soy bean casings and reclaimed pine needles! Weird is wonderful!

The last few years have seen an emphasis on sustainability in fashion. Project Runway recently had a “green challenge” for their designers using all organic materials and even the beauty pageant scene is getting in on the sustainability movement with a Miss Earth pageant where the contestants, clad in eco-friendly gowns, discuss their environmental initiatives. It’s exciting to see the popular choices of organic cotton and hemp clothing expanding. Intimates have slowly been getting into the mix with more and more organic cotton pull-on bras and a few traditional back-close options available, both in un-wired and underwire versions. But so far, the eco-intimates choices are about as exciting as preparing your tax returns. Until now, that is…

Lusciously soft bamboo is not just for towels anymore. The world’s fastest growing grass turns out to be equally attractive as flooring for your new apartment, silky soft tank tops, itty bitty bikinis and grown up thongs. Guess what else? Bamboo swimwear is coming! By Summer 2009 and you’ll be bathing in bamboo with every head on the beached craned to get a peak.

Love when lingerie clings to your curves? The clingy stretch of soy fabrics will surprise and delight. The fibrous outer casing of the soy bean is generally discarded during tofu manufacturing and edmame shelling. But this do-everything plant proves its flexibility once again by transforming into body-hugging, delightful little underthings that will keep you smiling all day long.

Perhaps the oddest of the new found eco-intimate options is the pine fiber panties. A clever company in France is working with tree trimming companies to reclaim the cuttings of white pine trees and transform them into what is sure to become your favorite lingerie line. With floor-length robes, padded bras and exotic panties, this new line is luxury lingerie at its finest without a hint of environmental guilt. Even Tipper Gore could wear these unabashedly. Al would surely approve.

Maybe eco-underwear will finally get their chance in the spotlight at the next National Underwear Day! Each August the eclectic city of New York hosts National Underwear day. Male and female models heat up Times Square clad in today’s hottest panties. In the past, the focus hasn’t been on sustainability, but who wouldn’t want to see Jessica Alba in a clingy soy camisole or Gisele Bundchen is a pine fiber panty with open side lacing?

Well, of course it's nothing new here at Bra Selector. It's a growing trend and developing business too in the UK, just read our interview with Jenny Ambrose from Enamore or about the growing green undergraments at Greenleaves.

It’s time to let your environmentally sensitive bra strap peak out from under your top! Not only because eco-lingerie is good for the planet but it’s also a great conversation starter.

You can find bamboo, soy and pine fiber lingerie along with traditional organic cotton bras, panties and intimates at www.FaeriesDance.com. Faeries Dance is based in LA, but they ship worldwide if you've got the bug!