The Window

The Window by Barneys.

This is quite late – way too late for Valentine’s Day. But anyway, here we have it Lingerie made in the USA.

Leave it to Barneys to find an upscale lingerie manufacturer who makes their apparel in the USA. Two brands in this article are from the USA: Raven and Sparrow and Land of Women. (Kiki De Montparnasse has been at Barneys previously, also made in the USA). Two other brands make their apparel in the U.K. (Gilda and Pearl) and Belgium (Carine Gilson).

Notes of Confidence From The Women Behind Your Favorite Lingerie Brands

YASMINE ESLAMI Morgane Lace Soft Bra / YASMINE ESLAMI Morgane Shorty Briefs

We tapped eight female designers to share the inspiration behind their beautiful lingerie and loungewear collections, in conjunction with our exciting new spring deliveries. Here, they define what the brands mean to them and included encouraging words of body confidence and the importance of self-love.

Raven & Sparrow by Stephanie Seymour

RAVEN & SPARROW BY STEPHANIE SEYMOUR Kathleen Silk Georgette Robe / RAVEN & SPARROW BY STEPHANIE SEYMOUR Kendra Stretch-Silk Charmeuse Romper

Designer Stephanie Seymour

 

“Raven & Sparrow is a brand made specifically for women. Our goal in creating this collection is to bring back that beautiful ritual of dressing for bed and make it a routine of truly caring for yourself. We wanted to take vintage glamour and construction and make it modern and wearable. I feel most confident when I am comfortable in my own skin—feeling strong, rested, and prepared to tackle the day. If you take care of yourself, it makes it easier to take care of everyone and everything else on your plate.” -Stephanie Seymour

 

Carine Gilson

CARINE GILSON Flower-Print Silk Long Kimono Robe

Designer Carine Gilson

 

“Lingerie is not a question of seduction—it’s meant for the wearer herself and her own delight. Of course, I hope that she’ll feel irresistible and empowered by my creations. The real trademark of my label is the mastery of the lace overlay on silk. Each season, designing and watching different fabrics come together for a collection makes me feel alive and confident.” –Carine Gilson

Fleur du Mal

FLEUR DU MAL Velvet Bodysuit

Jennifer Zuccarini of Fleur du Mal

 

“I hope that a woman feels powerful, chic, and smoking hot in Fleur du Mal. The line is feminine and slightly subversive. We explore the notion of desire and artful provocation while maintaining style and wearability. I feel most confident when I’m taking care of myself: sleeping well, exercising, finding time to be creative, and being around the people I love.” -Jennifer Zuccarini

Land of Women

LAND OF WOMEN Silk Charmeuse Long Slip

Land of Women Founders, Sarah Belz and Mckenzie Raley

 

“Our primary focus is comfort. We hope that when a woman wears our pieces, she not only feels comfortable but also confident and very much herself. We embrace a woman’s natural shape without trying to create any illusions. Land of Women is a brand built for and by women with a focus on minimal, wearable lingerie. I feel the most confident when I can go about my day freely—comfortable in an outfit without restrictions.” -Mckenzie Raley

ERES

ERES Pop Up Triangle Soft Bra / ERES Low-Rise Bikini Briefs

Marie Paul Minchelli of ERES

 

“In ERES, I hope a woman will feel different, as we pay so much attention to the fit, form, and function. The brand is quiet luxury and lingerie is important for a woman to feel empowered. Confidence is an attitude more than a feeling—personally, my little helpers my are heels, perfume, and my lingerie. Plus, a great work out always helps.” –Marie Paule Minchelli

Gilda & Pearl

GILDA & PEARL Diana Feather-Trimmed Chiffon Babydoll Chemise

Designer of Gilda & Pearl, Diane Houston

“Gilda & Pearl garments are unique and beautiful by virtue of their individual creation processes. Every style is designed and made in the UK, with the ideas of beauty, character, and craft sewn into each piece. I hope the wearer feels like she can enjoy her down time fashionably, because slipping on silk loungewear indoors is satisfying to the soul. Confidence and boldness can come from living your true purpose. It’s also accepting that individuality is actually one of your greatest assets.” -Diane Houston

SKIN

SKIN Stretch-Cotton Batiste Off-The-Shoulder Blouse / SKIN Cotton Shorts

Susan Beischel of Skin

“Relaxed, comfortable, chic, and sensual is how a woman should feel in Skin. My collection is made of soft natural materials and organic cottons, all sculpted into sophisticated, versatile silhouettes. The pieces offer a freedom of movement, relaxed sophistication, and layers of possibilities. Personally, I feel my most confident when I am dressed comfortably and when my mind is calm and clear.” –Susan Beischel 

 

 

BGREEN | ORGANIC. FAIR TRADE. MADE IN USA.

BGreen

B Green has been at the top of the list when anybody asks: Where can I buy under garments made in the USA? 98% of underwear is made in the USA, and over the years many US companies have off-shored their operations to China. B Green is great in many ways: 1) It is organic – better for the planet and better for your own heath – that is if you believe that foreign made factories put chemicals into your clothing which is absorbed by your body; 2) is very high quality – which means it will last for years; and 3) B Green is not an over-producer that floods the planet with over supplied products that eventually fill our landfills. B Green are great looking and the most comfortable  underwear I have ever owned. They make under garments for both men and women.

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Organic, Fair Trade, Made in the USA apparel made with your comfort and our planet in mind, inhouse the first and only Fair Trade Certified factory.

Source: BGREEN | ORGANIC. FAIR TRADE. MADE IN USA.

We believe that there’s no better reflection of our true selves than the way that we interact with the world. In short, we Are what we Do.

Our design aesthetics are governed by the belief that simplicity, elegance and comfort are beautiful, in fact timeless. we use sustainable fibers and eco-friendly production processes to reduce our impact on the environment.

We also believe that you can only get to a good-end, through good-means. We are proud to produce our garments at America’s First Fair Trade Certified factory. The men and women who make our clothes are a vital part of our team. By treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve, we strive to empower them and be a positive force in our community—local, national, and global alike.

We want our products to reflect our company’s values and we work hard to make sure these values are aligned with the conscious consumers we proudly call Our Customers.

We believe that there’s no better reflection of our true selves than the way that we interact with the world. In short, we Are what we Do.

Our design aesthetics are governed by the belief that simplicity, elegance and comfort are beautiful, in fact timeless. we use sustainable fibers and eco-friendly production processes to reduce our impact on the environment.

We also believe that you can only get to a good-end, through good-means. We are proud to produce our garments at America’s First Fair Trade Certified factory. The men and women who make our clothes are a vital part of our team. By treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve, we strive to empower them and be a positive force in our community—local, national, and global alike.

We want our products to reflect our company’s values and we work hard to make sure these values are aligned with the conscious consumers we proudly call Our Customers.

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Classic Bikini

FF Boxer Brief

Crew T Shirt

Race Bralette

Men’s Long Underwear – Made in the USA

Union Suit Redux – Red – Men’s Sale – Men’s. Did you ever wonder what ever happened to those old-fashioned long-johns that you saw in those 1950s movies like “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers?” You know those red ones with the bottom flaps? Well, they still make them. There is a company called Junction Threadworks that makes these long-johns and they are all “Made in the USA”. They have made some special “short” long-johns for The Guideboat Company.

Union Suit Redux (Red) Guideboat

Union Suit Redux (White) Guideboat

Union Suit

So, consider these pairs of long johns for your next Pajama party.

Underwear Made in USA: Internet Search

Mainpoint: Clothingmadeinusablog investigates underwear made in America via the internet.

As this blog is about finding clothing, made in USA, in retail stores, internet shopping is really an off-topic for me. But, I do not want to close my mind to all other alternate possibilities. So, that is why I have included this article about my internet search results. But before we get started, I would like to refer you to my last post: “Underwhere: Underwear Made in America.”  And I want to refer you to the following underwear clothing manufacturing names (found in retail shops): American Apparel; REI; Patagonia; bgreen; Bamboosa; Hanky Panky; Spanx; and Zinke. Tommy John undershirts are supposedly available as well although I have not personally verified this fact. I have bought some, they are made in the USA (addendum 5/24/2012).

So, as I type in ‘underwear made in USA’ – there are several good leads: Union House Mens Underwear; Wickers.com; Blue Canoe;  Campbellsville Apparel Co. and Skiviez.com. As Skiviez.com always comes out near the top of all my searches (I am sure they have paid for that), we will start there. Now, I am no bon vivant playboy, but I didn’t grow up in a turnip truck either (‘neither for you Midwesterners, where I grew up). I was prepared to see boxers, briefs, bikinis, boxer briefs, low rise briefs and thongs. But I did not realize that there are Men’s underwear fashions so out there that it would give Frederick’s of Hollywood a good run for its money for being racy.

Now, remember, we are investigating underwear made in USA. And under ‘Made in USA’ on Skiviez, listed were 213 different garments. And I truly doubt that there were 213 different garments as it would exceed  the other sites for US Made combined by 20 times. And there is no way to verify if these garments are US made on the website – as websites (through a loophole in the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act – there was no internet back then) do not have to tell you where their garments are made. So, I tried a different line of attack, I searched one of the clothing manufacturers – Andrew Christian. And what I found was: he was born in Fresno; and he is some sort of celebrity, but no where did it say where his garments are manufactured.

So, back to Skiviez.com. There are so many different types of underwear, and as I continue, I feel like I am on a gay porn site. There are special briefs that make your butt look bigger. There are  briefs that have a special pouch that you can put in an artificial penile silhouette (not included). There are transparent mesh underwear where the models place their hands within the briefs so as to shield the shopper from looking at their private parts. There were a myriad of different colors, many very bright with designs like you see on bicyclist shirts, loud neons and neoprenes. There were many different styles like lace-up jock straps; “Show It’ Briefs – briefs with a separate color or fabric just for the front panel; ‘Show It’ Air Jock Strap – sporty underwear from the front, but, when you turn around, it is just a bare ass. This would be an unfortunate choice of briefs if you happened to get into an accident, or showed up for a military physical exam. So, onto the next site.

The next internet site was Union House Mens Underwear. Now this site, clearly demonstrated that their product was made in the USA. There were 35 pictures of the American flag on the first page alone. As far as the choices of underwear, there were three: boxers, briefs, and boxer-briefs. There were three choices of colors: white, black and gray. There were no models wearing the underwear, just the briefs standing by themselves for maybe too long – a kind of wilting appearance. Quite a contrast from Skiviez.

Next: wickers.com. This website has a moderately good quality website. Wickers.com started in 1981 and specializes in underwear garments with “wicking” technology. They have briefs, boxers, T-shirts, running T-shirts, thermal underwear, and active thermal pants – like running pants. They have several different colors.

Next: Campbellsville Apparel Co. This is a small company with a very small website, They only sell three different items: cotton undershirt, wicking T – Shirt,  and briefs. Everything is made in Kentucky.

Last, but not least: Blue canoe. Good website. It has ladies underwear and outerwear, everything made in America, possibly from California. Lot of different styles and colors. Of the all of the above listed, Blue Canoe has the best selection of American made underwear. Second choice: Wickers.com. I do not believe that Skiviez are American made. (Updated March 13, 2013)

Listing of Underwear Made in USA found on the Internet

1. Blue Canoe (also found in some stores)
2. Campbellsville Apparel
3. City Boxers
4. Flint and Tinder
5. My boxercraft
6. Only Hearts
7. Shivers (Long Underwear)
8. Style Marq
9. Twig n Berries
10. Undrest
11. Union House
12. Union Line
13. Uranus Apparel
14. UwearUSA
15. Wickers
16. Zic and Cha Cha

Updated 5/26/12

“Never in the history of fashion has so little been raised so high to reveal so much that needs to be covered so badly.” – Cecil Beaton

Underwhere: Underwear Made in America

Main point – it is difficult to find made in USA underwear, but they can be found. (At the bottom of the blog entry, there is a list of brands of American that are still made in the USA).

It had been about nine months into my quest when I noticed that the random store shopping was getting me nowhere in the underwear department. I had investigated everywhere or so I thought: Sears, J.C. Penny, Target, Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as the discount stores: Ross, T.J. Maxx, Burlington and the Designer outlets – Nada. Not even Nada had any underwear. The closest I had come to finding anything not made in Asia or Central America was a few months back. I was in one of the discount stores (I think it was a T.J. Maxx), when I came upon a box of underwear. I inspected it, it was made by a prominent designer, and made in Italy. the price tag $50. The only problem (besides the price) was that the box was empty. Either I am paying $50 for a box or the contents had been pilfered. And getting the usual help in such a place which is often none, I decided to track down any other underwear vaguely close. And what do you know, there was nothing remotely connected to this single empty box of Italian designer underwear. So, how did it get there in the first place? Of course, a brief paranoid thought passed through my mind, is somebody playing a joke on me? No, that would be crazy, but then again, why is that box here in this discount store?

After fruitless searching, I decided I needed a more directed approach. Well, at least, I knew that there was Italian underwear out there somewhere. But, the question remained: “Is there underwear still made in America?”  I remember years ago, when Fruit of the Loom proudly advertised it was made in America, but that was a long time ago, and now no longer true. So, I did a computer search – I have always felt that Google is still the best search engine, so I googled “Underwear made in USA”. And bam, 25,900,000 entries. Of course, the best leads are in the first few pages. I wanted to find an actual retail store nearby that sells underwear and I came up with a few good leads: American Apparel at the Valley Fair Shopping center in San Jose, Eco Goods in Santa Cruz and REI (Recreational Equipment Incorporated) in Saratoga.

My first visit was American Apparel – for more information, you may want to visit my blog entry: Favorite US Stores #1: American Apparel. So, briefly, everything in the store is made in the U.S. Their main store is in Los Angeles and that is also where their clothing manufacturing occurs. With regards to underwear, it has the largest selection of American made underwear than any other store. They had briefs, they had boxers, they had bikinis, and they had boxer briefs. There were numerous colors as well, some even neon colored. I passed on the neon colors but did end up purchasing six pairs of boxer briefs – my personal choice for the last two years. It was definitely a big score, and I can always go back for more.

My next stop was REI – a large chain of camping, accessories and clothing found all through out the US. I was looking in particular for Patagonia underwear, because up until very recently Patagonia was made in the US. I found the underclothing section and found some Patagonia – which were few and far between. Even fewer were American made underwear. I found a pair of patterned boxer briefs made in the US in my size, and right next to that pair was an identical pair except that one was made in Mexico. Probably, what is happening is that they are probably going to totally phase out all American made clothing by Patagonia. I guess I was lucky to get this one. Maybe it will be a collector’s item in a few years. But all was not lost. As I was still in the underwear section, I found the store brand – REI – also made underwear that was made in the USA. So, I bought a couple more pair of boxer briefs. I felt the visit to REI was a semi-successful venture.

The last stop was Eco Goods in downtown Santa Cruz. For those who don’t know Santa Cruz – it is a small city just 30 minutes south of San Jose requiring a trip through the Santa Cruz Mountains. The mountains keep many of the citizens of San Jose away for which the Santa Cruzians are grateful. This keeps Santa Cruz unique. In downtown Santa Cruz, there is a diverse mixture of people: aging hippies, grungers, surfers, teenagers, a few families, and a few business people. Eco Goods is also unique. It is a store that specializes in environmentally friendly products. The products are made of recycled material or made of plants, like hemp or bamboo. Some of the products are made in America, but about 65% are not. I found a couple of boxers briefs – one made by bgreen, and another made by Bamboosa.  I also purchased a couple of T-shirts and a light jacket. I f you are in the neighborhood, Eco Goods is definitely worth a visit.

For ladies underwear, the ability to find underwear made in America is even more difficult, because the percentage made in America is so low. I have found only a couple of clothing manufacturers that make ladies underwear in the U.S., there may be more, but I get a little uncomfortable shopping for this product for very long. The names are Hanky Panky Undies – which can be found in Anthropologie and Nordstrom’s; Spanx – found at Dillard’s or Nordstrom’s; and Zinke Bras – found in Anthropologie. Blue canoe makes ladies underwear, panties and bras. I found Blue Canoe at Eco Goods in Santa Cruz, California. For the lastest listing of underwear makers see my blog entry : “Listing of American clothing brands -retail”.

Updated February 26, 2014.

Listing of Underwear Brands Made in USA (found in Brick and Mortar Stores)

1. American Apparel
2. Araks (bra & panties)
3. Bamboo Boxer Co.
4. Bamboosa
5. bgreen
6. Bills Khakis
7. Blanqi
8. Blue Canoe
9. Commando
10. Debra Marquit
11. Farr West (slips)
12. Free People (bra) (rare)
13. Flint & Tender
14. Freemans Sporting Club
15. Hanky Panky
16. Kiki De Montparnasse
17. Merona (tights)
18. Omgirl (bra)
19. Only Heart (Bra and panties)
20. Parisa
21. Patagonia
22. REI
23. Result Wear
24. Second Base (cammis)
25. Solow
26. Spanx
27. Special Delivery NYC
28. Steven Alan
29. The Lake & Stars
30. Thom Browne
31. Underwares USA
32. Undrest
33. VPL
34. Zella
35. Zinke

“Underwear makes me uncomfortable and besides my parts have to breath”. -Jean Harlow