Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s lingerie collection for M&S is road-tested by our …

STUNNING Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is the latest supermodel to flash her
knickers in public.

Like Kelly Brook, Caprice and Elle Macpherson before her, she has just
brought out a range of sexy smalls.

Rosie
launched her saucy collection of lingerie for MS on Thursday.

The 25-year-old Transformers star and former Victoria’s Secret “angel” was
more than happy to model the pieces from her Rosie For Autograph range which
works “for all women, all ages, all sizes”.

But does it?

Here GABRIELE DIRVANAUSKAS gets teaching assistant Michelle De-Villiers — a
size 14 and 36C — to go undie-cover and test various superstar sets for
size.

Michelle, 23, from Peckham, south London, also gives her verdicts.

Rosie for Autograph at Marks Spencer

Pictured above.

MICHELLE SAYS: I love the vintage style of this collection. It looks
classy and feels expensive even though it isn’t pricey. You can pick up a
bra and knicker set for under £35.

Rosie For Autograph at MS: bra, £22.50, briefs, £12.50

Kelly Brook for New Look

MICHELLE SAYS: This set is such a bargain. I find it hard to find well
fitting sets for my cup size on the High Street. But Kelly Brook has worked
wonders. This range caters for girls with curves like mine.

Kelly Brook for New Look: bra, £14.99, knickers, £9.99

Elle Macpherson Intimates

MICHELLE SAYS: I’m surprised Elle isn’t putting her money where her
mouth is and modelling her own designs. The set is pretty but not very sexy.
They’re best for day wear, not the bedroom. And they’re the priciest of the
lot.

Elle Macpherson Intimates at John Lewis: bra, £36, briefs, £21

By Caprice

MICHELLE SAYS: Only Caprice can pull off a set as garish as this. But I
don’t feel very sexy in it. It may be every lads mag’s dream to see a girl
trussed up like this, but I don’t think it’s sophisticated.

By Caprice: Precious Cappy pink gel bra, £24, briefs, £14

myView

By GABRIELE DIRVANAUSKAS, Sun fashion stylist

ROSIE has stuck to her word and delivered a lovely collection that really
flatters size 14 Michelle.

It proves her Rosie For Autograph designs aren’t just for waifs. The classy
cut and colours complement curves.

And Kelly Brook’s vintage-inspired pieces for New Look are close runners-up.
Her range’s retro style particularly suits fuller-figured girls. And these
designs really do flatter curves, something Kelly knows a thing or two about.

Although Elle Macpherson’s lacy Intimates lingerie comes up small, the set is
super feminine.

But Caprice’s garish hot pink designs, from her By Caprice line, look more
trashy than classy.

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Column: Lingerie football? Our real sporting heroines deserve limelight first

WOMEN. PLAYING AMERICAN Football. In lingerie. In Ireland. There’s a lot that is odd about that idea, but the organisers behind America’s Lingerie Football league seem to believe that there is enough about the concept to introduce it to a series of countries across Europe, including Ireland.

Thankfully, we live in a country where everyone can pretty much do as they please – aside from inflicting hurt on others – and if there are women out there that prefer playing a sport in their underwear rather than competing at a decent level in the many other options available to them, I’m not about to criticise.

However, as someone who was involved in sport for years and who talks to female athletes on a regular basis, I can promise you that women don’t want to be known for being good at something because of their sex, they want to be known for the skills that they have spent years developing – demonstrating the same level of commitment as their male counterparts.

I spent some time recently talking to a player that competes in the Women’s National League for Cork Women’s FC. She spoke at length about her desire to win every game that she is part of and as someone who is also involved in the Cork Ladies football panel, she quite often plays back-to-back competitive fixtures with 24 hours. When I asked her why she pushes herself to that degree, her answer was simple: “I just love it.”

Boxers in skirts

Those sentiments are not unusual and you’ll find them in every dressing room up and down the country – regardless of whether participants are male or female.

The recent adventures of Katie Taylor in London have done a lot to counter the belief that women’s sport isn’t competitive. The Bray woman was repeatedly described as a great fighter at 2012 Olympic Games rather than a great female boxer and those tributes will, no doubt, have meant the world to her.

The focus was firmly on Taylor’s ability and potential rather than her looks and what she was wearing, and let’s not forget that there were moves to have the female boxers wear skirts while competing at these Games.

Research in the UK by the Women’s Sport Fitness Foundation has found that women’s sports account for only five per cent of all television coverage in the UK on a yearly basis (in a non-Olympic year) and that just 0.5 per cent of all sports sponsorship secured was used to support female competitors or teams.

More recent findings – from a survey conducted during the Olympics Games - confirmed a growing interest in women’s sport in the UK with 74 per cent of respondents impressed by the quality of what they witnessed in London.

In Ireland, like the UK, only a limited amount of air time is given over to women’s sports outside of the Olympic Games. It includes coverage of the All-Ireland Ladies Football and Camogie finals as well as Wimbledon’s Ladies Singles final.

Vicious circle

Editors and TV schedulers will argue there’s only a niche interest in many of these sports and that viewing figures don’t justify coverage. However, exposure to a mass audience is crucial in driving the development and popularity of any sport and more TV and media coverage is essential if women’s sports are to gain increased interest, backing and crowds.

It’s a vicious circle. Sports and individual competitors don’t get extra attention from the media and Ireland’s sporting public without a decent level of interest, but they usually need that same attention to increase the numbers interested in the first place. Take Irish cricket as an example – the squad did well at successive international tournaments that were broadcast on Sky and suddenly interest at grassroots level has skyrocketed. It’s not just women that have to battle to secure some prime time television coverage!

Katie Taylor’s achievements will hopefully inspire a generation of young Irish girls to become more active in sport over the coming years but though we knew we had a world class boxer on our hands, she still prepared for the Olympic Games in a gym without a toilet and rarely had any of her fights before London covered live on television.

The ESRI found that four in every five Irish women were not getting enough daily exercise in 2005 and though the Irish Sports Council’s ‘Women in Sport Initiative’ is hard at work trying to reverse this, our gold medal-winning Olympian will probably achieve more in terms of getting children active in Ireland than any other State scheme.

Thousands of women across the island demonstrate the same dedication and will to win as Katie Taylor week in week out, and they are only too ready and able to take up the mantle of putting women’s sport up on a public stage where it belongs. The talent is there, the infrastructures are (slowly) improving while the establishment of the Women’s National League in 2011 are important developments in the overall picture.

However, these steps need to be accompanied by a better understanding of some of the biggest issues facing all sports in Ireland – so forget about women playing American football in lingerie, it’s time to give our real sporting heroines more of the limelight.

Niamh O’Mahony is a journalist, content strategist and sports fanatic based in Cork. She blogs at Balls Handbags.

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