‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ and lingerie: Hot Topic reveals sexy movie-inspired collection

The crazy (awesome) re-imagining of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” titled “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” is coming to the big screen.

Starring Lily James as the zombie-slaying Elizabeth Bennet, “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” is a Regency-era gore-fest challenging typical gender expectations (Lizzie would “never relinquish her sword for a ring,” after all), imagining an alternate version of history where the plague was actually a zombie virus.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, here’s some lingerie from Hot Topic telling your beloved that brains (and braaaiiinnnsss) are just as important as beauty. Check out the preview video, via Variety:

The sexy, but not overly revealing, line of lingerie is inspired by Regency-era fashion, and printed with motifs from the movie. Most notably, the zombiefied Jane Austen bust also featured on the cover of the original “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” book.

Unfortunately, the seven-piece collection doesn’t include the full gowns and bonnets one might have been hoping for, but we appreciate Hot Topic getting in on the action (so to speak) of this franchise. Sexy zombie slayers are still zombie slayers, after all.

This Valentine’s Day is full of hardcore action; while Lizzie Bennet is slaying zombies, “Deadpool” will be sharing his R-rated adventures with us. Here’s hoping for a “Deadpool” lingerie line, eh?

This collection is available in stores and on HotTopic.com now. “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” hits cinemas on February 5, 2016.

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As sales of purses plummet, lingerie on the rise

Are women covering up their latest obsession?

As a decade-long love affair with handbags cools, women have been increasingly scooping up lingerie items, leading some industry watchers to wonder if lingerie is the new handbag.

That is, women might now be satisfying their guilty urge for luxury-retail purchases with intimate apparel instead of handbags.

Sales figures and stock prices are painting a provocative picture that backs up the trend.

On Tuesday, handbag icon Coach Inc. reported a 4 percent decline in same-store sales in North America for the three months ended Dec. 26.

Globally, Coach brand sales sank by 7 percent over the same period. But Coach is hardly alone.

Handbags were among the biggest bargains over the holiday shopping season as they were heavily discounted — even at premium department stores like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s — according to Credit Suisse apparel analyst Christian Buss, who tracked promotional activity over the period.

“For 10 years, handbags were growing faster than the overall apparel market,” Buss said, “but retailers are saying now that bags are growing at about the same rate as their overall sales — in the low single digits. We remain concerned about underlying demand in the handbag category.”

The stock prices for many of the once-hot bag purveyors are depressed over the past 12 months, including: Michael Kors, down 45 percent; Coach, down 11 percent; Prada, down 49 percent; and Kate Spade, down 42 percent.

If the slowdown in sales is sparked by too many handbags in the closet, perhaps that handbag cash is being spent on lingerie.

L Brands, owner of Victoria’s Secret and Pink, saw its shares spike 12 percent over the last 12 months — and same-store sales at Aerie, the lingerie division of American Eagle, have been soaring, spurring the teen retailer to invest in doubling the size of the business this year.

The Aerie and Pink brands are going head-to-head like never before with each opening more stores.

L Brands crowed that December was its “best ever” holiday period, with same-store sales increasing 8 percent.

“The intimate category has been taking some share from handbags,” said Richard Church, managing director of Discern Investment Analytics.

“The intimate category is a little lower price-point, but it’s still an affordable luxury like handbags,” added Church.

Sales of intimates have accelerated over the past two years, according to Credit Suisse.

They gained more than 6 percent in 2014 and 2015, and are expected to increase 6.6 percent in 2016 and more than 7 percent in 2017, said a Credit Suisse forecast.

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