Like a third of women out there Carol, the face behind UKFT member Bloomin’ Sexy, suffered from thigh-chafe, even in her ‘slim teens’. It’s a problem that’s turned many a summer day sour, and had resulted in Carol shunning barelegged outfits altogether.

Carol’s son has the amazing job of composing music for film, TV and video games, and so on the rare occasion he gets to walk down a red carpet to a premiere, he likes to take his mum as his plus one. The problem with red-carpet events is they are rather less glamorous when you consider being on your feet for hours under hot spotlights with crowds all clambering to reach the celeb next to you. This is especially true if like most women in the UK your underwear isn’t giving you the support and comfort it should.

Carol spent ages trying to find lingerie that would be comfortable, eliminate the chance of thigh chafe and not make her feel down right dowdy.

Carol might not be a 20 something anymore but she still wanted to feel strong and sexy.  When Carol’s search had drawn a blank, she went to work finding a solution, not just for her but for the thousands of other women with the same need.

Her online search took her around the world, but it seemed sexy and comfy anti-chafe knickers just didn’t exist.

So she decided to fill the gap in the market.

Carol says: “If you have read our story, you will know that the catalyst for creating Bloomin’ Sexy came from a desire to feel great at an incredibly special moment in one mother’s life. This may give the impression that Bloomin’ Sexy was born from a single moment – a great epiphany. But the truth is the idea for Bloomin’ Sexy was much longer in the making.

“I have struggled with body issues and clothing for almost my whole life. As a young child, I quickly learned that girls and women should be ‘a certain size and shape’, and if you did not into fit society’s acceptable parameters – you should be ashamed. I am completely sure my experience is not unusual and that many women also felt this growing up. Whether it was having bigger thighs, or preferring shorts over skirts, or even having to wear braces. We all know what society expects us to look like and we all grow up being told that we must change to fit this ‘acceptable image’.

“I hated feeling like I was never good enough because I didn’t fit this perfect female image. I tried so many different pieces of underwear to deal with the issues I had, from tummy tamers, to suck it in elasticated monstrosities. All it served to do was make me feel hot, uncomfortable, and more ashamed.

“Through my time as a midwife and health visitor, I quickly discovered I was not the only woman feeling this way. During my time in the nursing profession, almost all the women I met had experienced similar feelings of shame and dislike of their bodies. It was this that eventually led me to become a psychosexual therapist. In this role, I could help women, and men, overcome their body issues and become comfortable with their natural shape and size. During that time, I was so happy that I could help all these women to love themselves and regain their inner goddess.

“It was after taking retirement that I finally decided I wanted to try and change things on a bigger scale. My experience of trying and failing to find lingerie that fitted comfortably, kept me cool and stopped any chafe, for my son’s big day was the final catalyst after a lifetime of frustration.

“So, I went straight to Jill (a friend and seamstress) with the mission to design lingerie that was beautiful, elegant, and most of all comfortable. Jill I spent many hours with tea, coffee and even some wine, sketching and re-sketching to hash out a design we both loved.

“Then came the hard work of making our designs come to life. Neither of us were lingerie connoisseurs at the time – being based in deepest Devon we felt the need to discover what the wider lingerie world had to offer. So, we headed to every lingerie fashion show we could find, from PURE fashion and MODA in London, to the Interfilière trade show in Paris. We have now been to Interfilière three times (and need to go again!). It’s a huge show with exhibitors from all around the world.

“We couldn’t find any other products like ours and that was what gave us the confidence to push on and create our business. Our next step was to find materials and suppliers, then get our design out to the world. We were ready for the next step on our journey to changing the lingerie market.”

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Bloomin’ Sexy is a UKFT member. Interested in becoming a UKFT member? Find out more about membership here.