July's Broad of the Month - Britney Spears!

We have always had a love for celebrities with crazy lifestyles & fabulous voices (case-in-point : Michael Jackson). With renewed faith in the fantastic comeback of Ms. Britney Spears, we have nominated her as our Broad of the Month.

Who She Is: Originally from Kentwood, Louisiana, Ms. Britney Jean Spears has been in the spotlight for over 2 decades – from her debut in the Mickey Mouse Club at the age of 8 to her current career as singer, dancer, and songwriter, with dabblings in the world of acting, writing, piano-paying and directing.

Why We Love Her: We all know about the stories posted on every tabloid. Everything from her multiple marriages, her childcare habits, and her panty-less party escapades have been examined by the media. And yet, we can’t help but love her for the way she is able to hold her (sometimes bald) head high through all the gossip, and even date one of her paparazzi piranhas.

Regardless of what you think of her personal life, there is no doubt that she is incredibly talented, making remarkable leaps from Mickey’s stage to her the world's, with songs that most of us have belted out in the privacy of their homes . She is listed in the Guinness World Records for having the “best-selling album by a teenage solo artist” and had sold over 37 million albums worldwide by the time she turned 20.

And, though ravaged by two pregnancies and an affinity for Cheetos, her fabulous body is also on the comeback trail. We can only hope to have those abs after 2 sons, divorce and a few bad mental health days...

After her meteoric rise and shocking fall, her latest incarnation as phoenix from the flames, inspires us to make our own comeback.

Extra Credit: Britney Spears is credited for having revived teen pop, with 6 albums released and over 83 million records sold worldwide. She is ranked the 8^th best-selling female recording artist in the U.S. and the top selling female artist. To put it simply, you would have had to live under a rock to not at least be familiar with “Baby One More Time." In fact, we at D&B are guilty of playing her music while checking inventory! Although we prefer "Circus", and If.You.Seek.Amy...

Trivia: Britney Spears is currently dating her agent and may be (according to a recent Star tabloid cover) engaged for the 3^rd time. Ms. Spears, we have plenty of beautiful lingerie that is perfect for your wedding night, including this lacy Columbian bralette and this non-conventional tuxedo set (And ladies, if you need wedding shower gifts, we have plenty of super cute satin panty, garter, and eye-mask sets!).

Britney, you drive us crazy (in the best way possible)! We love your music and wish you all the best for your upcoming concert. Your body is enviable, but let’s not get caught panty-less on camera again – we have plenty of sweet and sexy panties to show off. Try the Brazilian tangas to make your booty even more delicious, or some sexy peep-hole panties. If you need more bling while running around with the kids, try this sequined, Brazilian racerback bra.

XOXO,

D&B

The Power of Daily Candy

When we first learned that we would be in Daily Candy we were understandable thrilled. As far as we are concerned it is pretty much The Today Show of the Internet with over 2.5 million subscribers to their infamous daily newsletters. Our excitement was only mildly dampened when we learned we would only be a Deal and not featured and said Deal would only be made available to New Yorkers. We pouted and then decided to turn our frown upside down because ITS DAILY FRIGGIN CANDY for chrissakes!

Every time we told someone about the pending placement, our equally excited friends and family said "Oh My God, are you ready for that?? And we realized that we didn't even know what it meant really to be featured on DC. We have all heard the stories of sites being shut down by a mention on Oprah or TTS but what does a DC Deal really mean for traffic and sales?

Well, since DC does not publish local subscriber numbers and we had no idea what the open rate (% of emails that are actually opened by DC subscribers) was, and no idea how receptive their readers would be to Dames and Broads, we were clueless as to how to prepare. Since we wished we knew the impact of the placement and pondered it during many sleepless nights, we decided to share what it meant to Dames& Broads.

According to Google Analytics, in total we received 2100 visits on the first day of the deal with and additional 900 visits over the course of the week the deal was live. However that deal was "StumbledUpon" (A social networking sites that allows uses to share sites with others) and we received an additional 900 Visits from them.

While 4000 visits might be paltry to the big boys, it is fantastic for us small fish. We are delighted and thankful.

The promotion resulted in 400% rise in sales volume (week over week) however DC carts were at least 40% smaller in size. Which makes sense- there was a 25% coupon attached to the promotion and these users were testing us out for the very first time and were probably more apprehensive.

There was also a 25% increase to our newsletter subscriber list so that we can continue to contact potential customers.

Not to mention the countless emails from users asking why we dont carry larger sizes, other press wanting to cover us, and advertisers wanting us to run in their publications.

For a week, we were a "big deal" - PUN INTENDED. And now it's back to work...

Much Love,
D&B

Dont you wear panties????

Ok ladies, you are rebelling and I want to know why. Please explain it to me. I have searched the many corners of the earth to bring to you the best bras AND panties and still you insist on defying me.:) Why are you just buying bras?

This week we are running a promotion with Daily Candy (details to come) and were surprised that many of the orders are just bras. Now, we are not one to complain about orders (THANK YOU DAILY CANDY GODS!!!!), but we were baffled. Ok, sometimes we get it. You love the Else Basic Ultimate Support Bra from Turkey and lord knows you dont need another pair of black panties- even if they are fab. But what are you going to do with just the Miss Showgirl underwire bra??? Its sheer hot pink fabulosity! It will be lonely without the matching high waist brief or low rise knickers.. Just the thought of it by itself with some boring nude thong brings tears to our eyes...

Unless..... you all are channeling your inner Britney circa 2007 and are deciding to parade around in just your brasseire, which the broad in us wholeheartedly supports.

Hugs and kisses,
Dames & Broads

Criticism is appreciated. No, REALLY....

The last few weeks have been crazy with trunk shows and press events and vendor meetings. To summarize, they have been going like this: I stress and then agonize over every little detail. I literally worry myself sick. I call my publicist, friends and family at all hours of the night to pick their brains and then go with my own opinion anyway. At some point there is some sort of breakdown and I question if i am in fact built for this entrepreneurial life. The event takes place, is well received and everything works out well. Everyone else is thrilled, I am outwardly pleased, and inwardly wishing for More, Better, Next....

Afterwards, someone will approach, call or email me and tell me how captivating the concept is, how lovely the lingerie is, how pretty the site looks. I will thank them politely and think to myself "if it's so great, why haven't they bought more or anything at all." (Yes, I have committed to memory almost every sale of every single piece of lingerie- it haunts me in my dreams). Then I go home with my ego stroked but my brain tortured by the fact that something is missing. No, some THINGS are missing. I know I could do it better. But what? When? How?

This excruciating process will be repeated approximately every 2-4 days and does not always included sleep yet frequently includes some ridiculous amount of food.... It must stop.

So I decided to start meeting with people who have no interest in making me feel good. I went in search of impolite, politically incorrect, "keep it real" friends who want me to succeed far more than they want to ease my fears. And when I ran out of those, I looked for people whose livelihood depended on me being wrong and them being right. People who had to draw attention to the broken so that they could be paid to fix it.

I met with former lingerie buyers from major dept. stores, copywriters, graphic designers, and retail ecommerce entrepreneurs. And finally I started to hear the ugly truth.... and it was music to my ears.

Just a few of the things I learned:
1. This is not a date! You cannot be afraid of setting expectations. In an effort to avoid disappointment and failure, I was terrified of defining objectives. In order to ever be pleased or satisfied in business you must set some goals. How will you ever know if you are successful if you don't?

2.My site is pretty but does not convey effectively who/what Dames & Broads is and how we are profoundly different from other lingerie sites. It is functional but not experiential. In order to draw women into a change in purchase behavior especially for something as intimate (pun intended) as lingerie i must offer them a different shopping experience.

3. Mannequins may work for well know retailers and outerwear, but people really do prefer live models for lingerie. Nothing is "pushed up" on a plastic mannequin and you cant always ask your audience to use their imaginations.

4. Social Networking is great but also can be distracting on an ecommerce site. Users should never be directed to leave the site just to see what i am doing on Twitter... They might not ever come back.

5. More is more. Users need and want more product, more product info, more advice, more more...

6. Stop burying the lead. If shipping is free. Say it loudly, above the fold, and over and over again.

There is more but I am tired... and since I received all this constructive criticism a strange thing has happened. I can finally sleep. There seems to be something very calming about untapped possibilities...


Things gon' change 'round here.

Smooches,
Dames & Broads

Broad of the month- Kathy Griffin

We know, we didn't see it coming either but Kathy Griffin is our Broad of the month. We were leaning toward Bea Author but Kathy looks better in a bathing suit...

Who She Is: Kathleen "Kathy" Mary Griffin is an actress, comedian, and self proclaimed "D-list" media personality. She appeared on the 2nd worst Brooke Shields show (sorry Lipstick Jungle was no Cashmere Mafia and never should have won the war between the two), Suddenly Susan and went on to star in her very own reality show" Bravo's Life on the D-list. But if you have watched the show and seen this Grammy nominated star's sprawling mansion, you know that life on the d-list ain't so bad at all...

Why We Love Her: There always has been and always will be a special place in our heart for trash talkers like Kathy, but that is not why she is here. Over the course of the last 4 seasons of my life on the D-list, we have watched religiously as Kathy kept moving forward after botched plastic surgery, a divorce from a stealing husband, and the death of her beloved father. We saw her sell out shows despite being banned from almost all day time talk shows. And we cheered with our gay husbands when she took home an Emmy after being fired from hosting red carpets. Suck it Ryan Seacrest!

Extra Credit: Kathy gets an E for 'Effort' and a T for 'Nice Try' for her short lived rebound relationship with Apple co-founder Steve Wosniak. Unfortunately her nerd tolerance was not high enough to hang in their for the prize. But she receives a huge gold star from us for that smoking hot body at 48 years old. Lord only knows how many sit ups, hours on the treadmill, and missed desserts it took to create that figure but the fact that she did it without one Jenny Craig meal gets kudos from us!

Trivia: Kathy has admitted to "lightly dating" N'Sync member Joey Fatone. We are dying to know what light dating encompasses these days. Given a 10 year old's explanation of "second base" on Oprah a week or so ago, we are sure it must amount to a brief marriage...


Kath, you crack us up and for that we worship you. Although we don't yet carry Irish lingerie to honor your heritage, we have some fab British lingerie to support that lovely rack of yours... the next Internet billionaire brainiac you date will be very appreciative.

Yours,
Dames & Broads

Springing Forward

Miss Showgirl, from Playful Promises $88 for the set

If you are anything like us, you have been waiting on the warm weather like the second coming. Well despite the freak blizzard in Chicago, it's seems to be here. And that means new styles (like the one above) are in at Dames and Broads!

Three cheers for everyday glamour!!!

Take a look at all of our fabulous sets here.

Dames and Broads - In her Shoes- Fly Female Entrepreneur

We are over the moon that the ladies behind one of our favorite blogs, In her Shoes, chose to interview Dames and Broads founder, Melissa Finney for their "Fly Female Entrepreneur" feature.

Check out the interview here...

Bookmark the site... there are good things here...

From one broad to another,

D&B

This month Dames & Broads is In Style...

We are so excited to be one of InStyle's Steals of the month!!!! All Instyle users receive a 20% discount as well as a free sample of Soyelle Lingerie wash with their next purchase.
Simply enter "Instyle09" at checkout.

And check out our other Dames and Broads press to date.

Smooches,
D&B

Broad of the Month- Kim Kardashian

We love her for all the wrong reasons--- Cheers to the Ms. Kardashian, our Broad of the Month....

Who She Is: Kimberly Noel Kardashian is the part Turkish-Armenian/ part Russian /part Scottish/ part Dutch daughter of OJ Simpson attorney Robert Kardashian and Kris Jenner (who is married to Olympian Bruce Jenner). She is also a former friend to Paris Hilton. But our fair Kimmy made a name all her own when she starred in a home made sex tape with Z list pseudo-rapper Ray J ( better know as Moesha's brother).

Why We Love Her: Most of us would have ran and hid under our bed for a grazillion years after having to admit to doing the dirty with Brandy's little bro, but not our Kimmy. This chick stood proudly, posed ass front for pics, and got herself a reality show.... and a second season of said reality show, and a third, and a clothing line, and a million appearance fees, and the coveted cover of Playboy, and a nice little $5 million settlement from aforementioned sex tape scandal. $$$KA-CHING$$$
It took Jenna Jameson and Tracy Lords years of tenacity and back breaking work (pun intended) to crossover from porn glory to mainstream. But for Kim the transition was complete in less than 18 months. Talk about landing on your feet...

And who in god's name rebounds from Ray J with Reggie "Please never put your shirt on again" Bush (pictured above alongside his love)? Did we mention that Reggie signed a contract that could be worth 62 million smackers in 2006 with the New Orleans Saints? They are discussing marriage...
Why buy the cow if Ray J milked it for free???- Because clearly she has some unworldly "gifts".

And the body... All breast, lips, hips and thighs, she is a beacon of hope for voluptuous women everywhere.

Extra Credit: We have seen the sex tape. And if we were stupid/crazy/drunk enough to humiliate ourselves, embarrass our families and shame our dead father's good name by making a sex tape with the wackness himself Mr. Willie "Ray J" Norwood, we hope, NO PRAY, we look half as fabulous as she does in it. Who the hell has that type of lighting in an amateur porn? Did Kevin Aucoin himself rise from the dead to do her makeup? Not our fav bra and panty set in the very beginning- but hey, we all make mistakes... Say what you want about Kim but she is photogenic.

Trivia: In 2000, at the age of 20, Kardashian married music producer Damon Thomas; their relationship ended in divorce in 2004.

Kimmmmmmy, we love you and want to become besties. And we are ready, willing, and able to get you out of those boring black bras that you wear in every photo shoot. We have some great Turkish lingerie worthy of your heritage and some fab brazilian tangas perfect for your lovely tush.

Holding you in highest esteem,
XOXO
Dames and Broads

With Missed Opportunities Comes A New Homepage

For a lingerie ecommerce site that launched a little over one month ago, Dames and Broads has been very lucky from a press/traffic stand point. We have been mentioned in UrbanDaddy, FabSugar, and will soon be in InStyle among others. And while these mentions have driven traffic and sales, in our new company excitement we really lost out on some low hanging fruit. It simply never occured to us to have some sort of email capture/ newsletter sign up so that we could communicate with potential customers (thousands of contacts down the drain). We never thought to reward our larger customers and encourage bigger orders with Free Shipping (those that spend more deserve more). We offered no additional incentives to sweeten the deal for those customers on the fence....(anyone choosing to give us their hard earned $$$ in these hard times should feel pampered)

Well as of March 19th all that changes. Behold our new homepage and offerings.

-Free Shipping on every order over $100
-Newsletter Sign up for great deals, savings and the newest styles
-Free Soyelle Lingerie wash samples with every order (limited time only)!

Have any other suggestions that would make DamesandBroads.com better from a user or business standpoint? We are pretty sure we have a lot more to learn...

Let us know, we would love the feedback.

Dames & Broads

A picture is worth a thousand words

My publicist suggested I have pics taken to promote myself as a lingerie expert. OK she really just mentioned that it might be a good thing to do at some point in life. Since I am vain as hell and have been secretly dying to have my own photo shoot since Samantha posed for nude pics on Sex and the City, I considered her suggestion a proclamation and I immediately called photographer Hao Zeng and makeup artist Lazarus Jean Baptiste to make it happen. I was super excited and called my former roommate DJ Kiss who has some of the best promotional pictures I have ever seen.

She gave me fab advice which included scouring magazines and online image sites to pick out the images and poses that i wanted so that I would not leave without the shot I wanted.

Foregoing beauty sleep, I stayed up all night, rummaged through my closet and did my best to pick the sexiest, slimming, experty things I could. I arrived at the shoot, ready to give my best Samantha Jones.

And everything was wonderful until I looked at the first proofs- and I saw all my imperfections that good lighting and makeup could not hide. I was devastated. So much so the Laz- the Make Up Man had to booty shake to get me to smile for the rest of the shots.

I almost didn't recover- then there was an outfit change and I got to put on my lucky bra. I know it sounds stupid but this bra really is magic. Whenever I feel less than or unattractive, the pleated silk and eyelash lace assure me otherwise... Ahhh the healing power of good foundations.:)

Did I become an instant supermodel? No. But I got a few really good shots.
And I will post them soon... right after they airbrush out the rest of my flaws...

Melissa
owner, Dames and Broads

Turkish Lingerie- You Need This

Else Pleated Silk satin bra

Else Pleated Silk satin Culotte

OK ladies this is your monthly lingerie public service announcement. I know you love that Dames and Broads lets you shop for lingerie by country of origin, and you clearly have a strong preference for Brazilian lingerie . I also know that you are frustrated that we are sold out of the Royalle set, but we do sell other things, you know...

Brazilian lingerie is not the only thing that will accentuate your assets. While we love showing off a prominent derriere, it's time to give the hips some love! Turkish lingerie is the perfect lingerie for hourglass figures and the many women who are desperate to fake perfection. Most Turkish Lingerie rides low and straight across the hips emphasizing the width of your hips. The larger your hips appear, the smaller our waist looks- an extremely crowd pleasing optical illusion.

The set that has made the biggest impact on Dames and Broads customers is the pleated silk pieces from Turkish lingerie designer Else. The rows of pleated silk and scalloped lace will draw attention to your hips further slimming your mid section and the bra is full coverage so you can wear it under most things. The color is a show stopper and the quality of the silk is second to none (again thanks to turkey's reputations for excellent textiles).

C'mon Ladies try something new...

This Public service announcement has been brought to you by Dames and Broads:)

Dame of the Month- Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren, Oscars 2009

not even close to a size zero... THANK GOD

Loren giving Jayne Mansfield "the eye"

Who she is: Born Sofia Villani Scicolone, Sophia Loren rose from poverty to become a sexual icon in the 60s. Often called the "Italian Marilyn Monroe" though not nearly as tragic a figure, she was the first person ever to win an acting Oscar for a foreign language film (a feat that would not be repeated until Roberto Benigni's win for Life Is Beautiful in 1998).

Why we love her: Even though Sofia Loren looked like an oversexed, overtanned orange bridesmaid at the 2009 Oscars, we forgive her and cant help but be amazed. At 74, she looks better than most more than half her age. She is not and never was a size 0, though she was a skinny child and considered an ugly duckling, nicknamed 'The Stick'. She later blossomed into a glamazon- so much so that many male actors refused to work with her since she stands nearly 5' 9" and in towering heels and big hair can appear over 6 feet tall (One leading man made her walk in a trench next to him to give the impression that he was taller). But she embraced her beautiful body famously saying"Everything you see I owe to spaghetti", making us want to eat a bowl of pasta immediately. In an age where you could cut yourself on the hip bones of most young actresses (we are talking about you Ms. Lohan), every picture of Sophia Loren reminds us to celebrate our curves. At the height of her career, her measurements were 36D-24-38. GOD BLESS HER!

Extra Credit: As a young girl, Sophia Loren entered 2 beauty contests winning neither but scoring a screen test with director Carlo Ponti. She failed the screen test miserably and was told by Ponti she might be more successful if she changed her oversized lips and nose. She ignored him and did neither but later married Ponti who would produce many of her movies.

Trivia: She appeared in the 2007 edition of the famous Pirelli Calendar at the age of 72, making her the oldest model in its history. Hating beauty salons, she does her hair and nails herself. She is also the godmother of Drew Barrymore- Let's not hold it against her.

Ms. Loren-While it was hidden under horrendous golden taffeta on Oscar night, your body is still one of the best in the business and we have the perfect lingerie for your voluptuous hourglass figure. In fact, this fantastic matching bra and panty set from Else reminds us of the black bra and panties you wore in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (pictured above) and has the power to create an hourglass silhouette for those of us who have to fake it.

Thank god for it since not everyone has your heavenly gifts...

Half your age and still in awe,

Dames and Broads

We wish we had a justification to buy these---

We love the idea of thigh highs, but usually just the idea of them. And, at 6 feet tall, for me they have always been more like painfully awkward knee highs. We tend to shy away and steer clear. This pair from Bebaroque makes us change our tune, and we are singing Haleluja. These are so fierce, so chic, and so completely impractical we are almost sure they come with a happy ending. Or at least we hope so...

Interestingly enough this brand hails from Scotland

We had to share this find with you.
Smooches
Dames and Broads

Who doesn't like gifts???

Valentine's day has come and gone, your bday is nowhere in sight and no one got you anything for President's day (sometimes people can be soooo selfish...) . Not to worry my dears, every single thing from Dames and Broads comes gift wrapped every day, no matter what.

You deserve presents even if you have to give them to yourself.

From one broad to another,

M