Finishing out my week of lingerie exploration…from showing my bra straps, to going to a Parisian bra genius, to buying a vintage Dior bra from a French lingerie dealer, here is an interview with Margaux Anbouba, the Senior Beauty and Wellness Editor of Vogue, who is also a vintage lingerie obsessive. Also, below the paywall, there are a zillion links to fab vintage lingerie (and some that are simply great!). Enjoy!
In my quest for great lingerie, vintage and new, I wanted to know more about how to care for these delicate lace string-things. I am constantly striving to ascend beyond my former life of having elastane-blend thongs soldered to my crotch, and to become a woman who holds her zillion-dollar thong like she is balancing the tiniest Ginori teacup between her thumb and forefinger, pinky out, and gently places the panty into a foamy sink filled with warm water.1
Who better to ask about intimates care than my former colleague Vogue’s Senior Beauty and Wellness Editor, Margaux Anbouba. She is a lingerie maestro; a gorgeous MENSA-grade know-it-all of wasp-waisted corsets and ‘50s-era bullet bras with antigravitational force. (Did you read her piece on “In a Cinch: Can Corsets Ever Be Modern?” in the Vogue May 2026 issue??) She owns drawers and drawers of ye olde panties, bras, and corsets with funky names that she finds anywhere from the flea market caves of the Upper East Side or in the crevices of Depop. These aren’t just leave-and-admire items that marinate in her dresser: she wears the lingerie regularly to work at 1 World Trade Center under a slew of dresses from the ‘40s and ‘50s.
I initially called Anbouba up to ask, “Do you have any lingerie-washing tips?” and she delivered a whole sermon about top-drawer delicates. So, read that here.
Liana: How long have you been collecting vintage lingerie?
Margaux: I bought my first Merry Widow corset, which is both a brand and a style of corset that was really big in the ‘50s, inspired by the Merry Widow of that film [The Merry Widow]. That was probably in 2017 or 2018, but I didn’t start regularly wearing vintage lingerie until probably about two years ago.
The reason I made that decision is modern bras give you these sort of weird globe-shaped breasts that I feel like really came out of Victoria’s Secret styling. It’s pushed up, but also really round and circular. It looks like implants even if you don’t have them, and a lot of vintage clothing just isn’t cut that way. The way that it’s cut is meant to have a more pointy boob, so I feel like it just wears better under clothing.
Liana: What got you into the world of vintage lingerie?
Margaux: I became curious about it because my style is very traditional ‘40s or ‘50s. Once I saw how good it looked under clothing, I was into it, but also I find it’s so much prettier. I also prefer the fabrics; a lot of them are silk, or they’re lace made out of cotton, which is really fabulous. And they always feel just fancy and beautiful. Right now I have on an old pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and a big T-shirt, but I have a ‘50s pointy bra underneath it. I feel nice and put together even though I’m sort of not.
Liana: Is that something that draws you to wearing these lingerie sets, the idea of feeling put together, or are there other reasons why?
Margaux: I do like the technical aspect of it, which is that a lot of the things I wear have cellulose boning in them, especially the old corsets and stuff. And I like that feeling. I really like sort of being squished, I’ve realized, and held in. I notice my posture is way better because I’m very much aware of what I’m doing with my body. But also, yes, I love knowing that I have something pretty underneath.
Liana: How do you wash your vintage bras and underwear?
Margaux: All of my underwear, all of my bras, all of my girdles, everything is a hand wash only situation. It doesn’t matter; everything goes in my bathtub. I use water a touch cooler even than lukewarm. It’s the temperature of a pool that’s been sitting in the hot sun—just a dash of warm water.
Almost everything that I have is pink or white. I barely own black bras because they didn’t really make black bras or underwear as much in that era. And then I hand wash it all. My 1940s tap shorts, which I own about 15 pairs of, I actually get dry cleaned because I’m too scared to even put them in my bathtub.
It’s more about the soaking when it comes to washing vintage lingerie than it is about the actual act of normal washing. It is about soaking it in water, leaving it for 30 minutes. Then I take out a towel, lay the item flat, then roll it up sort of like I’m making a Victorian sponge cake to get all the water out, then leave it flat to dry.
It’s a lot of work. I have been majorly panned on the internet for saying I try vintage underwear on whatever without washing it. That is true. I can’t deny that I don’t, but that’s just part of it. You need to know if it fits.
Liana: Where do you shop for these pieces?
Margaux: Everywhere. Any store, thrift shop. The amount that is for sale at any random vintage shop in San Antonio or any city I’m in is incredible. I’ve gotten all my friends into it. I had a house party maybe a year ago where all my friends came over, and I just had them all try on vintage lingerie so they could see their sizing. I buy a lot of it in sizes that don’t fit me because bodies change. Maybe one day I’ll need this size.
But the best place if you’re getting started where you don’t have to spend a lot of money is Depop.
Liana: Do you have any tips on what we should be looking for on Depop?
Margaux: I would find a bra you love and measure the cup size of it. Not like “I’m an A.” That doesn’t mean that you were an A in the 1950s. Sizes have dramatically changed in every way and form of fashion. I ask the dealer to measure the cup across for me so I can see how this would compare. Sometimes it’s smaller, but that’s fine because it’s more of a push-up corset, so I wouldn’t want it to be a full boob coverage. Other times I’m like, this would never fit my boob. I think that if you’re willing to spend $19 on a rando vintage bra or corset and try it on, from there, you’ll know what does and doesn’t work. A lot of it has been trial and error for me, especially when I’m shopping online.
If you have money to burn, go up to shop with Illisa’s on the Upper East Side. She has this incredible jewel box vintage lingerie store inside this antique mall where none of the other shops are open, and it is 100% worth it. I will go up there if I need something special, or if I know it’s going to be hard to find something, or want to try on 45 bras. She takes a look at your boobs and then pulls out a box of all French lingerie and is like, these should fit you and you can try each one on and decide which one feels the most comfortable.
Liana: Does she have things from all eras or is it a specific era?
Margaux: If I remember correctly, she ends with the ‘60s, but I’ve tried on things from the 1800s. I’ve tried on stuff that looks like it belonged in the movie Titanic. It’s really fun to just go up there and play. Also, it is where people like [Jean Paul] Gaultier and Hedi [Slimane] will go and shop for pieces to inspire their fashion lines.
Liana: What are some articles you’ve written about lingerie?
Margaux: I wrote about corsets for the May issue, and I’ve written about bullet bras also when the Miu Miu bullet bra came out. I went and tried the Miu Miu bullet bra on, and it was very fascinating because I felt like it was really built for a modern body. Our bodies are so different because of the way we use them these days.
I have found my armpit holes, or the whole of my arm and armpit, are very different sizes. I have a hard time wearing a lot of vintage dresses because, literally, my socket is bigger and shaped strangely. And so having a good tailor to fix that stuff is really important. I found the Miu Miu one fit the modern body much better than a lot of the vintage stuff I wear.
Liana: Have you seen an uptick in interest in lingerie recently?
Margaux: I definitely think people are becoming more interested in lingerie. Dôen is basically selling a Vanity Fair slip for $350 when you can buy one online for $25. It’s so crazy, and I love Dôen. When I’m shopping modern, Dôen is one of the first places I go to. But I do think a lot of people are bringing nightgowns, slips, and things like that into the modern fashion conversation right now.
Liana: Why do you think that is?
Margaux: I think there is something about how everything that is meant to be inside the house, fashion-wise, is being worn outside. This is a further extension of that. It used to be subversive to wear a sports bra and leggings out on the street, and now that is normal clothing. And so this is a further, more interesting exploration of that. I feel like it also speaks to the idea that “I’m stylish. I’m not working out. I want to be as naked as I am in my sports bra and my leggings, but I want to show that I have fashion taste and I’m not just wearing the cool workout brand.”
Liana: How many pieces do you think you own?
Margaux: I prefer a long-line bra or a full corset right now, and I probably have around 20 right now. Some of them go higher, some of them go lower, some are plunge, some I have to have help putting on because the eye and hook is really hard. I don’t have anything that has a busk in the front. Everything that I have either is a hook and eye in the back, or I have three Frederick’s of Hollywood ones that have eye and hook and a zipper up the front. Those are more modern, late ‘70s, early ‘80s. I don’t like them as much, but they’re best for when I’m getting dressed in a pinch, and I don’t have time to try to close everything on my own. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Hannah [Jackson] hasn’t had to close something for me when I got to the office because I couldn’t do it all on my own.
Liana: What is the most expensive piece that you’ve ever bought?
Margaux: I am not frugal, but I am interested in a deal. So I really don’t like to spend a lot of money on these things if I can. I do a lot of trying something on at one place where I think something’s overpriced and then going online and finding it. The most I probably spend is like three or $400. I have a new Agent Provocateur waspie that I bought in conjunction with my print story that was like $500. It is beautiful. It is the one piece that I have that can get me down to a 24-inch waist.
Liana: That’s a small waist…
Margaux: I am soft. I think that’s something to take into consideration when you’re wearing a bra. Like, a vintage bra is different than when you’re wearing a corset. A corset has to have something to move. I am very soft. I don’t work out for muscle. So I have a lot of things that can move around.
Liana: What is the earliest thing that you own?
Margaux: I own some bras from the 1920s that are basically a rectangle with straps. They’re not super comfortable, but I love them. I think that the uniboob look is nice under some things.
Liana: Is there anything new that you’re into and that we should be paying attention to?
Margaux: Araks does really nice vintage bras. If you are totally disgusted by the idea of a vintage bra, they do really, really nice vintage bras. When it comes to underwear, I feel like that sort of high-cut brief cotton panty is so hard to find. It is a white whale for a lot of people, and that’s sort of the idea of what people were wearing underneath this all. So I don’t really have a recommendation for something not used.
The Dita Von Teese line is very good if you want sort of a vintage look without it being 40 years old.
You can also find a shitty one and then take it somewhere. I recently took two bullet bras to Eva Joan in West Village because I wanted more elastic straps. A lot of them have ribbon straps, and if you have really big boobs or something, it just cuts into your shoulder. I had fully replaced the straps with something much wider, and that had a little bit of give, and it makes such a difference. A normal tailor could do that, too.
Liana: Do you own any crappy underwear?
Margaux: Yes, totally. If I’m on my period, I don’t want to risk something nice getting stained. I have been trying out a lot of different cotton underwear. Also, I have this seamless thong from Amazon that has scalloped edges that is invisible under anything.
Ok, now... for the shopping, paywalled portion. Have you been titillated and inspired to buy vintage lingerie after this dissertation about saucy little bra straps and cups that can hold your busom up to the gates of heaven? Lucky you! There is a lot of lace here: Some of these pieces are just simply sweet things, some NWT treasures, defunct fab names from ‘90s-era Vogue, and some pro-tip tank shopping insights from my friend who loves a lace-trimmed going-out top from a certain French house that is weirdly inexpensive… ok, enough chatter…get those bras (A to DD), camisoles, and panties!
A Cup
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