Lingerie, nipples, and the softer side of Sears

Because I’m a guy, I still shop at Sears. The Craftsman Tool line is still pretty good, they have snowblower and lawnmower parts, and they often have good deals on appliances. But apparently some people still shop for clothes there, including (ahem) intimate apparel.  Sears even has a section of their online catalog devoted to — specifically devoted to — sexy, flirty, adult evening wear. No, they aren’t going to compete with, for example, The Stockroom or Adam & Eve, but it’s pretty interesting that they acknowledge that some grown-ups want to have a little play time.

Naturally some people have a problem with this. More correctly, some people have a problem that the Sears online catalog recently had a picture of a woman modeling some of that aforementioned lingerie, in which one, by peering and squinting closely at the screen, could clearly see some nipple. You know, on a breast. Covered with purple, lacey material. Because it’s lingerie.

The internet is a great way to make this kind of information spread very quickly, and Sears soon had a number of complaints. They removed the offensive picture, but not before other people captured the image to pass it around.

Now, this was not a wardrobe malfunction, nor was it something seen in a widely viewed, general-audience venue. It was on a woman modeling “exotic” lingerie in a portion of the online catalog (which required a number of clicks to find) that was meant for adult viewing.

The various discussion areas where people were nattering about this showed a range of attitudes. While many people didn’t particularly care (presumably people who don’t shop for “exotic” wear at Sears), I was surprised at the number of people who suggested that such images should have been more carefully vetted by the designers, web site artists, etc. Even more surprising was the implication that a) people browsing from work could have gotten into trouble for a NSFW picture, and b) that impressionable youngsters might see it.

I don’t know what to say about people shopping for lingerie from work. I mean, we’ve had internet and computers for a generation now, and if some people haven’t figured out that online shopping for anything during work hours is frowned upon, then there’s not much more you can do to get that message across.

But the idea that a teen boy might be hesitantly poking around the Sears lingerie ads to see porn is downright laughable. Okay, sure, back in the old days (pre-internet) we actually did look through the Sears (and Montgomery Ward, etc.) catalogs for pictures of women in their underthings. But any 13 year old who is trying to get a thrill at Sears instead of looking at the, oh, thousands of different web sites out there should probably be left alone — if not put into a museum as an example of adolescent innocence.

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And because I don’t want my readers squinting and staring too closely at their screens to find a nipple, here’s a couple that are a little more obvious, and just as enjoyable to look at.