French women are right - underwear shopping should be classed as 'essential'

Books are essential. Music is essential. Lingerie is not essential. At least that is the view of French Prime Minister Jean Castex, who has sparked a wave of protests in response to his latest lockdown rules for the country.

Women across France have been sending underwear to Castex, galvanised by the group Action Culottée (which translates as ‘cheeky action’), in a bid to convey the importance of underwear and urge him to change his decision.

"We wish to bring to light the very critical situation that hundreds of underwear shops across France are experiencing," says the group, which has the backing of over 200 lingerie retailers. "Florists, booksellers, hairdressers and record shops have been classified as 'essential' businesses. But what about underwear? ... Isn't it the first thing we put on in the morning to get dressed?"

It does seem rather poorly thought through. Stereotypes of sexy, lingerie-obsessed French women aside, it doesn’t take a genius to note that books and music can be purchased online very easily. One thing that isn’t easy to buy online is a bra.

Of course many of us know our bra size, but, as with dresses and jeans, I know I can be any number of sizes depending on the brand. And what if your body shape has changed? A bra fitting - which can be done in a Covid-safe contact-free way - is an important step.

Having a larger than average chest myself, some scaffolding under my outfit is essential (yes, Monsieur Premier Ministre, essential). I’m no Charlie Dimmock; I wear a bra because it makes me look slimmer, provides support and often a degree of modesty too. If one of my favourites were damaged somehow, I would feel the need to replace it immediately.

As for knickers, I don’t need to tell you that they provide a layer of protection and hygiene. This is the case for men’s underpants too, which tend to be sold in department stores and supermarkets rather than lingerie boutiques, but Castex doesn’t seem to have acknowledged that.

Perhaps Castex doesn’t understand the basic practicalities of lingerie. Maybe he pictures lace-trimmed silky slips and suspenders, rather than multipacks of cotton briefs or Bridget Jones-style shapewear. It could be that he naively thinks lingerie is a luxury that we buy purely for the male gaze.

Data proves there’s no doubt about the demand for underwear in locked-down countries. Many Brits may have gone braless in the first lockdown, but then sales of underwire-free bras soared, indicating that, actually, we discovered some light support is pretty valuable if we don’t want to suffer from ‘lockdown droop’ - we want to wear bras, but we also want to be comfortable.

When non-essential stores reopened in the UK on 12 April, luxury lingerie brand Agent Provocateur noticed a spike in trade, while Primark cited it as one of its best-selling categories, and Marks & Spencer is responding to demand with contact-free bra fittings.

I’m not surprised that French women are up in arms about this latest lockdown rule. Surely basic undergarments are a more important lockdown purchase than the new Taylor Swift album?

Or maybe Castex just really loves Taylor Swift.

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