The Men's Guide to Buying Lingerie

Men are obsessed with looking at women in lingerie, Ann Summers, Agent Provocateur, La Senza and Victoria's Secret advertisers know this. But if you're out buying rather than perving, it's not good enough to pick the sexiest thing in 'a melon sized cup' and hope that she'll like it. It's an intricate affair with lots to consider. These days you should be able to shop for it, name it correctly and remove it – often while still handcuffed – smoothly.

Just imagine a world where women were as fascinated by male underwear as we are by their corsets, bras, french knickers, thongs and anything labeled hosiery. Fashion supplements would be dedicated to the humble Y-front. Trunk colour would be deliberated endlessly – “candy stripes good, brown stripes bad." It would, in other words, be a world gone mad.

Thankfully, beyond occasionally cooing over Cristano Ronaldo’s heavily photoshopped package, women do not much ponder over pants. They couldn’t give two hoots what keks you’ve got on, provided they are not the same pair you had on yesterday (and the day before that).

We've covered lingerie before with our eye popping FHMTV lingerie buyer's guide series, but we feel it's time to update the guide and broaden it out. This section is packed with truly useful information about all things lingerie, but because you still need some ‘inspiration’ before you set off shopping there’s also lots of pretty pictures. Lots of them.

In total, we've got five brand new shoots with four of our favourite FHM girlfriends. Each shoot is designed to ‘showcase’ a different aspect of lingerie’s myriad pleasures, from comfy sleepovers to hardcore fetish gear, and we've got an accompanying guide to go with it. Think of it like a Haynes manual for bras rather than cars.