BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Tilda Playing Lace Bra, $88 and matching briefs, $43, by Stella McCartney, available from net-a-porter.com

Perhaps it is a bit of an oxymoron to say "understated leopard print," but I find this kit by Stella McCartney is just that-- restrained yet racy, with just a hint of delicious brutishness. And while I have never been a fan of lace (at least in the way of women's undergarments) I find this application by McCartney a seductive embodiment of what the modern woman wants to wear underneath it all.... meowwwww.