Everything You Need to Know About the Intimate Britney Spears

Yesterday, I attended a presentation of Britney Spears's new lingerie and sleepwear line, The Intimate Britney Spears. Although the icon/designer herself was also in attendance, the turnout was surprisingly...intimate. Perhaps someone is finally taking note of the amount of unwanted attention the singer has repeatedly, publicly asked to eliminate. Hopefully, Spears's Las Vegas residency isn't, as some have described it, a last gasp, and is instead a triumphant takeover of her own image. The breakdowns, the breakups, the famous friends, the not-famous boyfriends, the teenaged hits, the power anthems: everything that is Britney Spears is part of something larger now, and instead of devouring it all and becoming the media machine that tried to take her down, she's distilling her crooked smile into the essential Spears. It's commercial, yes, but it's less flashy than any of her perfume launches. It's actually sort of romantic.

In a white room at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street, guests and an antsy photo pit wait for the event to start, flipping through a program full of original poetry describing each lingerie set, drinking complimentary Voss water, and holding chocolate squares in pink foil labeled with retail partner CHANGE Lingerie's insignia. Spears's familiar voice announces that (even though there are open seats) the show is about to begin. Underwear models drift out, pose, sit on overstuffed chairs, open feather fans, gaze in boudoir mirrors. Finally, Britney herself walks out in an all-American red pantsuit and thanks us, the selected press, for coming to see the collection she's been working on "for the past two years." Although the models in classic bras and garter belts one can easily picture Spears wearing—if only in a music video—are cute and sexy, the more interesting information we receive here is their descriptions. Below are each of the poems in the program, and above, two accompanying videos.

Amaryllis

Sometimes I like the

thrill of being two women

at the same time, the woman

I show the world, and the woman

I keep to myself ... each with

their own thrilling contrasts ...

intimate desires and pleasures ...

... like elegant cream satin and

black lace edges ... shimmering

gently over my shoulder.

On days like this you can call

me Amaryllis, but only in

a whisper, and only when

you feel as beautiful as a flower.

Camellia

If confidence is a feling

what does it feel like?

... feels luxurious like seamless

black lace and thin bold lines

that hold strength

and romance together,

... feels timeless and sheer,

smooth against your skin.

And this is what it looks like ...

a look that can hypnotize

a man and empower a woman.

Angelica

I am an art,

paint me in pastels

... the softest blush of roses

playing peek-a-boo

on sheer nylon.

Paint me satin and

embroider me with

mother of pearl.

Paint me feminie

with a bow and let me

feel like a little girl.

This is the art of being a

woman and remembering

the feelings of a girl.

Clematis

I prefer the shocking beauty

of being in love,

emotions that come together

and surprise us ...

think vibrant pink flowers

patterns in fields of lace

bordered by soft gray and

held forever with a tiny bow.

this is how you prove

the look of love

isn't just in your eyes

but something you wear.

Calla

What do you wear

to a luxurious rendezvous

with intimacy ... your skin

like the aroma of vanilla

cream swirls in a gentle dream

at the crossroads of

romance and solitude

where even a camisole feels

like a heart-shaped calla

This is where we'll

rendezvous ... your dream

and mine.