Mideast Loves Syria's Weird, Sexy Lingerie

After picking up dishes and washing powder at local markets, Syrian women love to purchase something more intimate: edible, fruit-flavored underwear, Der Spiegel reports. Naughty skivvies have been hot for years in Damascus, where veiled mothers regularly buy maid’s costumes, musical negligees, and remote-controlled undies for their betrothed daughters—hoping to encourage their future sons-in-law to stick with just one wife.

The trend, which has spread throughout the Middle East, began about 4 years ago when the Internet connected Syrians to the sartorial tastes of other countries. Now families spend up to $1,000 on items like leather outfits—whip included—and magnet-controlled lingerie. “Palestinian women are the most interesting,” said one shopkeeper. “They want sexy stuff. The saucier the better.”
(More Damascus stories.)