Remember in Working Girl when Alec Baldwin gives Tess sexy lingerie for her birthday and she says, "Mick, just once it would be nice to get something I could wear outside the house."

And apparently men are so crap at buying underwear for the dames in their lives that London's John Lewis store has set up a "lingerie academy" to prevent the purchase of Pussycat Dolls-esque monstrosities in random sizes. But seriously, is it really that hard? Apparently so!

According to the academy's mastermind, Maria Walker, men's problems fall into a few categories: buying for themselves rather than their recipients; cluelessness as to size; and generally being intimidated by the setup of the creepily-named "Intimates" departments and Victoria's Secret bordellos, and the fear of looking pervy. Then too, the mechanics of fit and hoist, or underwire and cuppage, are a language that's mysterious even to women.

So, in a panic, guys go with what they've been told is "sexy," almost never what we'd choose. Think red, black, thongs, and a lot of teddies. Says Walker,

I saw a programme recently called Britain's Worst Husband and these men were sent into a high street shop to buy lingerie and they all came back with red and black lace. Every one. We have some beautiful things in red and black, but you have to make sure of the quality and you have got to look at your partner's colouring. Someone with dark hair and olive skin would look wonderful in red but if you're blonde...

Rather than guessing at sizes (which I can tell you from my time in retail, men never know even if they think they do) the academy recs that guys get camisoles and panties and stay completely away from thongs, however much they want them. They also have to coax some guys out of the weird virgin/whore complex that presupposes that racy lingerie suggests "mistress." I would personally add to this: if there is any danger of receiving lingerie, ever, beat into the buyer's brain the brand you wear: it's so hard to find stuff that works with the vagaries of individual breasts there's no point taking a chance on a line that cuts small through the back (ahem, Elle MacPherson) or inconsistently in the cup (yes, looking at you, Gap Body.) Because the thing about lingerie gifts is, even if they kind of suck, most of us will wear them just to be good sports. Like faking orgasms, this kind of white lying runs the risk of fooling a guy into thinking he's done an awesome job and repeating the error but I do feel it's one of those occasions where prevarication is kind. Unless, you know, we're talking about a raccoon suit or some other outlier - which disciplines the academy does not appear to address.

How To Buy Underwear For Women [Times of London]

• John McCain's had some more time to think about John Lewis's words of caution about the level of racial intolerance and violence coming out in this election season. He thinks John Lewis' words were unacceptable. [CNN]
• Of course, he probably didn't read this article about how calling an African-American political figure a socialist has a long and unfortunate history dating back to efforts to make African-American political leaders — and their fight for equality — seem foreign and scary. [American Prospect]
• Or this one about how too many white people subconsciously associate white people with America and black people with foreign stuff. [Washington Post]
• Or this one, about how people think only the white working class voters of the Midwest count as an authentic political coalition. [American Prospect]

• Meanwhile, Barack Obama's got a new economic plan that involves you being able to access your retirement savings more easily and puts a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures. [NY Times]
• But the McCainiacs definitely read that because their on-again-off-again new economic stimulus plan is back on again for tomorrow, which is totally the way to avoid looking erratic. [TPM Election Central]
• And Nancy Pfotenhauer Pfuckingsucks still fucking sucks and is forced to, giggling, accuse über-conservative Bill Kristol of buying into Obama's hype. [Think Progress]
• Oh and, yes, Paul Krugman won the Nobel Prize in economics. I sort of feel bad now that I skipped reading his book in college. [NY Times]