It seems that, for the designated fans of a woman dressed in something a little more adventurous than the average garments, are very much in luck this Winter.

As Christmas beckons, and the shopping centres cram themselves with wanting proprietors of the perfect gift for their loved ones, a trend is looming for a few items that I can’t see being opened in front of the family.

Now, whether this surge of sales is due to the risqué ladies of the United Kingdom indulging in something a little more enticing this Christmas, or that the stale couples of the festive season have had enough with cosiness, one thing is for absolute certain. Bondage is beginning to creep from the back streets.

Santa’s belt not the only piece of leather this Christmas

A look much maligned for its seedy and sinful iconography, lingerie influenced directly from the creatures that delve into such entertainment within the late-nigh schedule of Virgin and Bravo, has thrust its own bold nature into, or in fact onto, the Christmas consumer this winter.

Granted we are not talking dungeon furniture here, and I can safely assure you chaps that as you finish work, or meet a lady at a bar who wants you to spend the night, that you won’t be welcomed with shackles and rusty metal. But there has been a steep change it seems in our own, much documented reserve, as Selfridges revealed the sales of lingerie of this type had rocketed to an increase of 50% over the last week.

A time for sharing seems a lot more interesting

British designer Nicole de Carles Onyx is enjoying an extremely lucrative period, with her offerings of bras, knickers, playsuits and even braces being picked up from the shelves by both excited females, and lads who take an educated risk.

Helen Atwood, the mind behind the application of such products to the Selfridges shelves, said: “This year, S&M has gone couture. Gone are the days of bondage lingerie looking more back-street that Bond Street. Sales of the sexiest designs of lingerie are already up 50 percent, and we predict that this Christmas won’t be white. It’ll be black silk with leather trim.”

Thankfully, it won’t just be the mince pies that offer a sense of spice through Christmas 2010.

Click here to visit the Selfridges website