Friday 27 June 2014

I'm-a Just Mad About Saffron

Putting it lightly; and much to Donovan's dismay, yellow has never been a colour I've been particularly fond of. However when I first discovered luxury brand Bordelle I couldn't help but fall in love with their Lady Citron bodice bra, which was available in two colourways; black, finished with a yellow centre bow; or full on lemon yellow with black detailing. I lusted after this bra for a long time as I couldn't quite justify the approximately £200 that it would have set me back to own it; and I often went back to the website to visit it, until it was discontinued and no longer available. In this time the citrus shade must have grown on my subconscious, as now whenever I see lemon-toned lingerie during my browsing I always fondly remember the Lady Citron and feel slightly drawn towards her colour palette.






The Lady Citron bodice bra from Bordelle in black.










The Lady Citron in yellow.



Here is a pick of some of my favourite yellow toned pieced currently available from various retailers.


Mimi Holliday £40.60 at Dolci Follie

Mimi Holliday £28 at Dolci Follie

Mimi Holliday £28.50 at Dolci Follie

Mimi Holliday £22.50 at Dolci Follie

Claudette $58 at Fair Frou Frou

Claudette $20 at Fair Frou Frou

Nichole De Carle £252.50 at Dolci Follie

Nichole De Carle £67.50 at Dolci Follie

Nichole De Carle £46.50 at Dolci Follie

eLai Bra £56 & Brief £56 at eLai London

Fleur of England £55.30 at Dolci Follie

Fleur of England £41.30 at Dolci Follie

Fleur Of England £34.30 at Dolci Follie

Made By Niki £118.30 at Dolci Follie

Made By Niki £62.30 at Dolci Follie

Bordelle £185

Bordelle Bra £185

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Kiss Me Deadly Catwalk And Cabaret Extravaganza!

At the beginning of May I attended my first ever "lingerie event" with my good friend Becca Pointeau. Followers of my blog will be aware of my love for the vintage inspired Kiss Me Deadly, and staying true to the brand; their take on a catwalk show was something a little out of the ordinary.

As opposed to being a serious fashion event with the intention of reeling in new retailers and wholesale opportunities, the focus of the Kiss Me Deadly show was more along the lines of celebrating their loyal fans and followers. KMD also have a long history of being unusually diverse in their choices of models; having used models in the past with body types rarely seen in the lingerie industry, with disabilities, and of under-represented ethnicities. In-keeping with this tradition, they chose their models for the catwalk from their real life fans, which allowed much more diversity than the usual sample sizes and retailer expectations allow for. The eventual line up consisted of a variety of body shapes, heights, ages and even different genders.


Some of the Deadly models

The event was held at The Tabernacle theatre in Notting Hill, and upon arriving I instantly spotted KMD founder and main woman Catherine Clavering by the front door, accompanied by one of the faces of the brand; Jessica-Louise Abidde (who was later on nice enough to negotiate me a free glass of wine). I of course proceeded to corner Catherine and gush about how much I love all things KMD. I asked what had become of her past plans to open a second boutique in her home of Sheffield, to which she admitted that despite her efforts, Yorkshire still wasn't quite ready for the likes of their special brand of tongue-in-cheek, weapon-toting, film noir-esque lingerie eccentricity.


Tempest Rose with two of the House Of Burlesque dancers

The show began with an introduction from Catherine; looking stunning with enormous hair and a bespoke Philmore Clague dress; then the catwalk kicked off. The models strutted up and down the stage one by one; each in customised lingerie, though there was one lady who made the show for myself and Becca as soon as she stepped into the stage.

She exuded confidence and stood out from the rest as she was constantly dancing, blowing kisses and striking poses for the audience, looking every bit the natural performer. She was instantly our favourite. I have since been in contact with her on Facebook and Twitter and she is every bit as lovely to talk to as she appeared on stage.


Our favourite, Sonia Sparkles

Following the Deadly models were a number of acts from House Of Burlesque, compared by the charismatic Tempest Rose. This was to be my first experience of burlesque; something I'd been waiting for in anticipation since KMD first made the announcement that it was to be a part of the show. The first to perform was an artist named Trixi Tassels, whose tongue in cheek strip tease was topped off at the climax by spinning her namesake tassels on her nipple pasties in every combination of directions imaginable. Her performance; along with all the others', was absolutely hilarious and we became fans of burlesque on the spot.


Trixi Tassels


The whole evening was a complete success (from our point of view at least), with every performance having its own charm and comedy value. I found that there was a feeling of community amongst all those who had travelled to be a part of the audience too; I recognised a few familiar faces both from the lingerie blogosphere and the vocal KMD Facebook fandom and everyone felt comfortable to approach each other to compliment the spectacular array of dresses, corsets and shoes being worn. I hope that it's possible for this to become a yearly tradition as I would happily make it a regular pilgrimage to attend.


Emily, another of the Deadly models
Jean-Louis, who travelled from Sweden to be a part of the show
A bit of audience participation

A burlesque tribute to Nigella Lawson
Dolly Rose from the House of Burlesque




All photos taken by myself. Stay up to date with the blog by liking the Stockings And Stingrays Facebook page and following me on Twitter!