A shift in fashion: The Shift Dress

The Shift Dress is an iconic, timeless item of clothing that is still as much of a must-have today as it was in the 1920’s! And Playful Promises is here to help keep you all bang on trend this season with their clothing line.

Yes, Playful Promises also offers clothes as well as underwear for all of you who did not know!

The Shift Dress is still a really prevalent trend in today’s fashions and never fails to appear every year. Not only are Playful Promises offerings delectable and help release your inner flapper, but they make you so ready to hit up a jazz club that you will be doing the Charleston down the street!

After researching the history of the Shift Dress I have come to realise how this fashion has managed to stay popular for decades, and I think you’ll agree that many of my findings are still relevant today.

It all began in the 1920’s, so a massive thank you must be said to all the fashion forward women of that decade as I think the ‘what to wear’ dilemma would be that much worse without the Shift Dress!

There were many factors that can be attributed to the development and success of the Shift Dress in the 1920’s:

• Economic prosperity led to the Roaring Twenties, allowing women more spending power and women began to buy their clothes instead of making them themselves, meaning that fashion trends spread quicker and changed faster.

• Social norms began to change throughout the 1920’s, becoming less rigid and enforced. Although alcohol was banned, people were allowed to drink a little within the home and soon women began to socialize and drink in public at illegal Speakeasies. Fashions begun to change becoming more revealing and freeing – a scandal at the time!

• The textiles and garment industry became more advanced due to industrialization and women’s fashions became accessible to all consumers at different levels of the social spectrum.

• As clothing was becoming easier to manufacture and produce in mass volumes, stores began selling ready-to-wear fashions in a variety of sizes and colours.

With these factors all playing a role in women’s fashions throughout the 1920’s, it’s no wonder that’s styles changed so drastically from the restrictive fashions of previous generations. Enter the Shift Dress.

The Shift Dress is not only an iconic piece of clothing it also represents a change in the way women were perceived in society. As well as this, it embodies and symbolizes the 1920’s; with its loose style and androgynous appearance it quickly became a favorite style of the infamous Flapper Girls of the 1920’s.

As well as being obviously stylish and big supporters of the Shift Dress, Flappers furthered the popularity of the style itself. Flappers were the iconic female representation of the 1920’s as a decade and were symbolized by their reputation for smoking from long cigarette holders, applying make-up in public and dancing wildly in short, shapeless Shift Dresses that exposed their limbs and created a flat-chested, androgynous look. This is the first example in history of women actively defying social conventions and instead of accentuating their figures through the use of corsetry; comfort was at the forefront of women’s clothing choices for once.

All this is pretty impressive for one style of garment don’t you think?! Not only was the Shift Dress stylish and comfortable but it stuck two fingers up at society encompassing clothing and revolutionary mind-set for women! Power to the people and all that!

As well as being an important fashion throughout the 1920’s the Shift Dress made a huge resurgence in the 1960’s. Audrey Hepburn often wore sleeveless shift dresses both onscreen and off, which had a major impact on 60s fashion.

The style was updated by designers such as Mary Quant, altering the length to create the Mini Dress. The Shift Dress became popular with women all over the world due to its simple style, adaptability to any situation and the way it suited all women. It even became a firm favorite with Jackie Kennedy!

Bound to be the most useful dress in your wardrobe, it’s a perfect choice for so many occasions because you can dress it up or down with your choice of accessories.

Why not experience the wonder of the Shift Dress for yourself and pick one (or more!) of Playful Promises offerings! The Digital Sunset Print Dress and the Swinging 60’s Lace Shift Dress are perfect for all you classy ladies out there. 

Based on all my research, I can’t help feeling that I was born in the wrong era! I would have fitted in perfectly in the 1920’s or 1960’s – not only do I love Shift Dresses, but I’m also flat-chested! Oh well, looks like I’m going to have to go on another Playful Promises shopping spree to cure my need for a Shift Dress!

Dear Lady Unmentionable: How to wash hosiery

Im just wondering the best way to wash and store stockings and tights? any advice greatly appreciated

- Renee (via the Playful Promises Facebook)

As ladies, we all know how wonderful stockings and tights make us look and feel, but, we also know how annoying they can be to take care of! One slip or lack of concentration can lead to a ladder or hole and no matter what anyone says – that is never a good look!

Nylon and silk stockings and tights are both delicate and require a bit more TLC than some other hosiery; however, we all know it’s worth it ;)

Firstly, nylon hosiery CAN be machine washed, but only using a cold water setting.  Plus, they absolutely must be washed on their own – so machine washing can cause more trouble than it’s worth!

The best way to care for nylon and silk tights and stockings is definitely hand washing! Sorry, I know this seems a bore, but if you want perfect looking pins, sacrifices must be made (you should be treating all your lovely lingerie the same way, but I won’t judge you.. much).

Before you even begin washing your hosiery, check your nails! Make sure to file away any jagged edges, also remove any rings. You don’t want your precious tights to get caught and ladder or rip!

Now, fill your sink with lukewarm water and add half a cup of mild laundry powder (you can even use colourless shampoo if you don’t have any washing powder to hand!).

Turn your stockings or tights inside out and allow soaking for five minutes, remembering to wash similar colours together.

Now wash the products carefully, avoiding rubbing and pulling as you will stretch the hosiery making it unwearable.

Rinse, rinse and rinse again in cool water to get all the soap out and then gently squeeze the water out of the tights or stockings from the top down to the toe.

Once all the excess water has been removed, place the tights or stockings over a towel rail or something similar to air dry. Keep hosiery out of direct sunlight as the colours will fade.

When you wear your stockings or tights, avoid anything that they could snag on like corners of desks and tables or wooden seats and always carry a little bottle of clear nail varnish with you to dab on a hole or ladder as soon as you notice it!

As for storing your stockings and tights, either fold them nicely (even better if you have the original packaging) and keep in a drawer or hang up on a padded hanger. Rolling them up into a ball will cause them to become misshapen!

 Shop hosiery at Playful Promises

Back to Life, Back to Reality

So, the most depressing part of the year is upon us yet again - the brief summer we had has come to an abrupt end and the rain is back, everyone is returning back to England from a variety of far-flung exotic places, and you’re back to work, tan fading. We’ve all been there, and inevitably it makes you want to cry.

We know you don’t want to return to ‘normal life’, but the time has come, so instead of planning next year’s holiday and protesting about returning to the everyday, embrace it! And here at Playful Promises we know exactly how to cure you’re post-summer blues.

The first step to cure your blues is to dress like the confident, able, take-on-the-world siren you are! Okay, so we know you don’t feel ready to put on actual shoes instead of sandals and flip-flops and get your business head back on, but with the range of clothing Playful Promises offers, you’ll be running back into the office to show off your new wardrobe!

Whatever you prefer to wear for work, Playful Promises has you covered! My personal favourite is the Charlotte Houndstooth Dress – you’ll look every bit the together business woman you are and have no trouble keeping people’s interest in a meeting in this number!

We also offer a range of adorable Chiffon Bow Blouses in Purple, Red and Black as well as the traditional pencil skirt which is a definite must for every working woman’s wardrobe!

Why not brighten up your work wardrobe using our limited edition kimono jackets? Both the Geisha Digital Print and the Rorschach Kimono Jackets are stunning and add that special something to an otherwise plain outfit. Hurry up and grab them before they go, they are limited edition after all!

Playful Promises clothes are so good, you won’t want to limit them to just office wear – but don’t worry, we don’t blame you, you will look and feel so fabulous in all of these offerings you won’t want to take them off. Ever.

Now, the next step in curing your post-holiday downer is underwear – every girl knows that to look its best, an outfit must have a great foundation, and what better foundation to a gorgeous outfit, than a gorgeous set of Playful Promises undies?

The Vamp Black Multi-Way Bra is essential for any lingerie collection, and can be manipulated any which way your heart desires! As well as providing you with endless possibilities, the Vamp Bra also gives your bust a boost and defines your curves – what more could you want?

The Dominique Longline Bra is another investment that will help speed your healing process. Its subtle decorative features, such as the use of mesh and the strap design provide you with the chance to feel sexy and supported all day long. It’s such a gorgeous bra; why not show off the straps under your clothes at work? We’re sure your boss won’t mind at all!

So there we have it, follow these simple steps and you will glide back into work with a confidence that wasn’t there before! We know it’s not as good as a holiday or sunny weather, but if you feel fabulous, everyday is like a holiday!

What do you do to combat your holiday blues?

Amethyst Dreams: Heart Breaker

 As the nights get longer and we move from late Summer into Autumn, there's nothing we love more than some jewel-coloured lingerie!

Our Heart Breaker set has arrived, and we thought we'd celebrate that gorgeous amethyst colour!

Top image: Kirsty Mitchell

Bottom left image: Zemotion

Purple lemonade recipe here

What does this colour make you think of?

To match or not to match?

Along with the Big Knickers versus G-Strings war that constantly rages throughout the lingerie world, I have stumbled upon another hot topic that everyone seems to have an opinion on with regards to underwear – to match or not to match, that is the question.

After researching the subject online, it became clear that everyone has an opinion and were more than happy to voice it. The articles, chat rooms and polls I found regarding the subject of matching underwear were extensive, but inconclusive and no decision was ever really reached, which left me pondering, does it really matter if your underwear matches?

I did find an evident divide between the opposing sides, so clearly it is an issue people feel strongly about, but I had never really thought about it myself.

As a child, we are all told by our Grandma to wear good underwear in case something awful befalls you; giving strangers just cause to see your smalls. However, I have never been in an accident that caused me to be stripped down to my underwear, and anyway I always thought that if someone refused to give you medical attention based on whether or not your underwear matched was a pretty bad doctor. However, I’m not sure if there is anything about the treatment of patients based on the state of their underwear in the Hippocratic Oath so airing on the side of caution may be wise there.

So as you have probably gathered, matching my underwear has never been high on my list of priorities when it comes to getting dressed in the morning, normally, I’m too busy concentrating on waking up that I am just happy to leave the house with all my clothes on in the right order – I am definitely not a morning person! I used to just be satisfied with underwear that was clean and had no holes in; also, being a recently graduated student, I would have rather spent my money on nights out instead of underwear. So I did agree with the many people I found on the internet claiming that matching your underwear took too much time and cost too much.

However, my mentality is slowly beginning to change since I have started my internship here at Playful Promises. While being here, I have invested in three matching sets of underwear – The Heartbreaker Set, The Etti Set and the The Kitty Set, which I have started wearing together. 

Since buying the sets I have slowly started to feel bad when I don’t wear matching underwear, and sort of off balance. Wearing matching sets have definitely made me feel more grown up and sophisticated and just generally start my day off that little bit better. So I think I have become a convert! Not only have I now vowed to only buy matching sets, I have also organised my underwear draw – which if you knew me, you could contest was a big deal – evicting the old and unmatchable undies lurking in there.

I am now ready to expand my underwear collection to include more matching sets, I have come to realise that the boost you get out of wearing matching underwear is one that never fades, making you feel sexy and confident all day!

Let me know whether or not you match your underwear – I’ll try and make you a convert too!