Lady Unmentionable: What to wear with Corsets

Hi
I bought one of your lovely corsets but I am bit stuck as to what to wear it with?
Thanks
Vicky

This is a question that somewhat relies on knowing in which situation you are planning to wear your corset! I, of course, never shy away from the underwear as outerwear trend, as you can see above. Although I do admit that knickers are somewhat not considered acceptable wear for certain events (god knows why).

Popping to a cocktail evening or popping macaroons into your mouth while lounging in your boudoir, corsets thrive in both environments, yet need a little difference in what else you should wear (or not wear....). 

As you can see, I favour an overbust corset, although you may have chosen a luscious waspie to cinch in that waist (I'll talk a bit about what to wear with one of those a little later. Overbusts do most of the hard work for you, giving you support in the bust as well as shaping an hourglass curve. Some ladies prefer to wear a bra underneath the corset, depending on the cut of the bust. 

The Bound Cupped Corset is the perfect little thing for a bit of a bedroom tease (for extra tease points, wear nipple pasties underneath the corset) and can be worn with a black suspender belt, black briefs or nothing at all ;)

As for something a tad more demure, overbust corsets can be worn as tops, teamed with pencil skirts (as the lovely Undercover Lingerista did here) or even black skinny jeans to ensure you bring a touch of glam to a more casual event. 

Waspies are a little trickier, but can also work well for both formal shindigs or playtime. 

Team your waspie with either a fully matching or contrasting set of lingerie (e.g. black waspie, red lingerie or black waspie, black lingerie) for a saucy night in. Or take a look at the way we've styled these lovely ladies above, using pencil skirts, shirts and kimono jackets to create a gorgeous look for the evening. 

You could even take a leaf out of The Only Way Is Essex's Maria Fowler's book and wear a statement bra or bralet with a waspie and black skinny jeans!

Are you perplexed by panties? Shocked by suspenders? Send through your lingerie-related gripes to me at knickersinatwist@playfulpromises.com!

Love Bomb 2013: Velda Lauder

 

It's that time of the year again, and after last year's successful Love Bomb, we are doing it all again!

The Love Bomb is a celebration of independent lingerie and swimwear designers in the run up to Valentine's Day. Each of the brands taking part in the Love Bomb is run by a handful of people (and in some cases, even one!), standing up against the mega-corporations to bring you innovative, quirky and unique knickers!  

Unlike the big spenders we are in this game for the knickers – like you, we can’t get enough of them! Many a day is spent lusting after other brands’ lacy wonders and structured glories, so we thought what better way to encourage support for indie lingerie than to gather together for a big, sloppy Valentine’s love bomb!

Each day, one independent lingerie brand will be offering a giveaway or competition, while the other 7 brands will be shouting a lot about it! We even put together a sumptuous photoshoot for it, which will accompany the Love In!

(Photography by Anna Swiczeniuk, Model Miss Miranda, Hats by Lily Lewis, Bra and Brief by Playful Promises, Waspie by Velda Lauder, Suspender Belt by Kiss Me Deadly.)

Day 5: Velda Lauder

 

VELDA LAUDER CORSETIERE will be giving away a beautiful satin, steel boned rouge ribbon underbust corset to a lucky winner drawn at random from corset lovers who blog, tweet, tumblr, facebook, pinterest etc or use any amazing social media linking to the VLC product, press or blog entry they like the most from our brand.

To be in with a chance to win, you have up to 4 ways to enter!

A) registering with their online store here

B) connect to Velda on their face book page here and post something passionate!

C) follow them on twitter here and say something corsetty cute!

D) comment on their blog posts here

Good Luck!!!

WIN the Dominique corset

 

To celebrate the arrival of our seductive AW12 corsets, Dominique and Love, we thought that a giveaway is in order!

We want to give three lucky Playful Promises fans the chance to grab the Dominique corset as soon as it arrives in our warehouse on the 10th of April. 

But you will have to show us just how much you want this naughty fetish-inspired corset

We will be picking one winner from our social media (facebook, tumblr, twitter, pinterest), one from this very post, and one from our newsletter. You can enter up to 6 times, following the rules below ;)

Social Media

1 entry: Like us on facebook and comment on our giveaway image post.

1 entry: Follow us @playfulpromises and tweet to us with the link to this blog.

1 entry: Follow us on tumblr and reblog the giveaway post.

1 entry: Follow us on Pinterest and repin the giveaway post on our Pinterest.

Newsletter

1 entry: Make sure you are signed up to our newsletter. 

Blog

1 entry: Comment on this post, describing what you would wear with this corset. Will you team with a pencil skirt as outerwear? Perhaps some naughty ouvert briefs? 

Winners will be picked on the 10th April, international entries welcome!

 

Love Bomb: Velda Lauder Corsetiere

 

Velda Lauder corset, Miss Mandalay bra and brief, Playful Promises garter skirt and Pearls and Swine fascinator modelled by Tessa Kuragi. Photo by Anna Swiczeniuk, MUA by Cheyenne Raymond

A good outfit must start with the correct undergarments, and while sausaging yourself into hideous shapewear is all the rage, many of us prefer methods a little more traditional! There is nothing like a good corset to help you feel sexy and curvy, and the best part is, they can be worn under or over your best frock! Marianne at The Lingerie Addict explains what you should be looking for when buying a corset, which goes to show just how much work goes into making a good quality one.

Do you want to be the next Dita Von Teese? We can let you in on a little secret: Velda Lauder. A favourite with London’s burlesque stars (who has indeed corseted Ms. Teese); Velda Lauder creates stunning bespoke corsets in the most opulent materials you can think of. Working from her London studio, Velda’s love of the 40s lead to a fascination with curve-creating pieces, developing techniques to allow her corsets to shape without putting pressure on the ribs.

I love her philosophy: “The gift of the corset is its ability to free the inner strength and beauty of a woman in an instant.” Velda Lauder’s corsets definitely make you feel powerful, whether you are wearing one of her stunning bridal corsets or a sumptuous burlesque corset designed for daring femme fatales.

Underbust Black Satin Bow Corset 

This is such a perfect, classic corset, with the versatility to work with so many different outfits and colours! I’d love to wear this with a gorgeous red blouse and black pencil skirt. The bow adds a little bit of a cute edge.

Overbust Black Satin and Swarovski Crystal Corset

The corset of every burlesque girl’s dreams! Not only is the shape of this corset absolutely stunning, but the thousands of Swarovski crystals that must have been painstakingly applied one-by-one make this the ultimate corset.

Velda Lauder is giving away a gorgeous Ruby silk underbust LOVE BOMB bow corset (seen above), and to be in with the chance of winning, make sure you register here and quote "LOVE BOMB"! Keep an eye on her facebook and blog for more details!

Shaping the Female Figure

Lingerie takes an important role in shaping and moulding the female figure. From push-up bras to girdles, basques and shapewear the lingerie industry continues to push the boundaries of sculpting the female form.

 

History is filled with moulding, shaping and sculpting fashions, from the obvious corsetry of the early 20th century, to the subtle bindings of the Greco-Roman period and the boyish girdles of the 1920's.

In particular crinolines and bustles stand out for me. A vital contraption of the 19th and 20th century fashions, crinolines and bustles would amplify the size of the posterior and hips, helped by corsets nipping in the waist, giving the illusion of a dramatic hourglass figure.

 

Originally crinolines were made from stiff fabrics and horsehair. By 1830 they would have been made from fabric and steel hoops or even whalebone hoops. These rigid structures would hold-up the petticoats and skirts and would shape the outerwear in the fashionable contour of the period.

The crinoline would have been worn by every social class and was widely available. However, width of the crinoline and choice of style, trend and fabric would have defined a woman's social rank in the late 19th century.

 

The 'cage crinoline' as it came to be known, imprisoned women, and could have been up to 180cm in diameter. The issues included, sitting down, revealing ankles and perhaps more, knocking over items when passing by, windy days and more importantly; catching fire, and being caught in machinery in factories.

As with every decade, fashion and trends is of the highest priority to all women, so the crinoline had a reasonably long-lived life. The onset of the industrial revolution reduced the width of the crinoline to a bustle around the back of the dress. This steel contraption would have been attached around the hips and would have supported and shaped a dictated curve on the posterior.

The bustle is typically associated with the Victorian era. Combined with the corset of the period the style female form defined a generous posterior, a refined and fine waist and ample bosoms.

Crinolines and bustles are almost unknown in contemporary fashion, however women and fashion still seek to modify the natural figure to convey dictated trends, although perhaps not to the extreme of the 19th and 20th century fashions.

High-waist briefs, inspired by the 1940's and 1950's briefs accentuate hip curvature, push-up bras will amplify bosoms, girdles will nip at the waist and longline bra's will define the bosom whilst the longline bra gives the illusion of a small waist defining the natural hips protruding.

 

Playful Promises looks forward to the next wild and saucy trends that inspired the lingerie industry, however we are thankful to be free from the shackles of 'cage crinolines' and bone crunching corsets – we offer an alternative to these corsets with the beautiful Vintage stitch corset.

Defining and shaping your waist, pushing up your bosoms and highlighting your hips. Ideal!