Pretty Knickers and Gin? Ra-ther!

As I may have mentioned before, I am quite the fan of What Katie Did lingerie.  I have slowly built up my collection of stockings, shapewear and bras to have quite a nice little collection now (started with one of their fabulous Sophia corsets, not the most obvious starting off point).

Some of the lovely new things for SS13

Anyway, poured into various items from their A/W 12 collection and wearing a green lace dress I'd been altering until the early hours, I went up to their Portobello Green boutique after being invited to some sort of a show, and of course gin cocktails and cake...

 Along for the ride was Vintage Vessel and Kieren (it was technically work after all!)  In September, we'd taken a trip to the lovely boutique to see a preview of SS13 (and the launch of AW12) so I wasn't sure what this event would be if it wasn't going to be another catwalkesque  show.

The lovely Vintage Vessel,
also known as 'Snappy Browne'

We were in for a treat though as the faces of SS13,  Slinky Sparkles and Sophia St Villier did what they do best and performed burlesque routines wearing the Marlene and Coco sets, respectively. 

 

 

 

 

 Sophia also wore another new addition to the shop, a Bernie Dexter dress (the Beatrice dress in tiki mask print in case you were wondering).  I'd not actually seen any Bernie Dexter dresses in real life - just yearned for them via the internet, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that they are made from really good quality material, much better than you normally find in repro dresses.

 I was lucky enough to interview Katie again, the founder of WKD and she was lovely as ever.  She told me about the plans to stock Miss L Fire shoes in the near future - as if we need any more reason to go to that little paradise in Ladbroke Grove?!

 Here is the footage from our visit if you'd like to take a look.  Here is the link to the show in September if you'd like a better look at the whole collection, I even did captions so you know which piece is which - you're welcome!  And I may have treated myself to a little something after all the filming was finished, but I couldn't possibly tell you what...

 Do you have any What Katie Did in your wardrobe and what's your favourite piece from the new collection?

What Katie Did AW12 Launch and SS13 Preview

Dressed in a combintaion of, among other things, What Katie Did, Kiss Me Deadly and Ayten Gasson (exactly what combination you’ll just have to guess), I headed up in anticipation to the WKD AW12 and SS13 launch at their Portobello Green boutique.

As soon as we arrived, an absolutely delectable chocolate cupcake was placed in one hand and a tea/champagne cocktail was placed in the other (courtesy of The Vintage Patisserie).

I was lucky enough to be able to interview Katie before the AW12 collection was shown.

Being an avid fan of What Katie Did, I’d already seen a few of the pieces online, including the red organza and black lace Lulu and eau-de-nil Clarice ranges.  I think I agree with Katie in that my favourite piece from A/W was the Lulu Torsolette.  To a soundtrack of Billie Holliday (AW12) and Glenn Miller (SS13) the ladies (Ms Violet Crumble, Lenka Padysakova, Miss Betsy Rose, Kate Lomax and Miss Dolly Blow-Up) strutted and sashayed their way through the sumptuous boutique.

In between the collections, we were treated to some burlesque from Miss Miranda and Sophia St Villier - which turned a little Bettie Page towards the end!

  Then came the preview of the SS13 collection (after a short power cut!)  Red appeared quite a strong theme throughout, I particularly liked the two-tone corset and long-line girdle.  The new navy/cream bikini with the bows and side cut-outs is also absolutely gorgeous.

As if the cupcakes and cocktails were not enough, we were also given goodie bags, with discount vouchers and a sample of Bésame Cream Rouge (I’ve not tried it properly yet but it has a lovely smooth texture). 

If the picture just aren't enough, we filmed all of the show (and the interview with Katie) which you can see here.

I can’t wait for the SS13 selection to become available – but there’s just too much choice!

 

Blind Pig Returns

We stopped off for a quick drink (at the Bristol Arms if you're interested) before heading on to Blind Pig at the Proud Ballroom in Brighton.



The chaps doing all of the necessary technical checks

The night was organised by Carolyn Watt, an established aerial performer and fashion student.  The Blind Pig started out as a fundraiser for her end of year show, organised with her fellow students.  This was the first time it was solely under her leadership and we were interested to see how it went.

During our interview Carolyn Watt, the organiser

Ethan

The night's entertainment came thick and fast, which meant a fair amount of dashing about the place by us with a plethora of cameras (and our fancy new mobile light).  As we arrived, Ethan (the first male pole dancer I've seen) was performing a very athletic routine.  Seeing a man pole dancin,g somehow highlights how strong you have to be to accomplish some of the moves. 

Next came a traditional burlesque fan dance from Cherry Bella.  I was particularly impressed with her outfit, a very nice mix of pastel pink and blue satin.

Cherry Bella's first performance of the evening

Burlesque nowadays is often solely associated with well dressed ladies becoming rather less-dressed, but it has a fine tradition/association with comedy too, (Mae West started out as a comic performing in between the striptease acts).  With this in mind, came the first double act of the night; the Big Brad Wolf and Acacia Blue performed a rather amusing burlesque centreing around a robbery - gun included!  It's always refreshing to see people trying something new in burlesque.

Miss Bombshell was up next, performing another pole routine to the evocative 'El Tango de Roxanne' from Moulin Rouge.



Lexi Allure

Miss Bombshell

Lexi Allure, who I believe made her own costume, was another traditional burlesque dancer.

Ethan & Miss Steel

Ethan appeared again, but this time in a two person pole routine.  Joined by Miss Steel, what followed was quite an innovative display of strength and athleticism.

A second appearance from Cherry Bella rounded off the burlesque performances of the evening.  In an intricate black outfit, she lit up the stage with her fire breathing act (sorry, that was awful) .

Cherry Bella 'lighting up' the stage - get it?

As promised, there was a live band in the form of This is Laura, whose music perfectly suited the mood of the evening.  Kieren interviewed some of the band later on, but you can see that when we release the footage.

Jennie, a lady known by many names

After all the live performers had appeared, DJ Arthur Shillin' (oh, I do love a good pun), who had been playing in between acts, continued with the rest of the night's entertainment.  He played almost exclusively electroswing, but did include some swing music from between the wars.  I did also manage to get a couple of dances with fellow blogger Jennie (of Fancy Dresscapades fame).  She too was there taking the odd snap and being interviewed by professional media types (well, me).

Normally I'm more comfortable wearing clothes from (or styled as though they were from) the 1940s and '50s.  However, as this was a Speakeasy, it would be churlish to not go for full flapper finery.  I'm slightly limited when it comes to 1920s clothes (I've got a black lace '80s-does-'20s number or a very fragile original peach silk and lace frock, but that wouldn't really do for dancing).  In the end I went for a modern dress in a vaguely '20s casual day style (replete with obligatory sequins).  I had great fun waving my hair and pinning up the curls at the back, in order to simulate the shorter styles so in vogue at the time. 

 

I'll soon have a post on how to do said hairstyle, but for now that is all from me.