Our peach ballet knickers were featured in the Sunday Express's S magazine a couple of weeks ago as part of a cute pin up inspired shoot. Unfortunately they're not £14 as printed, but the good news is that they're not orange either!

I'm sure you won't have missed the influx of vintage inspired lingerie on the catwalks recently. A few months ago I came across a vintage bra with an art deco inspired sunburst detail on the cup. I'd never seen anything like it but guessed it dated back to the 1940s. I had it on my mannequin in the office for weeks and everyone loved it, but agreed that it would be very uncomfortable to wear as there is vertical boning along the sunburst design on the cup. In the end I incorporated the stitching design into, what became, our Deco bra. Imagine my surprise when I opened February's Vogue to find bra almost identical to my original vintage piece parading down Just Cavalli's runway.

We're recruiting!

2009 was a very exciting year for us and 2010 is shaping up quite nicely too - not that I can give too many details away at this point. If you are looking for a new job and are based in or around West Reading/Pangbourne then please take a look at our vacancies page.

It's been a quiet week for blog updates - but let me assure you that it certainly hasn't been quiet at What Katie Did. Our boutique and mail order departments have been running at full speed and, thanks to my ploy of keeping out of the way, all seems to be going smoothly! We've got deliveries arriving from our factory on a near daily basis to ensure we're stocked up right up until Christmas.

I met up with photographer Tony Nylons and stylist Fleur de Guerre earlier this week to re-shoot our sheer Cabaret range. Cabaret has always been one of my favourite ranges as it's sheer fabric does make it rather naughty. However, sales have never been as high as they could be and I wanted to give it a little boost. I think model Ruby did a great job as Tony and Fleur did get rather excitable with lots of 'ooohs' and 'aaaahs'! I'm afraid you'll have to wait until January to see the new pictures but i-D magazine have featured our Cabaret bullet bra in their Dec/Jan issue and I'm sure you'll agree with me that it looks rather splendid.

Our London boutique has also had some great press this week being awarded 5 stars by ETO magazine's mystery shopper. ETO is an adult trade magazine which can only be classed as rather risque, but it has some interesting retail advice alongside regular lingerie pages. If you are on the more risque side of the lingerie trade it's well worth subscribing to.

The Daily Telegraph is one of the few publications we've never been featured in. We had a false alarm a few months ago when they borrowed our bullet bras for a 'Mad Men' shoot, they even got as far as asking us style numbers and prices, but although our next door neighbour (alas, my arms never grew long enough for broadsheets) kept a close eye on the fashion pages for weeks, nothing appeared. We had an email from the Telegraph on Monday letting us know that a new fashion shoot, including our bullet bras would be published today. They were, but unfortunately were all pictured under clothing: the picture below shows the clearest shot by far or our Harlow bullet bra. Well, you win some and lose some and we've certainly had more than our fair share of good press recently!

Our worldwide Vogue campaign continues! This week we're in Vogue Nippon who appear to have fallen heavily for our Glamour shapewear. The pictures feature (top to bottom), our Glamour bustier (right hand side), Glamour bra and Glamour corselette. Being based out in the sticks makes keeping up with international press very difficult so I have to thank one of our stockists - Faire Frou Frou in LA - for pointing me in the direction of Fashion Gone Rogue, a website which covers the best fashion shoots from magazines world wide. If you're into fashion make sure you have plenty of time to look at the site as the first time you visit you'll loose an afternoon in a blink!

If you've ever seen one of the pages of wardrobe malfunctions that grace the gossip mags these days, you may have caught a glimpse of shapewear peeking out  from under an A-List celebrity's red-carpet gown as they clamber back into their car. There's no doubt that big pants have been big news in recent years, launched back into the public eye by the infamous Bridget Jones and continued by television style evangelists like Trinny and Susannah. The fact that celebrities wear these items means that it's no longer a fashion faux-pas to do the same; and even the trimmest of us can sometimes benefit from a bit of help in the figure department, particularly those of us who are fans of vintage clothing.
 
Wearing vintage is a very different experience to wearing modern fashions. You often have to adapt your entire stance in order for it to fit properly – standing tall, sucking in your tummy and pushing out your chest. And what about the often disproportionately small waists of many skirts and dresses? The answer is simple – almost every woman, from the 1930s-1960s wore foundation garments. And that's why they always looked so good! Apart from the obvious smoothing, cinching and supporting benefits, wearing a sturdy girdle or cincher can actually give you better
posture; and they can even make a garment that seems a touch too small, actually fit.


 

But what's a glamorous girl to do if she wants that streamlined vintage silhouette without resorting to high-street brand, flesh-coloured shorts which personify the nickname 'passion-killers'?
 
Well, that's where What Katie Did comes in. We wanted for a long time to develop our own line of shapewear after selling a range of international brands over the years; and in Autumn 2008 our dream was realised. It was a labour of love, because we knew our customers would settle for nothing but the very best; and we finally released our long-awaited Glamour shapewear range to great acclaim. Featuring an amazing nine coordinating pieces, we're proud to say that there is a foundation garment to suit every shape, and indeed every outfit within our range. And, thanks to the shades (black and vintage peach) and the fabrics (slinky satin and powermesh) it all looks supremely chic – not a granny pant or cycling short in sight.
 
The Glamour range contains retro styled bras, both standard and longline; the perfect little girdle to smooth your derriere and skim inches off your hips, whilst holding up your seamed stockings; and a panty girdle that is a far cry from its matronly and restrictive predecessors. We positively encourage you to incorporate these pieces into your usual wardrobe, and feel a million dollars on an daily basis! But there are also some special occasion items that every girl should have in her lingerie drawer.

Find out which Glamour Shapewear item will solve your figure in our Shapewear Guide.

Last month I blogged about our successful run of lingerie featured in UK Vogue and said that our luck was sure to run out soon. Sure enough it did, and December's issue contained nothing by What Katie Did (although it does have a very interesting feature by Helena Bonham Carter about corsets).

Thank goodness Vogue is published in other countries as this month we have had our Jane bullet bra in French Vogue (a little late as it was discontinued months ago - but they insisted on having it!) and a girdle on Lara Stone in Italian Vogue (again, discontinued but they were desperate!) but the piece de resistance is our Maitresse bullet bra worn by Claudia Schiffer in Russian Vogue.

We're on the cover of Look magazine this week! Or, at least, our Lulu bullet bra is. Inside the magazine they've done a feature on conical bras which are currently fashion flavour of the month. Our Padded bullet bra and Lulu bullet bra are featured next to bullet bra wearing celebs: Lady Gaga and Madonna. If you're lusting after Rigby and Peller's peach version, but aren't so sure about the price tag, then we also make a more affordable peach bullet bra which can be found here.

At What Katie Did we'll be the first to admit that a bullet or conical bra takes a little getting used to. Instead of the modern rounded push up shape modern bras bullet bras push the breasts into a pointy shape. If you're new to conical bras please remember that what you wear on top of your cone bra is just as important as the bra itself (unless, like in the case of  Lady Gaga, the bullet bra is the outfit!)

Bullet bras first appeared in the late 1940s and remained fashionable right up to the mid 1960s so they work best with fashions from, or inspired, by that era: especially with 1950s style dresses, instantly giving you that sexy 'Mad Men' silhouette. If you're into vintage fashion, you might notice that bust darts in 1940s and 1950s dresses are positioned in the 'wrong' place: this is because they were designed to be worn with a conical bra - once worn with a bullet bra everything starts to make sense! Bullet bras also look good under shirts, worn with a fitted pencil skirt - again channelling that Mad Men office look (incidentally, the actresses in Mad Men all wear period correct lingerie, which is why their outfits look so good!)

Remember to keep your fashion 1950s style and you'll be fine. Bullet bras definitely don't work under tight t shirts and although we have one customer who wears her bullet bra for working out (she finds it more supportive than a sports bra) in fashion terms bullet bras and sportswear were most definitely not made for each other!

Bullet bras are made from non stretch fabric with a minimal amount of elastic so sizing is very critical. If you are wearing the correct bra size then you should be the same when selecting a bullet bra, but please read our sizing notes (found by the product description) to ensure you select the correct size (several customers have told us that if they'd read them before ordering it would have saved the hassle of exchanging). Welcome to a world of vintage glamour!

I had a great afternoon with Nicola in our boutique yesterday busily lacing girls into corsets and poking and prodding in a Gok Wan type fashion! Luckily it all went well and we even managed to help burlesque artiste Vicky Butterfly find some lingerie to go with a new costume (all top secret and hush hush). The only downside is that we didn't get chance to finish our Christmas decorations as it was a little busy. We are definitely going to get them finished for our first late night shopping evening which takes place on Wednesday 25th November (until 9pm). The Portobello Green arcade along with the surrounding area will all be open and there will be burlesque performances and entertainment outside. Even Mr Claus will be making an appearance with his very own grotto in our arcade. Don't worry if it's a little chilly as in our boutique we'll have mulled wine to warm you up!

Last week London's Time Out magazine did a little feature on our boutique. Burlesque artiste Ophelia Bitz explored the lingerie boutiques of London from good old Marks and Spencer to Rigby and Peller - but classed What Katie Did as 'her pick'. Thanks Ophelia!

There will be radio silence as far as blogs are concerned over the next few days as I'm off to the Rhythm Riot tomorrow but if anything exciting happens I'll be sure to update you on
Twitter.

Above: Morticia is our most
popular underbust style