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

Here's the pic of Dannii as promised yesterday!

The girl of Autumn 2009 has to be Dannii Minogue. She's defied all her critics and is beating Cheryl Cole hands down in the X Factor style wars. Not that we don't adore Cheryl, but it is nice to see the underdog claim her crown! She's interviewed by Christa D'Souza (one of my favourite journalists) in today's Sunday Times Style magazine. The accompanying pictures show her in Dolce & Gabbana vintage style lingerie and could it be? Yes they are - our Retro Seamed Stockings! We market our Retro Seams as affordable, everyday stockings (at £5 they add a little sparkle to the dreariest day) but they've now been given the X Factor! Unfortunately the image isn't online yet so you'll have to make do with our product image below - I'll upload Dannii's picture tomorrow.

In recent months a lot of designers have been featuring vintage style lingerie in their shows and I've been asked a few times if I find it annoying that people are 'copying' our style. The answer is no. The fashion houses in question all have a long history of using vintage style lingerie from time to time in their collections and if anything, I'm guilty of being overly influenced by them. The picture below shows Cindy Crawford modelling for Dolce & Gabanna way back in 1995. I guess this post is just an excuse to post the picture below as it is one of my favourites! The collection was released a good few years before I founded What Katie Did but looking back at it now you can see how I've been influenced the styling (long satin gloves, flower in hair, opaque seamed stockings etc).

Our 2010 Christmas card has just arrived and one will be included free of charge with orders and boutique purchases from now until Christmas. The image for the card is taken by Tony Nylons who is responsible for most of the photography on our website. It features model Olivia and a rather naughty snowman! Tony had the idea for the card 3 years ago but in true British Rail fashion then had to wait for the right type of snow! Further copies of the card, which is A5 in size, can be purchased here. If you like Tony's images but are after something a little more risque than can be seen on our site, you'll be pleased to learn that he also runs 'Nylon Flash' a zine devoted to vintage lingerie. When I say more risque, I'm not talking nudity risque but good old fashioned English seaside humour risque. If you are purchasing one of our calendars or books and would like a half size (32 page) preview copy of Nylon Flash please request one in the comments box of our online order form.

We were bang on trend in yesterday's Guardian newspaper which has picked out our saucy sailor bra. They say Whatkatydid.com (sic) has a wardrobe's worth of sexy vintage-effect lingerie, which is perfect for wearing under sheer tops or peeking out under lace. We especially like the sailor bra (£44.50) and the glamour longline bra for £35. For the adventurous reader, there's also the bullet bra (£32.50): just in case your imagination isn't filling in the gaps effectively, when wearing this one you'll need to be careful about poking people's eyes out.
 

You might have gathered that What Katie Did isn't the average lingerie company and tend to get attention from publications which definitely can't be classed as 'fashion'. Our 2010 calendar is featured in Classic Military Vehicle who appreciate us putting a 'jimmie' in it!

Tuesday is one of my favourite days as the weekly fashion magazines hit the shelves. I always take a peek at Look magazine to see if we've had anything featured and was excited to see that we were listed on the stockists page. On flicking through the magazine I couldn't see anything of ours - so I guess something might be in next week (or last week) but did notice a little feature on Besame lipsticks which are now available in our boutique (and can be mailed from our boutique if you ask nicely!)