We've been very busy revamping our London boutique this week and we're on schedule to re-open on Monday 1st March as planned. This week has been rather messy, knocking down walls and the like, so it was a good job our decorators Miss Miranda and Persia came suitably dressed for the job in their clean white overalls. It didn't take long for photographer Tony Nylons to suggest that perhaps they didn't want to get paint on their clean white overalls and quickly came up with a solution. These kind of things only happen at What Katie Did!

The hole in the wall: we've knocked a hole into the boutique next door (with permission!) which will give us more room. The new area will be used as a big, luxurious, dressing room.

Miss Miranda checks the door is level.

Persia starts work on our naughty wall which will be covered with images from Exotique magazine.

If you're free on the afternoon of Sunday 7th March between 2pm and 4pm why not come down to the boutique for the launch party of Peek magazine?

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.

It's hard to escape the incessant doom and gloom of recession when it's plastered all over the newspapers and beaming out from every television set. The good news is that there are a few products which can truly be deemed 'recession proof', and one that is a legendary morale booster... lipstick! The idea of using makeup to 'put on a brave face' has seen us through two World Wars and several recessions. And the 'Lipstick Effect' is clearly in force today, where, despite many luxury brands suffering, makeup sales are still going strong.

Just like What Katie Did, Besame produces products with a real old Hollywood flair. The beautifully crafted metal containers, etched with art deco flourishescontain period perfect lipstick shades like Carmine and Noir Red and blusher that would produce cheeks as peachy as Rita Hayworth's. The chic little Classic Enchanting Lipsticks come in a 1940s style bullet-shaped tube (perfect for a small evening bag), and are specially shaped to help you create a film star pout. The newly introduced Voluptuous Lip Colour sets contain a full-sized, black enamel-clad lipstick, along with a matching lip pencil and ergonomically designed brush... the ultimate gift for a glamorous girlfriend! The rest of the line features equally stunning products with evocative names: Enriching Lip Glaze, Vintage Boudoir Rouge, Vintage Alluring Eye Shadows, Classic Masterliner Pencil and the Signature Compact with Cashmere Pressed Powder – which looks equally at home on a dressing table or being pulled out of your vintage handbag! If that wasn't enough to tempt you, Besame pride themselves on only using the purest, natural ingredients, and never test on animals meaning their products are as ethical as they are elegant.

The What Katie Did boutique is stocking a wide range of the luxurious Besame products, all of which are not only highly collectible, but take the art of perfect grooming from carefully covert to an overt fashion statement. And if you fancy a pillar-box red pout, but don't know where to start, you'll be delighted to hear that almost every staff member at the boutique is a trained makeup artist! We guarantee you won't find any better vintage makeup advice anywhere else!

Leila (hair) and Issidora (make up) from Ninas Vintage Hair Parlour take over the What Katie Did boutique for 3 hours of glamour.

Both Leila and Issidora have an amazing wealth of knowledge: I learnt a lot just in the meeting we had to discuss the workshop!

With Valentines' Day fast approaching this workshop will teach you how to achieve luscious kissable lips and romantic hair do whatever your length may be.

Home made cakes, tea and coffee will be served from vintage china to keep your attention levels up!

The class is limited to 6 students and will be interactive.

Date: Sunday 8th February Price: £40.00

Bookings must be made in advance by calling Nina's Vintage Hair Parlour on 0207 723 1911. Bookings can be paid for via Paypal - although please be sure to reserve your place first.

Our January Sale starts instore on Friday 2nd January at 10am, and online on Monday 5th January at 2pm. All items have now been removed from the website so you don't have to worry about ordering something now, only to find it half price in a few days.

Our boutique will have a range of samples and seconds in addition to discountinued items. Discontinued items include our Cabaret Underwired Bra, below, which has been reduced from £32.50 to just £10 (sizes 32B to 38DD).

The What Katie Did boutique celebrated its first birthday on Sunday 26th October and many of you flocked here to join us, despite the rain. The day was a smashing success with plenty of bubbly champagne, delicious cakes, splendid outfits and of course the wonderful Miss Slinky Sparkles, who was sensational
as always. 

All the excitement in the boutique caused quite a stir with passers-by. Not that we're attention-seekers here at What Katie Did - we just love to get dressed-up and put on a show! 

Thank you so much to those who came and for those who couldn't make it, I'm sure I can find another reason to throw another fantastic burlesque bash soon. 

I've been looking back over the last year to see how our little boutique has grown. We've got lots of new items including matching bustles for our corsets. We've also hosted lots of
workshops where you've come along and made pasties and mini top hats, or learned a few tips about retro hair and make up-styling, all while sipping tea and enjoying nibbles. I can't quite believe it's been a whole year, we don’t feel any older but certainly wiser! 

I'm so excited about what we can achieve in the next year and I certainly can't wait until
Good Time Mama Jo Jo comes to visit, so she can share with us all of her years of wisdom on the art of seduction – look out for announcements soon. We’d also like to say a big thank you to Alison Tay from Now Magazine, who has given us so much support this year. 

In fact I’d like to thank everyone for all their wonderful support over the last year - I've loved every minute of it and that's down to all of you, our fabulous customers. 

Here's to another great year, hope to lace you up soon!

Love, Clare.

(ps, here's the team, left to right: Clare, Ruka and Sarah aka Slinky - with Graham behind the camera!)

October's Bizarre magazine is a fetish fashion special with features old friends of mine including House of Harlot. Corsets are also included with a 5 page feature on corset obsessed Vicky Butterfly who laces interviewer Alix Fox into one of our pink Gina corsets. The main pictures for the feature were shot at our Portobello road boutique.

Ruby Rouge has set a date for a new fascinator workshop. It takes place on Sunday 21st September at our Portobello Road boutique. You'll not only learn how to make a fabulous fascinator (it's quite easy once Ruby lets you in on her secrets!) but be able to relax with tea and cakes, and make new friends.

Sadly, Ruby is no longer making fascinators for shops including ours, so the only way you'll get your mitts on one is to make one yourself. Don't feel too sad for Ruby though as she has some very exciting plans laid out for her future.

More details about her workshop can be found here.

Last Wednesday evening saw the much-anticipated What Katie Did's
Wild Cards Burlesque Party, and despite the rain you descended upon the Portobello Road boutique in your masses.

Our resident performer, the seductive Miss Slinky Sparkles, was joined by the ever-so-lovely and rather cute Miss Trixie Malicious, as they dealt a poker-themed striptease show.

We quickly learnt these lovely ladies had more than an ace up their sleeves as they revealed their winning hands – and everything else!

The new What Katie Did playing cards went down a treat while Tony Nylons, our lucky photographer, was at hand to take even more pictures.

The playing cards were extremely  popular, but don't worry, there are plenty of lucky decks still on sale for any of you wanting to spice up your next game of cards.

So thanks to all those who came and made our playing cards launch party such a successful and enjoyable night -- and for those of you who couldn't make it, I'm sure I can come up another reason to throw a burlesque party!

The photography for our Pin Up playing cards is by Tony Nylons, and the cards feature 22 models from the UK and beyond.

Morticia Corset

Slinky Sparkles wore one of our new Mortica corsets in oriental black (which can be seen on both Slinky and the mannequin to your right) which really went down a treat. Morticia corsets are now online and can be found here.