PR information: Please contact Katie Halford for images and info, or Gina Rumble for call-ins (both on 0845 430 8743).

Check out the latest news and gossip from What Katie Did on our MySpace blog or sign up to our email newsletter putting 'sign me up' in the heading.

 

What Katie Did Christmas Cards Our Christmas cards have arrived back from the printers and one will be included free with each order until Christmas (or until they run out!) The card was photographed by Tony Rusecki and features Miss Polly Rae from the Hurly Burlys in her Cabaret Velvet Sophia corset. Additional cards can be purchased here.

What Katie Did at Parliament! To celebrate National Stockings Day (19th October) we took our 'Bring Back Stockings' petition to Downing Street. Here the Hurly Burly girls make their message clear outside the  Houses of Parliament. Charnos came up with the idea of National Stockings Day and have produced some limited edition pink ribbon stockings in aid of Breast Cancer Care (available from all good department stores) which the Hurly Burly girls are modelling here.

Hurly Burly join the 'Bring Back Stockings' Campaign! The girls from Hurly Burly have joined up with our stockings petition and will be joining me when I take it to Downing Street on 18th October. Two of the girls will also be joining us for a fashion show at the Skin Two Expo this weekend. If you're thinking of coming we're running a special offer: spend £150 at our stand and we'll reimburse your entrance ticket.

Bring Back Stockings, Down With Tights! Did you know that October 19th has been designated National Stockings Day? Well, after being asked for seamed tights* a thousand times at Goodwood recently we feel that a National Stockings Day is definitely needed. To support National Stockings Day we've started up a  'Bring Back Stockings' petition that we will be taking to Downing St on 18th October. Never say we don't have a sense of humour! (But please do sign it as I'll look even more ridiculous if we only have 6 signatures). We are not trying to ban tights, we just want to raise awareness that stockings do still exist and are still being worn outside of the bedroom on a daily basis by stylish modern women. *not only were we asked for seamed tights but were also continually asked if our stockings 'come up to here?' - whilst pointing at the waist, and we certainly confused some ladies by pointing out that a suspender belt was required!

Petition powered by ThePetitionSite.com

September 2007 - The Goodwood Revival   We had a fabulous time at The Goodwood Revival in our little vintage lingerie boutique. Marilyn Slightly joined us on the Saturday and caused a bit of a storm. Here she is in the outfit she wears as 'Miss July' in our 2008 calendar which was launched at the event.

September 2007 - Cabaret Underwired Bra   Did you know that this year celebrates 100 years of the bra? Well, make yourself comfortable because now it's time for a little history lesson! At What Katie Did we've always worked from vintage patterns (40s to early 60s) but bras were causing us a problem as most women today prefer an underwired bra as they believe they give more support (tell that to our 38DD bullet bra customer who wears hers to her step class as it's better than a sports bra - luckily she hasn't had anyone's eye out yet!)   Over the years we had tried to do underwired bras, but they just looked to modern: What Katie Did customers really do like things to be authentically correct and there's no way we could present them with a underwired bra that looked the same as any other on the high street. The problem we had was that underwired bras were very rare in the 1940s and 1950s. The only wiring bras seemed to have were 'overwires' which were commonly used in strapless bras, or boning vertically over the breast for bustiers.   It wasn't until last year that I found a couple of 1950s underwired bras in Portobello Road's market. They were made in France and date back to the 1950s. Perfect!   Of course, some amendments had to be made. In the 1950s the shoulder straps of bras were positioned much further in towards the body (which can be seen clearly in the photograph), we positioned them an inch further out so they're more aesthetically pleasing. The second main amendment was the underwiring. I wish I could show you this: the whole of the front of the bra's underwiring is welded together in one piece! Sure, it does bend to mold to the body, but you could inflict serious damage on someone with it if you so desired! We plumped for modern underwiring, although the underwiring used is generally used for basques and comes up higher in the centre of the bust. Finally, the original version had non stretch straps: we've changed these to modern adjustable straps to make the bra more wearable.   So now we have to wait and see what happens. Our underwired bra, as part of our Cabaret lingerie range, will be launched in mid September (£32.50).

The original. To tell you the truth it doesn't look very commercial does it? It is, in fact, very comfortable and I love the unusual shape. The cups are made from one piece of fabric with a seam from just below the nipple to the bottom of the cup - as can be seen more clearly in our version. The band around the body is non stretch with a little elastic section at the back - the same can be found in our bra.   Our version. Although our version looks completely different the only difference is the underwiring and the repositioning of the shoulder straps.

Old News and Gossip