Press event spectacular!

 

On Thursday it was all hands on deck organising our glamorous and celebrity studded soiree at the infamous The Box nightclub!

To celebrate the launch of our latest boutique, just off Carnaby Street, we invited a range of press and VIP guests to join us for a night of performances and lingerie. 34 Marshal Street, Soho, W1 7EU is set to open today, the 4th October 2011.

Set in the perfect seedy decor courtesy of The Box, eight gorgeous models took to the stage to present pieces from Playful Promises AW11 and SS12 collections. The VIP crowd were drooling at the scene of Morgana, Etti, Jasmine and more modelled by beautiful pin-ups.

 

Special guest, The Only Way Is Essex's Maria Fowler and our founder Emma

Playful Promises had a little more down their stocking, as next, burlesque performers took to the stage displaying a little more than a playful promise.

Mamzelle Maz's traditional fan dance was perfection. Wearing gorgeous Lo-Pan's Desire nipple pasties and a customised Multiway g-string, Mamzelle Maz left the audience gasping for breath...and a little more.

After a short recovery period the audience recived a roasting from Roxy Velvet. Her fire act singed the front row audiences whilst everyone else melted in her fiesty and provocative presence. After this hot performance Roxy velvet removed her red swarovski crystal studded waspie, customised by Playful Promises, and seductively removed her red Victoria ensemble revealing nothing more but crystals.

The show was not yet over, Polly Rae graced the stage in a fabulous fishtale dress and sang an inspired re-mix of Michael Jackson's 'Bad'. Only Polly Rae could get away with this re-mastering, and she ruled the crowd. She closed the show with a seductive striptease, with emphasis on the tease, and again the audience were left with their jaws dropping.

Watch this space for more photographs and videos which will be appearing over the next few weeks, but for now, please do enjoy our little snippet of Miss Polly Rae's performance!

The Original Pin-up

The original pin-up girl, the Gibson Girl, started as a pen-and-ink illustration by Charles Dana Gibson in the late 1800's. His sketch was the personification of the ideal female and was transformed from one illustration into illustrated stories. The Gibson Girl lasted over 20 years, beloved by her American public, she defines the history of fashion particularly for that era.

Her alluring S-curve figure, exaggerated breasts and hips and a slim waist, was achieved through a swan-bill corset. The Swan Bill Corset was fashionable around 1900 and was described as the 'health corset'. The corset busk was inserted in the centre front of the corset pushing the torso of the wearer forward and allowing hips and buttock to protrude out, giving an 'S-shape'.

The Gibson Girls's striking figure inspired a new fashion for the late 19th Century. Even her hairstyle became a popular trend, piling her strands of hair high on top of her head in a chignon. Much like today's trend.

Camille Clifford

The Gibson Girl was drawn from life models posing, such as Gibson's wife Irene and Evelyn Nesbit an artist's model, however Camille Clifford was rumoured to have inspired the Gibson Girl's fashion and figure. Camille Clifford was known for wearing a high coiffure and wearing a waspie to create her signature hourglass figure.

The Gibson Girl was depicted as a modern and independent woman, attending college and waiting to find the correct man to marry. The Gibson Girl was not just a pin-up teasing and pleasing men, she was a heroine amongst women, she inspired women's fashions and inspired a modern way of life.

In later years, towards the First World War, the Gibson Girl was not included in the suffrage movement, she was slowly beginning to loose favor amongst suffragettes and by the onset of the First World War popularity for this imaginary character had fallen.

Women seeked a more practical and masculine icon to guide them through the First World War and with this women seeked a change in fashions and lifestyle.

During the Second World War, the Pin-up girl made a come-back. Real-life Pin-up girls as well as illustrations and artwork. Celebrities and models posed to encourage the troops. The earliest Pin-up is said to be Betty Garble.

A pin-up girl would feature on mass produced pictures which were 'pinned-up' and displayed as part of 1940's and 50's popular culture. The Pin-up image could be torn out of newspapers and magazines and were in the form of postcards and more memrobilia.

In later years glamour models became what was a Pin-up girl, models such as Betty Page were the modern day Pin-up.

We now enjoy retro-Pin-up girls, we are inspired by Pin-up models as well as now using male models as Pin-up boys!

Playful Promises launches lingerie boutique in Carnaby Street

Exciting news! Not only do we have a shop opening in Box Park later this year but we are also opening a new boutique just off trendy Carnaby Street, minutes from Oxford Circus!

We will be moving in with the lovely ladies at The Powder Room, a retro beauty haven that offers a range of services from quick makeup touchups to full pedicures and hair styling sessions. Just think, you could pick out some of our undies, perhaps a little black dress and after a long (or quick!) relaxing preen, you are ready to paint the town red!

We officially open on Monday 3rd of October and we just cannot wait to be dancing around on that black and white checkered floor!

Silver Screen Queens

Love them or hate them, the silver screen idols will never cease! Even those long departed from life are revived again and again through the camera lens. Some of them, who have climbed to the highest rung of the celebrity ladder, have become symbols of their generation. What conjures up thoughts of the 1950s more than Marilyn Monroe and her classic bullet bra?

At Playful Promises we adore the glamour of the big screen, and many of our pieces have been inspired by starlets of times gone by! Which got me wondering, if we could transport ourselves into the dressing rooms of these great actresses, which of our items would we cheekily slip in amongst their furs, corsets and negligees?

Don't be mistaken by her beautiful child-like features, Lillian Gish was one of the prominent actresses of the 1910s and 20s, starring in some of the biggest blockbusters of the day! We could easily see her relaxing in our pink Lyla playsuit with contrasting black bows.

One of the world's most popular vamps, Louise Brooks and her bob hairstyle has become iconic of the 1920s. Team our Vintage Stitch Corset with a lacy vintage slip or a fringed skirt for the perfect flapper look.

German born Marlene Dietrich is the ultimate femme fatale. With her striking, chiselled looks and deep exotic voice (surprisingly well recieved during the era of the talkies), she has to be my personal favourite star! We would love to have seen our Ava collection peeking out from underneath those fitted black jackets and suits that Dietrich was famous for.

Listed as one of the Greatest Stars of All Time, Rita Hayworth is yet another glamorous and unprecedented beauty of the silver screen. After posing in just her negligee for Life Magazine, she became one of the top two pin ups of the War years. And this is why we would have to slip her into our Silk Chemise Set in scarlet!

Her unmistakeable features have been painted by Warhol and impersonated by scores of actresses and imitators; Marilyn Monroe needs no introduction. A poster girl for the classic girl-next-door look, Monroe wore bullet bras and girdles underneath her sweater for ultimate curves. What Katie Did's Maitresse Bullet Bra is perfect to replicate this look! 

Effortlessly chic and eternally classic, Elizabeth Taylor rose to stardom in the 1950s and 60s with iconic films such as Cleopatra. A fashion icon of the time, she was often seen wearing a silk scarf and headband. Even in her most revealing of outfits, Elizabeth appeared modest and stunning, which is why we have chosen the Morgana Garter Dress!

Pixie-like Mia Farrow's career has spanned from the 60s to present day, with one of her key roles in Rosemary's Baby in 1968 kicking off her 70s popularity. She exagerrated her delicate looks by wearing mini dresses and peter pan collars, just the kind of style that works perfectly over our Genie nude set!

 Rising to the Hollywood elite ranks in the 1980s and furthering her career during the next few decades, Michelle Pfeiffer is our 80s star. Known for taking on roles against her typical type, she is best remembered for that amazing Catwoman outfit in Batman Returns - single-handedly sexing up the comic franchise. For this, we could think of nothing better than our classic Victoria set!

Demi Moore, one of the highest paid actresses of the 90s, is well known for letting it all hang out! In 1991 she controversially appeared naked on the cover of Vanity Fair, whilst being 7 months pregnant. To get the Demi look, go bra-less! Or if you really can’t take that, then try our Multiway Bra :P

 Classic and glamorous, Cate Blanchett could easily have belonged to a past era. This Australian beauty rose to fame after playing Elizabeth I in the 1998 film Elizabeth, which makes the name of our 'Time for Tea and a Dance' postcard panties seem ideal! We also think the champagne satin and sweetheart lace back would flatter a complexion similar to Cate's.

We watched her grow from know-it-all teen in Harry Potter to a style icon. Trading in her long locks for a Mia Farrow-esque pixie cut catapulted Emma Watson into a media frenzy. Much like Farrow, she mixes cute dresses with other feminine pieces... and lots of lace! We think she would love our Peach Detail Waspie and Silk Corsage bra!

Which Hollywood star would you love to style? And what would you dress her in? 

The original Tiger Tamer!

Described as the first female tiger trainer (or at least the most famous), Mabel Stark was renowned in the 1920s for her death-defying acts. Typical of performers, not much is known about Stark’s life before the circus, and any information may have been exaggerated to add mystique. Some sources describe her parents as poor farmers, who died within a few years of eachother when Mabel was 17.

She lived with an unwelcoming aunt and soon became a nurse-in-residence at a hospital. During this time something occurred, whether it be a breakdown or something as simple as a change of heart – within a year she was performing in a carnival girl show, dancing the hoochie coochie.

In 1911 she ended up with the Al G. Barnes Circus in California, where she met famous ‘cat man’ Louis Roth. Working as a ‘high school’ rider (horseback rider) she set her heart on working with the big cats. Roth did not consider her worthy; until she married him (Stark married 4 or 5 times, mostly to further her career).

At first she worked on a ‘balloon act’, which involved her ‘riding’ a lion on a platform, complete with fireworks – a relatively simple act compared to what was to come! The circus encouraged her to work with lions, as it is easier to guess their actions and intents, but Mabel had an undying love for tigers. By 1916 she was presenting the show’s major tiger act.

She adopted a sickly tiger cub named Rajah, raising him by hand by keeping him in her apartment and playing with the cub at the beach. Realising how well he responded to physical touch, Stark decided to train him to perform a wrestling act – something that had never been seen before. Debuting the act in 1918, she shocked and appalled the audience, who believed that she was being mauled to death. It is said that brave men would often leave their seats, rushing towards the steel cage to try to save her.

Mabel Stark (left) with Mae West

Hitting the big time in 1922, she joined the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, rising to star in the center ring just a year later. It is said that personal problems with yet another marriage resulted in an altercation with the circus, and in 1925 they banned all wild animal acts.

Moving to another circus in Maine, a collection of issues led to Stark receiving a severe mauling. The circus had been delayed by rain, and by the time the show began, the tigers had spent the day on wet bedding. Stark had no time to feed the tigers, which would normally have resulted in a cancellation of the performance, however, she went on anyway. Some describe this as her first attempt at suicide, and later in life she often explained that she wanted to die being torn apart by her tigers. She lost her footing in the muddy arena and suffered wounds that almost severed her face, lacerated her face, tore a hole through her shoulder and a whole host of other injuries.

It took 2 years for Stark to fully recover and start touring with various circuses. She returned to California and finished her career at the Jungle Compound (later called Jungleland). In 1968 a new owner took over the business, who took an immediate dislike to Stark and fired her. Soon after this, one of the tigers escaped and was shot. Mabel was outraged, feeling that she could have secured the tiger if only asked for assistance.

Distraught by the loss of her job and personal memories of her career, husbands and tigers, she decided enough was enough. On April 20, 1968 she took a bottle of barbiturates, walked to the garage and put herself to sleep behind the wheel of her car. In the last pages of her autobiography, ‘Hold That Tiger’, published in 1938, she writes, “The chute door opens as I crack my whip and shout, ‘Let them come!’ Out slink the striped cats, snarling and roaring, leaping at each other or at me. It’s a matchless thrill, and life without it is not worthwhile to me.”

In honour of Mabel Stark, and all the other performers who have lived sad and glamorous tales, we have decorated the Playful Promises boutique window in big top style, complete with vintage-inspired posters!