Shaping the Female Figure

Lingerie takes an important role in shaping and moulding the female figure. From push-up bras to girdles, basques and shapewear the lingerie industry continues to push the boundaries of sculpting the female form.

History is filled with moulding, shaping and sculpting fashions, from the obvious corsetry of the early 20th century, to the subtle bindings of the Greco-Roman period and the boyish girdles of the 1920's.

In particular crinolines and bustles stand out for me. A vital contraption of the 19th and 20th century fashions, crinolines and bustles would amplify the size of the posterior and hips, helped by corsets nipping in the waist, giving the illusion of a dramatic hourglass figure.

Originally crinolines were made from stiff fabrics and horsehair. By 1830 they would have been made from fabric and steel hoops or even whalebone hoops. These rigid structures would hold-up the petticoats and skirts and would shape the outerwear in the fashionable contour of the period.

The crinoline would have been worn by every social class and was widely available. However, width of the crinoline and choice of style, trend and fabric would have defined a woman's social rank in the late 19th century.

The 'cage crinoline' as it came to be known, imprisoned women, and could have been up to 180cm in diameter. The issues included, sitting down, revealing ankles and perhaps more, knocking over items when passing by, windy days and more importantly; catching fire, and being caught in machinery in factories.

As with every decade, fashion and trends is of the highest priority to all women, so the crinoline had a reasonably long-lived life. The onset of the industrial revolution reduced the width of the crinoline to a bustle around the back of the dress. This steel contraption would have been attached around the hips and would have supported and shaped a dictated curve on the posterior.

The bustle is typically associated with the Victorian era. Combined with the corset of the period the style female form defined a generous posterior, a refined and fine waist and ample bosoms.

Crinolines and bustles are almost unknown in contemporary fashion, however women and fashion still seek to modify the natural figure to convey dictated trends, although perhaps not to the extreme of the 19th and 20th century fashions.

High-waist briefs, inspired by the 1940's and 1950's briefs accentuate hip curvature, push-up bras will amplify bosoms, girdles will nip at the waist and longline bra's will define the bosom whilst the longline bra gives the illusion of a small waist defining the natural hips protruding.

Playful Promises looks forward to the next wild and saucy trends that inspired the lingerie industry, however we are thankful to be free from the shackles of 'cage crinolines' and bone crunching corsets – we offer an alternative to these corsets with the beautiful Vintage stitch corset.

Defining and shaping your waist, pushing up your bosoms and highlighting your hips. Ideal!

Halloween Competition Winner

Our Halloween costume competition is now closed!

Thank you to everyone that entered, we had such fantastic entries it was extremely difficult to choose which we liked the best! We had everything from sexy takes on classic costumes, to the downright bizarre! 

However, we can only have one winner......

How about an Occupy Wallstreet costume? It's quite perfect for attending a Halloween party! You would start out with a very smart suit and pencil skirt set, complete with blouse and necktie. You'd carry a suitcase with little Monopoly bills poking out the sides. As the night goes on, you slyly remove pieces of clothing and tuck them into your little suitcase. By the end of the night your costume consists of a pair of green pasties with little black crystal dollar signs on them, and a bright red g-string with "The 1%" embroidered on it. It may be political and somewhat controversial, but by the end of the night everyone will agree- that dang 1% has got to go.

Congratulations Angelina for this super sexy yet relevant entry ;) Just send me an email with your size requirements and shipping address, and your PP goodie bag will be on it's way very soon! 

The Birth of Horror: Scary Silents

Everyone loves a bit of a scare, whether it is on a death-defying rollercoaster or watching a horror movie from behind a cushion while trying to bury yourself into the depths of the sofa. For centuries humans have loved scaring other humans, and modern day is no exception. Horror films are churned out by the dozen, and we are all familiar with the typical horror tropes that [almost] never fail to put bums on seats.

With Hollywood’s obsession with constant reinvention comes sparkly vampires, masked serial killers and shaky-cam ghosts. The truth is, film directors have been scaring audiences successfully ever since the birth of film, and there is nothing I love more than some good old fashioned horror movie cheesiness!

One of the first films ever shown to a public audience could, in some ways, be considered a horror movie. Although it wasn’t intended to terrify its audience, the first showings of L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station) in 1896 by the Lumière brothers terrified audiences. The 50 second clip of a train pulling into the station was said to have caused the audience to panic, believing the train would come at them straight out of the screen.

The term ‘horror movie’ only came into existence in the 1930s, in the writings of critics in response to the Dracula and Frankenstein films, which are often considered the first ‘real’ horror movies. And that they may be, in terms of concreting the typical horror look, storyline and themes that are remembered today.

It was prior to this that some of the greatest horror movies graced the silver screen, since all but forgotten. At a time when experiments in film were all the rage and there was not yet such a thing as a movie studio ruling every script with an iron fist. Let’s take a look pre-1930, at some of the world’s greatest horror films and thriller movies!

Le Manoir du Diable (‘The House of the Devil’) 1890, Georges Méliès

Something that really gets me jumping up and down and shaking the nearest person to me is how absolutely mind-boggling the first films actually were. There’s something about these aged wonders that can make ANYTHING interesting, even the feeding of sick kittens! But what makes this film (and, in fact, all of Méliès films) particularly interesting is the use of special effects, such as making one thing suddenly turn into another.  Ok, so it’s no Avatar, but consider this was all done by hand and, often, in camera.

Although originally intended to amuse the audience as a form of pantomime, the themes and images featured have become staples of the horror genre, and therefore this can be considered the first horror movie.

Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari (‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’) 1919, Robert Wiene

Talk to any film buff, horror fan or goth and they will probably purr with glee at the mention of Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari. Forget Dracula, this is THE most influential horror film hands-down, and just looking at a screenshot will tell you why. It also, supposedly, introduced the twist ending to film, but you will have to watch it to find out ;P

The film consists of a disturbing look into the mind of a madman (though it is never quite clear who is mad and who is sane) in a tale of murder. Without going into details, the viewer is treated to a twisted ride through the story as envisioned by the narrator, which is mimicked and further distorted by the set design, acting and extreme makeup. A completely artificial world surrounds the characters, where alleyways twist, doors loom and rooms appear to have a surreally altered perspective.

Dr Caligari was like nothing Europe had ever seen before, as documentary films were all the rage, this film proved that the medium could become a subjective artform as well as an objective one.

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (‘Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror’) 1922, F. W. Murnau

Although a stark contrast between the charming, slick version of Dracula played by Bela Lugosi, Nosferatu is most definitely the first vampire to grace the screen. Set almost 100 years before its release, the film follows the story of Count Graf Orlok in an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel.  Due to the obvious plagiarism, Murnau struggled to maintain control over the film, resulting in prints being destroyed. Only in recent years has a version approximating the original been available to the public.

The vampire of this classic is far more frightening than many of its successors; although parodied into oblivion, the inhuman look of Orlok was truly terrifying to audiences of the day. Actor Max Schreck was grotesquely made up to become an emaciated, rat faced creature with hideous long fingers clutching at his prey.

The Hands of Orlac, 1924,

Although not generally thought of as one of the greatest horror films, I’ve included this as a personal recommendation and homage to one of my favourite actors of the silent era. Horror icon Conrad Veidt not only starred in The Hands of Orlac but also in Caligari and The Man Who Laughs, which is said to have inspired the look of Batman’s Joker.

Remade twice, once with Peter Lorre (another actor known for his sinister roles), the story follows a sad tale of pianist Paul Orlac, who loses his hands in a terrible accident. In an oddly futuristic plot device, he receives hand transplants, which just happen to be the hands of a murderer. Madness ensues. The basic premise of the story set a whole new genre for horror – the possession of transplanted body parts, which is still used in film today (think of Ash’s hand trouble in Evil Dead II).

Although the film doesn’t use the typical horror themes, it is Veidt’s performance that sends a tingle up the spine. With just title cards and musical accompaniment, silent acting is quite a feat, which often resulted in hammy over-exaggerated gestures and plenty of swooning. The cast of The Hands of Orlac set the bar high as far as extreme horror acting is concerned, a standard that many actors and actresses since have failed to achieve.

Rococo Rebellion

Here is another set of images from our Halloween-themed shoot! A bad-ass version of the classic Marie Antoinette look! A bit more of a boudoir or burlesque look, we used our Gold Peacock Nipple Pasties and the Genie Nude briefs.

Model: Cherry Vixon Makeup: Sarah Jane Ellis

 

The History of Halloween Costumes

I am a Golden Age Thinker, convinced I have been born into the wrong decade, whereas I should have been born somewhere around the 1900s/1910s. Mainly so I would be old enough to dress like this for Halloween during the era of the Bright Young Thing:

How adorable is the spider costume?

But where did the tradition of dressing up on Halloween come from? And how have costumes changed over time, reflecting the style of the era?

Many people (including myself, which doesn’t stop me using it as yet another excuse to dress up!) will argue that Halloween has been distorted by marketing and branding, creating yet another reason to spend money on products. The origin of Halloween dates back thousands of years, and would encompass a whole other blog post altogether!

It isn’t known exactly when Halloween costumes became popular, but we do know it came hand-in-hand with Trick or Treating, which actually has Celtic and European roots. It was believed that on the night of Samhain (a festival celebrating the end of summer and beginning of winter, which was commonly associated with death) one could avoid ghosts by wearing masks. They also placed bowls of food outside their homes to satisfy the ghouls, preventing them from entering.

While trick or treating and other party games associated with Halloween have diminished in Europe, many Americans will have fond memories of the childhood joy of creating their own costumes.  Not so long ago there were just a handful of ready-made Halloween costumes, therefore many people spent time making their own in order to stand out.

Modern day Halloween has altered further, reflecting various social and economic factors. Trick or Treating has become an activity shunned by teenagers and young adults, now usually an activity for young children and their parents. From my experience, Halloween was not generally celebrated in the backwaters of Essex in the mid 90s, except for little chavlings to egg houses that may or may not have had any sweets. I had the feeling that it was usually considered too dangerous for children to knock on strangers’ doors, but perhaps this just reflected the lack of community spirit my town had.

Costumes have also changed. They have become more extravagant and humorous, often referencing characters from popular culture rather than anything particularly scary. Most of these costumes are relatively inexpensive, yet particularly detailed. Home-made costumes had become rarer, however there seems to be resurgence in ridiculously amazing feats of engineering such as this SLR Camera costume! 

Halloween has seen an increased interest from adults, who will usually wear their costumes to parties rather than trick or treating. As an industry, Halloween has grown almost thirty percent over the past decade, with American adults spending roughly $1.75 billionon outfits each year!

With that said, what will you be wearing this year? Will you go with a shop-bought costume, a handmade wonder, or something in between? Each year I give myself a very small budget and see what I can put together, either from my current wardrobe, or the high street. Often I will pay a friend to custom make a costume, which means that I’m supporting a small business/designer AND I’m getting something completely original!

Here is a little bit of inspiration from previous decades!

In the Victorian era, costumes were usually just altered versions of everyday dress

Let's party like its 1890.