Love Bomb 2013: Playful Promises

It's that time of the year again, and after last year's successful Love Bomb, we are doing it all again!

The Love Bomb is a celebration of independent lingerie and swimwear designers in the run up to Valentine's Day. Each of the brands taking part in the Love Bomb is run by a handful of people (and in some cases, even one!), standing up against the mega-corporations to bring you innovative, quirky and unique knickers!  

Unlike the big spenders we are in this game for the knickers – like you, we can’t get enough of them! Many a day is spent lusting after other brands’ lacy wonders and structured glories, so we thought what better way to encourage support for indie lingerie than to gather together for a big, sloppy Valentine’s love bomb!

Each day, one independent lingerie brand will be offering a giveaway or competition, while the other 7 brands will be shouting a lot about it! We even put together a sumptuous photoshoot for it, which will accompany the Love In!

(Photography by Anna Swiczeniuk, Model Miss Miranda, Bra and Brief by Kriss Soonik, Waspie by Playful Promises, Suspender belt by Kiss Me Deadly)

Day 2: Our day!

Hat by Lily Lewis, Bra and Brief by Playful Promises, Waspie by Velda Lauder, Suspender Belt by Kiss Me Deadly.

We are offering one lucky winner £100 to spend at Playful Promises!

You can enter in various ways, and each entry will count as one (so, the more you do, the better chance you have of winning!)

Just tell us which Playful Promises set you love the most! And you can tell us by...

1) Commenting on this blog post with your answer

2) Commenting on this facebook post with your answer

3) Tweeting your answer with tag @playfulpromises and #lovebomb2013

4) Posting a photo of the set on your tumblr and tagging #playfulpromises #lovebomb2013

5) Pinning a photo of the set on your pinterest and tagging #playfulpromises #lovebomb2013

You have until the 14th of february to enter!

Love Bomb 2013: Kiss Me Deadly

It's that time of the year again, and after last year's successful Love Bomb, we are doing it all again!

The Love Bomb is a celebration of independent lingerie and swimwear designers in the run up to Valentine's Day. Each of the brands taking part in the Love Bomb is run by a handful of people (and in some cases, even one!), standing up against the mega-corporations to bring you innovative, quirky and unique knickers!  

Unlike the big spenders we are in this game for the knickers – like you, we can’t get enough of them! Many a day is spent lusting after other brands’ lacy wonders and structured glories, so we thought what better way to encourage support for indie lingerie than to gather together for a big, sloppy Valentine’s love bomb!

Each day, one independent lingerie brand will be offering a giveaway or competition, while the other 7 brands will be shouting a lot about it! We even put together a sumptuous photoshoot for it, which will accompany the Love In!

 (Photography by Anna Swiczeniuk, Model Miss Miranda, Hats by Lily Lewis)

And we kick off the Love Bomb with Kiss Me Deadly!

 Hat by Lily Lewis, Bra and Brief by Playful Promises, Waspie by Velda Lauder, Suspender Belt by Kiss Me Deadly.

Kiss Me Deadly are offering a £300 voucher to one lucky winner drawn from a hat!

And you have a fair few ways to enter (each entry counts as one).

They would like to hear what your most loved Kiss Me Deadly piece is (you don’t have to own it!).

You can see all their current ones here, and their archive and some future styles here.

Link to one of the items and tag kissmedeadlylingerie on any of these:

tumblr

pinterest

twitter

facebook

whatever blog you use

Make sure you comment here with your links!

Winner picked on the 14th February.

Censoring Swimwear

Swimming was originally thought of as dangerous (and indeed, with long skirts, it probably was), which lead to bizarre contraptions such as the "bathing car". I wish I could find a photograph or at least a drawing of one of these things, because it sounds ridiculous. A "bathing car" was a large wire cage attached to floats and a pulley system. One entered the cage and used the pulley to submerge themselves to the preferred depth - wild times. And just in case this got a bit too exciting, the Victorians were also greatly concerned with modesty. Women were either separated from men, or shielded from their eyes. They used wheeled "bathing machines" to immerse themselves, which also included "modesty hoods". 

At the turn of the century this paranoia for safety and the segregation of genders eventually passed, however women were still expected to wear neck to toe dresses in the water. It was only due to the participation of women in serious swimming (as a sport) that their swimwear shrank gradually, starting with the reveal of arms in the early 1910s until the 1920s with the showing of legs (gasp!). It also seemed to be the tightness of the garment that caused outrage.

Bathing suit arrests in Chicago, 1922

Vaudeville (and later, motion pictures) star and swimmer Annette Kellerman caused uproar with her risque swimwear. The Aussie "underwater ballerina" (a type of synchronized swimming which involves diving into glass tanks) first arrived in the United States in 1907, and brought with her a fashion revolution: the one piece swimsuit. Kellerman was even arrested for indecent exposure at Boston's Revere Beach in 1908, with the first outing of her "body stocking", and she soon altered the suit to cover arms and neck. The bathing suit allowed much more freedom than the layers of fabric previously worn, however it caused controversy by revealing the contours of the female figure. In some shocking cases, women even ROLLED THEIR STOCKINGS DOWN below the knees. Such a public nuisance were these women that the "Annette Kellerman" swimsuit was banned, and "beach censors" patrolled the sands handing out tickets and even collecting fines. 

Luckily, women just kept on pushing for fashion-freedom and from then on, swimwear just kept getting smaller until we get into 80's thong territory. The first bikinis appeared just after WW2, named after Bikini Atoll, the site of several nuclear weapons tests - for their supposed explosive effect on the viewer.... get it?....

 Shop Playful Promises swimwear!

Our most popular playful blog posts of 2012!

 ALL THE BALLOONS!

As I'm sure you are well aware, we have survived another year, despite a failed apocalypse and the UK transport network at a stand-still due to a bit of wet weather (what's new?).

And as it is the time for reflection, I thought I'd take a look at some of 2012's most popular blog posts!

Tailoring The '20s: Boardwalk Empire

One of our most popular posts from back in April is all about the costumes behind prohibition-based drama, Boardwalk Empire. The 1920s was an important time for women, and it is reflected in the exquisite reproduction costumes. Now that I've finished watching the third season I may go back and write a new blog post about some of the lingerie featured!

Retro Fetish: John Willie and The Bizarre

In May I wrote a little bit about the Leonardo da Vinci of the fetish world.... John Willie. Accompanying the post we shot some images inspired by his risque artwork!

Burlesque Past and Present: The Sad Story of Faith Bacon

Stars rise and fall, and this Ziegfeld beauty was just one example.

This Means War: Big Knickers Vs G-Strings

For a few months over the Summer we had the pleasure of working with Caitlin, who was interning for us. One of the blog posts she wrote was all about the war of the knickers!

Memento Mori: Victorian Mourning Lingerie

Delphine delved into some Victorian petticoats to find out just how far mourning wear went.

Couture Rubber: Kaori's Latex Dreams 

 All the most fashionable celebs are wearing it, but how can you incorporate it into an outfit?

What has been your favourite Playful Blog post this year? Why not have a dig around our archives?

Halloween Dress Up!

We've had some amazing (and hilarious!) entries into our Halloween Costume Competition, make sure you get in on the action for the chance to win some lingerie!

This got us in the mood for a little dress up session... Playful Promises style! If you are stuck for a halloween costume this year, let us help you out!



Pair long purple gloves with our naughty Love Garterdress for an even sexier (is it possible?) Jessica Rabbit costume. Snap up some red shoes and nude stockings to add the finishing touch. Oh and a red wig of course!




She ain't afraid of the big bad wolf - grab yourself a red hooded cape, the Vamp Garter dress and Red Waspie for a kinky version of Red Riding Hood.




Go for a sophisticated Batgirl look with our sheer chiffon blouse and black pencil skirt. Finish off the look with a thick belt (gold details a must), long leather gloves and a black mask!

 

Or you could just channel Eartha Kitt's evil side in this She-Devil outfit! Our stunning red Vintage Stitch dress will go perfectly with shocking red lips. Horny jokes aside, only once you have your prey in the boudoir will he find out what's underneath - the True Love set.