Etsy Dreaming

Oh how I could (and do) waste hours scouring etsy for hidden treasures!

Some of my favourite pieces have come from independent small brands and designers selling through Etsy.

As with any shopping website you can find some junk on there, but most of the time the products are good quality and unique. Plus there seems to be a thriving community of small lingerie designers, which is ALWAYS great.

These are my picks of Etsy's lingerie offerings!

Honey Cooler Handmade - Rox Moonshine Chemise £230.93

Way out of my budget but how adorable is this chemise!? I loved it even before I noticed the cute fox print fabric. All of Honey Cooler Handmade's items are beautiful and unlike anything I've seen before. One day maybe I'll own something from them!

MajoRey - Santa gold and tulle set £65.32

The great thing about Etsy is that I'm constantly findind new brands to love, and MajoRey is one of them. Handmade in Uruguay, this brand offers something for everyone: lace, floral, rompers, and bodysuits. Including me, the gold lover. I think I'm just going to HAVE to get the set above, and this bra, and this:

 

Sparklewren custom corset - £2,000

I'm not REALLY into corsets. I don't tend to wear them. Probably because I feel that if you are going to wear them, you better wear a good one. And thus, Sparklewren corsets make me cry. They are that beautiful.

Lilkitty Ko - Dark Knight Custom Bra with LED lights £56

Although I wouldn't necessarily buy this Batman one, all of this designers bras are AMAZING. Customization gone crazy, there are a few pieces that I have my eye on. At first I thought these were just altered bras, but apparently they are created from scratch!

Have you found any lingerie gems on Etsy recently?

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Weekend Reading

I tend to use my personal facebook profile as a stress-ball, which often involves posting links to articles that irritate me to no avail.

And then people started telling me to "calm down", which, unless you happen to be a good friend of mine, pisses me off even further. Because you know, you SHOULD get angry about misogyny. You SHOULD get angry about body negativity. Not all of us just value going out and getting drunk, some of us like to share our rage with like-minded people. 

And I also seem to post about lingerie a lot. No surprise there.

So I thought, rather than constantly update my facebook with links to article that range between "WTF" and "ARGH", perhaps I'll put them in a weekly blog post instead.

This week's light reading:

Triumph's Japanese division have created a bra inspired by a new economic plan - Because nothing says sexy like economics. Oh yeah, inflate that baby. Also: Company spokeswoman Keiko Masuda was quoted in The Guardian as saying, "we hope that, as the Japanese economy grows, we can also help bust sizes to get bigger." - this sounds vaguely threatening. What is she saying? We hope that we all become richer and therefore get fatter? Get breast implants? What?

 Abercrombie & Fitch surprises no one by admitting that they don't want "plus-sized" (which in this case, is over size 16) customers - And apparently people are outraged by this turn of events.

24 Hour Street Harassment Diary - This article made me go "YES" by the end of it. A good read for any woman that has ever suffered street harassment (I remember two particularly upsetting cases for myself. One was when I was 17 or 18 and wore a just-above-knee-length skirt and skin coloured tights and had about 15 comments and leering looks from men while traveling on the train - and then I cried in the middle of Liverpool Street station and phoned my then-boyfriend to come and get me. The second was when I was waiting outside the Apple store for my boyfriend to finish work. I was wearing a playsuit with skin coloured tights. 3 separate men wouldn't stop harassing me. And that's why I don't wear skin coloured tights let alone BARE LEGS).

What if Gender Roles in Advertising Were Reversed? - Most of this isn't a surprise to me (although I don't think the tame M&S advert should be included, as the issue isn't that the IMAGE is sexualised, it's that many people unfortunately only equate lingerie to sex) but I hadn't seen a handful of these that are particularly shocking. Although the reversal is funny in this case, I don't believe that reversing the stereotypes is the way to equality.

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Playful Promises AW13: Russian Doll

I couldn't wait and I put all of the AW13 collection images up on the Playful Promises facebook. I HAVE NO WILLPOWER, OK? And I've been sitting on these images since November. 

When I first heard that the collection would be inspired by Russian decadence, I was ridiculously excited. And then I saw it and I'm just going to have to own it all.

As I said, I shot this in late November, with two beautiful models in a gorgeous location (although it seems to have no standard UK plug sockets, which was great fun). We also shot these images on the same day, with Miss Miranda.  

Onto the images. I won't post ALL of them here (for the rest check out the facebook link above), but just my favourites.

Tatiana

This is a very similar shape to the Gilda range that came in SS12, and I'm very happy about because the Gilda bra is one of my daily comfy bras. Also I have ridiculous love for the longline girdle, especially the back. This is such a smoulderingly sexy set, and will be available in September.

Anastasia

I don't usually care for floral print (in fact I mainly say I hate it) but this is different. Inspired by russian floral fabircs, this print was created in-house (most of our prints are). We've done this bra shape for a while now, but previously had issues with fit, so I am incredibly excited about the revamp.

Opulence

Which I'm also referring to (in my head) as "Sweet Jesus". I don't think I can really talk about this one without going over the top. I like it a lot.

Peacock

I know these are two photos of the same set (it also comes in a non-high waist brief) but I couldn't decide. Because the strappy-cage effect of previous bras have worked so well for us, we worked them into this push up bra set. Another amazing print of peacocks and flowers really works against the black sheer panels.

Hella Bodysuit

Bodysuits YAY. Will be pretty much wearing this every day. Also this is an awesomely strong pose.

 

Margarita

This is another classic PP set that we've brought back in a new colourway. Such rich colours, I'm sneakily hoping we do it again next year in the underwire version (which is currently set for SS14) ;)

Nina

I can see this as being another of my daily bras. This also comes with an ouvert brief, which I don't really fancy but sold very well for us last time!

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Boohoo haul

I'm always on the lookout for good bargains and online retailer Boohoo has some very affordable pieces.

This was my second time buying from them, having found some pieces in the sale that I liked. As Boohoo is very trend-led, I only seem to shop from their Autumn/Winter collections as I just can't stomach spring pastels and florals. 

As with most affordable retailers, you are getting what you pay for. You are often paying under £30 per item, which means the materials won't be particularly luxurious, details are simple and certain pieces are often unlined. This isn't an issue for me, but some people seem to only want to pay little and expect amazing quality - that's not how fashion works! I've found Boohoo's pieces sturdy enough to last me, with some unique and interesting designs. 

Anyway, onto my purchases!

Hand Harness - £5

I've got a think about gold hand harnesses lately.... I haven't taken this for a spin (while djing) yet, so I'm not sure if it's comfy, but who cares!

Gold Triangle Eyelashes and Gold Zig Zag Eyelashes - £3 each

I don't typically wear eyelashes unless it's for a photoshoot, but these have GOLD ART DECO PATTERNS ON, so obviously I needed to get them.

Paisley Brocade Shorts in Wine - £8

I bought these on a whim because they were so cheap. I don't think they are dressy enough for me to wear for a club, but I am wearing them to my day job today (with a jacket from ASOS). At first I wasn't so sure about them, as they have a slightly odd puff at the front, but I love the pattern on the material. I also wish these shorts were in my size!

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Harlequin

I've just discovered a piece of lingerie I ABSOLUTELY must own when it comes out in AW13. 

 

This set by Underprotection!

I must say, I hadn't heard about them before, but I spotted their new collection featured on Lingerie Insight and LOVED this set.

I do have a penchant for gold and black harlequin pattern, having already had two outfits made in that pattern....

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