GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAFY: July 2008

Lingerie Gets Upstaged!

photos: Kate Vandermeer

Here are a few images from Pop Magazine, in which the lingerie gets completely upstaged by big hair! Not that there's anything wrong with that.
We think we spy an Aubade 'Bahia' bra in that first shot (it's always fun doing lingerie detective work!).
This blog entry is total fluff (or total puff if you are talking about the hair...lame joke attempt), but it seemed vaguely relevant for today's post!

Posted in bras, hair at Thursday, 31 July 2008. No Comments

{diaphanous}

What is it about yards and yards of gauzy, billowy, diaphanous fabric that so captures the imagination?

{uploaded by el espartano for foto decadent; "Sanctuary" - South China Morning Post; Photographer: Baldovino Barani; Model: Brooke Bonelli}

Posted in baldovino baranis, brooke bonelli, fashion editorials, photography No Comments

{travel: contemporary lodge, scotland}

. . . quite taken with interior designer Suzy Hoodless' Contemporary Lodge in Scotland, a perfect combination of modern and rustic, and then there's the view . . .

After last summer's trip to Edinburgh and Glasgow, and a haunting {and terribly romantic} boat ride on the loch in Inverness, have been drawn to the compelling beauty of Scotland as if under a spell . . .

{all images www.suzyhoodless.com}

See also this post at A Merry Mishap.

Posted in contemporary, design, interiors, Scotland, suzy hoodless, travel at Wednesday, 30 July 2008. No Comments

1960s Lingerie

We had a little lapse in our 'lingerie through the decades' series, but we're back with styles from the 1960s. During the 60s we see more experimentation with color (of course there's more color advertising at this point), and we still see those bullet bras!
Perhaps one of the more aggressive lingerie advertisers of the time was Maidenform, which claimed success with its "I dreamed I ... in my Maidenform bra" campaign.
Perhaps our favorite lingerie images from the 60s come from artist Rene Gruau who famously created beautiful advertisements for Christian Dior Lingerie (among other things!). His ads would look great framed in your boudoir - we did just that with the Gruau image below!

Posted in 1960s lingerie, balmain, christian dior, rene gruau, vintage lingerie No Comments

Lingerie & Art

images courtesy of Arcadia Fine Arts (artist: Malcolm Liepke)

It is a rare pleasure to be able to find lingerie incorporated into fine art (tastefully represented, that is). Luckily, we have been followers of artist Malcolm Liepke, who captures intimate moments in his paintings and occasionally has his subjects in lingerie. We have been collecting Liepke's paintings for years, and he has quite a fan-base with collectors such as Barbra Streisand, Donna Karan and Brooke Shields (just to name a few)!
Included in this post are a few images that include lingerie, though his portfolio includes much more than that. In general, all of Liepke's paintings tend to share a voyeuristic theme.
If you would like to learn more about Malcolm Liepke and see more of his work, please contact Steve at Arcadia Fine Arts in New York.

Posted in malcolm liepke, steve diamant at Tuesday, 29 July 2008. No Comments

{almost like floating}

Have been trying desparately to find time to play with photography again, and every time I want to see the world through a lens, I find myself drawn to this Vogue IT shoot by Paolo Roversi.

A simple blank canvas . . . blissful, soft and ethereal lighting, and a quiet serenity that is almost like floating . . .

e7336a2158a1 copy

{uploaded by: linka_lebedeva for foto decadent; publication: Vogue IT Mar 2006, photography: Paolo Roversi, models: Irina Lazareanu, Du Juan}

Posted in Black and White Photography, du juan, editorial, fashion, Irina Lazareanu, paolo roversi at Monday, 28 July 2008. No Comments

{a summer's afternoon}

{marie claire maison}

. . . somehow, everything looks better bathed in the quiet and softly diffused light of a late summer's afternoon . . .

{via lily-g}

Posted in Marie Claire Maison, summer No Comments

A Brief Lesson in Hosiery

Whenever someone wants to spice up their lingerie ensemble, they typically end up adding hosiery to up the ante! We just wanted to provide a few basic concepts regarding hosiery, in order to make your purchasing decisions a bit easier.

Basically (and for purposes of this post we'll keep it brief), hosiery can be divided into a few different categories: tights, pantyhose, stockings, and thigh highs (no need to discuss socks here).

We will start with what we consider the sexiest: stockings. Stockings require a garter belt to keep them up on your leg. For those of you wishing to create a vintage look, this is the best way to go. More often than not, stockings are made from nylon rather than silk - this is due to the innovation at Dupont back in 1937. One of our best-selling stockings are those with the black seam along the back, which are very retro-inspired. See images below for example:

Photos below all via Wolford

The next category is the Thigh High (also known as Stay Ups). The thigh high is basically a stocking that can stay up without a garter belt because of the silicone strips around the top of the leg. See image below for an example.

Of course there are Pantyhose, which are nylons that extend up around your waist. Most of you have some experience wearing these! Pantyhose aren't just for the office anymore - they are a great way to accessorize. There are so many tasteful patterns out there that can really glamorize an outfit!

And lastly, there are Tights...good old tights. These are typically opaque and have a heavier consistency than pantyhose (which is why we all wore these to school on cold days when we were young girls). Tights can come in a variety of materials such as cotton and merino wool and have textures such as cable knit and ribbed (we wore the ribbed style back in the early 90s...in red...yikes!). Tights can be incredibly sexy, and we believe everyone should at least own a black pair to wear with high heels or boots.

We just added some new hosiery styles to our store - check them out!

Posted in hosiery, pantyhose, stay ups, stockings, thigh highs, tights No Comments

Sally Rand

Sally Rand was a world-famous burlesque dancer who popularized the 'fan dance' (the use of large ostrich feather fans during performances). Her claims to fame include her legendary performance at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair where she danced nude* with large feather plumes as her props, and her 'bubble dance' in which she performed with a life-size clear bubble.
Sally Rand certainly had a long, wonderful career which continues to inspire performers to this day! Here are some images of the lady who became the namesake for the large ostrich feather fans we see today!*FYI - It has been said that Sally's World Fair performance wasn't necessarily nude, but that she either wore a body stocking or a body cream...which really means she was a half a step away from being nude!