Revolutionary Uplift

Scottie: What's this doohickey?
Midge: It's a brassiere! You know about those things, you're a big boy now.
Scottie: I've never run across one like that.
Midge: It's brand new. Revolutionary up-lift: No shoulder straps, no back straps, but it does everything a brassiere should do. Works on the principle of the cantilevered bridge.
Scottie: It does?
Midge: An aircraft engineer down the peninsula designed it; he worked it out in his spare time.
Scottie: Kind of a hobby, a do-it-yourself kind of thing!

Ah, yes. The Brassiere. A mysterious doohickey that has for many decades relied on rocket science for its function and design.
Well, NOT ANYMORE!!


This is a complete bra making kit which includes a textbook, a pattern and materials for 2 bras from Bra Makers Supply in Ontario Canada.
They sell all kinds of books and patterns as well as a full range of fabrics and trims and all the assorted notions you will need for brassiere and lingerie making.

I chose a classic full band bra pattern (you may also chose a partial band pattern) and pink for the color of my kit (white, black, brown and 2 shades of beige being the other choices). The full band style allows me to use or not use underwires and I like that. The pink on the other hand, I don't really like. I didn't want to pick black because it can be hard to see what you are doing on black some times and beige/nude is just boring. But this pink is the exact shade of pink that makes me vomit uncontrollably.It looks ok in the above picture but it is bright cotton candy pink! Good thing this is my first attempt and I will inevitably screw it up (or puke on it :)

It may not have been apparent so much on this blog but I am FASCINATED by underwear. I have been since I started making my own clothes and being interested in fashion in general. In other words consider the can of lingerie open and expect to see more about it.

the lace museum, Calais

My friend Ksenia recently went to the north of France and visited the lace museum in Calais. She posted the following pictures on facebook with this message:

AMI, THESE PICS I MADE ESPECIALLY 4 U =)
HOPE U ENJOY THEM
this is the lace museum at Calais, the north of France, where lace manufacturing has been traditional 4 centuries, and in the end - vintage models of dresses and underwear of couturiers that now are legends

I thought I would share them with you since they are so beautiful.

Lace as you please (1852-1870)
Industrial progress and the expansion of colonial possessions made the Second Empire a period of prosperity. The bourgeoisie, growing fast, wanted to show off its social and economic success. Feminine dress became the visible symbol of masculine success. Lace found price of place on dresses, which gradually increased in size, as well as on the multitude of accessories that propriety recommended using.

I love the merriwidow hiding on the left.





Check out this link for an english article about the museum that includes some history of lace making in Calais (it was actually smuggled in by lacemakers from Nottingham, England) and some images of some very nice lingerie!

A Perfect Peach...

I am in a vintage peach kind of mood lately.
With a bit of black now and then to keep it from being too innocent.
(wink wink)

And also my first time really playing with polyvore. Anyone else have issues with images they have saved to polyvore not showing up properly when they move them into a collage? This was fun but I will have to play with it a bit more. I think it is good for exploring themes where I search through their stock of items. (why does topshop have a monoply?) If I want something specific using specific images I will have to stick to photoshop or paste and paper.

darling dainties

If you haven't heard already Colette Patterns is having a contest to promote their newest set of patterns. If you haven't guessed the new patterns are for lingerie or, darling dainties as they are being called. I knew coming from Colette Patterns that these peices would be cute as hell. The first thing I thought of was Liz in Butterfield8. THE most famous slip in the world. As I looked at pictures of her I just really liked the colors in the images. Her skin tone juxtaposed with the brass bedstead and the taupe of the walls, her jet black hair and, of course, her violet eyes. I pulled all of that into the Cinnamon slip. I am thinking a matching set of the camisole and some mini bloomers will complete the trousseau.

doesn't it just make you want to brush your teeth with whiskey and steal a mink coat?