Retro Lingerie Ad, Oh, And You Can Blame Kevin Spacey!

Berni Dexter in Lucy B'a Cherries Jubilee Girdle Set

Hello my darling Swimwear and Lingerie buddies.

Happy Totally Retro Tuesday to each and every one of you! Are we all observing this wonderful day by wearing our oldest piece of lingerie? Don’t worry, it’s okay to fudge the rules and just wear your most “retro” styled lingerie.

Berni Dexter in Lucy B's Paperdoll Cami Set

Myself, I’m kicking it old school style and wearing my favourite retro high waisted undies. I always get a kick out of these and the way they frame up my waist so nicely! They kind of look like this, but not really…

Okay, this is a swimsuit by For Luna, but you get the idea.

I know, I know, I really need to get my act together, but these were bought a long, long time ago at a craft fair and didn’t come with a tag, so there’s no way to identify them. Which is a crying shame, because they’re really awesome.

But let’s get a move on with our super awesome vintage lingerie ad for today!

I’m not even going to say anything ahead of the viewing. Just take a look… let it wash over you and see where your mind goes…

Okay, this is obviously the first pop culture reference I got:

Kayser Soze!!!!!!

You know, ’cause the Nylon company is Kayser Bondor… Kayser…Kayser… yah. {moving along}

Anyhoo, we have the lovely lady wearing such a fancy head wrap and all done up to the nines.

{quick aside… did ya ever wonder where the heck that phrase came from? Me too, and there are a whole lot of potential answers and no real consensus. Nevertheless, if you’re a total word nerd like me, you can look here and over here too. Only very remotely related to lingerie, but still kinda related… my tangents aren’t quite so bizarre after all!}

And who wouldn't want a closer look at such lovely silky stockings... Do people really do that? I mean, I obviously have a professional interest in nylons and stuff, but I don't kneel down and inspect them while my buddy is wearing them.... just saying. Oh and fyi, TOTES kidding here, she is obviously one of the earliest adopters of eco-friendly clothing and is drawing the stockings seam line rather than increase their carbon foot print!

Okay, got it out of my system. Now let’s get to the fun stuff. So, our lovely lingerie lady, is swanning around in her Kayser Bondor housecoat and making sure to hold the lower half of her garment wide open to fully reveal her “Exquisite stockings in pure silk and nylon.”

And really, who doesn’t waltz about showing off our nether-belows when every other square inch of flesh is completely covered up? This is kinda weird isn’t it? But I am digging the twilight to highlight thing the background is doing.

Her expression is perfectly frosty and aloof, making the viewer feel that shameful voyeuristic sensation that really sells the frilly stuff and makes us all want to seem that powerful when we’re not fully dressed.

I think my favourite part is the fairy dust sprinkling cherubs floating above her snobbishly snotty head!

They're almost as creepy as the Lingerie Fairy! Although, happily, they're showing waaaay less skin!

Do they seem kinda outta place or what?

Seriously? Did the Marketing Exec have to throw them in because Kayser Bondar decided to bring his chippy new trophy wife, who was so young, she was still in her rainbows, unicorns and pink princesses phase, and her big contribution to the meeting was “I think it should have cute little angel babies and lots of pixie dust!” ????

{shudder}

Even this kitty knows that those cupids are totally tacked on and have nothing to do with anything in this ad.

Full disclosure time.

I’m in marketing and I’ve lived this kind of fresh hell before… there’s nothing good that can come of any of it.

I can’t even bring myself to taunt the marketing group that had to put the cherubs in. They’re just so out of left field, she may as well have been holding a corndog, because the CEO’s niece who was job shadowing that day said “Corndogs! They’re just the coolest thing ever!”

…sigh.

Cheers,

Maggie

Vintage 1940′s Nylons Commercial!

Hello Swimwear and Lingerie Freaks.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Today is supposed to be Friday Funnies: but I would much rather show you this vintage 1940/1950′s Nylon commercial.

Wasn’t that lovely? With such jaunty, happy music too!

Enjoy your Friday my friends and to those who celebrate Christmas, Have A Merry Christmas! Happy Ho Ho! And to my Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah!

Cheers,

Maggie

Munsingwear Nylons Retro Stocking Ad

Bonjour Swimwear and Lingerie friends.

Happy Wordless Wednesday.

Retro Stockings Advert from Munsingwear Nylons

Cheers,

Maggie

Tights, Stockings,Nylons, Leggings and Pantyhose…

Tights, tights everywhere

Hello Swimwear and Lingerie fanatics. Happy Monday everybody!

Hope your weekend was as wonderful as mine and that you’re all ready to dive back into the work week… No diving? That’s okay too. Just ease into it as best you can. In fact, to help you, I have a nice easy reading and looking post for you today. Nothing too stressful, not too much to think about.

{yup that’s me, nice. I’m a giver, it’s what I do}

Careful now... don't rip them!

For today’s Must Have Monday post, I thought I would delve into the wild and wonderful world of tights, also known as stockings, pantyhose or nylons or what have you. You see, it’s getting right cold around here in the evenings and getting up early in the mornings to leave for work is leaving me a wee bit shivery in my professional attire. I think it may be time to break out the warmish leg coverings.

Definitely NOT boring!

But I don’t want to look blah… or boringly ordinary. Nope, I figure if they can insist that I wear pantyhose and look “polished”, then I can take the mickey and have a little fun. You know… express myself!

Sing it Madonna!

Seriously though, let’s take a little look at some of the awesome tights on the market and see if I could get away with a few leg designs.

Very professional attire, don't ya think?

First up are these seriously kickin’ tights from Wolford; the Cheryl Tights.

Cheryl Tights from Wolford

Bit of a houndstooth pattern thing going on here.

I also love the slinky feel to these ones. Don’t you love how the pattern wraps around and seems to coil about her legs? They’re the Starlette Leggings, also from Wolford.

Starlette Leggings from Wolford

Jumping on over to Falke, I was immediately struck by the linear feel of these tights, the “fine Stripes” design.

Falke Fine Stripes

And last but not least, Falke Lace Net: All swirly and crazy but ordered and cool at the same time! Love, love, love these. Pretty sure I had a pair similar to them back in the 80′s… but in white… Hey! Don’t judge, we kids in the 80′s wore lot’s of smokin’ hot styles.

Falke Lace Net

Have you got your fall leg wear all ready to go yet? Anything from the new lines catching your eye?

Cheers,

Maggie

Vintage Garters and Garter Belts

Hello my darling Swimwear and Lingerie Friends.

It’s “Totally Vintage Tuesday” and I thought we might take a little picture walk down memory lane and look at how garters and garter belts have helped to shape fashion.

When most people think of garters, they generally go the whole wedding imagery thing and think of something like this;

Or this;

And, they wouldn’t be wrong, these are stunning and definitely worthy of wedding wear, however, the point of the garter was actually to hold up one’s stockings because elasticized fabrics and textiles hadn’t been invented yet. So while something as decadent would be worn by the upper echelons of society and for special events, they weren’t entirely comfortable or practical.

The average woman was wearing something that looked a bit more like this;

The held up your socks, your stockings and if you were a flapper during the 20′s they helped you to conceal your flask of liquor during prohibition.

From the simple scrunchie type of garter we jump right into the luscious open-bottomed garter belt. Basically, this item of lingerie could be as simple or as decadent as the lady could afford. In it’s most rudimentary state, it was a simple belt with 4-6 straps with a button and round loop closure at the bottom of each. They looked something like this;

The lady would catch the reinforced top of her stocking on the knob part of the button and then slip the metal loop over top and slide to cinch it tight and closed, thus keeping the stockings up. It was pretty ingenius really. Here is the modern equivalent, you will notice it really hasn’t changed all that much.

The vintage version of this would be;

From the open bottom Garter belt, we move on to garter innovations. Garters were attached to every other type of lingerie depending on the era, style in fashion and level of restrictive body control/shaping desired. Here is a vintage corset with attached garters;

A vintage girdle with attached garters;

Same again but in a different style and era;

Now it would be easy to say, these are all fine and good, but why should the modern woman care about garters and garter belts outside of fancy dress situations? And you would have a point, with the advent of pantyhose and elasticized nylons there really wasn’t a need for the handy garter belt any more.

Unless, you required pantyhose in an uncommon size, enjoyed the luxe feel of fully formed stockings and garters or found that the extra shimmy they gave your step was worth the extra effort.

I for one, adore the sensation of a garter belt. I love that my thigh high stockings fit so much better and can be adjusted through the day if they begin to lose their elasticity. I love the craftsmanship that goes into a well sewn and detailed garter belt or garter.

What can I say, they rock and are certainly worth the effort. And if the current obsession with reproduction vintage lingerie from the likes of Lucy B, Kiss Me Deadly and JennasRedRhino.

Try’em, I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Cheers,

Maggie

http://lingerie.lovetoknow.com/Open_Bottom_Garter_Girdles