Sunday 13 November 2011

Introducing The 'New Shapewear'

This season ‘New Shapewear’ is BIG, and so If You Please would like to help introduce you to it…

Firstly, we believe a huge round of applause is due for vintage-inspired brands, such as some of our faves, Kiss Me Deadly and What Katie Did, for bringing REAL women back in fashion! They have undoubtedly proved that flaunting your figure is hot and regardless of what we’ve seen on Bridget Jones, or what’s underneath the make-over outfits on How To Look Good Naked (no offence Gok), Shapewear CAN be gorgeous, sexy and glamorous - the very definition of you.

Let’s not lie, Christina Hendricks whose to-die-for curves grace the covers of many top fashion mags is a prime example of what many of us will always been envious of. But what I’m saying is that it’s not only women with boobs and bottoms who can look good in a corselette. Over the last year we’ve seen various fashion icons, Kate Winslet, Victoria Beckham, Daisy Lowe, Fearne Cotton (to name just a few), pick up on this trend - all with completely different body shapes. The common denominator is making the best of what you’ve got! 
 
 
They say the grass is always greener on the other side; I’m totally down with that. Being relatively small framed myself, I can only wish for a more ample bosom or bigger hips without lots of padding or the drastic measure of plastic surgery. But the way I see it, if you can’t make the big bits bigger, you can always rely on making your small bits smaller - I’m always trying to nip in that waist!

So, as it’s officially party season and we will all be dusting off our ‘LBDs’, I thought it only fair to offer you something to make you feel that little bit extra special. What Katie Did have recently added a fabulous collection of pieces to their Glamour Shapewear range. These include a strapless bra for shoulder expose, a low back Corselette with wide straps for those who like to bare their backs, a bottom-lifting suspender girdle, a tummy controlling-waist nipping waspie, an underbust panty girdle for bums and wasp-like waists… the list goes on and the possibilities are endless! Everything comes in black or vintage peach satin and can be worn every day. Personally, I’m going for the waspie in black, so that I actually have a waist ;)

To cut to the chase, If You Please will be offering 20% off the entire range, right up until Christmas Day! So start planning your outfits ladies... 
 
 

Thursday 10 November 2011

Girl Panic!!

OK so everyone else in the world is talking about Duran Duran's new video for their latest single Girl Panic. I don't like to jump on the proverbial band wagon but this time I couldn't resist.

Not only have Simon Le Bon and friends brought back the original 'Supers' aka Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Helena Christenson, Cindy Crawford and Yasmin Le Bon, they've featured possibly the most expensive and extravagant wardrobe a music video has ever seen! What did we expect, with Dolce & Gabanna taking charge of the styling!?

You can't help but notice the seriously rocking lingerie that features throughout the video. We spotted fetish-inspired pieces by What Katie Did, Obey My Demand, Bordelle, Fleet Ilya, Marlies Dekkers and our current favourite Atsuko Kudo.

It's nine minutes long but if you're at all into fashion then it's definitely a must-see.  I have to admit, I'm not 100% convinced by Naomi Campbell's dance moves but hey, they styling makes up for it ; )

Monday 17 October 2011

Luxe Designer Fred & Ginger Join If You Please

We are delighted to announce that luxury lingerie by Fred & Ginger is now available to buy at If You Please. 

Fred & Ginger London was launched during London Fashion Week in September 2007 and is quickly becoming one of the most desirable lingerie brands in the world. 

Fred & Ginger’s founder and creative director, Victoria Holt was born in England in 1977. With a flair for art and textiles and winning awards throughout her training she finished her studies with a Bachelor of Arts (honours) degree in 2000. Besides a thorough training in the traditional disciplines, Victoria specialised in fashion design and technology with print, believing that these understandings are beneficial to the creative process as they enable the design to start with the fabric and its construction and work upwards from there.

Following her graduation Victoria immediately took up her position working with the prestigious design house Jenny Packham and enjoyed success as senior designer for over 5 years. From there she decided to take a year out to travel the world solo, taking in inspiration from the 15 countries she visited whilst simultaneously using this time to develop what was to become Fred&Ginger London.

The decision to launch her own lingerie label came from a desire to create beautiful individual pieces that reflect the elegance and sophistication of a bygone age for a market that appreciates comfort and luxury with a contemporary design edge.

We begin with two of Fred & Ginger's beautiful ranges, their burlesque inspired Showgirl collection and their timeless Bridal collection. Each piece is made from the finest silk, with delicate detailing in Chantilly lace. When you see their products for yourself, you'll agree that the quality is exquisite and the size range is pretty good too, with bra sizes ranging between 30-36 A-E.

We will be revealing their new AW11 range a little closer to Christmas. Visit our store for more information on what's available now.






Friday 14 October 2011

Style it up Amy!

Our ace photographer and stylist Amy Atkins dug into the IYP wardrobe and pulled out a collection of retro pieces to use in a contemporary shoot with Britain's Next Top Model finalists Maddie Wheatley and Nell Nabarro. 

We have only just this minute seen the results and they look great! We love it when someone else gets full reign over what our lingerie's going to be styled like on a shoot. In this instance Amy has heavily accessorised with body jewellery, shoulder pads and head dresses and has even got Maddie to wear a What Katie Did Glamour Longline Bra as a skirt. 



The ridiculously cool accessories were all hand made too, swoooon! Designer Mariana Abella also crafts clothing, jewellery and recycled adornments all from scratch. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet but we'd sure love to. I could do with a few of her gorgeous wares in my personal collection.

More on the multi-talented Miss Atkins later (she's also a model and make up artist), for now we'll let the pictures speak for themselves.


Models: Maddie Wheatley & Nell Nabarro
Make Up: Jessica Nurse
Nails - Nell Nabarro
Styling - Mariana Abella
Photography - Amy Atkins www.amyatkins.co.uk

Saturday 8 October 2011

What Katie Did Hits The Silver Screen

When buying lingerie online it can often be tricky to get a really good idea of how it's going to look when it's on. We do our best to include as many images as possible, but nothing beats being able to see the garments in action on a real life body.

If you hadn't already heard, What Katie Did have been hand picked to supply faux-vintage lingerie for forthcoming movie My Week With Marylin and to coincide with the launch of the film, they've created a gorgeous little movie of their own. Starring the most beautiful Slinky Sparkles, What Katie Did show us a romantic display of on screen glamour, and what a perfect way to get a better look at their gorgeous retro lingerie. 



Monday 3 October 2011

A Horrifying Halloween Discount

When witches go riding,

and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers,

      'tis near Halloween!!

Ghostly Greetings!


It's almost Halloween and to make sure our customers are suitably clad in glamorous and seductive midnight attire, we're offering...

20% off all steel boned corsets by What Katie Did
.

Most of the corsets at IYP are available in up to ten different colours, so whether you're a corpse bride, a flesh eating zombie or Mary Queen of Scots (minus the head) you're likely to find a suitably ghoulish item to help create your Halloween alter-ego.


The offer will be available from today, right up until Monday the 31st of October. We're afraid you can't use it alongside any other discounts, but with up to £40 off you wont feel the need to.


Bugs and hisses,

  

Madame If You Please






N.B. Most corsets are held in stock but some of the more special designs are made to order and will take 3-4 weeks to arrive. The product description will keep you informed but feel free to email us to double check the delivery time.

Monday 26 September 2011

Some advice from the first Lady of retro lingerie

If you have ever fancied some words of wisdom on retro lingerie, from someone who really knows their stuff, then this short film should do the trick.
The queen of faux-vintage intimates and founder of What Katie Did, Katie Halford, gives the staff of her new Hollywood store the lowdown on her fabulous products.

Enjoy!



If you would like to find out more about retro lingerie you can always refer to our
Retro Lingerie Guide, or email us and ask a question.

Thursday 22 September 2011

Kiss Me Deadly in Short Film by Daniel Deville

We spotted Kiss Me Deadly's seductive lingerie in this cool fashion film by Daniel Deville.

Check it out, it's really cool...

Kiss Me Deadly - A Fashion Film from Daniel Deville on Vimeo.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

If You Please Launches Swim-Ready Lingerie Range

If You Please Launches Swim-Ready Lingerie Range
Transitional Bodywear and Intimates 

Lingerie - arguably an item not meant to be seen, or worn, for a prolonged period of time. I mean, we hope to wear it for all of five minutes before someone rips us right out of it; surely that's the point...? No...?  

If You Please disagree. And that's why we have decided to bring to you a versatile collection of lingerie - not just for a quick sexy peek in the boudoir, but also as a glamorous evening-out ensemble with high waist denim, AND as swimwear for the beach!  

With an inspirational theme of influential women in music, our new range of transitional bodywear and lingerie comes in a mix and match of high waist and bandeau bikini styles, as well as the signature Joni bodysuit; with extra long fringing for you to swing your way onto the dance floor, Baywatch-style on the beach, or right into bed.  

Road tested by the If You Please team abroad and throughout the festival season, each piece has proved its longevity and suitability to many a situation. Designed to make a bold statement in shockingly bright neon, or even just creating a timelessly classical look in black and white Lycra, whilst simultaneously showing off a more sensuously sultry side in soft stretch lace, this brand new collection was made with all fashion-forward women in mind - so what are you waiting for?! 



Monday 1 August 2011

IYP and The Secret Emporium

We packed up our latest handmade fancies, braved the festival mud and set up shop in the very pink Secret Emporium tent at this year's Lovebox festival. 
The Secret Emporium is an enchanting indoor market that has been spotted at several British festivals this summer, including The Secret Garden Party and Bestival. The organisers pack it full of up and coming artists, jewelery, accessory and clothing designers and have been doing a fantastic job of promoting new UK talent.

After three days we were pooped! Selling undies to slightly sozzled cider drinking festival goers can be very hard work ; ) We made up for it by inviting those who had got caught in the rain storm in to our tent for an indoor rave with team IYP and the other traders. Chair dancing included.

We made friends with two great designers on either side of us. St Saviours hats, who are now selling their wears in Topshop's flagship store on Oxford Street and Decadorn, a lovely lady who makes jewelery out of feathers. Decadorn can be found on Spitalfields weekend market or in Anthropology.

We also had a little help from Miss Crofton and BannBee, who supplied their us with their latest ranges. Thanks ladies!

Here's how we got on...




Sunday 19 June 2011

DeMontfort Contour Degree Show

This week If You Please headed down to Freemasons Hall to check out DeMontfort Uni's Contour degree show. The show began in darkness with a spectacular LED trimmed collection of corsets by Ashley Edge and continued with more fantastic collections of beautiful haute couture lingerie, shapewear and swimwear.  Overall, an extremely well produced show that we thoroughly enjoyed. We wish the graduates the best of luck with entering the lingerie industry, we're sure you'll all do brilliantly!





Friday 10 June 2011

UK Lingerie Awards 2011


The UK Lingerie Awards is the most important annual event in the British intimate apparel industry. The awards recognise the achievements of the companies and individuals that have excelled over the past 12 months in this most glamorous part of the fashion business. Right now, you have a chance to get involved by nominating your best-loved brands and products. The results of the nomination process will be bought to the attention of the Lingerie Awards prestigious judges as they make their final deliberations.

If You Please is going for Online Retailer of the Year and we'd love it if you showed your support by nominating us. You can click the link to submit your nomination. This is our first major award so wish us luck!!

Student Showcase: May

Wow! What can I say, over the last few weeks we've been immersed with exceptional entries from our UK fashion and contour undergrads. We only wish we could feature them all. 

This month we were instantly grabbed by a complex design, all green sequins and adjustable straps. Artfully constructed yet with an air of seductive femininity still maintained, the design belongs to Hannah Catherine Thomas, a second year contour student at DeMontfort University. Impressively, she created the 'Futuristic Infusion' piece during her first year, and has since gone on to have her designs displayed at some of the World's best known trade shows such as Interfiliere in Paris.

Hannah was also picked as the winner of the Charnos Shapewear competition and as a finalist in the UK Triumph Inspiration Awards, after submitting a piece made from pretty lace encased within vacuum-formed plastic. When asked about the inspiration behind this particular creation, Hannah said;

"I wanted to stretch and challenge the creative process and use unusual materials. I was inspired by women's desire to seek man-ipulations to their figures."



Hannah usually gains inspiration from new places and can build the foundations of a design from something as simple as a picture or a piece of architecture. She always considers how a garment would flatter and fit the female form.

Like many young designers, she would love to set up her own brand one day, and has already developed her own website www.hannah-catherine.com to showcase her current designs.

She's still got her final year to go and is loving every aspect of her course, all the time trying to get as many placements under her belt as possible (having already worked for Agent Provocateur and Fleur of England).

Hannah Catherine couldn't say who she'd most like to work for in the future. She sees the lingerie industry as a growing trade with so many new brands emerging all the time and like the team at If You Please, is exited for the future of lingerie. 

For details on how to enter our 2011 Student Showcase, click here

New Brand Alert!

Started in Scotland by Mhairi McNichol and Chloe Patience, Bebaroque brings us fabulously embellished and appliqued designer leg-wear. Our stock includes their Burlesque inspired tasseled Roxy stockings, and their best selling Tattooed Lady Leggings. I couldn't resist snatching a pair for myself when they arrivedat our offices, and they're selling out fast. Get yourself 10% off using the promo code 'vogue'.  
 

Friday 6 May 2011

Student Showcase: April

I'm delighted to announce London College of Fashion's Bianca Laporta as our winning April entry! 
Bianca is currently in her third year studying Contour Design and is sinking her teeth into all aspects of the course. She's recently completed internships for ASOS, Harrods corset designer Lee Klabin and luxury loungewear brand Alöe, with whom she attended Salon De La Lingerie in Paris.

The work she submitted includes a recycled Speedo Lrz Racer swimming costume, pictured below. The end result was made completely from recycled components, carefully heat sealed together to form a modern bikini silhouette.

Bianca1 
Bianca was chosen as a winner because of her fine attention to detail and the unconventional techniques, which she uses when designing lingerie. Rather than putting pen to paper or using traditional flat pattern cutting, she opts for creative visual methods.

When asked to describe her usual design process Bianca said;

"When I design I find the female form inspires me the most. I love to design to accentuate and to create a piece that will empower the wearer and fill them with confidence. I prefer to model on the stand and take photographs and find that using these methods really stimulates the brain. I find that working on the stand creates a better fit and is also a great way of draping and sculpting fabric, to form a bespoke garment."

Bianca's creativity was demonstrated in her Ballet Russe project, pictured below. Inspired by the Spectre De La Roses, she created a beautiful silk jersey blouson and knicker set, adorned with rouched silk petals at the shoulders and hips. Worn by a Prima Ballerina at the English National Ballet's V&A museum show, the pieces had been bias-cut and hand-stitched to beautifully accentuate her body as she danced.

Bianca 2  
When Bianca graduates she's eager to gain more experience within the lingerie industry, whilst working as a freelance designer at the same time. Her ambition is to eventually run her own small boutique, selling designs from her own label and by other small brands. 

Well done Biance, we wish you all the best for the future! 

For details of our Student Showcase competition, click here

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Free Royal Wedding Silk Knickers!


In keeping with this week's Royal Wedding frenzy, IYP are giving away a free pair of Britnix silk knickers, worth £18, to the first twenty people, who spend £35 or more online!!

Each pair is made from pure silk and printed with patriotic images of the Union Jack or the Queen's head and conceals a cheeky secret message inside too ; )

They've been so popular due to this week's celebrations that sizes are running out fast, so we'll send you a surprise style in time for Friday if you're one of the lucky 20. We'll also throw in a free London Burlesque map with listings of all the best boutiques and events happening at London Burlesque Week over the next few days.




Friday 15 April 2011

Miss Crofton at If You Please

Miss Crofton 


We're very pleased to welcome Miss Crofton as our latest independent lingerie designer! 

Founded by Georgia Campbell and based in East London, Miss Crofton is a fresh and innovative underwear brand. With an air of nostalgia running through her collections, Miss Crofton has a keen eye for hand picking covetable vintage inspired fabrics and trims. Drawing inspiration from a variety of sources, from playful seaside imagery and vintage florals, to the 1950's silhouette. The high quality pieces are entirely hand made and are either part of a limited edition run, or a one off design. The brand caters for a wide range of tastes and styles, so you can find something pretty for everyday use, alonside more delicate pieces for a special occasion.
We'll be adding more seasonal items by Miss Crofton throughout Spring/Summer, many of which are exclusive to If You Please.

Click here to buy Miss Crofton lingerie.

Monday 4 April 2011

Student Showcase: March

It's been a while since our last blog entry as our girls have been busy "researching swimwear" in Miami, but we were ecstatic to return to an inbox crammed full of talented student's design work. Thank you for such a great response this month. Following the magazine coverage, that our Jan and Feb winners achieved (that's four fashion top mags), the heat is most certainly on!

We're very pleased to announce Loughborough University's Milly Grimes as our March winner.
Milly Grimes Bra Design
This month we thought we'd sway a little off the mark in favour of some creative textile design. Milly is currently in her foundation year studying Fashion and Textiles at Loughborough Uni, but is already showing she's got the aptitude to produce unique and innovative designs, usually inspired by modern architecture, nature and her immediate surroundings.

In her spare time she rummages through car boot sales and markets, looking for anything inspirational. Her love of unique fabrics and textures is clearly demonstrated in her design work and the ways in which she bonds or manipulates unusual materials.

Milly Grimes Dark Collection  
The designs pictured above are part of an entirely hand-stitched and embellished collection made from leather and industrial materials. With their Gaga-esque characteristics, we can definitely envisage the leather collection featuring in the likes of Dazed and Confused or iD magazine.

Milly has worked for the design team at Next and as an assistant stylist on various fashion shoots. Her favourite designers are Manish Arora and Iris Van Herpen and her ambition is to one day run her own fashion label. When asked why she chose to study fashion and textiles Milly said;

"I enjoy having the freedom to design whatever I like. Fashion holds no boundaries and the list of materials you can use to create a garment is endless. I also love the practical side of designing and creating a garment, as well as the satisfaction you get once it's finished and on a model."

Milly's work will be sent out to over 250 fashion journalists and bloggers and will feature in the If You Please March Newsletter. Well done Milly! 


View January's winner Jessica Preece here


For more information about our 2011 Student Showcase competition and to find out how you can enter, click here

Sunday 27 February 2011

Student Showcase: February

We're very pleased to announce the February winner of our Student Showcase, London College of Fashion's Yue Zhou (known to her friends as Elf). Yue Zhou is in her second year of uni studying BA Contour Design and has so far proved to have some exceptionally creative design ideas.
Yue Zhou 
She has recently worked on a live project for The Triumph Inspiration Awards and is building her industry experience by taking a part-time internship for high-end lingerie label Bordelle. She would love to work with the head designer of a luxury lingerie brand but her true ambition is to set up her own label.

The work, which Yue Zhou submitted for February's showcase, is an avant garde piece inspired by minimalism and futurism, drawing on modern art and architecture as a starting point for her designs. She targets the fashion forward with her chic and cheeky style and would define this piece as modern, feminine and seductive. The piece presents geometric shapes and minimal lines, made from luxurious fabrics and finished with delicate binding to frame each panel.  

zhou1 
When asked her opinion of modern lingerie design, she says:
  
"I believe that lingerie is not about eroticism, but about self-expression. My work combines both function and sexuality and makes the best of a woman's looks, whilst controlling the body."

As the winner of this months Student Showcase, Yue Zhou's work will be featured in our  February Newsletter and industry Press Release, as well as in lingerie trade magazines Lingerie Buyer, Lingerie Insight and on The Lingerie Blog. We wish her all the best for the future! 


Visit Yue Zhou's fashion blog here

View January's winner Jessica Preece here


For more information about our 2011 Student Showcase competition and to find out how you can enter, click here