*Depending on how conservative your work place is, this post may be considered NSFW*

Having a really good secret is a sure fire way to put a smile on your face. And you know what they say about people who are always smiling don’t you.. So what’s my secret? My super swanky, super sexy suspenders.

When I first started wearing vintage, I was far too young to even consider this sort of thing, and no one I knew wore stockings. The day came that I was to graduate from those nasty ribbed navy school tights and I didn’t know what my options were. I drew up my courage and made my first foray into a lingerie shop, cheeks blushing and full of teenage bravado. I remember the sales assistant giving my this black lacy ensemble of bra, garter belt and teeny tiny knickers, while I smiled in what I thought was a very mature fashion and proceeded to the changing room. After about a good ten minutes she came back to enquire on my progress, with me fobbing her off with an “oh I wear these all the time” as the garter strap flicked up and hit me in my breathless face for the fifth time. I thought there was some big secret I hadn’t been let in on about how to wear these contraptions, and it was all so illicit that no one could tell me as I didn’t dare ask. But it wasn’t what I thought.

Now, with the benefit of years and hindsight, I realize that the myths surrounding garter belts come from two places. Our grandmothers who hated them and the advertising agencies and movie moguls who’ve conned us into their fantasies. I can only speak for myself, but my ‘suspending’ experiences have been far from torturous…. except for this one.

Lesson 1.
There are suspender belts for life and suspender belts for posing in only. Do not confuse the two.

The very first time I wore my ‘fancy’ new suspender belt from the mall, I experienced a number of unwanted sensations. That strung Christmas ham feeling as the thin, cheap lace of the waist band cut me two. That scratchy sensation from rough, badly trimmed edges; and worst of all, that horrible feeling when you feel a ‘snap’ and notice your stockings are now pooled around your ankles in a very unglamorous fashion.

Luckily, my love of vintage pushed me in the right direction. But rather than getting studious and doing my research, I took my young self out to the local op shop where I discovered my very first 1960’s girdle and suspenders. It wasn’t pretty, but I didn’t really care; after all this was a ‘scientific’ experiment! Here is what I learnt.

A girdle under a pencil skirt is better than any ‘suck you in’ bikini brief on the market.
A girdle (when the correct size) feels like a hug, all day long.
Those industrial strength metal suspender clips are the ONLY way to wear stockings!

Of course, filling my wardrobe with these beige, rubberized numbers was a very unattractive option; so over the years I searched high and low to find pretty vintage pieces with the same functionality.

A friend here in Melbourne with a well known Vintage emporium, heard me rummaging about in the pile of lingerie in her shop one day, bemoaning the lack of available and well fitting vintage styled lingerie. And it was that day she introduced me to Kiss Me Deadly. To make this long story short, once I had my hands on some Kiss Me Deadly suspender sets, I’ve never looked back.  These take me from my everyday, to my dance floor attire, to my super fancy occasions.  I’ve never lost a stocking, had seam creep or had any unfortunate dance floor incidents.  In fact the only dance floor incident I can relate, is being stopped by a group of ladies as I finished a particularly acrobatic number and being asked all about where I bought my fabulous underwear!

Of all the Kiss Me Deadly pieces, the Vargas dress and strapless Vargas dress get the most day to day wear in my ensembles. They are just so darned comfortable and secure, and I know that should I end up in an ambulance with very handsome paramedics, I won’t have a single worry about the state of my underwear.

As you may know, I’ve been honoured to have Kiss Me Deadly as a lovely sponsor of this blog for a while now and I shot this set of images for them last year.  But of course, never resting on their laurels they are always out to improve and create new pieces of fabulous frippery… which I had the pleasure of shooting just the other week!

And here they are, shot by pinup photographer extrordinare Helen McLean- the marvellous, pretty and practical pieces from Kiss Me Deadly!

(If you’re wondering why these are so strongly watermarked it is because these pics tend to get pinched and spread around all over the place without credits. So if you do want to use them, please just email for permission first.)

Because I’m so passionate about what goes on under your clothes to make them look even better on the outside, I’m always on the look out for the best and brightest in the underwear department. Not everything that is marketed as fabulous is really all it’s cracked up to be, and quite often it is the smaller, boutique players that really come up with the goods.  So I’m literally ‘putting my butt’ on the line in the aid of research at the moment, and have written a whole series of posts about ‘unmentionables’ for you. The good, the bad, the pinchy, the perfect. So if you have any particular questions, problems or are just curious as to what all the fuss is about; please do leave me a comment and I’ll do my very best to help you solve your dilemma.

Outfit Details

Poppy Print woollen dress – 1970′s vintage from Shag in Melbourne

Black Woollen cape, inspired by this post on the appeal of a beautiful cape – 1970′s vintage via Etsy

Black Opaque tights – Voodoo

Booties- Girl Express @ KMart

Red Lipstick – No. 27 by Stephanie Marais

Mid Winter is my fashion nemisis. As each morning is colder than the next, I find it harder and harder to be inspired. So often warm can mean bulky, boring or drab. Giving myself a good kick in the pants and providing a serious dose of colour therapy to other shoppers, I applied my red lipstick liberally and set my 1970′s poppy print to do the rest of the mood enhancing work….

And thank you to Mr SKM who is dragging me back to doing the much missed outfit shots that have been so thin on the ground with my schedule of late. I’ve missed these!

I’ve just found out according to Shine UK, that apparently stockings and wearing them, went out in the 1980′s. Obviously these trends vary worldwide, but it I’m told that the last time wearing ‘pantyhose’ was fashionable was when Meg Ryan was in her heyday and we all wanted to dress like Princess Di. Luckily I don’t give a damn about being in fashion then isn’t it?!

It seems that at present, everyone is all a twitter about how Princess Katherine has ‘brought back’ the wearing of stockings with her sheer clad pins, but I have to wonder… did they ever really disappear?  Perhaps it is simply the circles I move in, but I can’t say I was really aware of a significant absence.  It may also be to do with where you live, but in Melbourne, wearing hose of some description ( be they pantyhose or my personal preference- stockings) is really a matter of necessity for climate.

Some years ago, when I moved to Sydney, I was horrified by the lack of properly attired office workers out there. I’d see girls enmasse on their lunch breaks in sharply tailored black suits, faux pearls and knees that looked like tangerines. I’d no sooner have gone bare legged than have gone bra-less, and couldn’t figure out why they did.  So I started to ask around.

The general consensus was two things; firstly it was too hot and humid in Sydney to wear them (although not too hot apparently for black suits), and that the girls who did wear them, was a matter of company policy to present a more polished image.  These numbers were few and far between. Mind you, that was almost ten years ago and every time I’m there now I’m still shocked at how many office girls forgot the other half of their skirts!

Reading this latest article in Shine UK, the overwhelming sentiment seems to be that people saw wearing stockings / pantihose as “uncomfortable”, “painful”, and oppressive. To quote the article-

“First Lady Michelle Obama, though known on occasion to sport the legwear, is not a fan. “I stopped wearing pantyhose a long time ago, because it was painful and they’d always rip,”"

And I have to wonder, what are these medieval torture devices these ladies seem to have experienced? I must say I’m not a fan of pantihose myself, although I do find that compression hose certainly have their uses. But still, in all my experience the biggest complaint I have about them is that they just aren’t sexy. But painful? What are you wearing? And how can this possibly be worse than the paralysing stilettos we still continue to wear nylons or no nylons?

Forgetting the matter of what is ‘proper’ when dressing, it seems to me a total no-brainer that you would choose to wear stockings rather than to go barelegged for the most part.  The girls I know who do go barelegged, are always the ones forking out for spray on tans, ending up with streaked legs the moment it rains.  These same girls are the ones seen standing by the side of the road shivering in their ‘state of undress’ at 3am.

For me, wearing stockings not only makes sense when it comes to regulating body temperature and colour, but they are just so much more chic. Shiny or matt, there is the way they feel as they hug your legs. (Maybe because I buy the kinds without the inbuilt spikes Michelle Obama seems to have experienced.) Wearing a dress without stockings makes me feel naked.. and not in a good way.

So I’d like to know your thoughts and experiences. Have you experienced these “killer” pantyhose that so many seem adverse too? Have you always worn them or never? Do you only save stockings for special occasions or do you make every day on occasion?

I’m living in crazy town at the moment. That place where I forget that I exist in the same time space continuum as the rest of the world and try and pack even more into a week than a sane person usually does. And yet, how can I not with all this fun to be had?

Last week I had a full week of photoshoots, hair & makeup, weddings and events planned; and boy was it a big one! First up on Tuesday  I spent a full day on set with four of my glamorous models putting together a look book of my vintage bridal and formal styling. It was fancy gowns and full hair & makeup looks that ran the scale from 1930′s movie star to 1950′s prom sweetheart. I’m presently working with the talented team at Finessence who produce some of the most stunning wedding shots I’ve seen in ages. I’m putting all this together for a showcase at the Love Vintage Fair coming up next Friday!  If you’ve wanted to see what it is that I do, this is your chance. Come along and check out all the fancy vintage hair and makeup looks we can create for your special occasion. I have all sorts of surprises in store for you!

How’s that for a good looking bunch? My talented photographic team in the front and me with my lovely models and styling assistant in the back.  Just wait till you see the complete picture; I’m simply dying with anticipation to show you!

So after a full day of divas and diamonds, it was my turn in front of the camera again.  This time with the delightful (and secretly hilarious) Helen McLean of Notorious Dames fame.  First up I wore the new “Rocker Girl Jane” dress by a wonderful local designer Peta Pledger. I have a few of Peta’s pieces now as they are all handmade here in Melbourne and are top quality.

And this super cute daisy print shirt with its little puffy sleeve and proper collar.

Remember the Birdy dress that I wore for my Vintage tour outing complete with tiara? We shot that for my lovely sponsor Miskonduct Klothing too.

And then this beautiful ‘Bamboo’ dress by Bernie Dexter that is stocked in Australia by Miskonduct Klothing too!

And that wasn’t all, but I won’t totally photo bomb you today!  It is all systems go here with so many events, shows and new projects on the horizon.  For some reason my winters always seem to be the craziest time of year, but I’m not complaining, I simply love my work!