If you read my blog, I think it's safe to assume that you like me are a big vintage lingerie lover. However, true-vintage lingerie can be difficult to find, and most of it can only be purchased online depending on where you live. If something doesn't fit you, then you're out of luck. That's why it's great that there are modern options for vintage lovers that may not want to buy something without trying it on first, find themselves sized out of true-vintage pieces (the pieces I've seen are normally quite small), or just want something more durable for everyday wear.
Let me know if there are any brands that I haven't mentioned and should look into!
Playful Promises is a fantastic lingerie brand for all sorts of people. They're one of the most (if not the most) inclusionary lingerie brands out there at the moment by developing a full-bust and curve collection that goes up to size 24, and their efforts in including people with the types of bodies that aren't normally seen in lingerie campaigns like plus-size women, people of colour (the lingerie industry is painfully white), women over 60, and from what I hear are making even more efforts to be intersectional and inclusive in their campaigns. But for vintage inspired lingerie, their new Bettie Page line really takes the cake. I was thrilled when their first collection came out at the end of 2016 with the fantastic bullet bra and futuristic cage basque being my favourite pieces. But they really stepped it up with their next collection of overwire and bullet bras. They honestly look true-vintage and the attention to detail in creating retro reproductions is so inspiring. I also love how they used Cora of The Lingerie Addict as a model for this collection. There's a preconceived notion that black women can't be pinup models and a lot of that has to do with the erasure of black women in vintage pinups. A lot of black women and other women of colour modelled for pinup magazines and were models for artists, there were even several magazines dedicated to black pinups. Anyway, I love how Playful Promises is breaking this down with a major campaign with a dark-skinned black women rocking her natural hair and looking amazing. You can read more about my thoughts on this collection in the review I did of the teal overwire set!
What Katie Did is at this point an iconic vintage reproduction brand and a staple in the lingerie wardrobes of pinup girls. The brand began in 1999, right in the middle of the retro revival with the rediscovery of Bettie Page in the early 90s and art and fashion taking inspiration from the 40s and 50s. It only makes sense that women would want proper retro underpinnings to wear under their vintage and vintage reproduction dresses at the time. The founder of the brand, Katie Thomas, says that this is the case and why she started What Katie Did. She could find plenty of vintage dresses to wear but not the vintage lingerie to go under it and with 40s and 50s dressing, it's just as much about what you're wearing under the dress as the dress itself. You need to have that proper shape that retro lingerie provides to get an authentic look. What Katie Did is also incredibly detail oriented and true to period and they use vintage patterns along with other midcentury sewing techniques to create their products. For this reason, WKD products can fit a bit differently than modern lingerie as there isn't as much stretch and elastic used, especially in their bullet bras. Along with lingerie, the brand makes very high quality steel-boned corsets and they can be mixed and matched with different WKD lingerie pieces. WKD has a huge following and has been seen in the pages of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, W, Interview, Marie Claire, and many others and on stars like Madonna, Christina Hendricks, Marion Colltiard, Emma Watson, Lana Del Rey, Naomi Campbell, Gigi Hadid, and many others.
House of Satin is the oldest brand on this list, starting in 1948 as a bridal lingerie company in England. Now it's a retro reproduction lingerie company! Like What Katie Did, House of Satin uses patterns and true-to-the-times methods of sewing and creating their lingerie so that it's as authentic as possible. The company did a relaunch last year and revamped their styles. They used to sell items for under £25 each but from what I've read, the quality reflected the price-point. With the update, they improved the quality of their products and offered more styles. I love the Topaz set above, it's such a gorgeous shade of blue! They also offer retro styles beyond 1940s/50s pinup: they have a beautiful range of 1920s inspired pieces in their Forever Gatsby collection that are not only lovely, but are true to the time. I love the little rosettes on the bandeau bralettes in this collection! House of Satin has also just launched a new diffusion line, Bettie Thrifty, where a three-piece set goes for £50. I'm hoping to get my hands on the polka-dot set soon so I'll let you all know what I think of it!
Another retro brand that's a staple in the closets of pinup girls is Dottie's Delights! Dottie's is an American retro brand and the first non-British brand on this list. The brand is named after designer Stephanie Kuhr's grandmother and embodies the best aspects of the early and midcentury. Dottie's puts out two collections a year and they're always gorgeous. Their latest collaboration is with pinup and fetish icon, Mosh, and it's the second instalment of their "Sheer Show" collection. This collection absolutely blew me away, it not only threw back to 50s nostalgia but pieces from this collection are reminiscent of 50s fetish lingerie, which is even harder to find in true vintage or reproduction. I could see this lingerie gracing the pages of Bizzare or Exotique easily. I have a few Dottie's pieces in my wardrobe, and I've had the pleasure of seeing a lot of their garments in person at stockist Gigi's House of Frills, and it's absolutely delicious. The prices run higher than most retro companies but it's absolutely worth it. The quality and craftsmanship and overall unique designs are worth the money you're spending. Not to mention that every piece is made to order from their studio in Nashville by Stephanie and the quality is fantastic. Bras go up to an F-cup and sizes from from XS-3X but custom sizing is available is you run outside the size range for a one time pattern drafting fee. They keep your size on file for your next purchases!
Kiss Me Deadly is lingerie for bad girls, but the good kind of bad girl who wears tight skirts with stockings and bullet bras. Their aesthetic reminds me of bad girl 50s imagery with a retro fetish twist. They use all sorts of cute prints and toile fabrics in their designs, like the Jacquoette set above with swords and other weaponry on it and the Kliterati set that uses a subtle pattern of florals and erotic nudes. The story behind Kiss Me Deadly is also quite unique, the creator of the brand, Catherine, used to be a psychologist and would have likely continued working in mental health if it weren't for her fibromyalgia and other hidden illnesses. Kiss Me Deadly also hosts other indie designers on their website and you can discover and shop a lot of other brands while you're there. They also collaborate a lot with other indies and offer limited edition items with other brands from time to time. They recently launched a latex collection in collaboration with Rose Noir Latex and it's absolutely fantastic. My favourite piece is the amazing Mucha transparent gown, but everything is just so beautiful. Their website is definitely worth checking out not only for their fabulous designs, but to discover many more European indies!
I first learned about Effie Butterworth on Instagram for their vintage shop. They sell beautiful true-vintage lingerie and I've bought some items from them. I was delighted to discover that they also have a reproduction lingerie shop! What I love about them is that their focus is on the 20s and 30s as opposed to the 40s and 50s shapes that are prevalent in the reproduction market. 1920s and 30s lingerie is very underrated in the vintage and pinup world but it's absolutely beautiful and just as detail-oriented as 40s and 50s pieces, if not more. Not to mention that it's much harder to find than midcentury lingerie and it's a lot more fragile. It's nice that there are companies like Effie Butterworth making reproduction lingerie for those of us who love flapper silhouettes! They launched a new collection for 2017, Certain Surprise, which also draws inspiration from the Jazz Age and the silk comes in 29 different colours! Everything is made by hand and they take bespoke and custom orders as well!
Secrets in Lace is another American vintage reproduction lingerie company that was started in 1984. Their main goal was to sell classically elegant lingerie of another era. The brand quickly grew and they expanded their offerings from the classic shapewear and stockings that they originally sold. Now they offer beautiful retro three-piece sets, shapewear, stockings, loungewear, pajamas, and even some clothing to wear over their lingerie. Their classic bullet bra set comes in seven colourways and I've seen them all over Instagram on beautiful pinups. But despite the popularity of their lingerie, the company is still best known for their stockings. They make stockings with the same materials and on the same types of machines used in the 40s and 50s to create the most authentic reproduction possible. They even have a collection of stockings with Dita Von Teese that are absolutely stunning. Dita wears them in her everyday life and in many photo shoots and burlesque performances!
Speaking of Dita Von Teese, this list wouldn't be complete without talking about her fantastic lingerie collection! Dita has been a lingerie lover all her life and even worked in a lingerie shop in her teens. Dita always walks about the importance of beautiful lingerie for creating glamour and its importance in everyday life. Dita has a large vintage lingerie collection and draws inspiration from her archives to create pieces for her own collection. Along with this, she always makes three-piece sets because they're an easy way to elevate a lingerie set from boring to classic and they add a bit of glamour to your underpinnings. I personally love three piece sets and they always make me feel sexy, especially when I get a peak of a garter strap from underneath a skirt! Dita's styles are absolutely gorgeous and every season from her collection just gets better and better. No wonder her brand has a cult following!
You can't get any sweeter than My Retro Closet! Their collections are all about ruffles and the sweet side of vintage lingerie. Their Jayne collection is one of my favourites and comes in six lovely colours to choose from. It actually reminds me of a true-vintage set that I managed to get my hands on and it's also covered in ruffles. The powermesh on the Jayne set and from their other collections is just so soft and feels so good against the skin. It's the kind of lingerie that you put on and makes you feel like a 1950s lingerie princess. They also make the most adorable nighties I've seen on the reproduction market in their Joan collection, and the colours can be mixed and matched to your heart's content! Their latest collection, Peggy, is a mix of both Joan and Jayne with the babydoll silhouette and the ruffles but made of a Swiss-dot powermesh for the sweetest look. The brand started in 2014 and is one of the youngest brands on the list, but just as strong design wise as the other brands on here. Their website also stocks other lingerie brands so that you can mix and match My Retro Closet pieces with other styles to create a uniquely vintage look.
While Fifi Chachnil isn't a vintage reproduction brand, they are heavily inspired by the lingerie and styles of the 1940s and 50s which is why I've decided to include them on this list. Also I love them, if you couldn't tell from my lusting after post I did on them! Fifi Chachnil has to be one of the girliest lingerie brands out there now and it takes me back to a time when clothing and lingerie were unabashedly feminine and delicate. Quite a few of their bras are inspired by bullet bras and are sewn similarly without giving too much of a pointed shape. They also make the loveliest slips that are very retro looking, I get Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof vibes from them. Fifi is a great brand if you love girly lingeire and vintage styles but don't quite want to make the plunge into more extreme retro styles. They also make the prettiest ready-to-wear clothing that also uses 50s silhouettes!
Betty Blue's Loungewear is all about the golden age of Hollywood and the glamorous style of movie stars like Marilyn Monroe, Mae West, and Ginger Rogers and bringing that style to the boudoir. Why not wear beautiful things while you're at home? Formed in 2011, Betty Blue's Loungewear has been making gorgeous robes, gowns, and babydolls as an alternative to sweats for the woman who can't get enough of midcentury style. I love how unique their designs are, with the use of colours like chartreuse and panels of swiss dot mesh and lace inserts, you won't find these kinds of styles anywhere else. They also have boudoir accessories like eye masks and turbans that match perfectly with their collections, and as someone who likes everything to match, this makes me very happy! Everything is handmade in the UK and the brand puts a strong emphasis on ethnically making their lingerie in the UK where they are based.
I couldn't finish this list without including Rago Shapewear, some of the best vintage reproduction girdles on the market. Every pinup girl has seen this piece somewhere and has either coveted the shapewear dress, or owns one. What I love about their shapewear is that it's not only very effective in smoothing and cinching, but it's beautiful and vintage-looking. It's not your basic beige Spanx which is a very refreshing alternative. Their products are made of powermesh and they are very tight and if you're fuller busted, it may be a good idea to size up. But despite the tightness, Rago products are quite comfortable and easy to wear during the day or out at night. They really do provide that exaggerated 50s silhouette that Christian Dior made so popular with his "new look". No other shapewear will cinch you in as much as Rago will while looking so beautiful! I also love the garters because of course a pinup girl will want to wear proper full-fashioned stockings with her lingerie!
I hope you liked this list, let me know if I missed anyone or if I should check out any other brands in the comments!