Happy (belated) Birthday to me!

Yes, I am a bit late, but I turned 23 on the 13th! 

I had a fairly quiet birthday, seeing a few friends on the Saturday before for dinner at my favourite restaurant, dinner with my boyfriend and parents the day before and then a nice relaxing day off work on the day! My boyfriend had set up a few surprises for me during the day, to make me feel special (and very lucky).

It seems I also had a lot of cake. Which I'm not complaining about.

My colleagues are too lovely <3

HUGE (as big as my face) meringue for dessert with my parents

Look what arrived in the mail!!!

Another gift from my sweetheart.

He also came home with champagne and chocolates, and we sat in bed watching the Charlie Chaplin Revue. Best birthday I've had for a long time!

The Roustabouts: Histrionic Phonics

 I'm planning to completely re-vamp this blog fairly soon, with the help of Amelia Arsenic, so forgive me while blog posts are a little sparse! 

I've recently been busy developing a new project with my partner, Markabre Charade - a DJ duo known as The Roustabouts. Using our theatrical style and varied musical taste, we play everything from Balkan Beats, Carnivalesque Cabaret, Electro-Swing and the filthiest guilty pleasures. Our outfits are usually based around the type of event we will be playing at, and the style of music requested. 

We recently played at Club Vicious in Rome (you can read about our trip over on The Roustabout blog), at Torture Garden Valentine's Ball and last night at Circus in Covent Garden. You can catch us again at Circus on the 3rd of March! 

A few months ago we had the pleasure of a visit from Maria S. Varela, one of my favourite photographers, who shot some promo photos of us. You can see some of the results here, but I thought I'd post 2 more that I absolutely love.

Tough Love

Now that we have published the new issue of Playful Promises Magazine, I can show the images I shot for the editorial! 

We wanted to do a different take on the Valentine's theme (which is, of course, a busy time for lingerie!), so went for a shoot in a boxing ring. I have to say, I've never felt so out of place! Somehow we managed to shoot this in 3 hours; I'm not entirely pleased with the lighting, but I made do. 

Models: Mamzelle Maz, Miss Miranda and Randolph Hott.

 

Miranda is the winner! ;) But we still very much love Maz too.

Miss Miranda in Karolina Laskowska

If you haven't heard of Karolina Laskowska just yet, you probably will do soon. Considering she is still a student at the presitgious De Montfort University, her designs are already fantastic. 

I've been wanting to shoot her lingerie and harnesses for a while now, and finally met up with her for a shoot a few weeks ago. Below are the finished photos, featuring the gorgeous Miss Miranda, who I seem to be working with a lot recently (hooray!). The bolero in the first set is by Rachel Friere (Karolina's own).

Some of the below images are NSFW.

The Indie Lingerie Brand Love Bomb!

To promote the Love Bomb feature taking place over the next few weeks, I shot a set of images in an amazing circusy location! Featuring 10 independent lingerie brands, who will be giving away prizes galore from the 30th onwards, the Indie Lingerie Brand Big Love Bomb is a love letter to independence, away from large corporations. Catherine from Kiss Me Deadly wrote a fantastic explanation over on The Lingerie Addict about exactly why we have organised this love in!

I had the pleasure of working with two of my favourite models ever, the beautiful Jess Abidde and Miss Miranda. 

Here is the full set, with makeup by the awesome Cheyenne Raymond:

Tessa wears Playful Promises, Jess wears What Katie DidTessa in Miss Mandalay, Velda Lauder, Playful Promises and Pearls and SwineTessa in Kriss Soonik and Fraulein Kink. Shoes by Natacha Marro.Tessa wears Miss Mandalay, Velda Lauder and Playful Promises. Jess wears Kiss Me Deadly. Masks by Pearls and Swine.Jess in Ayten GassonCandy Baker hosiery with Natacha Marro shoesTessa in Playful PromisesTessa in Kiss Me Deadly and Fraulein KinkJess in Paolita and Natacha Marro shoesMiranda and Jess in Paolita and Natacha Marro and Fabulously Fetish shoesJess in Paolita and Natacha Marro shoes

Plus Playful Promises have just released one of the lookbook shots from AW12, which I shot recently in yet another beautiful location! This set of lingerie is called Dominique and will be available in April ;)