Playful Promises Circus Collection Lookbook

Hooray, another lookbook I can show off!

Normally with lookbooks I shoot them 6 months before I can actually show them, but in this case the production process was shorter.

Playful Promises is celebrating 10 years of making knickers, and to celebrate we created a limited edition Circus-inspired collection, made entirely in the UK. Check out our facebook page to read more!

This is not only one of my favourite lingerie collections to date, but I'm so pleased with the images we shot. As this collection is exclusive to our retail website, the images didn't need to be so commercial, so we were a little more creative, experimenting with lighting. 

I shot in what I'm going to describe as a secret location (you might see it crop up in another way later this year) with Miss Miranda, who did all her own makeup and hair. We actually shot all of this in about 4 hours, because we are awesome ;) 

Click on the photos to buy the extemely limited edition pieces!

 

 

We also shot some mix-and-match images of some of the other brands we carry.

These Past Months

Oh god, again I've managed not to update for ages. But I do have very good reason this time! 

Our wonderfully greedy landlady decided that after 4 years of being good tenants, requesting no maintenance and thus saving her lots of money, she would raise the rent by a ridiculous amount. Long story short, we had a stressful month to find a new place to move our copious amounts of belongings into (all during the busiest time of the year for me at work!). Luckily we found a lovely flat that doesn't have screaming neighbours and has been given a lick of paint since the 1970s, which also happens to be directly behind my office. 

I don't think you realise how bad a place was for you until you leave it, and the amount of stress that has exited my life since leaving the dingy old place behind is phenomenal. Plus, without the hour commute on public transport each day, I have much more time on my hands to spend doing what I want to do! Which should hopefully mean I spend more time writing this blog ;)

In the meantime, here's what I've been up to the past 2 months (sorry, it's a long one), via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

 

 

 Top Left - Yesterday Mark and I were booked to DJ at a beautiful wedding in Oxford. The only problem is that travelling in this current heat is killer! I went for a Summer look, and the colour theme for the wedding was purple/pink :)

Top Right - Testing out some new lipgloss I got from Etsy seller FierceMagenta. I tried a gold sample, but it didn't really shine until I covered it with Sugarpill's Goldilux pigment!

Bottom Left - A teal lipstick by FierceMagenta. I love this colour, and I blended the bottom with Goldilux too.

Bottom Right - Room Service is not only a fun night, but they have an awesome photographer too!

 

Top 2, Bottom Left - Getting messy at Room Service with Mark Charade, Le Pustra and Amelia Arsenic. Classy bitches ;)

Bottom Right - One of my FAVOURITE queen's from Ru Paul's Drag Race, Bianca del Rio, was performing in London at The Meth Lab. Of course we had to go, and had meet and greet tickets! If you know her, you'll know how witty and rude she is (the show was hilarious), but it was so refreshing to meet her in person and see how down to earth she is!

 

Top Left - Miss Miranda and I with Bianca del Rio; couldn't control my face at this point.

Top Right - What I wore! Finally busting out my gold hood which I bought months ago - I wanted to wear it for Bianca because she wears a similar one in the Sissy That Walk video (she got the reference ;) )

Bottom Left - Spider bling!

Bottom Right - Possibly crazy silly purchase but I'm totally in love with my new shoes from DollsKill

 

Top Left - Paris! My boss Emma and I went to Paris to exhibit our lingerie and clothing at the Who's Next tradeshow. When we got to Paris on the thursday it was a sweltering hot 37C! I can't actually remember if we went to the Eiffel Tower on this day or the day after, either way, it was still hot as the sun was setting. 

Top Right, Bottom Left - On the Saturday I had the afternoon off to go exploring, so I decided to go and see La Basilique du Sacré Cœur de Montmartre and the surrounding area. You aren't actually allowed to take photos inside the church, but um... I sinned. Oh, but to redeem yourself you can also put a euro in one of these hideously tacky machines! ;)

Bottom Right - Just before heading out to dinner. I cannot even begin to say how amazing French food is (they already know it anyway).

 

Top Left - I also managed to see this cute/creepy Museum of Magic and Museum of Automata. Unfortunately all the signs were in french :(

Top Right - Ridiculously beautiful art nouveau restaurant we went to on the last night. So, so stunning, and the food was amazing too.

Bottom Left - Obligatory Moulin Rouge photo.

Bottom Right - The trade show had a champagne sponsor, and allowed the exhibitors unlimited free champagne. I think it's safe to say I drank more champagne in those few days than I did all year. They must have gone through thousands of bottles (not just us!). It certainly made the 4 hour delayed Eurostar a little easier to deal with ;)

 

Top Left - Claw bling!

Top Right/Bottom Left - Mark and I (The Roustabouts) DJed at Soho House's Pride event, so I needed suitably big hair. Geisha Wigs had just sent me this fluffy blonde wig, which I cut a fringe into, and sprayed the top gold.

Bottom Right - Mark and I at The Meth Lab: Tammie Brown & Milk. I made a mistake wearing my moustache, because it's impossible to smile or laugh with it on! This totally didn't bode well when Tammie came out...

 

I had the awesome chance to work at IMATS on the Sugarpill booth! My lovely friend Amelia Arsenic was recently back in London and asked if I would like to work on the friday. I didn't realise that Irene would be there too, which was crazy awesome because I've known her online for something like 10 years! It was also really lovely to meet the Sugarpill creator, Shrinkle - she's so sweet!! 

Bottom Right - I don't think I've mentioned it on my blog yet, but you would have guessed from my social media elsewhere that I'm obsessed with the TV show Hannibal. I should probably make a separate post about it, but if you haven't watched it, DO IT. Well, my lovely boyfriend bought me the Red Dragon novel; it's actually completely different to the TV show, but they've taken bits and pieces and nods to the book. The show is more like a prequel to the book, as Lecter is already locked up when you meet him in Red Dragon.

 

Top Right - Adventures with gold leaf makeup!

Top Left - I always seem to pose the same way ;) This time I'm wearing some of Face Lace's new stick-on eyebrows. 

Bottom Row - My look for DJing the afterparty for The Black Cat Cabaret at the Wonderground. My corset and neckpiece are by Boom Boom Baby, who I highly recommend!

 

Top Row - My look for DJing at Torture Garden. I received this ridiculously amazing new lace front from Geisha Wigs, it makes me feel like a Jewish princess ;) I wanted to do something really different with my makeup, without just throwing shit all over my face! The gold bodysuit and fringed harness thing are both from Playful Promises circus collection.

Bottom Left - Packing to move, I was looking through my books. I love these old editions that belonged to my parents, and were the first copies I read of these books (which are among my favourites).

Bottom Right - Green and blue for DJing at Rumpus!

 

This Month In Pictures

Apologies for the lack of posts, and this very long post - this month has been SO busy. I didn't even realise how much I've done until I compiled this!

It's the time of year at work that I need to shoot all of our next season lookbooks AND prepare for the tradeshows in July - August. So I've been working very hard, and will continue to until mid/late july, when I'll go back to just working hard ;)

Anyway, all I can give you for now is my month in photos, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

 

Top Row - My look for DJing last night at A Curious Invitation. It was a Spring Ball, so I went with some kind of spring mermaid look - fashioning a crown out of some pieces I had lying around. 

Bottom Row - Last week I shot the SS'15 lookbook for Playful Promises with Miss Miranda and a model called Laura B (Body London). Shooting is always a bit stressful, but we had a great team and had fun while we worked! The location that I had scouted had some really interesting pieces, although this table (right) was the creepiest thing I've ever seen! 

 

Top Row - A lighter flapper look for DJing at White Mischief. I found the beaded headpiece in a vintage shop in Penzance, and I wore a mixture of Ell & Cee, Nearer the Moon and American Apparel!

Bottom Left - A quick afternoon shoot with Miss Miranda wearing an amazing design by Bibian Blue! This was just a back of camera shot :D

Bottom Right - I am LOVING my new orange wig! Orange was the first colour wig I bought 5 years ago, but I find this length a lot easier to wear out (longer wigs tend to feel too hot for me). This was shortly before going to dj at The Aeronaut!

 

Top Row - Shooting some new promo pictures for a new club we (The Roustabouts) will be launching. We've rescheduled the launch until late-summer so I'll be sitting on these photos for a while, but at least we have selfies ;)

Bottom Left - On a warm day we went just up the road to Egg to DJ at the Gold Diggers garden party. The dress code was gold, which is pretty much my thing. 

Bottom Right - Max Deviant caught us mid-dj set. This is how I look without filters.

 

Top Left - Mark Charade and I before going to The Meth Lab to see Manilla Luzon!

Top Right - The first of the lookbooks I shot this month! Miss Miranda for Playful Promises Circus Collection, which is going to be released very very soon, and I'm so pleased with the photos.

Bottom Row - I shot with 3 lovely ladies; Betsy Rose, Missy Fatale and Jolie Papillon. Betsy brought along the gorgeous little Freida (left) and Missy brought her snake Fredrik! I've never held a snake before, so it was an... interesting experience. Luckily I'm not scared of them!

 

I went along to a show my boyfriend, Mark Charade, was putting on called 3 Serpent Circus. I'd just recieved a brand new made-to-measure corset and neckpiece from the wonderful Boom Boom Baby, and co-ordinated it with a new teal and blue ombre wig. It was a fun night with friends both in the audience and on the line-up! Bottom Left is me derping around with Lydia Darling, who I actually work with during the week too (although we don't tend to look like that in the office :P)

 

Top Left - I went down to Cornwall for a week to visit my parents and have a little break from London. I took this on my last evening, just before sunset.

Top Right - I love George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic!

Bottom Left - Beautiful garden in one of my favourite shops in St. Ives

Bottom Right - Just before leaving London, going for some Targaryen realness at Soho House in my Black Milk skirt.

 

Top Left - Awesome cocktails at Trapeze Bar

Top Right - I shot with the wonderful Jackie Le, who not only performs aerial at The Aeronaut, but books all the rest of the performers for the show as well. I'll be posting these shots up very soon (they are currently on my facebook page), but here's a preview of the styling I worked on for these images! 

Bottom Left - Jackie Le in one of the looks we shot that day!

Bottom Right - Another Soho House mirror shot (they have great selfie mirrors!) wearing black and gold.