A little lingerie in Athens!

I return after another long absence!
Well summer has really been passing by so quickly and what a summer! I must say after the Queen's Jubilee in June and the London Olympics in July/August, I'm feeling quite proud to be British even if I am based in France!

Despite a busy summer for me I have found a little time for a new post. My current blog neglect has been due to working with a Greek brand called Venus Victoria who sell lingerie and loungewear. They have been really fun products to work on and the video below gives a little glimpse of the Summer 2012 collection.....enjoy!

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Fraulein Annie Retro Swims!!

We're officially into May and that means summer is really not far away at all! Which means only one thing for me and that is 'how soon can I get to a beach?'

More importantly, what am I going to be wearing once I get there?!

I mentioned a while back about Frauke Nagel's new lingerie brand Fraulein Annie here, and for summer she has created the most gorgeous retro style swimwear!

Featuring a 1920's reversible sailor print and using 1950's shapes, the collection is available to suit any body shape whether you need to hide a little here or accentuate a lot more there!

Some of the styles are featured on Modcloth where you can buy them to get that perfect Pin-up girl look on the beach or by the pool.

(Buy triangle top here)
(Buy balconette top here)
(Buy high waist shorts here)




She's created a great video to promote the swimwear, featuring The Spinettes, a London based singing group with a retro 40's/50's vibe! Check it out below....!!

What will you be wearing at the beach this summer?!

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Venice carnival - amazing creativity!

I'm guilty of blog neglect again I'm afraid.
I have so much to blog about but never seem to find the time. So here is a post about Venice Carnival (yes it happened back in February and should really have been a February post, but hey, better late than never!)

It was an incredible carnival and was the first time for me so I was blown away by the creative designs of the costumes there! Many people create their costumes themselves and can spend days if not weeks making them. There were so many incredible ideas I would love to have posted all the outfits I captured on camera. But I took over 100 so I'm forced to edit!!

Enjoy the below....

These ladies all look like they stepped out of 1700 - just the mobile phone and camera that gives it away ;)

Showstopping fire-engine red!

Pierrot the clown inspiration

Chic in monochrome

Silvery and futuristic

Loving the Geisha Girl!

The whole family got involved with these outfits where mum, dad and kids were coordinated

Love this Van Gogh inspired outfit!

Window display

And a few of Venice itself in all its beauty. Couldn't resist pictures and pictures of the characteristic bridges.

The nightlife in Venice was great, Carnival season is one of the few events of the year where Italians go completely crazy and, boy, do Venetians know how to party!

Despite being Italian, the guy on the left makes me think of Lord Nelson - must be the Union Jack flag above him! And the bar in the photo on the right does indeed have lots of bras hanging from the ceiling, in case you were wondering!  

And after all that photo taking and walking the streets, a good Italian coffee and a dolce was needed!

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Lingerie love for Gilda & Pearl

I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago for a lingerie exhibition and discovered this beautiful brand while I was there. Gilda & Pearl is a gorgeous UK brand that was created in 2008 by lingerie designer Diane Houston. She named it Gilda & Pearl after taking inspiration from some of her favourite passions. Gilda is the Rita Hayworth character from the 1946 film of the same name, and pearl refers to "something which is exquisitely beautiful to look at, never mass produced". The result is stunning.

The brand has the right balance of old school glamour combined with what every modern lingerie-loving girl would want from her smalls. Personally I am a big lover of eyelash lace and it's here in abundance in the Gilda & Pearl collection.










The brand is also available as made-to-order so no mass-manufactured knickers here!

The website is stunning too with some truly gorgeous photographs to accompany each style as you can see from the ones I've posted here.

Enjoy the photos and perhaps get some inspiration for Valentine's day....?


                           http://www.gildapearl.co.uk

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Minx Bikini - time for a new bikini?

Ok. So in most of Europe it's perhaps a little cold to think of buying bikinis right now, but it's certainly worth checking out this site for your future shopping reference! Especially as Minx have a fantastic competition to win a trip to South Africa later this year!

In summer last year, I was a Design Consultant for Minx Bikini, who are a young husband and wife team, helping them to develop their first collection ready for the launch. They are based in Cape Town and all their production is locally manufactured hence giving back to the local community by creating jobs for previously disadvantaged South Africans. Therefore all the bikinis are hand-finished by accomplished local artisans ensuring their high quality.

It's great to see their business take off, I think 2012 will be a big year for them!

Check out the styles below and their website at www.myminx.com

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Victoria's Secret catwalk show

The 10th November was the date for the Victoria's Secret annual lingerie catwalk show, which was a super glamorous affair as always. With all the favourite supermodels, including Alessandra Ambrosio, Miranda Kerr and Candice Swanepoel, as well as music from Maroon 5 and JayZ and of course a $2.5 million bra to be showcased, it will surely be one to watch when it's aired on CBS network in the US on the 29th November.

You can watch the show on the 29th on the VS website, but I thought I'd post my favourites from the show below! Enjoy!

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Minx Bikini

It's been pretty busy again for me over the past few weeks, but I thought I would resurface in the Bloggersphere to give a little update on a recent project!

Over summer, I was a Design Consultant for a new sexy bikini brand called Minx Bikini, details to come soon as they are still in the process of launching but they are definitely one to watch!

See the below video for a sneak preview on some of the collection which had its first photoshoot on a beautiful beach not far from Cape Town, South Africa.....

More details to follow soon....!!

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x