Hi Everyone!  My name is Liz and I’m from Elizabeth Kristin Photography. Thank you to The Lingerie Post for asking me to be their guest blogger today!  I am so excited and so honored!  Ever since I discovered The Lingerie Post, I have been addicted!  What an amazing resource for all of your lingerie needs and trends!

Just a little background on me:  I started my own photography company almost a year ago.  I’m based on Long Island, but travel to all of the Tri-State area.  I started out primarily photographing newborn, children, family, and engagement portraits.  A few months ago, a client of mine approached me about doing a boudoir session for her.  It wasn’t something that I had done before – but I’m always up for something new, and had been interested in this type of photography, so I gladly obliged.

You may be asking yourself, “What exactly is Boudoir Photography?”  Well, Boudoir photography is generally a type of photography that captures intimate, beautiful, sensual, sexy pictures of women.  Sometimes, but not always, the subject is wearing beautiful lingerie.

Prior to the boudoir session that I mentioned above, I did tons of research.  I researched everything from different poses, styles, lighting, and post-processing.  I actually even tortured my own husband with a trip to home depot and the local fabric store to make my own headboard to make a bedroom scene for my in-home studio…in the middle of a nasty snowstorm…ooops!

So, when the day came for the shoot, I was super excited.  My client arrived and we headed into the studio.  We toasted our bravery with champagne, put on some music and got started.  With all of my shoots, not only my boudoir sessions (but especially my boudoir sessions), it is extremely important to me that my clients feel comfortable.  I had worked with this client before, so our conversation was easy and free-flowing.  We went over her outfits, accessories and shoes, and picked outfits that complimented her.  I always try to find ways to make my clients feel at ease – by making small talk, or, when I’m working with children, making them smile by making silly faces or asking them about their favorite television show.  We got into a groove and started shooting.  Two hours later, I fell head over heels in love with this type of photography.

A few days later, I found out about a seminar through a colleague of mine that focused on lighting and boudoir photography.  I immediately signed up.  The seminar was amazing – there were boudoir photographers and lighting professionals there as well as two live models.  We each had our turn posing the models and taking pictures.  It furthered my passion for this type of photography.

Every boudoir client that I have always raves about how much fun their session has been.  I constantly hear things such as, “I’ve never felt prettier or sexier.”  As a woman, I know how important it is to feel good about yourself.  It is honestly such an honor to be directly involved with something that empowers women and raises their level of self-esteem.  You’d be surprised at how many women are doing this for themselves, as well as doing it as a gift for their fiancés, husbands, or significant others.  Feeling like you could use a little boost?  Book a boudoir session for yourself today!  I guarantee that you’ll walk away feeling like a million bucks!

Hailed as a boudoir brand, Les Jupons de Tess is known for creating lingerie that is inspired by 18^th century elegance and style. See below several looks from the spring collection and check back later for a preview of the fall/winter 2010/11 collection they launched at the recent Paris trade show!

Photos: Les Jupons de Tess

Taking inspiration from vintage romanticism and moonlit seduction, Ma Mignonnette celebrates an old-world love for opulence and elegant craftsmanship. Pieces are hand-finished in England from materials that both look and feel exquisite: sensuous silks are adorned with ribbons, lace and Swarovski crystals. Collections rise from spellbound tales of enthralled lovers and midnight witchery. Packages are wrapped with a hand-written love spell and crystal charm to inspire boudoir magic. The Show Pony range is the first reveal from the launch collection ‘Nights at the Circus’, which will follow later in the year.

Ma Mignonnette lingerie enhances the body’s contours, just as undergarments from yesteryear were intended. Bras are sculpted to reveal busts at their fullest, whilst knickers sit low and are cut to make the bottom appear as pert as possible. Additionally, pieces have been crafted to be stepped in and shimmied out of with perfect grace (using discreet fasteners), whether there is an audience in the boudoir or not.

The Show Pony range tells the tale of a delicious coquette teasing to be unwrapped. Based on the dazzling girl on the pony paraded round the circus ring, she is a starlet who revels in her own beauty. The range is made of dusky pink veils adorned with intricate trimming, revealing ballerina pink hearts and ruffles.

Joon Haque, Ma Mignonnette Founder, comments: “This is a challenging time to launch a high-end brand, but people have been forced to become more discerning about the quality of products they indulge in. If women are going to treat themselves, they want the ultimate luxury and something to make them feel ravishing, which is exactly what Ma Mignonnette delivers. Our lingerie has been made for women to fall in love with themselves and this sentiment is behind everything we do. We’re looking forward to launching the rest of our first collection later in the year, as well as the events and projects we have planned for the future.”

More info and shopping on mamignonnette.com!

The lingerie pieces have a very Victorian, baroque feel with rich satins, deep blacks, ruffles and silk. They are seductive, mysterious and somehow fun at the same time. How can you go wrong with names like Sex Bomb, Slice of Heaven, Love in Mist, Happy Frillmore and Shake a Tailfeather??

Her pieces are sold in exclusive boutiques in UK, United States, Paris, Rome, Singapore and Australasia.

See below for photos of each exquisite piece.  Don’t worry.  You still have a few months to side exactly what you want.  In the meantime, drool over these!

The Maison Close brand was founded in 2007 on a booming naughty chic lingerie market. Between the American pin-up and Anglo-Saxon glamour movements and the boudoir spirit of French high-end lingerie, the brand was able to forge its own powerful identity by taking a new contemporary look at “Art Nouveau” and “Belle Époque” references, periods during which the search for voluptuousness was almost a religion. From the colour code (black, purple and gold) to the graphic charter (typography, miniatures) which can be found in every model, including the packaging to which particular attention is paid, every effort is made to ensure that the underwear and accessories in the box become an object of desire to give to that someone special, or to treat yourself to. The terminology the label has chosen plays on highly suggestive words. Each collection is named after the name of an imaginary brothel (“Villa Miel”, “Perroquet Bleu”, “Villa Satine”). As for the models, they incorporate the names of various ladies of the evening. “Flore”, “Louisa”, “Jade”, all temptresses who in their delicate finery delight the house host, Mr Le Français. As for the accessories, their name is a humorous definition of the saucy scenarios which everybody can imagine for themselves: “Le plaisir aveugle” for a satin domino mask, “Les suivez-moi jeune homme” for lace hand ties, “La petite leçon“ for a spanking ruler – but the rules of the game are up to you.

Maison Close develops mid-range collections to ensure that stylised products in beautiful materials are affordable for all women. Democratization does not however mean vulgarization. Right from the outset, everything has been focused on ensuring that the products convey delicate eroticism. Maison Close ensures that it does not play into the hands of seasonal fashion by each year going back to some of the timeless symbols of seduction (the basque, the corset, the bustier, sheath skirt, suspender belt) and by innovating with products which are more linked to behavioral changes rather than the effects of fashion (crotchless panties, etc).

Maison Close designed “Flore, Louisa & Jade”, 3 feminine evocations and 3 ways of approaching sensuality.

Flore is a seductress. Whether she is wearing a sumptuous bodysuit or pretty panties and a bra decorated with the famous Maison Close tassel, she plays ith this clever overlap of iridescent (the key word in this collection) netting which reveals carnal glimpses which are waiting to be opened further.

Louisa is the mistress of the game Dressed in her corset or her bra and zip panties, she adopts a conquering pose in order to better dictate the rules for her abandonment. These highly structured pieces open onto a paradise that is anything but artificial.

Jade, the tender innocent who completes the trio? She looks as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth in her pencil skirt, satin and lace bustier and little garter. But what of the charming little choker which in fact hides the wildest panty harness imaginable?

I realize this is A LOT of information – but luckily – the photos and the video (below!) speak for themselves. This really is a lingerie collection created for the bedroom and the boudoir, and I’m very impressed with the label as a whole. More information is on maison-close.com!

Click here to view the embedded video.

S/S 09 also sees the arrival of the underwire bra. A new structured addition to the usual softness so often associated with the brand.

I just love it. Ell & Cee seems to be making this extraordinary romance a huge part of their brand – and they’re making it work perfectly!

Photos courtesy of www.ellandcee.co.uk.

Images of Gabrielle for Mark Black. Make up by Diane Zabardi.

Besides the chokers, Katvoodoo also makes really intriguing masks. Also made of latex, these masks reveal more than a costume mask, but are more than adequate to transform you from kitten to vixen in the boudoir.

Images from Katvoodoo and Fred Kyrel.

The chokers can provide high theatre looks to a plain corset top and are a nice way to reflect you lingerie details in jewelry.

Images from Mark Black with make up by Diane Zabardi.

You can pick up these pieces from Gothic Shop, Nocturnis, and Sophie Libertine.

Bestow has a meticulous selection of luxurious items in 4 different categories: “Ladies“, “Gents“, “Home” and “Occasions“. In the “Ladies” category, Bestow has a surprisingly large selection of luxurious intimate apparel including TLP-loved labels such as Honeydew Intimates, Fifi Chachnil, Janet Reger, Kumi Kookoon, Playful Promises, & Mary Green.

They won’t win any price wars, but the selection alone justifies giving bestowboutique.com a visit!

Madame Sera is an antique furniture archaeologist. She finds eccentrically beautiful antique furniture. She restores and transforms them into captivating boudoir pieces. Madame Sera is based in the UK, she doesn’t directly sell over the internet. Her client list includes Boy George, Kate Moss, Liam Gallagher, and more. To order please call Madame Sera on 07977534115. See these pieces here (Wicker chair, single boudoir chair).

Decodame specializes in mid-century pieces, typically with a sense of modernism. These boudoir armchairs are a beautiful example of art nouveau. One of the chairs is period, the other is a modern copy to make the pair of chairs. They have been refinished and dressed in new black silk upholstery. Find them here for $9800 US for the pair.

Venfield was derived from the names of its two founders, Greg Ventra and Mark Field. Greg and Mark worked in fashion and then partnered to begin Venfield which specializes in antiques and interior design. They currently have these 1930s art deco slipper chairs for the boudoir. They are in diamond blue silk and are also $9800 US for the pair. Find them here.

The art museum of Arizona State University is showing this interesting piece from Christine LoFaso. It is a boudoir chair from the 1950s that the artist has updated. Find it here.