Interviewed by Helen
What Katie Did should be your first stop when looking for vintage-style undergarments with echoes of the 40s and 50s – either a bullet bra and foundation wear to give your vintage-style dress the perfect line, or corsets and stockings to tease your other half or a whole burlesque audience. And it’s likely that the underwear you see on the ladies in Pin-Up Parade's galleries is by What Katie Did.
Katie Halford has been into the 1950s since her mid-teens. “It was the mid 1980s and there was a strong 1950s influence in fashion at that time. Then came the 25th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death. That's when I started to get into 1950s style, although at this point my style was rather darker - '50s goth if there is such a thing.” She also started to make her own clothes, “but I do have a love/hate relationship with my sewing machine and am very impatient. It needs to be something very quick and easy for me to make it myself!” After university, Katie started to work at Skin Two Retail, a fetish shop in London, “and that's when I discovered Bettie Page. Everyone loved Bettie at Skin Two! Dita Von Teese had just started appearing in magazines such as Marquis and I always loved the way she presented herself.” And Skin Two was a great experience for Katie “as it taught me you didn't have to conform to get on, and it also gave me great training for when I set up What Katie Did as I had first hand experience in a small fashion company.” Working at Skin Two influenced Katie’s love of corsets and foundation wear, as well as introducing her to fully-fashioned stockings, rather than simply seamed stockings, and the iconic bullet bra.
Katie started What Katie Did initially selling just stockings – for her own purposes, really, as she wears them on a daily basis and has never been one for trousers. “When I went on field trips in school I used to take a note from my mother to say 'Katie does not wear trousers'. I don't know where it came from but I've never been keen on them! I keep thinking about getting some Freddies of Pinewood jeans but have not plucked up the courage yet!” She named her business after the children’s novel by Susan Coolidge, “a book my Grandmother bought me when I was little.” She was advised that the name “couldn't be anything too fetishy, as if the shop wanted to change direction it would be difficult. When I started What Katie Did we just did stockings, and a few other companies, including Silk Stocking and Stockings HQ, also started around the same time. Choosing What Katie Did has allowed the company to go in whichever direction we wanted.” Indeed, What Katie Did expanded to underwear, corsets, shapewear, and then 'wardrobe' items such as long gloves, skirts and boleros, gypsy tops, pasties and fascinators, swimwear, garters and even parasols.
And so what is the allure of stockings? “They are a luxury item. No one needs to wear stockings today, it's purely your choice, and if you do wear them it says a lot about your personal style.” When Katie first encountered fully-fashioned stockings at Skin Two, “I really couldn't understand why anyone would spend so much on something that would only last one night - or would have, at that point in my life.” Katie’s favourite stocking? “My favourite heel type is Havana, and my favourite colour is nude with a black seam.”
I myself first came across What Katie Did when a friend of mine recommended them as a place I could buy a bullet bra from. Not wanting to go into an old ladies’ shop (I wasn’t even sure if I’d find any there), I was ecstatic to find What Katie Did, and to see that there were bullet bras in an abundance of glamorous satins. Although Katie had been a fan of 50s fashion for several years, it was at Skin Two that she encountered someone wearing a bullet bra. “Their mail order manager, Michelle, always used to wear vintage longline bras with pointy cups. She told me that when you took them off your breasts stayed pointy for a while afterwards - I was so disappointed when I found out it wasn't true!”
“When What Katie Did started selling lingerie, we were importing most of it from the USA. I knew there was a factory somewhere making bullet bras, and really wanted to stock them as they are an iconic 1950s piece. I think the fact that it was so hard to track the factory down made me even more determined to do so. It turned into a bit of an obsession for a while.” Now that most women cling almost susperstitiously to underwired cups, it’s interesting that the bullet bra maintains shape and support entirely from how it’s cut, and its use of non-stretch elastic. Not even the spiral stitching plays a part. “I really think it's more to do with decoration than anything.”
Katie has often been interviewed by the press about shapewear, where she is called upon to explain that it’s all a rather clever way of skimming the figure, something that a couple of generations of women have lost out on when feminism made shapewear seem like a dirty word. “Skin Two is to blame for everything - even my addition to shapewear. Skin Two specialise in rubber clothing which is incredible for shaping the body and accentuating curves. Unfortunately it's not that practical for everyday wear, so I started looking at vintage girdles instead.” In 2008, What Katie Did launched the Glamour shapewear range. Glamour is certainly an apt name – whereas the Rago shapewear previously stocked by What Katie Did were good at flattening, honing and nipping where required, the Glamour range is far more glamorous with its use of satins, both in black and the soft, pretty and thoroughly vintage peach.
Looking at What Katie Did’s range of corsets is like gazing at a box of luxury sweets, with the interplay of pretty fabrics and colours, and different shapes. Katie’s interest in corsets began at Skin Two. “When I was at Skin Two there were only two main corset companies in the UK: Axfords and Vollers, and I built up quite a collection of both! Velda Lauder had also just launched her Warrior collection which really inspired me but her girls were fierce and there was no way I felt cool enough to wear a Velda Lauder corset. I love the way corsets dramatically change the body shape and although they might not be the most comfortable item of clothing - I always wanted them tighter! - they're the easiest way to add drama to an outfit.” Katie’s favourite corset is the new underbust, Baby. “I used to wear a little 7" nipper as a daily corset over 10 years ago but to tell you the truth is didn't give a very good shape as there wasn't enough curve cut into it. Baby is rather selfish as it was designed with myself in mind, but it does give a great curve, and being narrow makes it comfortable enough for everyday wear.”
Although it might seem a bit boring to ask where people’s ideas come from, I asked Katie anyway. “You can never tell where inspiration will come from. I'm an avid reader of fashion magazines and books, both past and present, and can just as easily be inspired by something modern as something vintage. Luckily I have a very good relationship with the factories we work with and after several years of working together they really understand what I'm trying to acheive. Recently I had the idea of doing a cheap credit crunch bra and calling it CC09, after the CC41 utility wear of the 1940s. Our factory actually turned up an old '40s pattern for me and we've worked together on developing the bra. Unfortunately it's not going to be cheap credit crunch bar anymore, but it will be a beautiful authentic 1940s bra.” Along with new rayon stockings and stretch nylon fully-fashioned stockings, the CC09 range is going to be in-demand with re-enactment fans as well as anyone in love with the glamour of that decade.
The look of the What Katie Did site is refreshing when most lingerie sites are either bland and practical or, frankly, a wee bit seedy. What Katie Did draws on pin-up style, so it's a bit cheeky, but glamorous. “Working with 1950s style lingerie it was obvious that we needed to work with 1950s style models and luckily they all approached me. Firstly we worked with Jamie Deadly, then Bernie Dexter (who was actually a customer first!). Things really took off when we teamed up with Tony Nylons in early 2006. He's as obsessed with detail as we are and as we're all into the 1940s and 1950s I think we really take the styling for granted. Tony moved upstairs from Nina's Vintage Hair Parlour last year and now we really are spoilt!”
With many burlesque routines relying on stockings, corsetry and a vintage sheen, inevitably What Katie Did became caught up in it, but by accident. “Burlesque did catch me unawares. I never classed us as 'burlesque' and in the early days didn't use the word 'burlesque' on the website in case I was accused of jumping on the bandwagon. It wasn't until we won 'Burlesque Costumier of the Year' in 2007 at the Ministry of Burlesque awards that I thought maybe it was okay to use the 'b' word.”
From being a purely online enterprise, in 2006 What Katie Did opened a boutique in Portobello, London, where not only can customers buy things, but there are varous soirees involving pastie and fascinator classes and hair and make-up workshops, as well as launches for new ranges and even Tony Nylons’ pin-up playing cards. “Having a shop has always been a dream. I didn't open it to make a lot of money, but felt it was important to have a presence in London and get direct feedback from customers. The shop has exceeded expectations and it is nice to have a little home from home. I have to say we do like our fairy cakes at the boutique and need little excuse to have a party.”
As well as the shop, What Katie Did has stalls at various events where potential customers might lurk, such as the Hemsby rockabilly weekender, Rhythm Riot, the War & Peace military vehicle and re-enactment festival and classic car show Goodwood Revival. Katie and her boyfriend Richard (who also doubles as wholesale manager) “have been going to weekenders like the Rhythm Riot for years and although it's fun to have a stand, you do miss out a bit on the social side. Some of the other stall holders go out until 3 in the morning but we just can't do it. War & Peace is a really enjoyable show to do as it goes on for nearly a week and is so big if you go for a day you only see a tiny part of it. As it's a slower show it gives us chance to hang out more and enjoy everything. We put off doing the Goodwood Revival for several years as we enjoyed going as spectators too much. As we're there for 3 days we do get a chance to see some of the action and don't feel like we miss out. Believe it or not, we never really make much money at shows. We see it as more of a promotional thing, and if we're going to be at an event anyway we may as well open up shop.”
Although What Katie Did’s products might seen incredibly niche, they do pop up in mainstream media – be it fashion magaznes like Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire or Look, taking over the Sunday Times ‘Style’ section or appearing in newspapers like The Sun or sauntering about on This Morning, or, perhaps most bizarrely, being sported by the dancers in a performance by London’s Royal Ballet. They’ve appeared in Classic & Sportscar magazine. “The editor is a hotrodder like Richard and has slipped us in there a couple of times. We're probably responsible for turning up in the strangest places though - the first time we did a military show, our little pink stand surrounded by tanks and mud I really did think we were crazy.”
And so – What Will Katie Do Next? “Despite the economic downturn we're as busy as ever so we don't really have much time to worry about future plans, other than working 12 months ahead on collections - and boy, do we have some goodies lined up!”
The What Katie Did boutique is at 26 Portobello Green, 281 Portobello Road, London, W10 5TZ. Telephone 0845 430 8943
Photos by Tony Nylons www.thecastingcouch.biz.