Tag: a collection of female attire

The Collection: Stockings & Socks
#31- #33

Post author By Leah
Post date April 25, 2015
No Comments on The Collection: Stockings & Socks
#31- #33

(Please note: This is the “archive” of the collection of shoot props (generally lingerie/womens attire somehow) that I have gathered over the last 11 years of my career.
They are catalogued by number, and description for now as well as any other relevant information about their individual histories- how I came to have the items, what shoots they might have been used for, etc.
The style in which I document an item may vary according to the type of garment/object it is).

#31 – Knee-high socks
Knee-high cotton blend mens sports socks, sprayed green. I think I eventually found these at SportsUnlimited in Canal Walk after a mammoth search for any sock-style knee highs.
I was doing the pre-production for my first (!) Playboy Playmate shoot. The shoot was Rugby World Cup themed (all gold and green) and planned to be published in the September 2011 issue.

I found white socks a day before the shoot and asked the friend who was assisting me at the stadium to spray paint them green. I wouldn’t recommend this technique as they’re totally patchy- but it was the best solution at the time. Included is one of the published images from the locker rooms in the Cape Town stadium where we shot with Jade Fairbrother as Miss September.

#32 – Stockings
Thigh-high, black fishnet stockings, one size fits all. There’s this term “one size fits all” which would typically get attached to a mass-produced product like this and all it does in most cases (where the item doesn’t fit you) is leave women feeling inadequate I always think.

#33 – Knee-high stockings
Stripped semi-opaque and transparent, red knee high stockings. I bought two pairs in red and two pairs in fuchsia pink from a stocking factory shop in Woodstock years back.

Tags a collection of female attire, a collection of underwear, black fishnet stockings, cape town photography, feet, jade fairbrother, leah hawker, Leah Hawker cape town photographer, Leah Hawker photography, legs, one size fits all, playboy south africa, playboysouthafrica, Playmate shoot, red knee high stockings, rugby world cup 2011

The Collection: Panties
#11- #14

Post author By Leah
Post date February 8, 2015
No Comments on The Collection: Panties
#11- #14

(Please note: This is the “archive” of the collection of shoot props (generally lingerie/womens attire somehow) that I have gathered over the last 11 years of my career.
They are catalogued by number, and description for now as well as any other relevant information about their individual histories- how I came to have the items, what shoots they might have been used for, etc.
The style in which I document an item may vary according to the type of garment/object it is).

#11 – Panties.
Small aqua/teal satin thong with black lace detail from WonderBra. Picked these tiny ones up at the underwear factory shop in Brickfield Road, Woodstock a good 7-8 years ago, they are yet to be used in a shoot. They come from this “era” where knickers sit super low rise, both front and back, and so the length of the thong is comparatively shorter then the length of the strap which goes around the hips. Surprisingly, these have been manufactured in South Africa.

#12 – Panties.
Baby-pink with black pinstripe, size medium boy-short style knickers with black lace frill and bow. A gift from my sister after a business trip to Italy. They weren’t quite my style so I added them to the collection where they’ve been for the last decade…

#13 – Panties (pair 1 of 2 (item #159))
Fuchsia pink satin back & stretch mesh front with black trimmings and embroidery “Kiss me…” on the backside. Playful Promises design label,London. Size large. These came as samples in a shipment my partner received for his online shop passionfruit.co.za, there are 2 pairs of these in my collection (the second documented at a later stage for the collection). I had thought they were just random cheapies but it turns out, after some investigation, that they come from a UK based lingerie designer who stocks some pretty great stuff on their online store, look here.

#14 – Panties
Orange lace with grey bubble-dot-printed stretch mesh, boy-leg cut panties from HipHop, South Africa, small-medium. Why anyone would put these two textiles, let alone colours, together, beats me. These boy-short knickers were in the bag of passing-these-on’s from a friend (same as panties #8). They are well made, most likely manufactured for HipHop by a CMT in Cape Town.

Tags a collection of female attire, a collection of knickers, a collection of lingerie, low-rise thing, made in South Africa, manufactured in south africa, panties collection, pink satin panties, underwear made in south africa, wonder bra knickers

A Collection of Female Attire

The Collection: Panties
#8 – #10

Post author By Leah
Post date January 31, 2015
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#8 – #10

#8 – Panties.
Small acid yellow La Senza thong. A friend messaged me and asked if I wanted a bag of her old-but-never-worn or old-and-worn-once-or-twice knickers to add to the collection. She was, I think, eradicating undies from a previous relationship. I think women tie sentimentality to objects like this.

#9 – Panties.
Red, tassled, Made In China, thong, Size Small. Another cheap China shop find under the Golden Acre in Adderly Street, Cape Town. Also never used for a shoot but mostly because they are terribly badly made and would unravel if actually tried on.

We discussed this pair briefly in studio and couldn’t quite decide what was intended with the lacey-non-gusset type area…
I bought them purely because they were a marvel. Somebody had to decide to manufacture this product in mass, somebody designed it and someone else decided to ship it to Cape Town… I think I paid R3 for them in 2005.

#10 – Panties.
Chiffon, pink/tan/brown ruffled Mr. Price bikini-cut panties. Size medium. About 7-8yrs ago these were on sale at Mr.Price for R9.99 and I bought about 6 pairs in differing sizes and shades. I don’t think I’ve ever shot with them but think they will have their moment of glory since they are just so great. They remind me a bit of Ellen Von Unwerth’s grainy early work in B&W.

Tags a collection of female attire, a collection of knickers, a collection of lingerie, knickers, la sensa underwear, MrPrice panties, panties, south african underwear, south african women underwear, women underwear, women underwear south africa

A Collection of Female Attire

The Collection: Panties
#4 – #7

Post author By Leah
Post date January 27, 2015
No Comments on The Collection: Panties
#4 – #7

#4 – Panties.
Black, pretty minimalist, Made In China, size small thong with lace heart detail. I found this wacky, tiny pair at a Chinese shop underneath the Golden Acre in Cape Town, that strange shopping labyrinth which dives below ground near the train station. Bought in about 2005, a bunch of them were used as funny gifts at a Chinese themed girls-only dinner party I threw and the rest made their way into the collection. Mostly they are all too flimsy or random to ever have graced a shoot thus far.

#5 – Panties.
French designer Simone Perele, super high waisted, tan colored, panties. Sized XS and incorporating mesh side panels. My colleagues give them a 9.5 for granny-ness, but they also admit (with their heads cocked to one side) that they have potential and that the side panels is what makes them. I bought them on a sale for a Playboy shoot but never used them.

#6 – Panties.
Pink thong, size S, Womens Secret, Rose bud detail, cotton. I bought these for the Playboy Miss July Playmate shoot I did of Leonie Valentine in 2013. It was the last shoot I did with the brand and was rushed out before I went to Europe on a job.

I think I shot and delivered the photographs in a record time of two days and thus they are far from my best work sadly. Included is one of the images where I used the panties.

#7 – Panties.
Hot-pink, satin and lace, low-rise, pantie-shorts with slit and bedazzlement on the left hip. Size M, La Senza. These have been with me for a while. I think I only ever used them on one shoot (the included project with Lexi and the candy floss shot in my studio some years back), however the knickers have gone with me as a shoot option to dozens of sets and just sit there looking showy.

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