Last week I headed on down to the Casting Couch to do some pictures of our new 1940s Blackout range (due for retail launch at The War and Peace Show). I'm going to keep the pics under wraps for the moment, but here's a pic of Miss Miranda who popped in to say hello and was swiftly stripped of her dress and put into our new long sheer gloves. We've had lots of requests for them and Richard finally managed to find a supplier last month (unfortunately as we don't actually make them they're not available to stockists).

Last Sunday evening saw the first ever Ministry of Burlesque Awards take place at the Pigalle Club in London. We've been working really hard over the last few months and felt we deserved a good night out so myself, wholesale manager Richard, mail order manager Gina and designer Emma headed into the big smoke where we were joined by photographer Tony Rusecki.

The winners (me bottom left)

I have to say I was rather annoyed when the award categories first went up as there seemed to be no category for us! However we found ourselves up for an award as best costume designers and were up against some very stiff competition which meant that we could get on with having a good time as we didn't have to worry about winning anything. Until we did - and I had to stagger up to the stage for the award (I should have really sent Richard up as he was the designated driver of the evening but I wasn't thinking that quickly). So there we go, our first ever award! It's taken pride of place in our showroom.

The evening was rather lively and it was great to meet people we'd 'virtually' worked with over the year in real life - including Missy Malone, the Hurly Burly girls, as well as people we hadn't seen for ages like Lucifire (who won two awards which is a good job as she broke her first one within minutes of receiving it).

I didn't manage to thank everyone at the awards so I'd like to thank Kittie and James from the Ministry of Burlesque here. They really did put on a great show and brought everyone together for a great night out. Lot of pics can be found here, and a list of the winners here.