Frederick's of Hollywood Blog

It’s the last day of our Black Lingerie Celebration–can you believe it? It’s been a whirlwind, but we’ve had such a blast, and we hope you have, too. And we thought we’d really go out big with the final installment in our Black Lingerie Blogger Challenge! Just to remind you, we asked three of the West Coast’s blogging superstars to use their incredible style sense to create amazing looks with some of our key pieces. The results were more spectacular than we could have imagined!

BFF’s Leah Ashley and Mary Darling created Fabulous on a Budget while they were both students at the Los Angeles Fashion Institute. The girls firmly believe that everyone can live “La Dolce Vita on a Dime,” and set out to spread their message to the fashion world. And their vision was more than well-received as the blogger besties have been featured on The Style Channel, HGTV, Discovery Networks, LACMA Home & Garden Tour, KTLA and Glamour.com.

The Fab girls’ choices for the challenge included our classic satin cami and tap pant, spring’s lacy longline bra and our personal favorite–the point d’esprit and mesh chemise! You can see the unique spin these free-spirited fashionistas gave to our lingerie pieces, pairing them with eye-catching statement jewelry, jean short and bold prints. Oh…and hats! We love the hats!

The girls summed up the essence of the challenge beautifully: “Nothing is sexier than classic black lingerie. It’s something every woman should own…like a pencil skirt or a great pair of jeans.” We could not have said it better ourselves–and we’re Frederick’s of Hollywood!

See even more of these beach-and-heels-and-manicures-loving L.A. duo at Fabulous on a Budget, follow them on Twitter and on Instagram (both @FabMaryDarling and @FabLeahAshley).

And don’t miss your last day to take 20% off the Black Lingerie Legacy Collection at fredericks.com!

Welcome to day two of the Black Lingerie Blogger Challenge! As you know, we’re celebrating our black lingerie anniversary–2013 marks 67 years since we introduced it and changed American women’s lives forever. Three of the West Coast’s blogging superstars were challenged to use their singular fashion sense to craft sensational day or night looks–the end results are simply amazing.

Bella, rocking serious bombshell glamour in the Floral Lace Bodysuit. 

Yesterday we featured one of the Bay Area’s fav fashionistas: today we bring you Los Angeles’s very own Love & Biscotti! A self-described artsy girl who loves fashion, creative spaces and coffee with biscotti, Brittany “Bella” Graham created her blog so she “could undeniably and unapologetically be free to be me.” (Can you see why we just absolutely love her?)

The Hollywood Sweetheart Dream Corset is the ultimate inner-as-outer wear piece! 

In addition to co-authoring her other blog Lipstick, Lace & Lattes, Bella has written for Well Versed, Vibe Magazine and Made Man. As if that weren’t amazing enough, she also styles, interviews and photographs some of the hottest celebs in Hollywood.

Our most popular corset pairs perfectly with a popular blogger and her baseball cap! 

Her style is incredible–an inspiring mix of vintage & thrifted treasures with street-couture, Bella rocks a look that is undeniably sexy and chic.

Our Fringe & Feather Babydoll gets a fierce makeover!

Bella’s choices for the challenge included our most-popular corset, babydoll and lace body suit–which she immediately transformed into swoon-worthy ensembles! (Seriously, the pencil skirt is a stroke of sartorial genius.) Catch up with more of this L.A.-native’s latest styling posts, poems, & more on her blog, Love & Biscotti, follow her on Instagram or catch up with her on Twitter!

Want to shop the looks you see here? Head to fredericks.com and for a limited time, save 20% on the items shown.

We’re celebrating our introduction of black lingerie to America in 1946 (that’s 67 years of sexy!) with a spectacular sale and, of course, a blogger challenge! We hooked up with the hottest West Coast bloggers to see how they styled black lingerie into ultra-chic ensembles.

Jessica in our Fringe & Feather Babydoll. 

The resulting sartorial successes were so inspiring, we’re going to profile them each day here on Love, Frederick’s! Our first fashionista? Jessica from the blog Hapa Time.

Our Floral Lace Bodysuit looks perfect under a vest!

A stunning 26 year old with a keen eye for accessories, Hapa Time‘s Jessica is a Bay Area fashion lover who celebrates her Cali-girl style with a chic mix of sunny dresses and streamlined separates.

Head-to-toe perfection. Shop the body suit here. 

We sent her a ultra-sexy teddy, babydoll and lace body suit–letting her use her amazing style sensibilities to transform these lingerie staples into Coachella-worthy looks!

Our Pleated Mesh Teddy makes an ultra-sexy camisole under a deep-plunge blazer.

To see more of this California sensation’s style, check out hapatime.com or follow her on Tumblr. Shop the looks and enjoy 20% off at fredericks.com–and make sure to stay tuned for the rest of our incredible blogging superstars!

If you follow us on Instagram, and really you should, you’ll have seen the iconic imagery we post from our vintage catalogs–the hand drawn women stylishly dressed and always incredibly sexy. It turns out the woman behind those images is just as fascinating!

Dorothy Kahn helped create the famous Frederick’s Girl, was a noted illustrator, veteran and so much more! Born in Toronto in the ‘20s, she excelled at art from a young age—in fact her paintings of King George the VI and Queen Elizabeth were chosen for Canada’s commemorative stamps.

Hired by the government after school, she illustrated educational books before the war–a job she left to join the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service!

After the war she resumed work as an illustrator, then became a couturier—designing and customizing furs, evening wear and yes, lingerie! Dorothy left Canada for California in the ‘50s and launched her next career.

She became the top artist at Frederick’s from 1958-1973, and created the look and style of the “Frederick’s Girl” for our catalog—a look that remains incredibly popular with our customer today.

Her iconic imagery and amazing life form the foundation of what it means to be a Frederick’s Girl: confident, fearless and incredible. You can find more of her vintage pin-up illustrations on kahnart.com.

Yesterday marked the passing of Roger Ebert, American journalist, film critic, screenwriter and so much more. An indisputable part of popular culture, his criticisms were tempered by caring, wit and the love he had for all film—not just the high-brow.

His iconic star on the Walk of Fame.

The first critic to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, win a Pulitzer and many other incredible achievements–one of which included bringing film criticisms to the masses, not just academia.

Many of us here at Frederick’s remember watching Mr. Ebert and rival critic, Gene Siskel, breathlessly waiting for the thumbs up or thumbs down portion of their legendary show.

Siskel and Ebert on Sesame Street.

This weekend we recommend watching Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Roger Ebert’s campy ‘70s melodramatic sequel to Valley of the Dolls. In Ebert’s words “a satire of Hollywood conventions, genres, situations and dialogue…”).

Make a night of it—call your girlfriends, slip into your most comfy PJs and pour yourselves a glass of champagne. You’ll be glad you did! Read some of his best (and best of the worst) reviews here.