La Magia

We have a very exciting competition running from today until midnight (GMT) 5th February 2010. It really is very simple, anybody who buys anything from our gorgeous range of Kiss Me Deadly will be automatically entered into a prize draw. The winner will be picked randomly on 8th February 2010 and will receive £100 worth of stunning Kiss Me Deadly lingerie and hosiery!

We'll email the lucky winner on Monday 8th February to arrange their prize with them. Good luck!

Just as the cold snap appears to be coming to an end (we hope!) we've got some beautiful new lingerie from Ayten Gasson that is bound to raise a few temperatures! This new collection for Spring/Summer 2010 includes several signature style pieces from Ayten, as well as some brand new designs.

As always the colours are rich and uniquely beautiful, and each piece is made from 100% silk with vintage cotton lace from Nottingham. Ayten Gasson is passionate about quality and attention to detail, and all her pieces are made in the UK with the most uncompromising attention to detail.

We have Tia, a dramatic and luxurious black silk range; Eva, a rich champagne silk ensemble; Isobel, a rose silk range; Florence, a pretty and feminine range available in two sublime colourways; and finally Grace, a re-release of Ayten's truly luxurious bridal range. Several of the ranges also offer adorable accessories to match, sleep masks and cuffs, and these make for great gifts.

Each Ayten Gasson collection is limited edition, only small numbers of each piece are made and once they have sold out they will never be available again. So if you love something it is very wise to secure your size early, to avoid disappointment!

View the entire Ayten Gasson Spring/Summer collection at La Magia

Happy new year! To start 2010 off in style, we have just launched our Winter Sale. There are so many exciting bargains! All of the items are very limited in numbers so they need snapping up quickly before they disappear for good.

There are too many pieces to mention, but highlights include lingerie from Ayten Gasson, Miss La La, Little Minx and Elegantly Scant. Prices have been slashed by up to 50% and the sale will continue until 31st January, so it is ideal for picking up an early Valentines gift.

Browse our Winter Sale now!

It isn't too late for all the last minute shoppers! We're busy dispatching orders to the UK in time for Christmas Day. Order before 2pm on Wednesday 23rd December and as long as you choose items that are in stock you can still have your order delivered before 3pm on Christmas Eve.

Our live stock control system tells you what is in stock once you have selected size and colour options. We have lots of lovely pieces available for immediate dispatch, and here are some of our recommendations for Christmas gifts. To secure your delivery you will need to choose our UK Special Delivery option when checking out. Also, don't forget we giftwrap all orders above £40 free of charge, so your gift will arrive ready to be placed beneath the tree!

The holiday season is well and truly upon us, and we are at our busiest at this time of year making sure everyone receives their parcels in time. While there's still plenty of time for last minute shoppers, we would urge you to place your orders as early as possible to save yourself (and us) from unnecessary worry about your gifts arriving in time!

We wouldn't want you to miss out on your favourite items, a lot of our gorgeous lingerie is limited edition and with stock moving as fast as it does at this time of year sizes do sell out very quickly. You will see this with our Ayten Gasson collection. Only selected pieces are available now, but if you've left it too late for Christmas you can take some comfort from the news that Ayten will be releasing some lovely new pieces mid-January just in time for Valentines Day! We have live stock control on the website so you can check the availability of each item.

Check our Delivery page for full details on your delivery options. Customers outside of the UK will now need to upgrade to Express delivery (so your goods are sent by courier) to secure a pre-Christmas delivery. UK customers can select our free standard (1st Class) delivery up until 18th December. After that only Royal Mail Special Delivery or Courier Deliveries will arrive in time for the big day. Remember also that all orders over £40 are gift-wrapped in our satin packaging, orders below £40 are wrapped in tissue paper.

Just in time for the holiday season we have news of some gorgeous new pieces from What Katie Did. The Striptease range of satin lingerie has been around for a little while, but it has been expanded with some beautiful new vintage colours and more lovely accessories.

The new colourway, Eau de Nil is a classic vintage aqua shade, pretty and flattering to all skin tones. The other options are classic black, vintage peach, rich claret and deep purple. With new accessories like pasties, garter and eyemask these are just perfect for gifting.

My favourite piece from the range is the frivolous and frilly Ballet Knickers with their soft froth of ruffles. Very cute and girlie, and a perfect stocking filler!

View our entire range of What Katie Did.

The Kiss Me Deadly Vargas Girdle Dress has just come back into stock having sold out earlier this year. It is one of the very few pieces of lingerie that we need a waiting list for, because it is just so popular.

Last year I wrote a guide for getting into your Vargas Dress, because there really is a knack to it. Over the past year I have found new tricks to make it even easier, so here is my (ever-so-slightly revised) guide to getting into (and out of!) your Vargas Dress:

1. Step into the dress and pull it up over your hips in one piece. By this I mean, let it bunch up and don't try and pull it up from the bra section, just hold it firmly in your hands and pull it upwards in one piece. A rolling motion may be easier.
2. It will be very tight the first time you do this, but don't worry it does give a little after the first wear. Crossing your legs and wiggling your bottom seems to help with the over-the-hip stage, so you may like to dress in private! I have my very own little Vargas Dance and I would not want anybody else to witness it!
3. Once the dress is over your hip in one piece, find the hook and eye fastening at the back of the bra section and fasten it.
4. Put your arms through the bra straps and position the bra.
5. Position the lower part of the dress (the girdle) by rolling it down, and attach the six suspender clasps to your stockings.
6. You should now feel supported, comfortable and most importantly of all - like a goddess!

Remember, the Vargas Dress is a control garment, so it is supposed to be tight-fitting yet comfortable. Getting out of it is simple too, always aim for a rolling action rather than pulling. Don't try to take it off over your head, you'll just end up with a ruined hairdo and possibly find yourself helplessly stuck with your arms in the air! Trust me, I speak from experience...

View the entire Kiss Me Deadly range at La Magia.

Here at La Magia we are never overly concerned with the latest 'trends' or what celebrities are wearing. We focus purely on style, we know what we like and we know what our customers come to us for. We don't really care what this season's must-wear colour may be. Occasionally, though, we find ourselves in the middle of mainstream fashion without trying to be! A perfect illustration is this beautiful image from Russian Vogue, featuring Claudia Schiffer wearing the classic What Katie Did Maitresse Bullet Bra.

It has been impossible to miss the latest interest in the conical bra making a comeback. From our perspective, we started selling these three years ago when we launched La Magia and they have always been extremely popular with our customers. Theatre productions use them for authenticity, stylists call them in for fashion shoots and they are a favourite amongst burlesque artists and pinup models. This week the Lulu Bullet Bra is on the front of Look magazine and has been featured in several Vogue isues over the last couple of years.

Yesterday, whilst in our stock room I happened to catch the tail end of a piece on Woman's Hour (BBC Radio 4) that featured Sarah Vine, journalist and Beauty Editor at The Times. It grabbed my attention because Sarah was describing the return of bullet bras as 'monstrous' and 'absurd' and it made me realise how divisive they are. People either love them or hate them. They are totally different to modern bras, you wouldn't want to wear one underneath a modern t-shirt but put it under a retro style dress or sweater and you'll see the bullet bra comes into its own.

I really like the retro look a bullet bra gives, and so I'm happy to see them in the press - but when this trend is replaced with a new one we'll still be here with our full selection of bullet bras because classic design never goes out of fashion.

Oh do we have some treats for you?! We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of more winter offerings from Kiss Me Deadly, and they have arrived! So many gorgeous new pieces and also the re-stock of a couple of favourites, perfect timing for the party season!

You will notice these new pieces have a wonderfully exotic Arabian Nights theme, Kiss Me Deadly always make such an effort to present their products in an interesting and enticing way. First we have L'amour, a two-part range of steel boned shapewear. There is a stunning corset style basque with flexible cups and detachable shoulder straps, and a very versatile waist cincher- smooth enough to be worn beneath your clothes and stylish enough to be shown off.

On to Jezebel, another two-part line of mix and match knickers. You can wear both these knickers with other pieces from the Kiss Me Deadly range and they will look fantastic. The longline knicker really is something special with it's luxurious ribbon sash and opaque centre panel. The Cut Out brief is bound to be popular, it is the same shape as the original Kiss Me Deadly Pin-Up brief but with the added frisson of a frill and peephole detail to the rear. Well, you can't call a range Jezebel and not expect a bit of naughtiness can you?

And now a touch of familiarity with the return of Alouette, this time in a peach and black colourway. Featuring the amazing plunge bra that really boosts your cleavage, six strap suspender belt, waist cincher and shortie style brief.

Last, but definitely not least, we have a re-stock of the black Vargas Dress and six-strap Van Doren suspender belts in black. These sell out notoriously quickly and have their own waiting lists each season so if you have your eye on one of these we strongly recommend that you buy quickly.

Velda Lauder, the much acclaimed Corsetiere to stars, has designed an absolutely stunning range of new corsets and accessories especially designed for corset wearers. There are so many gorgeous new designs to talk about that it is hard to know where to start, so I have selected a few of my favourite pieces and would urge you to go and explore our full selection of Velda Lauder pieces to see them all for yourself.

So let's begin with Velda's speciality, corsets. This new Silk Collection offers so many different colours and styles from deep, rich purple to delicate nude, innocent strawberry pinks to scarlet reds. The spectrum is bold yet classic, striking yet very wearable. Added details like lace applique, satin ribbons and Velda's trademark Swarovski crystals make each corset stand out as something special. All these little touches make so much difference to the luxurious look and feel of Velda lauder's corsets.

Picking a favourite among the corsetry would be impossible for me, but I do love the exquisite contrast of pink and red on the Strawberry Overbust Curve Corset, and I really like the feather skirt in pink shown with it in the photo. I also adore the Black Satin Underbust Bow Corset, available in all black or black with red trims. This design is a very affordable option at just £120, and does stand out from the crowd with its stylised look.

Velda says she has been asked by so many women to create a range of accessories, 'corset complements' as she calls them. And so the 'Gothikka' collection has been launched to provide lingerie and accessories that can be worn with corsetry. So we have a girdle, a bolero, a triangle bra and an off the shoulder top. All of these can be worn with underbusts and overbusts, and just help with that age-old problem of what to wear with your corsets!

And one last piece of great news regarding Velda Lauder is that a couple of her classic designs have been reduced in price, making them more affordable. The Dita Corset (as worn by Dita Von Teese) is now £190 and the Drill Cotton Waspie is now £120. These corsets are no longer made to order and are kept in stock so as well as costing less they will also be delivered to you within days rather than weeks! Christmas has come early at La Magia!

Browse the new collection from Velda Lauder at La Magia.

When it comes to buying Christmas gifts I have always been a last-minute kind of girl, but I know that not everyone is as disorganised as me! So, if you are buying your gifts now you need the comfort of knowing that you can return items to us after Christmas if necessary, for an exchange or refund. For this reason we've extended our returns period from the normal 14 days, so that all customers who order during November and December 2009 can arrange an exchange/refund with us up until 10th January 2010. To clarify, this means you must email us by 10th January to tell us you need to return the items, but if the actual package arrives with us after this date we will still process the return.

We hope this helps your gift buying, don't forget we have also introduced additional shipping options that offer faster delivery timescales even during busy periods.

Regardless on your viewpoint on the strike action, nobody can deny that the last few weeks have been difficult for those of us who rely heavily on the postal system. Here at La Magia over 90% of our orders are collected by our lovely postman, and we hope this continues to be the case once all the issues are sorted out. We are passionate about delivering all our orders quickly and reliably, and so we have been working hard on solutions to try and lessen the impact of any problems caused by Royal Mail striking.

To give our customers more control, we have added alternative delivery options to our checkout that allow you to avoid Royal Mail altogether if preferred. If you're in a hurry or working to a tight deadline this could be a real lifesaver. It will also be very handy on the run-up to Christmas when everything becomes urgent!

In terms of costs, we have always offered free delivery worldwide and we continue to do so as standard. If you choose a paid delivery service we still cover the first part of the cost for you, roughly what it would have cost us to send it to you free of charge. We only ask you to cover our remaining costs. Furthermore, all orders over £80 will automatically be upgraded free of charge to Special Delivery (or Priority Air Mail if overseas) and orders over £180 will be upgraded free of charge to Courier delivery. You can find out all about the new delivery options on our Delivery page, which we will keep updated with all the latest news from Royal Mail as it happens.

A few weeks ago we had our Autumn/Winter photoshoot and gradually we have been adding lots of gorgeous new items to the website. You can see all the recent additions at a glance here.

We have introduced more pieces from What Katie Did, most notably we've expanded our selection of the Glamour shapewear range to include the exquisite corselette available in vintage peach and black colourways and the very versatile strapless bustier which is just perfect to wear underneath strapless dresses. We also have the Merry Widow, available in black or vintage peach satin. The Merry Widow is a classic shapewear design created in the fifties, essentially it's a basque that focuses on shaping and controlling the upper torso. Ours has detachable shoulder straps so this is another piece you can wear under strapless dresses.

We have expanded the Lulu range with the stunning corselette and girdle. You can easily find all of these items in our Shapewear category which is full of stylish and sexy shapewear options.

Browse our selection of What Katie Did for more fabulous retro lingerie and corsetry

The sleep bra may be a new concept to many British women as it is not something that is spoken about much here in the UK. So what exactly is a sleep bra?

The sleep bra is primarily designed to provide support and comfort during sleep. The wearing of a sleep bra is also said to help keep the breasts perky and in good shape. The ideal sleep bra is non-wired and the most luxurious are made from silk and/or lace. Unlike bras designed for daywear, the bra must support without restricting or feeling in any way uncomfortable. So wires, hard plastic and lumps and bumps are all no-no's

Sleep bras are not an essential item for most ladies, but can be a luxurious addition to your nightwear. I have spoken to some girls who feel discomfort if they do not have some kind of support during the night, and this discomfort varies with the usual hormonal changes brought on by pregnancy, menopause and just being a woman!

So, any of Ayten Gasson’s non-wired soft structured bras are perfect for this purpose. Ayten's beautiful creations offer support from sizes 30A to 36D. The style is sourced from vintage patterns and while soft, the bra is cleverly structured to support and comfortably keep your bust in shape while sleeping. It doesn't restrict or attempt to manipulate your breast in any way, it simply supports it in its natural state. The shoulder straps are satin ribbons that you tie yourself with a bow, this makes them super-soft and totally adjustable. It also has the added benefit of looking glamorous and elegant, which is always a good thing in the boudoir!

Ayten's bras don't have to be worn in bed, they are designed to be worn in any number of ways, from boudoir to luxurious underwear beneath your clothes. Of course many of her pieces are so beautiful they deserve to be worn as outerwear, which is something I'll be exploring very shortly.

Browse the entire Ayten Gasson collection at La Magia.

We have added two brand new styles from Australian lingerie label Little Minx, and both are just perfect for the Autumn/Winter season.

First of all we have the glamorous Sienna, a range that includes a versatile longline bra, deep four-strap suspender belt and flattering boyshort style brief. With black lace overlay, organza bows and gorgeous imitation pearl buttons on each piece from the range this is a very luxurious ensemble. The longline bra can be worn as a strapless bustier thanks to it's detachable straps.

The next addition is the very wearable black silk Posh set. This range includes a black silk underwired bra, black silk suspender belt and matching silk briefs. We introduced Posh in ivory back in the summer and couldn't resist the black for our Autumn season. This affordable silk lingerie set features a stylish bow motif and gorgeous ruche detailing.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that we have added a suspender belt to our existing Valentina range in aqua and black. We love our stockings here at La Magia and felt the set was lacking something without the suspender belt! In our photos we used some gorgeous aqua Cervin stockings which will also be available to buy within the next few weeks.

Browse our selection of Little Minx lingerie. We love this young Australian brand because they create luxury pieces that are truly affordable.