Luxury lingerie from Harlow & Fox

As my Twitter followers will have already seen, I spent Friday night perusing beautiful lingerie with a gin cocktail in one hand and a fan in the other. Lingerie boutique Wayward Grace at Revival in Kingly Court is now stocking the gorgeous luxury brand Harlow & Fox and they had a little launch party to celebrate. You were all invited, but here’s the lowdown for those of you who couldn’t make it.

I chatted to Harlow & Fox founder and designer Leanna Williams about the current collection, which is now stocked at Wayward Grace, plus the items that she had brought along as a sneak peak of the upcoming AW14 collection – check out the images over at The Lingerie Addict to see them in all their glory. In the promotional and product images that you can find online, the lingerie is utterly beautiful, but nothing prepared me for just how exquisite the pieces from both collections would be in person. The bras are silk lined, the lace and embroidered tulle is stunning, the straps are wide and comfortable, the elastic is either soft and patterned or silk covered, and the quality of the finishing and trimmings on every piece just screams luxury. If you are in any doubt as to whether this brand was worth saving up for, that disappears the second you get your hands on their beautiful fabrics.

Friday was an exceedingly warm day but Jemma and Leanna had planned ahead and we had delicious cool drinks to help with the heat. Cocktails were provided by the lovely people at Blackdown Artisan Spirits who refreshed us with their lemon and basil martinis served in beautiful vintage aperitif glasses. The martinis were hand mixed with Blackdown’s own gin and vermouth, with a few drops of a lemon and basil in each chilled glass, which had been freshly prepared for the occasion. Blackdown Gin is produced in Sussex and infused with 11 botanicals, resulting in a delicate gin with a subtle flavour. On this evidence, I definitely need to get some to to add to my growing gin collection!

Leanna had also booked a lovely model for the evening, to show us the fit of the “Eleanor” set up close. I’m a terrible person because I didn’t ask her name, but she looked absolutely stunning in the set and somehow managed to stay cool in the heat with the aid of a very glamorous fan. The bra, knickers and suspender belt all feature almond coloured silk, stunning lace and a gorgeous pearl accent (which was on the back of the knickers at the top of the keyhole detail). Sadly the soaring temperatures last week prevented me from trying on any of the lingerie myself, but I shall definitely be returning on a cooler day so that I can report back on the fit. The amount of adjustability in the bra and suspender straps looks promising for someone as short as me, and the bras all look to be extremely well cut so I suspect some of this will indeed end up on my wish list.

If you want to be in with a chance of winning £300 of Harlow & Fox underwear, you should enter the So Sensational competition before 6th August. If you’re in London, don’t forget to pop along to Wayward Grace to try on all the styles so that you can make up your mind which you prefer. Good luck!