‘The Saturdays \’All Fired Up\’

Eternal Spirits at The Carousel Club

Nottingham’s stunning city centre venue Antenna played host to The Carousel Club on the night of Friday 2nd December, for a vibrant and glamorous evening of Burlesque.  The venue known for its dynamic creative community set the stage for a wave of UK talent which offered clientele an evening of old fashioned burlesque and cabaret performances alongside comedy, magic and music. The evening organised by Susi Henson of internationally renowned Nottingham based Corsetieres Eternal Spirits was a huge sell out success “it was a great evening, the energy in the venue just came alive from the sheer delight that our exceptional performers offered. It’s about time the Burlesque scene in Nottingham was reignited with a fiery and spectacular night”. After the success of this, the first Carousel Club will become a quarterly event.

Dusty Limits a favourite name on the burlesque circuit came from London to compere the evening, with his amused sarcastic wit and vivacious banter, as well as a voice straight out of a west end stage, that delighted the dressed up crowd throughout the evening. The evening opened with Nottingham’s very own Broomhill String Band who blazed their way through a stunning set of deep south style tunes. Followed by the sultry tones of vintage soul singer Coco Malone who captivated the audience with her sensational voice. Scarlett Daggers and Millie Dollar dazzled on lookers with their sensational costumes and tassle twirling with their incredible performances such as Millie’s ‘Blue martini’ and Scarlett’s ‘Hot rod’ act. Pinky Blush another Nottingham favourite delighted the crowd with her beautiful voice and sultry demeanour. Dee Christopher Nottingham’s most illustrious magician and Illusionist wowed the crowd with his daring stunts, incredible mind tricks and cunning bravado.

As the performers wowed, delighted and amazed, guests enjoyed an exquisite selection of Burlesque themed cocktails designed by Antenna and stunning cupcakes by one of the city’s finest cake maker Lottie Cupcakes. As the venue came alive in a flurry of twinkly lights, vibrant colours and glitter the scene was set for a new kind of evening entertainment in Nottingham, the kind that welcomes dreams and weaves magic.

Nottingham’s fourth Designers Resolutions Event was held at Antenna in Nottingham on Thursday 17th November. Fourteen of Nottingham’s most celebrated creatives came together to discuss their ‘Road to Design’ which was the theme of the evening’s event. Traditionally the event which was founded by Susi Henson of Eternal Spirits and Sarah Davenport of Davenport Design has always been held at the Nottingham Council House where guests bought along a picnic and sat at picnic tables that had been brought into the venue. The move to Antenna was a natural progression  for the event and was welcomed by the creative hub in Nottingham’s city centre. Antenna which partners Confetti Studios houses a large number of creative businesses throughout the city, whether it be for a virtual or actual tenancy and is the perfect place for the Nottingham creative network to thrive. Over one hundred guests came to Designers Resolutions to listen to the cream of Nottingham’s creative scene give a pecha kucha style presentation (20 images – 20 seconds for each one). Although each of the speakers are based in Nottingham for their businesses, all are internationally renowned in their field of design and all the speakers exemplified the huge creative energy that is thriving in the city.

Sarah McNicol head of Antenna compered the evening which was opened by Nottingham’s Broomhill String Band; an amazing six piece that created an instant energy in the room, leading the way for the evenings speakers. Dr Valeria De Passetti architect and also Italian Consul for the East MidlAnds spoke about the life of the Italian female artist Artemisia, next up was Simon Rudkin freelance a web designer whose biggest client is Sony Records and has designed websites for the likes of Susan Boyle & JLS. Debbie Bryan of Debbie Bryan’s Studio in the Lace Market spoke of her creative journey with her knitted accessories and beautiful resin jewellery she creates using pieces of old Nottingham lace; Debbie spoke about the way this city influences the work she does and how it’s received overseas. Sarah Davenport led the audience through her journey of creativity through poetry and talked about the importance of ethics in design. Simeon Hartwig of Bantum Clothing the street wear label delighted the audience with his colourful visuals and wonderfully funny stories of his inspirations and getting his t-shirts on the likes of The Streets front man  Mike Skinner. Martin Knox leading branding expert inspired the audience with thought provoking images and statements that questioned our approaches to creativity. Nicola Valentine the city’s highly acclaimed Novelist whose works include ‘The Killing Jar’ and her new work ‘Haunted’ took us through that moment when she knew at school she wanted to become a writer and the journey she took in getting there.

Eternal Spirits at Designers Resolutions 4

As the audience continued to be captivated by the creative energy in the room and the way in which each speaker told their inspiring stories, guests ate their way through the individual picnics that Antenna had created for the guests in old fashioned brown paper bags tied with gingham ribbons, and sumptuous cupcakes from Nottingham based Lottie Cupcakes which with a Wizard of Oz theme had red glittery shoes on top and little yellow brick roads. Everyone enjoyed their picnic dinner as they sat in the middle of a giant art installation of magical autumnal surroundings by Nottingham artist Jai Clarke who brought Antenna to life by creating beautiful fabric bunting which hung off each pillar in the room to create colourful trees which were signposted towards the ‘Road to Design’. The work by Jai Clarke was sponsored by Warrens Barbers in West Bridgeford. Highlighted by the stunning lighting effects the tech team at Antenna had created and visuals projected on the walls by Spool Films the event was truly a creative collaboration unrivalled by any other.

Rikki Marr Illustrator and creative thinker talked through the journey of his business Live Scribes which goes into companies to illustrate the thoughts of businesses and non-creatives, he got everybody’s creative juices flowing by asking each member in the audience to draw the person next to them which drew lots of laughter throughout the room. Alison Knox delighted everyone with her view on the world and the creative process and the energy she puts behind her beautiful artwork Everyday Angels in which she depicts Angels throughout her work. Charlotte Thomson the renowned Burlesque and Pin Up illustrator that has done work for the likes of Gossard sadly couldn’t be there on the evening so her presentation was done in her own words by Designers Resolutions organiser Susi Henson. Traci Kelly a visual artist who creates thought provoking work using the body as her subject gave an interesting insight to her creative journey and the way she represents social and cultural politics and agendas in her work. Michael Lau Nottingham based photographer who has worked for many fashion brands as well as photographing celebrities such as Jonny Vegas talked through the passions and inspirations behind his work and love of photography. Susi Henson of Eternal Spirits and the organiser of the event presented her journey through creating a hand crafted Victorian corset, the women that have inspired her work and her love of creating the perfect gown for the bride to be as well as the women she has designed for which include Dita Von Teese and Leona Lewis. Jack Curtis an Illusionist stepped away from talking about the magic he creates on the evening and talked through the journey of getting a film off the ground in Nottingham and the journey he and his Hackney Cab have taken together to get the film finished.

Guests left inspired, amused, enthralled and bursting with energy from the great speakers, great music, great food and above all the great time they had.

Designer Susi Henson speaks about the continued success of the brand “It’s great to be asked to work with these celebrities and especially to create their tour costumes that are going to be seen by so many people. The deadlines are always tight, but the work is always so fun to do and what a great accolade for the brand!”

Eternal Spirits have also dressed stars such as Leona Lewis, Courtney Love, Dita Von Teese to name a few. Working for stage and film is just one string to the famed corsetry brand’s bow who sell their collections internationally as well as offering a couture service through their Nottingham based Atelier. In true traditional style all Eternal Spirits products are hand made in the UK with love.

The Saturdays wearing Eternal Spirits on Tour!!

Here at Eternal Spirits we are very excited to announce our new collection… ‘Kyoto in Blossom’ This new collection of corsets and lingerie is now available on the site, here is also a preview of one of our design boards… The collection fuses Japanese influences with 1930’s Britain and follows our story of the very stylish Wallis Simpson who takes a walk through Kyoto in the Spring of 1936… soaking up all the colour and romance of the cherry blossom. Our colour palette comprises two stories; Bloom – in blush pink & ivory and Geisha – in cherry red & blossom pink. This collection of handcrafted corsets is all steel boned and handmade to traditional Victorian techniques… using the finest of fabrics and trims and made with love in Nottingham by the Eternal Spirits team.

A Very Happy New Year!!!

Love Susi & all the girls at Eternal Spirits xxx

Eternal Spirits are well know for being one of the top Corsetiere’s to the stars and 2009 has been a fantastic year for getting our beautiful handcrafted corsets on the backs of celebs and in the press. When the head stylist for the Britney Spears Circus Tour approached us to do a range of bespoke corsets for her tour we were delighted! We had a lot of corsets and waspies to create and about a week to do them in… but it was worth it in the end! Creating pieces for Britney’s tour was not the only tour we did this year…. we also did a stunning range of corsets for the Girls Aloud tour too…. making more wonderful celebs to add to an ever growing list of Eternal Spirits wearer’s that include Dita Von Teese, Leona Lewis, The Scissor Sisters, Jonathan Ross amongst many others through to Royalty.

If its one group of gorgeous gals Susi at Eternal Spirits has always wanted to dress it’s Girls Aloud… and 2009 was the year we did it!! We were lucky enough to create bespoke corseted outfits for not one but all five of the girls for their recent Out of Control tour. Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud wore hand fringed bespoke corsets and mini skirts in an array of beautiful pastel shades all handmade by the Eternal Spirits team in Nottingham. The outfits were not only used for the tour but also in a stunning photoshoot which was used over 5 full pages in the tour programme. The girls are now big fans of Eternal Spirits corsets!!