Q&A with Tallulah Steph & Estelle Puleston for the online blog, Lingerie Briefs.
Estelle Puleston has been blogging about lingerie since 2012 as the founder of Esty Lingerie, and is also a full-time freelance writer and social media expert for the intimate apparel and swimwear industry.
Estelle – I saw that your Tara bra was used by the costume department working on Queen Charlotte/Bridgerton, exciting! How did that come about, and is the full female cast wearing Tallulah Love?
Tallulah Steph – As I’m sure readers will understand, it’s not unusual for online customers to buy 2 sizes of the same bra to select the best fit with the intention of returning one. So when we received an order for the same bra in 6 different sizes we were intrigued. And as we’re big fans of Bridgerton we were super excited when we found out it was from the company providing the costumes for the Bridgerton actresses.
We subsequently learned that the female cast members were finding corsets uncomfortable during the filming of the early series so they were searching for alternatives and our Tara bra works perfectly for the necklines of the Empire line dresses. And we’ve been told by the company that the actresses love their Tallulah Love bras. It also happens that Bridgerton’s favourite, the Tara bra in pistachio, is our all-time best-seller.
We cannot say exactly who is wearing a Tallulah Love bra, for which Bridgerton series, but with the number of Tara bras we supplied it’s fair to say many of the female cast members are adorned in Tallulah Love lingerie!
Estelle – You’ve been at the company for many years now. What do you love about the Tallulah Love brand that keeps you there?
Tallulah Steph – I have been accused of being a true lingerie addict and I’ve always wanted to work with lingerie. I had the opportunity to intern at Tallulah Love before earning my BA in Contour Fashion and jumped at the chance for a full-time job straight after graduation.
I love the Tallulah Love brand; it’s truly unique with its subtle vintage styling, strong detailing and use of colour. It’s the type of brand that lets me as a designer push my creativity. And as it’s a small, independent brand I wear many hats from interacting with customers to designing new ranges.
Estelle – Do you feel like the brand aesthetic has evolved over those years (if so, how?) or stayed very true to its origins?
Tallulah Steph – Tallulah Love launched in Paris in 2009 so naturally the brand aesthetic has evolved over the 14 years. For example, we’ve recently delved into the darker side of Tallulah Love with our Midnight Rose range. In the early years, vintage frills and hand-drawn silk prints dominated the collection and we have stayed true to these elements but in a new way, for example by introducing a silk loungewear range, Moonlight Mist, with a hand-drawn design and incorporating our TL monogram. The quirky side of Tallulah Love is still deep in our DNA and our popular hummingbird appears in the silk print, perched on a bra strap and peeking out from the top of a thong. In addition to the evolution of the aesthetic, we’ve invested a lot of time and care into the technical fit of the bras to keep our Tallulah Love fans coming back.
Estelle – What inspires you as a designer?
Tallulah Steph – It’s a cliché but inspiration really does come from anywhere! Maybe the strangest inspiration I ever had was what started as a black widow; imagine a solitary widow draped in black lace travelling behind a vintage hearse – she’s strong and vulnerable at the same time. This eventually evolved into Midnight Rose. But sometimes it’s a beautiful lace or piece of embroidery that I cannot get out of my head. For example, the embroidery trim we use on Opulent Lace suddenly seemed perfect as the icing on a cupcake and so Hidden Pearl was born! Tea parties and mushrooms are currently dominating my mood boards right now, so we’ll see where this takes us!
Estelle – How often does Tallulah Love release new colours, designs or collections?
Tallulah Steph – For a number of years we attended trade shows in Paris, New York and the UK which meant we were producing two full collections per year. Since the pandemic, everything has changed and although we still supply wholesale orders to our favourite boutiques, we are doing few new ranges but with more pieces per range and mostly manufactured in the UK.
Estelle – Finally, is there anything else that readers might be interested to learn about the brand?
Tallulah Steph – Tallulah Love has super high standards for quality which means that if a product isn’t perfect it gets placed in our ‘Not so perfect’ box. Often customers cannot see the fault, which didn’t get past our QC team, so if you’re looking for a real bargain, checking out the ‘Not so perfect’ stock on the website is a great way to start adding Tallulah Love to your lingerie collection.
