Everyday Retro Lingerie with the What Katie Did Maitresse set

Its not secret I’m a lover of retro lingerie. With finding a love of corsets at 12 due to living near a beautiful bridal corsetry, it was a natural progression I think that I came to equally fall in love with other aspects of vintage lingerie. I began experimenting with suspender belts and stockings in my late teens, but it wasn’t til I discovered the wonderful world of reproduction vintage lingerie. Now days I rarely wear anything else and I’ve grown to a place where I love sharing my vintage foundations with my followers, especially on Instagram and Facebook as a way of hopefully sharing the knowledge I’ve gained through my own foundation wearing experiences over the past 3 years of wearing them almost every day and one brand I definitely wear lot of is What Katie Did.

Maitresse Suspender Belt set with Red Glamour Seam stockings from What Katie Did

One of my go-to styles to wear is a suspender belt and stocking combo, normally with a vintage styled bra (unless I need an extra boost in bust size). I love the simplicity and elegance of a suspender belt set as a way of adding that little bit of glamour to an outfit, even if its only a touch I’m going to know is there.  I recently reviewed the Liz Suspender set, which is also a favorite but today I wanted to share probably my most worn lingerie set, the Maitresse Set from WhatKatie Did, which comes in not only a suspender belt but a girdle too.

The Maitresse set from What Katie Did is a wonderful set for beginners to vintage lingerie who want a more structured garment than the Liz set. One thing that I love about the Maitresse set is the sheer variety of components for this set. You have 3 different brief styles to choose from (thong, small knickers & full knickers), a deep or narrow suspender belt, a girdle and bra sizes from an A cup all the way through to an F. These size ranges and the variety of different pieces make it a great set to find your best fit and what works for you! For this review today I’m going to be sharing my favorite pieces which are the Bullet bra in the Nouveau style, the suspender belt and knickers along with the girdle as well from this set. All are items I wear a lot of on a regular basis.

Starting with the suspender belt, I personally have a preference for deeper suspender belts as I have a bit of a tummy. The deeper belt offers some coverage as well as some smoothing across the tummy and hips. For ladies who prefer a narrower fit, this suspender belt also comes in a narrow style. I love wearing this suspender belt for a number of different reasons. Firstly, I find it to be comfortable. While not as stretchy as the Liz set, this suspender is still comfortable to wear every day (I’m actually wearing it now as I write this review!) without hindering your movements or digging in. It sits well on my waist and comes down over my hips to help streamline my figure and accentuate my waist. Made of stain and power mesh, this suspender belt is ideal for ladies who want some shaping without a lot of restriction. The satin is kept to a geometric diamond at the front, which beautifully matches the knickers from this range. 

 The Maitresse suspender belts feature 6 straps: 3 on each side for stocking hold on the front, side and back. Now days I generally won’t wear a suspender belt unless it has the 6 straps at a minimum. These straps are adjustable as well as having abit of stretch to help you find the right fit. The suspender clips are metal which is a MUST for me now days (plastic is such a pain and I find they always release on me) and they are easy to click your suspenders too. This belt has 3 different loop sizes at the back, just like a bra so if your weight fluctuates a bit like me during the month you can still wear your belt. It features a deep front with a shorter back, which means it won’t squish your butt. I wear a size AU16 in this style, it is however available in a size range of a AU8 through to an AU22.

The Nouveau bullet bra is one of my favorites and one of my first direct purchases from What Katie Did. This super comfortable bra is perfect for giving an outfit a more vintage feel by adding a vintage shaped bust line, since the moulded cup bras of the world today weren’t really around in the 40s and 50s. The Nouveau bullet bra and Curve Bullet bra are both wireless styles that offer a true vintage bust shape. This style is a soft cup bra, so if you aren’t used to soft cup styles it may feel a little daunting at first. This bra style features a fitted band with elastic in the front (under the cups) and a small portion at the back to help with the best fit. This is a feature I really like as it makes wearing this bra much easier at times when I may be a little bloated as well as having two different eye hook size clips at the back. Made from Satin, this bra is a great staple to any vintage wardrobe and definitely adds a bit of glamour to any look. If you find you don’t quite fill the ‘point’ of a bullet bra, What Katie Did also sell bullet bra inserts to help fill it out. I’m wearing a 38C, which is my normal bra size. If you are a DD or over, the Curve bra is the same style just made for a fuller bust! Available in a range of an A cup right through to an F cup.

With this set I opted for the full size knicker, as I find they give me the best shape. The knickers are made of the same power mesh as the suspender belt with a matching satin detail at the front. Worn together this really is a nice subtle addition to what would have otherwise been a plain black set. The attention to detail with something as simple as knickers is something I adore as none of the seams create lines or bumps to your silhouette and I actually love wearing these under pants on their own as the power mesh helps smooth out my shape. Definitely a comfortable and gorgeous pair of briefs and a pair I get a lot of wear out of! If full briefs aren’t your jam, a ‘little’ knickers are also available, which have the same front pattern but are just a narrower style. There is also the thong, which again has the same satin front but instead offers a more revealing back. I wear the briefs in a size AU18. I probably could have sized down but prefer my briefs to be a bit looser for comfort. The knickers are available in an AU size 8 through to 22, meaning these can be worn by a variety of ladies of different shapes and sizes.

The Maitresse girdlette is a step up in the shaping department from ladies who want a bit more from their foundations than the suspender belt offers. Their girdlette is a cross between a suspender belt and a girdle, but without the extreme firmness most girdles provide while still offering smoothing and shaping. The Maitresse girdlette is my most comfortable foundation in my lingerie drawers and is one I reach for regularly. The Maitresse girdlette is especially lovely as it’s a roll on which is also great for beginners who may be intimidated by the hook and eye closures of more firmer undergarments. Made of a single layer of corsetory power mesh, this girdle is great for giving smoothing under tight garments without a heap of lines as well as worn under swing styles for a smoother finish. 

Like the Maitresse suspender belt it features 6 suspender clips (front, side and back) which are metal for a sturdy fixture. The straps on this girdlette aren’t adjustable however they do have a fair amount of stretch. I personally love wearing this girdlette over the bottom half of my corset to help reduce the lines and bulk that show up under clothes as well as wearing it on its own. A truly comfortable piece of lingerie, its definitely one I’d recommend to ladies who are intimidated by firmer girdles but still want the look or to get a feel for what a girdle entails. I’m wearing the size 18, it does however had a decent amount of stretch and in reality if I’d wanted a ‘tighter’ fit I could have sized down. The Girdlette is available in an AU8-18.

Overall I’ve been wearing this set for a number of months now and I find the wear and tear to be incredibly minimal, with no loose strands or breaks. I hand wash my foundations weekly then air dry them and find they respond really well to that method. I’ve also found these styles great for warmer weather, especially the girdlette for days I still want shaping but its too hot to wear a corset or something more restrictive. A set I adore and would definitely recommend for not just beginners but ladies who regularly wear foundations and want a simple but elegant set for regular wear.

I perfectly teamed my set for this shoot with a pair of red glamour seam stockings from What Katie Did. I reviewed these not long ago on my blog as a great style of stocking for ladies with thicker thighs as the wider stretchier welt makes for a better fit. You can read that review and read my comparison of the glamour seams to the original What Katie Did stocking style by clicking here.

The Maitresse set is reasonably priced for our poorer Australian dollar too, with shipping that also won’t break the bank and a 10 day average time to arrive in Australia. The prices of the Maitresse set are:

Nouveau/Curve Bullet Bra - $51.50AU

Narrow Suspender Belt - $51.50AU

Deep Suspender Belt - $55.00AU

Full Knicker - $39.00AU

Little Knicker - $31.50AU

Thong - $28.50AU

Girdlette - $61.50AU

With shipping to Australia $22AUD.

You can shop the What Katie Did Store by clicking here.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this review and I have no doubt you’ll keep seeing me wearing this glamourous set on my Instagram!

Til next time darlings!

Disclaimer: Whilst I received some of this lingerie as a brand Ambassador for WKD, all opinions expressed are honest to help ensure the most accurate information for my readers.