photograph:
Emelie Westerlund

Dear Miss Bellasis

After a rather sordid night out I seem to have acquired a stain on my gorgeous Miss Bellasis nipple tassels, what can I do?

Yours sincerely
Lizzie Tawdry

Dear Miss Tawdry

First and foremost we do suggest that you try to avoid soiling your Miss Bellasis nipple tassels or pasties and also that if the stain is one such as red wine or lipstick then all will probably be lost and you might just have to purchase a new pair. Secondly we offer the following as guidance only with a disclaimer to the effect of that, although we have carried out various tests at Verbena House, we cannot be held responsible for any damage or worsening of the stain.

With ribbon pasties Velvet gentle hand washing as you would your fine lingerie or stockings might help; do not leave to soak and do not scrub. Gently press with a clean towel then dry flat in a warm place.

For those made of ribbon with tassels and those in the satin collection we recommend gently dabbing stains with a dry cleaning fluid type stain remover - follow the instructions on the bottle, but please note that you should avoid getting the fluid on beads, dice, diamante or other trims.

For the animal friendly 'leather' backings of the satin and sequin pasties, the following advice may help. If you have the grey or cream backing on your pasties, stains might respond to gentle rubbing with dry cleaning fluid or alcohol. The red backing might respond to careful cleaning with baby oil though this might also affect how well they will stick in future. DO NOT use dry cleaning fluid or similar on the red backing as this will damage the surface. Please note that we do suggest that you use tape as mentioned above in How Does One Attach Them ; this will avoid the inevitable residue of adhesives.

We suggest you do not attempt to clean any from the Vintage and Limited Edition Collection, save treating the back as above, but you are welcome to contact us with any query you might have about care for these.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any further help.

Yours sincerely
Miss Bellasis

Dear Miss Bellasis

I notice that you use the term 'animal friendly leather' when describing the backings of your pasties.  Just what do you mean? How can leather be animal friendly?

Yours sincerely
Lady Virginia Fanning

Dear Lady Fanning

You will see I hope, that we place 'leather' in inverted commas. We use an imitation leather of the highest quality - the same as that used by many reputable vegetarian and vegan shoemakers and clothiers as well as sportswear manufacturers.  We do not use anything of animal origin, anything that contains anything of animal origin or anything that has been tested on animals.  Please visit the links page and follow the link to the Vegan Society and Viva! for a wealth of interesting information on this subject.

Yours sincerely
Miss Bellasis

Dear Miss Bellasis

I came across your site whilst walking briskly on the paths on the World Wide Web.  I was surprised to find a lady such as yourself engaged in such a profession as this and I am interested to discover how you embarked upon your career.  I would also like to learn a little about the inspiration behind your 'craft'.

Yours Sincerely
Edna Welthorpe (Mrs)

Dear Mrs Welthorpe

My secretary had previously suggested that visitors to this site might be interested in learning more about Miss Bellasis; the receipt of your letter coupled with cancellation of a whist evening led me to write the following.

At the end of the last century a good friend effected a divorce, decamped to London and blossomed into what can only be described as, well, does one need more words when one talks of the blossoming of a lady?  Some red sequin nipple tassels seemed the only appropriate gift and so Miss Bellasis, as such, was born.  This simple act led to the creation of more pairs and the interest of fine sales establishments and thus was Miss Bellasis' debut into society.  From then on all sorts of design possibilities started to come to mind drawing inspiration from a period spent working in the world of extraordinarily indulgent chocolate cake creation, from historical figures and stories, naughty Victoriana, Golden Age of Hollywood glamour and dear grandparents' reminiscences of mid-century high living in London and on the French Riviera.

The early days were hard, balancing the ladylike occupation of needlework with the cruel trenches of British archaeology but spells within the libraries and collections of museums and the warm and hallowed halls of county record offices ameliorated these difficult times whilst providing continuing historical inspiration.  Ah, how precious those times, surrounded by the musty smell of documents, the soft rustling of well lined tweed, the subdued coughs of fellow researchers, the triumphant murmur that accompanies the falling into place of another piece of the jigsaw…but I digress….All these pursuits were noble indeed but temptation proved too great when an old acquaintance offered the opportunity for the division of time between dear old Blighty and our continental neighbour France; Miss Bellasis decamped from former occupations and became the creatrice she is today.  

As noted on the About page but worth reiterating again, "inspiration for nipple tassels and pasties still comes from many sources, be it a tempting Chelsea Bun in a baker's window, the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Greta Garbo, Tatlin's Monument to the Third International or tempestuous rain seen through a window made of fine claret bottles. Further inspiration comes from the belief that every lady should have a pair of nipple tassels or pasties tucked away in a top draw or displayed proudly on a dressing table close at hand for those moments when they might just be needed".

We do hope this has answered your query.

Yours sincerely
Miss Bellasis