Lingerie rarely sees the light of day, but 30-year-old Nashville-based artist Kelly Butler has brought ladies' unmentionables out of the closet. Through her website, www.tramplamps.com, Butler sells lighting fixtures with lampshades made of vintage corsets, nighties, teddies, slips, girdles, evening wear, and swimsuits.
The garments are stiffened (except for outer decorations such as ribbons and flowers) using a special water-based glue-the formula is a trade secret-and placed over a frame that attaches to lamp with a 6-foot click-switch cord from Westinghouse and a 25W frosted globe. The fixtures are mounted with an attached clothes hanger, and each is bestowed with a girlish name such as Molly Ann (shown left) or Prudence. They typically sell for between $135 and $155, depending on the type of clothing used. (Butler spends several hours a week scouring local thrift and second-hand stores.)
Lamps made from lingerie may seem like an odd proposition, but the website, which went live in October 2003, has been successful enough for Butler to quit her day job at a shoe factory in order to pursue what she saw as a more creative endeavor.
'Most people contact me because they want something unique and unusual for their homes,
