Horse Play

Staring yet again into the financial abyss we recall that Wicked Weasel rose from the ashes of the 1990's recession we were told we had to have. And as governments continue to dazzle us with their economic brilliance it is indeed worrying where Australian business is headed.

Wicked Weasel was never planned to be the size it is today. In fact the personal and financial damage suffered in the last recession was so great I initially decided to run my new bikini company as a small cash business with minimal connection to banks, accountants and government. A stash under the bed generated by selling a couple of bikinis a day would be enough to keep body and soul together. At least that was the plan.

It turned out that the product was too good and demand for Wicked Weasel bikinis ensured the small cash business idea lasted the whole of ten minutes. And so even with the pending introduction of the dreaded GST (Goods and Services Tax), which was and remains an expensive administrative shackle furthering the role of business as tax collector, I decided once again to chain myself to the wheel in the service of the state.

Small business in Australia generates around 25% of the country's GDP, employs over 40% of the workforce and in the process makes significant albeit involuntary contributions to the ATO (Australian Tax Office). The Australian definition of a small business is one which employs up to 20 staff, suggesting there are a lot of fat old bastards like me chained to wheels around this wide brown land of opportunity footing the bill for an ever increasing government who produce nothing yet have an expert understanding on how we should conduct our affairs.

In harness racing a horse's legs are hobbled with leather straps so it can't gallop. In the sport of business, government also hobbles the horse, but with a type of legal tape, historically red but nowdays often a sort of pink & green. This ensures it remains difficult for the horse to move forward at its full capacity. The horse is then flogged on behalf of the ATO and various other government acronyms in order to raise as much money as possible for people in the audience who don't own horses or understand how they work, but wholeheartedly support the use of tape. Any type of win usually results in the requirement to lodge part of future expected prize money before the start of the race, plus the further application of tape. The process continues until the horse moves to a tropical island where life is easier or in its effort to fund a dignified retirement, breaks a leg and is put down.

Having witnessed recent racing events and the collapse of several horses, the media championed a call for justice. The government, always ready to act in the best interests of the community, villified the horses for running in the designated track and breaking down in the middle of an event and vowed action to prevent this from happening again. The Future Accident Horse Tribunal (FAHT) was established to protect consumers from the trauma of a horse being put down mid event and to provide financial compensation for any losses that may result, including future earnings. The tribunal's running costs are met through a Safe Horses Tax (SHT) of 10% on all racing transactions.

Thankfully we have been saved yet again by Australian government. In coming months we can look forward to a collective world government plan designed to save us from extremely nasty international horses.

Peter G.

(Techically Wicked Weasel is now a medium business)

Brand Power



Wicked Weasel is a strong Internet search term so many sites mention us in their commentary as a way to generate traffic. This is a two edged sword in that it generates traffic for competitors and all manner of rubbish sites yet the very fact we are regularly mentioned demonstrates the value of our brand and maintains its visibility.

Recently I was corresponding with a webmaster in regard to the use of Wicked Weasel on his 'information' site. Whilst his site offers some periodic editorial about Wicked Weasel, it is easy to take a cynical view given the proliferation of Google ads and commentary on competitors. Nevertheless, we have agreed that any mention of our name will be shown as a link which points to our site.

In my letter I did however outline some history so that the webmaster might better understand why we might be a little touchy when it comes to the commercial use of our name. Wicked Weasel is the number one player in the Internet micro bikini world and there's good reason for that. We were the first on the Internet scene and although there were other micro bikini makers before us, we have made a significant contribution to the genre and lay claim to a number of innovations.

When I personally built and launched the first Wicked Weasel site in 1999 there were few real pictures of girls wearing micro bikinis to be found and only two web sites that sold small-ish bikinis. Virtually every other micro bikini company since then has copied from us.

I have been making swimwear since 1990 and since 1994 under the Wicked Weasel label. We were the first to introduce small metal rings to bikinis and use thin edge bindings, thin bum strings and thin attached side straps with rubber inside. Our bikinis were revolutionary in their construction and in the way they were photographed and sold.  

We invented the 'cameltoe' (v-front style) g-string bikini and were the first to commercially manufacture, photograph and sell unlined see-through sheer bikinis. In 2000 we offered the 'Microminimus' - the world's smallest (commercially made) bikini at the time.  Wicked Weasel changed world bikini culture by photographing 'real' women in purposely designed exhibitionist swimwear.

Now well over 30 companies offer similar products and web site content but it is impossible to find one competing company that has existed on the Internet as long as ours: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.wickedweasel.com. The wayback machine only lists us from October 1999 but Wicked Weasel actually sold its first bikini online on 24th June 1999. 

Wicked Weasel continues to make innovative products which are duly copied by the ever increasing swarm that follows us. But one thing that will always set us apart is our consistent high quality; a product of our solid manufacturing history, ongoing investment in capital equipment and of course the totally dedicated WW staff.

In the big picture it is indeed flattering that so many copy us, and make no mistake, we need a hand to get the message out that less = more. But in the bikini gold rush I would hope the significant contribution Wicked Weasel has made to the swimwear industry and the Internet is not forgotten.

Peter G.

2009 Calendar

The 2009 Wicked Weasel calendar which is now available in the shop is by far the best we have produced. As we are in the southern hemisphere we shoot for the calendar and catalogue through Autumn and Winter so it can be difficult to coordinate the models with a fine sunny day. Fortunately this year we were lucky and as well as having a great selection of models we managed to snag some really great beach days. The notable exception is the lovely Sharna who became very cold when the wind came up as we were taking her best shots. But I'm sure many would volunteer to take the voluptuous young lass home and warm her up.

Usually we shoot the calendar and catalogue separate to the web site updates so we have a fresh look for our printed material. Where we shoot for both on the same day we reserve sets of pics for either print or online. There are three models not on the website and some shots feature new products that we will be adding to the shop in coming months.

Whilst I still take the photos, credit for the calendar rightfully goes to Mira who works tirelessly arranging models, shoots, photo post production for calendar and catalogue as well as regular web site updates.

Artwork by Lawrence Eastland. Special thanks to Ian from Graphic Expressions Byron Bay for excellent colour work.

We hope you like it.

Our flat shipping rates provides for pricing and discounts as follows:

1 Calendar	$25
Shipping	$16
	$41 = $41 each
2 Calendars	$50
Shipping	$16
	$66 = $33 each
3 Calendars	$69
Shipping	$16
	$85 = $28.33 each

Factory News

In mid June we moved into our new premises at 156 Jonson Street and have been settling in for the past few months. The job took far longer than expected, and of course went well over budget, but finally we have a place to call our own.

We still need to buy some furniture, hang some blinds, build quite a lot of benches, hang up pictures and notice boards etc etc etc, but all that will happen as time and funds permit. Right now we are all just happy to have a bright airy new workplace with plenty of room to move.

Come for a tour of Wicked Weasel HQ.