No pictures today, because I’ve been forgetting to have my official photographer take my picture when I get home. Also, it’s dark when I get home, which makes for lousy pictures. Living on the eastern edge of the central time zone means that Daylight Savings knocks us flat in November. “Whhhhhhhhy is it sooooooo dark?” we, the people of Chicago, collectively wail.
Anyhow, I’ve been active and wearing my underpinnings since last we updated, and I have compiled the following list of ten things not to do in vintage underwear.
1. Don’t attend a football game in a girdle. I wore my light, hardly at all compressing one, and a long line bra, and it was okay. At first, I was going to wear much tighter foundations, and then I thought about sitting in bleachers and came to my senses. On the plus side, I was probably much warmer than people who didn’t cover their cores so effectively.
2. Don’t wear stocking with garters to an audition when you’re doing a monologue you usually perform while sitting slouchily. (On the other hand, perhaps I increased my air of mystery with my garter flashing.)
3. Don’t make out with someone while wearing a girdle. It’s mean to try to make another person take it off. Take it off yourself. Also, you might make a slight popping noise when it’s removed, much like a Pillsbury canned biscuit, which could kill the mood.
4. Running is just out. Don’t even.
5. I haven’t tried it, but I imagine cartwheels wouldn’t go well.
Had one moment when I thought my garter had come undone. False alarm!
Day 4
On November 4th I wore:
Same repro bra.
The heavy duty girdle from the first day.
Leggings.
This is an entirely appropriate situation for dancing with toddlers.
In This Getup I:
Drove a car
Voted!
Taught a toddler music class.
Went to my office job.
Notes:
Teaching class was surprisingly possible.
My bra did eventually get uncomfortable, but only after I’d been wearing it eight hours.
I did not wear these things during my dance rehearsal that night, because that just seemed silly.
But I did put them back on after.
Day 5
Today I wore:
A Rago girdle that is probably a little older, but I’m not sure it qualifies as vintage. Rago is a vintage brand–they’ve been manufacturing shapewear forever, in pretty much the same styles. This is the most constricting of my garments–it does not mess around.
My nice soft pretty long line bra.
The slip is a lie. I was wearing pants today, and didn’t want to try to get a pair of leggings under the girdle, or show my underpants to the Internet.
In This Getup I:
Went to work.
Went shopping (more on that later).
Went home.
Notes:
Again, I was squished, but it really didn’t bother me most of the day.
This was constricting enough that I didn’t keep it on once I got home.
The girdle may even be slightly too small, it’s hard to tell. There’s some tug on the hooks, but man, does it work.
I had to change pants this morning, because the ones I put on were too big over the girdle. This is a piece of machinery.
What is the most constricting garment you own? How often do you wear it?
Okay, so it isn’t that dramatic. Yesterday was the first day of the Vintage Underwear Challenge. It went pretty well.
I wore:
A pretty serious girdle, of unknown date, of possibly French or Canadian manufacture. I got it at a clothing swap a year or so ago. It has a u-shaped piece of boning on the tummy panel, and fastens at the side.
A long line bra of a sort of bullety variety, that I had altered. From eBay. Probably from the 50’s. Heavy elastic waist band.
I wore leggings over my girdle, because it was cold. I have decided that is legit. I wore it underneath for photos, because the world (or at least my mother) does not need to look at pictures of my bits.
I am making a ridiculous face, so as not to appear sexy.
Activities Completed in This Get Up:
Rode in a car.
Saw a play.
Walked a bunch.
Ate a lot of nachos.
Wore it for a good 10ish hours.
Notes:
It really wasn’t uncomfortable. It felt like a gentle hug around my middle, without being terribly obtrusive.
Running to cross the street requires adjustment. I had to bring my legs straight up and down like a show pony, rather than extend my legs in front of me. I am sure this looked super dignified.
This ensemble definitely created more of a waist than I actually have, a teensy bit lower than my actual waist. I am unsure of what I think of this.
November 2, Return of the Girdle
Today, I wore:
A much lighter “roll on” style girdle, with heavy-duty stocking clips. Obtained from eBay.
Long-line bra, from a clothing swap.
Vassarette stockings (from eBay, in original packaging).
Voila!
Activities Completed in This Get Up:
Walked short distances.
Went to a party.
Wore about 8 hours.
Notes:
It was warmer today, but not warm enough to just wear stockings. I think I’ll eventually make a pair of bloomers, but for now, I chopped off the legs of an old pair of long johns. They came down to my stocking tops, and kept me quite comfy.
Real stockings are way, way sturdier than the kind sold for costumes.
Again, nothing felt too confining or uncomfortable.
Long john solution!
So far, so good. Of course, it’s only been two days!
People try to do things in November. There’s NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month), there’s No-Shave November. So I decided to also try to do something in November. Something challenging, and a little silly, to fight the ridiculous drear of the fade from autumn to winter.
I decided to wear vintage or style undercrackers every day in November.
“Ha! Hahahahahaha!” said my mother. “Are you going to wear girdles? ” and then she started giggling again.
“…Okay?” said my boyfriend. (He’s not a big fan of this idea, ya’ll. A lady wearing garters and stockings might be some people’s fantasy, but not this guy.)
For the purposes of the challenge, “vintage” consists of 1940’s- early 1960’s in style. I’ve decided tights are allowed, even though they didn’t get popular until the late 60’s, because I live in the Midwest, and it’s November. And I’m wearing regular modern panties, because we don’t have our own washing machine, and I can’t justify purchasing the volume I’d need to be hygienic.
So yesterday, I got ready.
During October, in preparation for the challenge, I supplemented my underwear collection. One bra and girdle are not sufficient for daily wear. So I stalked some eBay auctions, and landed enough underwear to keep me covered (Ha, covered!) through the month.
Yesterday, I washed and fixed things, to get them in top shape (Ha, shape!). I’ve discovered that my bra size does not translate to vintage proportions. I had a couple bras I didn’t quite fill. Okay, real talk, I filled them exactly half way. (Gentle reader, are you uncomfortable that we’re talking about my bosom? I apologize, but this is for science.) The tops were sadly empty. Part of this is just the different shape of the cups, part is the shape of me, but some alterations were necessary. I looked up a quick alteration solution, and was pleased to find a simple solution.
Basically, you put on the bra (not pictured), pull the fabric of the cup down to where an underwire would be, if there were an underwire, and pin it. The hardest part of this is not sticking a pin directly into your breast. Be careful! Don’t do it! That would suck! Then you take off the bra, and hand stitch the cup down. Voila! You are now filling those cups!
Pin the bra, not yourself.
Obviously, the best solution is a well-fitting bra in the first place. If I decided to wear this kind of underwear forever, I’d get a bra that fit properly without alterations. But for the purposes of this experiment, I don’t mind a quick fix.
I followed my alterations with a little laundry. I double washed, ’cause some of my eBay finds are a little musty. I first hand washed with Lovelast Coldwater Cleanser, a lingerie soap I purchased a couple years ago at Harp’s in Birmingham, Michigan (someday I will post about Harp’s, where you can still have an actual expert bra fitting). I followed this wash up with another handwash in a great deal of homemade laundry soap, rinsed, and hung everything to dry.
Wash, wash, wash!
All set!
Here we go!
What do you think? Is this going to be a girdled disaster?
I’ve noticed, as I do, a few great vintage Halloween posts on this, the world wide web. And I will now share them with you!
First off, the lovely Queens of Vintage posted these Halloween pin-ups. I like these because they’re simultaneously cute and weird. Glamour and goofiness, my favorite combination!
The Hairpin does a fantastic look at Arden Holt’s Fancy Dresses Described; or What to Wear at Fancy Balls. Reading through it, I feel like I’ve seen Holt’s 19th century costume guide before somewhere. Regardless, I love it. I am so going to be Canada for Halloween next year. A wreath of maple leaves is clearly in my future. Or I’ll be an Aquarium. I like these ideas because a lot of them sound pretty and clever.
This Cult of Weird post is from last year, but I didn’t see it. I love the home made aspect of these costumes, and how very, very strange they are. That cabbage dress is wonderful. Maybe I’ll be a Cabbage Goddess, instead of Canada.
One of the thing that most appeals to me about vintage Halloween stuff is that it seems more creative. Nothing is pre-packaged, it’s all a little folksy. I am a big fan of the homemade costume. As a child, my seamstress grandmamma made all of my Halloween costumes–I started thinking about my costumes months ahead of time. She made me a kangaroo costume once, and, tellingly, I was Laura Ingalls in fourth grade, complete with sunbonnet. If I’d told her I wanted to be Canada, she’d probably have figured out how to make it happen. As an adult, my costumes are way more thrown together. I don’t even usually dress up, unless I have a really compelling reason (or a fantastic Canada costume).
Something I like about vintage Halloween is that the focus seems to be more on eeriness than gore. It’s no secret that I’m not a horror fan. I know a lot of people who LOVE horror, especially horror movies. I love a lot of people who love these things, and I think I get why. I, however, I am squeamish, and have vivid recall, so I tend to spend a lot of time with my face in a pillow if something scary is on.
Older horror appeals to me, because it usually isn’t about torture and sexual violence and blood and guts. This fits my natural sensibilities–I’m more interested in creepiness than stories that are about things that I’m actually truly horrified by. It’s the same reason I like Poe, and Neil Gaiman, and even the 1922 Nosferatu (I do enjoy some German Expressionism), but not, say, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
What are you going to be for Halloween this year? And what do you think–creepy vs. horrific? Am I the only one who can’t handle horror movies?
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