Month of Vintage Underwear: Day 4

I used to think bullet bras were just silly, but I’ve kind of changed my tune. You know who hasn’t? My boyfriend.

“Lookit! Look how pointy my breasts are! Ahahahahaha! YES!” I squealed.

He did not reply. He simply looked weary.

“Think how sad you’d be if you were with someone who didn’t get excited about dumb things,” I reminded him.

I exist to bring joy to the people.

Continue reading “Month of Vintage Underwear: Day 4” →

Vintage Underwear Challenge Days 3-5

Just a little check in.

On November 3, I wore:

A brand new long line black bullet bra.
The same vintage stretch girdle as day 2.
Long johns turned into knickers.
Stockings clipped to garters.

My bra is repro, my table and chairs are not.

In This Getup I:

Went to my job.
Sat at a desk most of the day.

Notes:

Perfectly comfortable.
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. — 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?

Vintage Underwear Day 1 & 2: It Begins

November 1, 2014. The Dawn of the Girdle.

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).

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.

So far, so good. Of course, it’s only been two days!

November: Vintage Underwear Challenge

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!

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.

All set!

Here we go!

What do you think? Is this going to be a girdled disaster?