What Lies Beneath

Lately I have become a little obsessed with lingerie. Vintage lingerie to be precise. I've always loved it and gazed longingly at it's finery, but lately I've got a bit OTT and purchased enough to suit-up a lace armoury.

One of my new purchases - second hand

Why? Well thank you for asking, allow me to explain. It is my dears, simply because lingerie from the bygone eras was BETTER. It lasted longer, it was made with more attention to detail and it was made to serve a purpose. Modern bras and panties/knickers/underthings (whatever your preferential term for them is) may be pretty now, but they're effectively just breast/nether region coverings with a clasp and some elastic here and there. Lingerie used to be about shaping you, about sucking in and holding and tucking and perfecting so that with our clothing on, it looked all so naturally perfect.



Karenelmquistvintage on Etsy



"Faking it" has become such a large part of our fashion culture - even with the exception of the more drastic option of plastic surgery we have fake tan, fake nails, fake hair, fake eyelashes - why did we steer away from faking, or rather 'assisting', our shape (without going under the knife)?

Vs.

A further thing about this lingerie - it's sexier. It's sexier because it takes longer to take off. Every time you, or someone else undresses you - it can be a strip tease. In modern underwear it's a strip tease that takes 2.6 seconds and would have an audience demanding their nickel back (fist shake optional). But in vintage lingerie, there's stockings to be unhooked from garters and rolled down, clasps to be unfastened, slips to slide out of...

There are modern remakes of vintage lingerie styles that are just as beautiful and can be purchased rather than dug out from thrift stores, op shops and by scouring the internet. Kiss Me Quick http://www.kissmequick.net.au/ have some gorgeous girdles and shapewear, as do DarkLadiesWear on Etsy.

Kiss Me Quick - Don't be cross girdle

Vintage lingerie is a luxury. In our modern, fast paced world where women don't have three hours a day to dress, set their hair and do their makeup it's easy to forget the benefit of such old fashions.

ValentinesArmoire on Etsy

StyleForLife on Etsy

JunkSisters911 on Etsy

Ultimately they may not be for every day wear, but for once in awhile when you want to feel like an old Hollywood goddess (Hello, Ava Gardner) then slipping on a slip, and fastening yourself into a girdle can be just what you need. Or at least, concerning my recent purchases - that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Ava Gardner knew how to work her shape - but
I'm sure she had some help under that dress ;)