Torturous justification

[chocolatepot]

So I was thinking. Looking at patterns to make clothes I'll actually wear, I'm going for practical knits and so on. Trying to figure out which professional dresses (you know, as opposed to sundresses and party dresses) I'll actually wear, I've realized that I like an overall retro styling but WILL NOT WEAR anything with gathers or pleats at the waist. With such a high waist, I can't have that much volume above my hips - I need lengthening vertical seams and gored skirts. I have a couple of good patterns!

But my thought process is - Victorian dresses don't look right without the proper underclothing, and I don't think 1940s-early 1960s ones do either. Even on the models, sometimes. They need to be closely fitted, and you can only closely-fit so far without support. Especially me - I'm squishy and always shifting, it's really tricky.

At the same time, I want to start wearing tap pants with skirts because they're crazy comfortable. But since much of the year requires leg covering (especially if working somewhere climate controlled), and I can't wear pantyhose with tap pants, I need to (need to!) get stockings and a garter belt. So getting a midcentury-style girdle with garters would be perfect.

Except that the word" girdle" is horrible to me, I associate it with my mother making fun of what her mother used to wear/still wears. And the idea of wearing one on a regular basis seems a little extreme for me because I feel like I'll be turning into a retro lifestyler. Intellectually I'm well aware that Spanx is no different from earlier shapewear, and I really don't think Spanx would make enough of a difference anyway (or be as comfortable) to be an option, but it still seems like WHOA quite a step to go from occasional corsets at reenactments to a girdle as just a part of my wardrobe.

But I think I'm probably going to go for it, because I want some retro daily clothes (oh man if I were a curatorial assistant at a big museum I would look so rad there in my vintage Vogue/Simplicity outfits) and I want them to fit right. I think I've come to the conclusion that if I do get this job, I'll buy one, and if I don't, I'll use Mrs. Depew's pattern and make one for myself. Of the retail options ...

- The Secrets in Lace Colette waist cincher ($42), which despite its name is really just a girdle (that is, it doesn't do much at the waist)

- What Katy Did's Glamour zip underbust girdle ($105)

- What Katy Did's Marlene girdle (also $105)

I'm most inclined towards the Marlene: the Colette is so much cheaper and everything at Secrets is so sheer and flimsy looking that I don't trust it not to break, and the Glamour looks too sturdy. There are a lot of others on both sites, but I don't think they'd come up to my waist, high as it is.

Dunno, anyone try this kind of thing?

Comments

[holli]

Skirt-wise, would you have better luck with circle skirts or half-circles? There's much less bulk at the waist but you still get a nice swishy hem.

[chocolatepot]

Probably a partial circle. I think a full circle would still be too much fabric, too soon!