Friday, July 30, 2021

Gowntown Scarves Have you Covered

Scarves. I am a longtime fan of scarves, but I've mostly confined my scarf collection to the winter variety. In the spring of this year I decided to add a lightweight chiffon scarf to my wardrobe and I loved it so much that when Gowntown Vintage asked me to collaborate with them on the release of their new scarf collection, I jumped at the chance.

Lightweight scarves such as this Womens' Chiffon Scarf were a popular feature of women's fashion from the 1920s through the 1960s and perhaps into the 70s. They were stylish and practical with so many uses from being worn around the neck, over the hair, as a headband, or simply as a pony tail decoration; scarves were a staple in every woman's wardrobe.

My fashion muse, Ms. Audrey Hepburn, wore them many ways as you can see from the pics above. From accenting her outfit to protecting her hair-do, she always made them look good, and I felt that for that proper finish to any vintage look, a scarf is a necessity.

It really is the little extra things that can make or break an outfit and I love the way this scarf adds such color and character to the overall look. I've put together a little video down below of all the ways I styled this, though I know there are a few more I didn't cover, and I can't wait to come up with more styles with this gorgeous red scarf. But, the best part is that Gowntown is offering my readers an extra 30% off their purchase of this scarf with code yourscarf

Shopping Info: Womens Chiffon Scarf from Gowntown Vintage-$6.99 Save an extra 30% with code yourscarf, Gizo heels from Honiara Vintage-$79, Sweater and skirt from Collectif

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Write Your Own Story

I grew up in a very small town It's was the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and there were no strangers, because all these same families had lived there for at least four or five generations. It was in many ways an idyllic farming community. But it had its problems. For example a family could fall that fell into ruin may never get out. The sins of one person were remembered and applied to their descendants long after the sinner was in their grave and past remembering.

I remember the labels attached to each of us at a very young age. These were the "wealthy" (Looking back what was considered wealth in that area was laughable) families so their daughters were cheerleaders, prom queens, and the "hottest" girls in school. These were the poor families so no one looked twice at their daughters. I remember sitting back one day and wondering when the labels were applied to us all and how valid they were. The popular girls in my opinion, weren't terribly pretty, some were but most it would generous to say were of average looks. On the other hand there was one girl from the poorest family who stunningly beautiful and had the sweetest and kindest disposition and yet had never been asked out even once. So clearly people weren't actually looking at the person, only the label.

It wasn't until the area began opening up and more and more new people began moving in that I saw the dynamics of our school hierarchy begin to shift. The families in power stayed in power but often found that the new kids weren't interested. They looked with fresh eyes and no prior labels, and suddenly those girls who had been overlooked were rocketing to the top of the popularity scale. I wasn't really a part of any of this, merely an observer, but I for one, reveled in their success. And for my own part, began to see myself and others differently. Maybe I wasn't what others said I was. Maybe it was possible to be exactly who I wanted to be. Maybe I got to choose which labels to allow and which to reject.

All of this helped to form my decision to move away from my small town, to leave all the labels and the curses of past generations behind. It was liberating, addictive even. I remember coming back home for a bit and running into an old friend from school. I was wearing a vintage Depression era dress and my friend looked me over, then curled her lip and said, "you're wearing a dress!" I agreed. She gave an incredulous sputter, "But, you Hate dresses!" I could feel my eyebrows knit as I replied, "No, I love dresses." At our school only the popular girls wore dresses; everyone else was thought of as trying to step outside their station and therefore mocked for wearing dresses, sometimes in the form of having their skirt pulled for all to see and laugh. That's what I hated, not dresses.

So, I moved away and tried to be the kind of person I wanted to be...but it wasn't so easy. Even though others weren't applying these labels to me, they'd been there for so long, I saw myself slipping into them as an enforced habit. When an amazing guy asked me out, I often said no because I felt I wasn't worthy, or after a few dates I would end things because I couldn't handle the pressure of feeling that everyone was staring and wondering, "who does she think she is!"

Of course, no on was thinking that; no one even knew me in all the places I lived after I moved away, let alone cast such harsh high school-judgemosque judgements, but it was so well ingrained into my being that it took a lot of years and a lot of work to escape.

Moving back to this small town I've found a few people who never left this town, and that's ok. The problem comes when people try to force me back into my old labels, or worse, apply them to my children. I worked hard to be the kind of person I want to be, regardless of where I live or who my family is from 100 years ago to the present day.

That's why I don't understand the current trend of madly rushing to label oneself. So many people have fought to free us of labels and boxes and ceilings and yet now it seems like people are desperate to define themselves in the most narrow ways possible.

Don't do it. It's ok to love pixie cuts, circle glasses, and princess dresses. It's Ok to love a little goblin core, with a dash of cottage core and splash of vintage vibes thrown in the mix. Don't limit yourself; don't label yourself. Throw away any of those old labels that just don't fit you or who you want to be. Instead be all the things and like all the things you want without it meaning anything more than you just like them. And write your own story; you don't need any help to just be you.

Shopping: the strawberry dress by lirikamatoshi.com

Monday, July 26, 2021

Bullets Over Bra'd Way

While it is a fact that women have been fashioning support for millennia, the first brassier as we know it today officially entered the world of women's fashion on November 3, 1914 when a young woman named Mary Phelps Jacobs was granted a patent by the US patent office.

Imagine young Mary, just 19 years old and getting ready to make her grand entrance into society at her debutant ball, but her corset and chemise were peeking out of the deep neckline in this new sleek style of dress. Undeterred, she asked her maid to bring her a couple of pocket handkerchiefs which she folded into triangles and attached straps and a band to to create a bra that wouldn't show. Et Voila! The brassier was born.

It was only a mere 27 years later that the bullet bra premiered during wartime when so many things began adopting new, more patriotic titles like Victory Rolls for a popular hairstyle and Liberty Cabbage instead of sauerkraut. Yes, it seems that during those difficult years, the world was in a mad dash to weaponize as many things as possible--including boobies. Yes, I imagine someone out there thought, Hey, if we can make atoms into bombs, why can't we make breasts into bullets! Please don't check my historical accuracy on that; just take my word for it.

It wasn't long after that that "sweater girls," as the world at large came to know them, first emerged in Hollywood. They are often pictured as busty girls wearing tight sweaters and bullet bras. Although Lana Turner is often credited as being the first "sweater girl", it must be noted that she received this term in 1937 for her role in the movie They Won't Forget, which was released four years before the invention of the bullet bra. Tuner was just wearing a very tight sweater and had a body that garnered attention.

1. with modern bra, 2. with Matrisse bra no pads, 3. Matrisse bra with pads.

According to Dusty Old Things: The first bullet bra was released in 1941 under the Perma-Lift brand. Ads for the new style of bras captivated customers with promises of supreme comfort and support all in one. The Perma-Lift was made without underwires- only stitching forced the cups to keep their shape. The shape of the bra cups were conical, but since it was wartime, the terms “bullet bra” and “torpedo bra” both stuck around. Just like the new hairstyle was called Victory rolls, so the newest bra was given a name that reflected the times.

Even after the world achieved some sense of peace, the popularity of bullet bras persisted and found their way into the wardrobe of pretty much every woman in America and perhaps around the world, for over three decades thanks to the support of Hollywood bombshells like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Elizabeth Taylor.

It wasn't until the 1970s when fashion, make-up and hairstyles focused on au-natural that bullet bras finally faded away. Madonna made an attempt to bring them back in the 1990s with the help of Jean Paul Gaultier, but the result was nothing short of an iconic joke and the bullet bra seems to have gone away for good from the mainstream. But that doesn't mean they aren't still around.
With the revived interest in vintage styles, there are a number of brands that have popped up to meet the demand for authentic undies made in vintage styles, and today we're going to discuss four of those brands.

1. What Katie Did. Founded in 1999, Katie loved vintage lingerie but didn't want to risk damaging it by wearing it. To remedy that, she started making her own. With a wide range of sizes, What Katie Did focuses on authentically made bullet bras, garters, and panties. From what I can tell, this style does seem to be very authentic in design. I ordered a white Matrisse Bullet Bra and I love that this bra has Zero underwire and yet is very supportive and comfortable.

The straps and band clasps are wide and offer a great range of adjustability. The main con with this bra is that the fabric is so thin that it offers no lift and by the end of the day this bra fell flat, so to speak and it was rather unpleasant not just physically, but emotionally too. Unfortunately my size is not available from this brand so I opted for my sister size and found it to be a comfortable fit in the band, but there is a hollowness in the cups that I will have to address with padding.

If you're not familiar with the term "sister size" it simply means substituting your size for the adjacent size. For example, if you wear a 34B, you find your sister size by going up one band size and down a cup size to 36A or down a band size and up a cup size to 32C. This bra was perhaps the most authentic. You can see it worn with a sweater in the photos above.

There are no underwires, a sheer nylon fabric for the cups and the straps are supportive, but also quite light much like all the vintage lingerie I've owned. This bra was the most comfortable and felt like almost like wearing nothing except for the thick band. In that way it felt more like a sports bra because it was snug and firm for support.

2. Bettie Page by Playful Promises. This brand is undoubtedly the holy grail of vintage unmentionables. Everything here is on my wish list. I found my size in one bra, but also ordered my sister size in another since my size was out of stock. To my surprise, I like the fit of my sister size much better in this brand. Really gorgeous, and so comfortable.

I ordered several styles of bullet bra that range from the subtle point of the Overwire Bra. I loved the look of this bra more than any other, but after wearing it for an entire day that over wire felt like a weight on my chest and was causing some pain--just physical this time, although it seems to me that this is the reason the over wire is not a feature in bras today.

It was a more subtle shape than the Matrisse bra and the one by Revival, which I'll come to in a moment, so that was a pro, but the bar felt like a safety mechanism on an amusement park ride and I think I would have liked the bra much more if the shape were the same but it had no wire in it.

The next bra from Bettie Page had a more classical shape and is called the Spiral Stitch bullet bra.

While not as pretty as the over wire, it was definitely more comfortable. I wore this all day in a hand made dress from a vintage reproduction pattern and thought that it made the dress look truly authentic. It had that same mild bullet shape that is reminiscent of vintage styles but didn't make my children look away in shame every time I entered a room. No, that only happed when I wore the

extreme, in-your-face style of the Retro Futuristic bra.

The retro futuristic bra is one that will probably never see any public wear, I'm just not that kind of girl, but it was fun to try on for research purposes. Use my link to sign-up for Playful Promises and save $5 off your first purchase.

3. Revival Lingerie. This UK brand has plenty of nostalgia and offers a full line of vintage style undergarments. They have such a great range of sizes, I love it when shops respect the fact that there are more than just 34-38 out there. I chose a basic Circular Stitched Bullet Bra in black in my sister size.

This time, the shop did have my size, but this particular bra was on sale, so, you know, I did that. In the photos this bra looked identical to the WKD bra, but there really is a difference.

Even though they have that same authentic shape and both lack underwire in favor of a thick elastic band for support, the Revival bra is a thicker fabric, so the shape is more pronounced, but I didn't have that loss of bullet trajectory so to speak, as I had with the Matrisse, so you know, my feelings weren't hurt. In my opinion is is much closer to a modern bra in many regards.

4. Kiss Me Deadly. Founded by a cheeky psychologist turned lingerie expert, this UK brand has attitude. (So many UK brands. Where are all the vintage brands from the US?!). There's a lot to love about Kiss Me Deadly, but for this particular experiment I did not succeed in finding a bullet bra. The bullet bras they currently carry are from What Katie Did and Bettie Page, so I settled for a girdle and a little name drop in this post for now.

Just like when the original bullet bras were invented, you will likely need something to help fill out the shape since most breasts aren't naturally shaped like bullets. The options for padding are limited. Basically you have What Katie Did and making your own. I did both. The reason I decided to make my own was that most of the reviews for WKD padding were not very good. Most people agreed they just weren't pointy enough. So, I made my own and then when a bra arrived with some padding I could compare. The black one is from WKD, the beige is the one I made. See the difference:

So, to make your own bullet padding, simply cut a bra pad from edge to center. Overlap the cut piece until it makes the shape you want, then mark that distance and cut out the excess fabric.

Use that pad to mark the distance on the second pad before you sew so that they will be the same shape and size.

Then sew the two sides together. I recommend you cut out the excess fabric to avoid an uneven shape. I didn't do that with this first prototype and you can see that it's a bit wonky.

Let me just take a moment to say that this post has been a labor of love. I have been researching, shopping, experimenting, sewing, not to mention coming up with the perfect pun for the title of this post, to make this post happen for nearly two months. It was loads of fun, made my family very uncomfortable as I tried out bras that created unfamiliar silhouettes, and ultimately made me want to do more projects like this. I'm just waiting for the next inspiration to come.

Brands: Kiss Me Deadly, Revival Lingerie, What Katie Did, Bettie Page, Pads for customizing from Amazon, What Katie Did Pads on Amazon

Sources: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/11/the-first-bra-was-made-of-handkerchiefs/382283/

Saturday, July 24, 2021

When Bernie Met Charlie

Julius Caesar & Cleopatra, Mary & Percy Bysshe Shelley, Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio and now joining the ranks of history's greatest power couples: Bernie Dexter dresses and Charlie Stone Shoes. That's right, today's post combines two of my favorite brands that seem like they were just meant to be.

I've gushed over Bernie Dexter many times in this blog over the years, both as a brand and as a woman, I think she is totally gorgeous and amazing. So, it only makes sense to have another stand-out brand with which to compliment Bernie and Charlie Stone is totally in sync with my girl.

It doesn't happen often but every now and then I find two brands that just seem to get each other. And when I see these dresses and shoes side by side, it's like they were made to go together.

This little botanical garden is an out of the way place that a million people pass by Monday through Saturday and then totally forget exists on Sunday afternoons. That's when I like to come here. It's not very well maintained most of the year, but this is truly its season of glory.

Bernie's been through a tough time over the past year or so, but she's back and is already rolling out some new prints for the season. I'm super excited to see what she has in store! I hope at some point she'll bring back that adorable Tipsy Pink Elephant print because that dress was to die for. I'm watching the resale sites, but so far, no luck. That's ok, you know I love a project.

In the meantime I'm enjoying wearing all the pretties I picked up at Bernie's amazing sales. They're still going on if you've missed out. Just sign-up for her newsletter and you can get some really great bargains on these stunning cotton dresses.