Upsy daisy

Something I noticed. Well actually something I noticed quite a few years back but am still astounded enough that it happens that I am going to write about it is how many people wear their corsets upside down.

Now, you'd think that this is a pretty obvious thing - your boobs are on the top, your bum is at the bottom. Most of us have known this since we first became aware of the world around us, for some it then dissapeared into a haze of boobs, bums, alchohol and hormones in no particular order, but those aren't really the ones that we are worrying about here.

I was looking through matric farewell photos and photoshoots given to me by a number of clients and was really quite amazed at how many of them featured upside down (and in some instances upside down and back to front) corsets. Yes, some of the ladies in question are a little light in the skull area, but most are quite smart. It is not like a sweetheart cupped Merry Widow is an easy thing to mistake either. So here is a quick checklist of 10 ways to know your corset is on the right way round.

1) Put your corset on before the before-party. If cocktails have been involved at any stage during that day, put it back in it's box and wear a towel. It'll make your life easier in the long run.

2) lay the corset on the bed. Unless you are a really weird shape (ie your boobs have sagged to crotch level in which case you probably need a surgeon rather than a corset) the two central bones will form a v that is open in the top, narrowing towards the bottom. Just to be sure that you heard the first time - the wide bit of the V  formed by the boning is at the Top, if it is at the bottom, stand on your head and try again.

3) Look for the cups of your corset - the bits where your boobs go. No matter how small they are, there is a space for them.  Most corsets will be slightly lower between the breasts, there may be a lace-up busk or zip down the centre. Line this central line up with centre of you - so that there is a straight line from your neck to your belly button. Great, now you know that your corset is at least not on sideways.

4) If your corset has frillies on it, they will be at the top front, they are not there to hide the fact that you haven't had a bikini wax for 6 months or are wearing your panties back to front.
5) If your corset has suspenders, these attach to your stockings, they do not go over your shoulders. remember this, it is important.

6) The bits of ribbon dangling from the centre of your corset go at the back, these are where you pull from to tighten it, remember? we went over this at least five times before when you came to collect your corset.

7) If you bought a "cincher" or "underbust" corset, it goes around your waist, not your boobs. Now please go and put on a bra.
8) The stretchy elastic bits on a Merry Widow? they go on the sides. Now, get a friend to hold the corset still and rotate your body till they are one on each side with the long dangly ribbon bit at the back.
9) No, corsets aren't reversable, if the silver satin is on the outside, it is inside out.

10) I am considering that you are now standing in front of the mirror with the fly (privacy panel) wrapped around your neck, the laces twisted and one half of the cost inside out and upside down with the whole lot back to front. A word of wisdom: go, have a vodka, put on a t-shirt and phone me in the morning.

Arwen

Pic 1 - Upside down Merry Widow

Pic 2- Upside down AND back to front. Good ol Suicide Girls, Still waving the flag for bad taste.

Corset Myths 01 - In the Victorian era, all women tightlaced

This is a huge one. Pretty much everyone who passes through our shop has heard (and usually believe this one) In some ways it isn't a bad myth as it gives people some sort of understanding of what a corset entails. most people understand what I am talking about if I use the words "Victorian Corset."  What I have more trouble with than this myth, is people who think that any little top with a bit of ribbon in it is a corset.

Let's put it this way. This myth is equivelant to people, 100 years in the future saying "all women in 2010 had gigantic silicon boobs squeezed into Wonderbras" based on what was said by our media.  The majority of women in the 19th and early 20th centuary did wear corsets, but in much the same way that the majority of women today wear bras. There were the odd ones who took corsetry to the extreme and as with all extremes, these are the ones that people remember, but most women wore corsets as a bit of day to day support. Our average tightlacer today is far more extreme than most of the extreme tightlacers of yesteryear. 
Before I go any further, let me just explain to those of you who don't know, what a tightlacer or tightlacing is. A tightlacer is a person who wears steel-boned corsets (tightlacer or tightlacing corset) on a permanent basis for body modifying reasons. The corsets are usually worn 23 hous a day, seven days a week, and are taken off only to bath and exercise. Some people wear them in order to minimise their waists, sometimes to ridiculous extremes (think Guiness Book of Records, world's smallest waist / Cathy Jung, Ethl Granger, Spook) who, while I aplaud their discipline, I do not agree with their aesthetics, Extreme is seldom beautiful.  Most wear corsets to perfect their proportions and give support under clothing. And there are few things more pleasing than a perfectly corsetted waist under a perfectly fitted suit.

There are plenty of records from the 19th C of women (and men) who tighlaced down to sizes of 12", 13", 14", of the much laudered Finishing Schools, and of tighlacing families however most of these have been proven to be fantasies usually published by the "National Enquirer" of the day.  Not one of the so called Tighlacing Finishing Schools has been proven to have existed and it is now a known fact that tightlacing was frowned upon, paticulary by the upper eschelons of society.  In fact the women who did tightlace were the feminists of the day. A corset gives a woman a confidant air and enhances her sensuality along with her natural assets,  Men (and I am generalising here so don't get on your high horses) always have been, but were especially then due to the political upheavals in society afraid of a confidant sensual woman. Basically put, corsets took women out of the kitchen and away from the kids (it is difficult to correlate a corseted woman with the image of a pregnant one) and put them firmly in the public eye - exacly where no-one including Queen Victoria wanted them to be.
Over the years, corsets have followed the shapes of outer fashions, moulding and sculpting the body to the fashion of the day, As outerwear changed, so did corsets, not the other way around. They supported the bust, and helped perfect proportions to let every women look gorgeous in fabulous clothes, exactly like bras, and still over 100 years later, like corsets do today.

Calling out the charlatans

A few days ago, we went to Woolworths to buy some (organic cotton) undies and while there, decided to stop and have a coffee. The  organic coffee at the woolworths cafe is really good incase you haven't tried it yet!  Herein lies the hypocrisy - the label in the undies says " be good to the environment, wash at 40 degrees" just so you know you shouldn't wash stretch fabric any higher that 40 degrees anyway as it destroys the elastic. While having our coffee, we noticed one of the staff in turn on the heater to counteract the airconditioning (which is on with the doors open) . WTF?! for a store that is branded to be so environmentally aware, that is a pretty careless blunder. Surely it would be easier and a hell of a lot better for the environment to just turn the aircon down or preferably off?

Corset Myths Intro

The modern world is a fairly bizarre thing. People who used to go to libraries and spend hours digging up slightly dodgy information and at least have a book to back them up can now go onto the internet, spend a quarter of the time searching and come up with things that are so fantastically fallacious that they are almost fictional masterpieces (although since they were found on the internet sprout from the mouth of a sixteen year old, they are always God's truth).
The internet is huge, rambling game of  broken telephone which collects together science, personal anecdotes and fairytales and moulds it into a endless and seamless myth which much like real life contains enough truth to make it believable and enough fallacy to make it interesting. This is not to say that there isn't pure information out there. It just that, like gossip, sensationalism spreads immedietly and completely and you have to dig a little to get to the truth. The older the truth, the harder it is to get at it.

Corsets have had a long and varied history as the one garment that is at once loved and reviled, it is steeped in stories that often started with Victorian era science (which as we all know was as enlightened as lobotomy) and were then embroidered over the next 150 odd years with the final flourish added by the internet.

I get dozens of people through my shop who come bearing myths about corsetry from women dying from corsetry through to Catherine de Medici.  Most of the myths are so ridiculous that I can't imagine why anyone would believe them, others are down-right hilarious and a few are actually dangerous.It has become a bit of an obsession to debunk them so I am going to be doing a series over time (and as they get brought in ) about corset myths, and on the flipside - corset truths.

The thing about corsets is that so much of what is corset is, is built on fable, the myths give the garment life and mystery and excitement, but at the same time, the truth is often far stranger and more interesting and I think that with the speed and spread of information there will always be something new and fascinating to discuss.
If you have read, seen or heard something that you would like to find out more about, please send it to me (arwen@arwen.co.za), or leave me a message in the comments and we'll see where this all leads...

A.

How to wear Bloomers!

Harem pants are everywhere and the unfortunate thing is that I've actually seen people wearing them! Personally I can't really imagine a sheikh somewhere having a room full of girls all wearing pants that look like a saggy nappy and make you walk like a duck - not a sexy look unless you're into some pretty weird stuff.
Fear not, there are alternatives and one of the best is Bloomers. Good ol Victorian undies, but of course brought right up to date and out from under skirts.

1) The first thing is to choose the correct length. There are two main lengths that you can't go wrong with;  3/4 and full length. If you are small, knee length (or just slightly above the knee) looks really cute instead of 3/4, If you are tall, avoid knee length at all costs, you will look like your bloomers shrunk in the wash. If you are older than four, do not ever even think about shorts or mid-thigh length; it's not cheeky, it's on a par with wearing pink cropped t-shirts and glitter eyeshadow into your 50's.

2) Shooooes...For 3/4 length bloomers, the higher the better, bring out the platforms, stillettos, sky high wedges, take your pick but make sure that they are for day, not too delicate and contain no trace of vintage. This is the first step to bringing bloomers out of the 19th centuary.  Think John Galliano, Givenchy's Holly-strap sandals, or Burberry Prorsum fantastic range in rubber, leather and wood. For night you can go for something prettier and lighter - maybe some mirrored Jimmy Choo stillettos. Only if you are planning on wearing full length can you think of wearing a flat shoe, but no converse, docs or ballet style pumps. rather go for something like a multi-strapped sandal with really skinny strapping, or for evening, something with a bit of sparkle. Also remember that with full length, the cuffs of your bloomers must cover your foot.

3) Fit:  When looking for bloomers, make sure that they are not gathered at the waist. They should have a slim fit over the hips and bum and flare into the leg,  the cuff should be long to even out the proportions. They should not look like a sheet that someone's grandmother has put 10m of elastic into. When they are well cut, bloomers will accentuate your waist, lengthen your legs and slim (believe it or not) your thighs. They also camoflauge any lumpy bits around your legs. They must never ever ever have a dropped crotch. Actually nothing in this world should ever have a dropped crotch.


4) Fabric and detailing:  Before we go any further, resist the urge for lace!
The nicest fabrics for bloomers are crisp and infinitely creaseable: cotton chinz, voiles, Egyptian cotton or fine linen for day. Of course they must be lined so as to keep their shape, They should be very slightly sheer, just enough that they have a slight glow. These fabrics will ensure that the bloomers aren't too volumous, they give the pants a great drape, are cool and wear beautifully. Yes, or course they crease, but that is actually part of the idea - they look even better when they are a bit crumpled. For evening a chiffon, georgette or silk chameuse is decadent and elegant. And no, there is to be no lace and none of that dreadful broderie anglaise anywhere on the bloomers, not even a little bit.

5) Colour: I love bright colour, but there is something about bloomers that discourages too much colour. They just seem to look better in neutrals. Black and white are classic. If white, you need to be even more careful not too let them look like antiques. Pale golds and silvers look elegant for evening. Cottons look great when they have been dip-dyed from a neutral down to a bright dirty pink, red, indigo or mint at the cuffs, but that flash of colour is all you can really get away with.

6) Wear bloomers with: since bloomers are volumous, keep your top slim fitting. They look great with a tailored shirt and a waistcoat, or if you really want to bring in lace, you can do it with your top, BUT, it must be bold and clean in both colour and design. No little frillies and excess fripperies. NO white or cream. Warp tops work well as they are just that much more dressy than a t-shirt. If your top is loose fitting or has a lot of detail at neckline, tuck it in and/or wear a belt to give a bit of a differenciation.

7) Corsets & Bloomers: One word - DON'T. Unless you are doing a Victorian photoshoot or want to walk down the street looking like an undressed time-traveller, don't even think it. If you want to show off your waist, wear a broad leather belt.

8) Jewelry - big, bold chunky. No dainty draped necklaces or marquesite and pearl rings. Jewelry is like shoes in this case - think entirely modern statement pieces.

A last word, the trick to carrying off bloomers is to be polished. I have always been someone who is slightly scruffy and undone, but it just doesn't work in this case - probably because that will always bring it back to the bedroom. They are one of those intimidating garments with so many preconceptions behind them that most people are scared off just by the idea, but once you've figured out how to make them work for you, they are flattering, interesting and fresh.

Welcome!

Hello to old friends and new
Over the last year, I sadly allowed the blog to fall by the wayside, but now with so many new and exciting things happening, I had to rectify the situation! This blog is my or my partner's personal and often blatently honest opinions on things from work and clients to fashion to life in general, please remember this before you decide to get horrendously offended by something that one of us has said and feel free to have your say in the comments section. I plan to update this blog often (well a hell of a lot more often that I got around to the previous one!) and it does run in collaboration with our website http://www.arwen.co.za/ and our facebook group http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=12620185929 each of the three looks at something different. Before I forget, any photos, sketches, essays, or pretty much anything else you find here belongs to Arwen Garmentry and/or the photographer, artist or writer in qhestion and may not be used anywhere else without permission in writing. Sorry, had to get that out and over with!
Enjoy!
Arwen