The other weekend I nearly snapped up an unworn vintage swimming suit from the 50's. It was actually a two-piece suit which was green with huge pastel pink spots all over it. It was utterly divine. Unfortunately it was much too big for me. I would have worn the top as a top and I would have worn the bottoms under my Miu Miu inspired skirt, since they were actually quite bloomer-like. They would have looked super with thick black tights. I didn't buy it because it would have broken my heart having it sit there unable to be worn.
I have had an obsession with vintage underwear for the longest time. I hunted for many, many years for a vintage boned corset but couldn't find one that wasn't falling apart. And all the underwear I came across just didn't fit my small frame. I'll fess up, I like big, old fashioned nude coloured foundation garments, so favoured by ladies during 50's.
I think it all harks back to my love of Bettie Page. The original pin-up girl who rocked with world with her notorious nude and bondage photo's during the 50's. Much more than just a 'glamour' model, as judged by today's standards, Bettie questioned, although without realising it, what it was to be a woman and forced the prudish and puritanical American public to see that a woman can be provocative, intelligent and in control. She was deemed so outrageous and in violation of so many sexual taboos that the United States Senate Committee invoked an investigation in pornography. Thousands of her photographs were burned. Yet the image of Bettie Page with her thick black bangs has become iconic and her style is now synonymous with burlesque ( for better or worse depending on your opinion).
Even though Bettie is revered among fetishists, I think she has a much less subversive image than is often portrayed. Yes, she did bondage shots with Irving Klaw, which for the time was boundary pushing, but even then she was ultimately just acting the part. I much prefer to think of Bettie Page as simply a woman ahead of her time. Who just happened to like being naked!
So she has much to do with my love of vintage lingerie. Bullet bra's, girdles, all the garments that by todays standards are rather far removed from being sexy. Obviously buying vintage lingerie has it's down sides, mostly that someone else has worn it. So luckily fashion seems to be loving vintage style underwear too as models were seen prancing around in their not-so-skimpy skimpies during the SS07 shows.
Richard Nicholl showed huge pants under his sheer skirts and Alessandro Dell'Acqua similarly had vintage style undergarments on display. Luella opted for high waisted shorts which reminded me of early photo's of a young Marilyn Monroe, when she was just Norma Jean.
Should I manage to find a suitable 50's corset/bustier I do plan to wear it as outerwear over t-shirts and fine knit sweaters. However there are some great sites that do vintage style lingerie, such as What Katie Did and La Magia, which could of course be utilised for this purpose, and being new you haven't got the ick factor of wearing someone else's underwear, even if it is just a girdle or corset.
"I never kept up with the fashions. I believed in wearing what I thought looked good on me." Well said Bettie.
Queen Michelle
