Dear Ms. Velour, I’m fairly new to the world of burlesque and I’m unsure about what sort of foundation wear I should start buying, not just for the stage but also for under my new vintage evening wear. Could you please point me in the right direction of some good retailers, and what kind I should invest in? Thanks!
Panty-less but not penny-less
So let’s start with brassieres, depending on your personal tastes you can choose a very vintage “bullet” or “torpedo” ultimately teardrop shaped bra to accompany your vintage duds or go for a very modern rounder, fuller “balloon” shaped cup. The choice is yours darling. I personally have a variety of both depending on the occasion and my outfit. It’s perfectly fine to switch it up, go with whatever makes you feel comfortable and sexy. Remember this is a personal decision, one that you should really dig on!
Next we’ll discuss knickers, or panties. You should always maintain three varieties of panties: practical, pretty, and performance. And yes I came up with that little ditty all on my own. Practical meaning comfortable, and probably cotton, this type is totally acceptable under those hot high-waisted clam diggers, or your favorite pair of Levis, just make sure you don’t have any visible lines, it completely destroys the illusion! The second type, pretty, are the ones you wear out on the town that make you feel all dolled up! These most likely have a ruffle or strategically placed bows, etc. Pretty undies give you an air of “come hither” and empowerment, which no one can quite place their finger on (wink). The third and final type is perhaps the most important when it comes to burlesquing, and stage performance. Performance undies should always result from careful costume coordination. They should always reflect the style, tone, and functionality that your routine requires. For example if you’re going the route of a faux-merkin you probably don’t want to glue that sucker on a boy short, shoot for a nude g-string. While boy shorts, thongs, briefs, string-sided bikinis, and g-strings are all very much accepted and widely used; the employment of one of these styles should begin first with your comfort level. No one is going to blame you for going the route of comfort, especially not me. If you personally don’t feel g-strings are your thing, nix ‘em all together and go with what you want, just make sure to make a routine to match. Remember, choose what you feel sexiest in, and your confidence will show to the audience. Oh the dreaded controls, these would be your girdles, corsets, corselettes, garter belts, and waist cinchers. These things are entirely optional, I cannot stress that enough. There’s a reason we’re in the 21st century…i.e. we don’t have to subscribe to these methods anymore…okay there’s my public announcement, now onto advice should you choose to wear these. I personally go both ways (and yes in that way too). With some garments I feel it necessary to wear my (girdle bound) purple waist to thigh girdle, and with others a good belt goes a long way. I highly recommend fabric waist cinchers as an alternative to girdles if you are wearing control top pantyhose or if you want more mobility. Corselettes are an all in one shaper. They are like a bra, waist cincher, and girdle garter belt rolled together, this way you only have one additional layer under your ensemble, and you don’t have to worry about it slipping or moving with your other layers. Garter belts are a must if you are wearing thigh highs, first off that peek-a-boo look is to die for, secondly just using garters actually ruins your legs by cutting off circulation and gives you varicose veins earlier. Corsets, the mother of all shape wear, where to begin…unless you’re waist training you probably will want something flashy to just wear around as outerwear or the center piece of your routine’s costume. I highly recommend shelling out the extra dough if you’ve got it to have one custom made for you, this only enhances the fit and overall look you’ll have with it, believe you me it shows. Last but certainly not least, stockings. Stockings are essential. Stockings are intrinsic. I cannot say enough positive things about these marvelously crafted little pieces of silk and nylon. However they can be sorely misused. The most popular styles of stockings used in performance are nude fishnets, and black thigh-highs. There is a reason for this, they look stunning on stage. Nothing is neater than thinking a dancer has no stockings on her legs and then seeing her do a toe-pull with nude fishnets. It’s all about illusion. Never, and I repeat NEVER wear control top pantyhose on a stage, there is absolutely no cause for this. Those are strictly for use under garments, which is why they have unsightly different colored tops and stitching…because no one is meant to see them! Thigh highs or full pantyhose without the top banding are stage worthy. Always coordinate your stockings with your ensemble. Don’t forget sometimes multiple pairs of stockings are needed, although this move is just a preference thing. Some dancers prefer to wear a pair of nude dancing tights underneath their knickers and then the showy pair on top that is to be removed. Also if you’re planning on wearing your knickers on top of your hose, make sure the tops of both of these garments match up, one should never be above the other! Remember the illusion bit? If they don’t match your skin tone though, I wouldn’t go the route of multiple layers. Then depending on your skin tone, you should seek out a pair that matches you best, even experiment with hand dying your stockings (because we all know that department stores cater to one skin tone mostly, and sadly it doesn’t represent the rest of the female population). I tried to be explicit as possible, and hopefully you will find this all helpful and useful. Below I will include some of my favorite sites to purchase intimate wear, and most of all good luck doll! http://girdlebound.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=GVG&Category_Code=AIOAC http://www.dollhousebettie.com/ xoxo
/
/
/
/
0 comments:
Post a Comment