On Foundation Garments

I’m focusing on the ladies in this piece, as my blog is geared towards women, but I might do a piece on men’s foundation garments at some point.

Foundation garments are a subject not often addressed in the fashion blogs (both Goth and non-goth) that I read, but something that is quintessentially important for your outfit. Without a proper fitting foundation, clothes will not sit properly and will not hold their shape. This is especially true of more shapeless pieces, those that do not have tailored fit or that are not cut for specific body types.

Technically speaking, foundation garments are meant to alter your shape so it looks more fashionable, but I say it goes beyond this. Foundation garments are the base upon which you build your outfit, even if you aren’t substantially altering your shape. Foundation garments do not technically include push up bras and the like, but for purposes of this piece I’m including them in this post.

Foundation garments include (but are not limited to): bras, stockings, garter belts, control top stockings, tummy control or shaping garments (like spanx, tummy smoothers, etc), underwear, or slips. For more vintage or Victorian designs, you can add things like proper bloomers, corsets meant to be worn as underwear, crinolines, panniers, etc. There is a reason professional costumers focus on correct under garments! They can really make or break an outfit. Corsets additionally require liners or camisoles underneath to protect them from your body sweat and oils as well as protect you from chaffing.

On Why I don’t Intentionally Dress My Kids Goth

I admit to a certain satisfaction when my Mormon inlaws first beheld my then 2 month old son in skull and crossbones black feetie pajamas from Halloween when he was a few months old. I chose them because they were cute, they were on sale, and I knew they’d offend people who hated me and for whom I felt nearly equally about.

The occasional rocker style baby outfit (flaming guitars with skulls? Yes thanks!) or Halloween outfit suitable to year-round (like the skeleton hoodie that’s been used by each of my kids) is pretty much the extent of it. I should note we get most of their clothes secondhand- kids grow so fast, it’s usually not worth it to buy everything first hand. Unless it’s something really unique or in a print or style I (or my kid) can’t live without, then I’ll buy it firsthand. I re-donate most of my kids’ clothes when they grow out of them, either to thrift shops, the women’s shelter, or friends with kids smaller than mine. Most of the cool Halloween feetie pajamas and rocker style stuff was purchased firsthand- it seems when people find cool pieces suitable for year-round fashion they hold onto them!

When my kids were younger, I could put them in whatever I felt like. As they grow older, they make their preferences known, very known. Take for example my almost 3-year old son.

We had this green long-sleeved shirt with a Bigfoot body printed on the front. The idea is you put the shirt on and the kids head looks like the Bigfoot's head because it matches up with the body. My kid HATED that shirt. He cried when he wore it. My husband thought it was funny (but traumatizing) to chase him with it on occasion. Last month, I found it in the trash. I figured my son made his point clear, and I left it there. He does the same with his Viking warrior shirt. There’s just something about it he doesn’t like, so I don’t force him to wear it.

Even now, he picks his own shirts out. He always wants to wear shorts, but given its winter here that’s not an option. It doesn’t mean we don’t fight everyday about why we can’t wear shorts. He picks his own underpants. It’s always a tough choice between Ninja Turtles and the Robot Boxers. He’s currently begging for Jake and the Neverland Pirates underwear because dad vetoed MLP.

Usually though, he’s just running around naked. It is, apparently, extremely hard to keep clothes on a 3 year old. I turn my back for five seconds, turn back around, and like a reverse quick change artist he’s in the nude and flopped lazily across the couch watching cartoons. (Last month he had to have a lesson on public indecency. He tried to strip his clothes off in a McDonald's, because, according to him, he had to pee. I don't know why that necessitated stripping down to his skivvies, but that's a toddler for you. Thank the gods we were the only ones in the playland at that moment.)

My son has particular taste in clothing, and I like to watch him express himself. That is why I no longer dress him solely gothic attire. If he wants to wear the black tutu he found, he can wear it. If he wants to wear skulls, he can wear it. If he wants to wear dinosaurs or aliens or football shirts, he can wear them. I don’t want to push my particular views or styles on him, and I want him to explore and embrace all the different parts of himself and learn about his own likes and dislikes. I want to him confident and happy. Whatever he chooses as he gets older, I’m more than fine with that. We often joke his “rebellious” phase will be joining the football team and wearing polo shirts. We’ll tease him, but ultimately I like to think we will accept him.

My daughter will be a year old next month. I dress her, admittedly, like a baby doll. Vintage dresses, as many tutus and floofy layered skirts as I can, perfect little boots, bows on her head. She has a velvet jacket and the cutest little pea coat from Baby Gap (thrifted for $3 I might add). When she gets older and tells me what she’d rather wear, I’ll indulge. But for now she’s a little baby doll.