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.

Health and Fitness: Goth Workout Wear

(Disclaimer: I am in no way endorsing the companies I've linked to. I do not profit at all from you clicking the links or buying. This is just some google fu for my own entertainment, and hopefully yours. All pictures belong to the websites linked. None are mine.)

Let's be honest, working out kinda feels…. less than goth. It feels like something soccer moms or people like Maria Kang do, not something people who usually dress like this do.

Picture via Tumblr's Facebook page

Exercise has been proven to liven mood, decrease symptoms of depression, and coupled with a healthy diet can really improve your health and quality of life. In part of my efforts to lose weight, I've adopted a quick at home workout routine. I immediately set out to find gothic workout attire. Being on a budget  not sure if actually going to stick with working out, I didn't want to spend a fortune. Oh the things I'd buy if I could though. As I was researching for this piece, I came across an actual movement called Health Goth, to which I've linked some relevant articles below.

Enjoy some links below for some ideas to find your own goth workout gear.

First things first. You need to stay hydrated. 

Why not try this Skull Water Bottle?


Or maybe this one.

Or maybe this Nightmare Before Christmas one?

Dissenting Voice: On Modern Babybats, the Internet, and You-Kids-Get-Offa-My-Cemetery

I’ve been reading a lot more Goth blogs of late as I’ve begun diving back into the subculture. One thing that seems to be repeated often by my fellow Elder Goths is how “easy” modern babybats have it. I read how the internet makes them lazy, that the internet propagates only one correct way to be Goth.

I humbly disagree.

First, let’s address the One True Goth Way ™ statement. If this were true, why would we have the likes of this awesome artist with her tongue-in-cheek Goth stereotypes?

 

http://trellia.deviantart.com/gallery/25271332/Goth-stereo-Types

How would we have the hundreds of derivations of Goth fashion? They don’t just pop up out of thin air. They are created by Goths, new and old, to create their own personal vision of what Goth is. Look at Dark Mori. Look at Gothic Lolita. These are very, very recent interpretations of Goth, spread in part by the proliferation of manga and anime and graphic novels. Even these art forms expanded and grew to give us some seriously great gothic imagery and seriously creepy horror stories. Look at Cybergoth. Look at Health Goth—None of these existed in the 80s or even the 90s. (Maybe Cybergoth, technically, I suppose.)

Second, let’s talk about the internet. The internet is a strange place. It’s full of trolls, keyboard warriors, anonymous assholes, pictures of cats, pictures of food, awesome DIYers, awesome support networks, and young people trying to find themselves. I discovered Goth was a thing back in junior high when I admired the older black clad “early” Goths and their attire. I began to buy a few pieces in 2000, the year I became a freshman in high school. (I see you doing the math. I’m 29, graduating class of 2004.) Many of these pieces came from Hot Topic. In my small, conservative town, it was the only place to go. Even then, I had to drive to the next town over to get to Hot Topic. I learned how to customize and refine these pieces so I’d be less cookie cutter. Because heaven forbid I walk around in something that clearly came from a store in the mall.

Family Criticisms: The Good Mother (TM)

It sounds like the typical baby bat cliché, "My parents don't understand me," you cry into your black satin pillow, mascara running down your chalk-white face.

There is this assumption, at least in the conservative part of the world from which I hail, that as you grow up you're to leave the trappings of your youth behind. Make that double time if you have kids. In my state, it is normal to be married by 18 and have multiple children by the time you're 26. Heaven forbid you have an interest in something other than your children or stamp collecting. You know, only safe, mature, normal interests.

I lived (shock and horror) with my boyfriend for four years before we decided to get married, Wiccan-style, at age 25. I had my first child at 26, and I was still sporting a nose ring and combat boots. I was hit hard with baby weight and postpartum depression, and quickly dumped my gothic attire behind me. Why?

• Spit up does not sit well on velvet.
• If it takes more effort to put on than yoga pants, it wasn't worth it.
• Postpartum depression sucks; it makes you hate everything and makes even the simplest tasks so much harder.
• Weight gain also sucks. It meant I couldn't fit into most of my beautiful clothes anyway.
• Society told me I was someone's mother now. Mother's don't sport pink hair, nose piercings, and corsets, now do they?

After my husband and I nearly divorced, after a year and a half of therapy, I'm finally feeling like myself again. I've lost some of the weight I gained after the birth of my daughter, and while I'm nowhere near where I want to be, I can finally begin fitting into my favorite pieces again.

I gave away so much of my stuff to my younger, thinner, childfree friends, that I get to rebuild my wardrobe. I can't say I have any more money than I did in my early 20s, but I've certainly got more fiscal sense and can approach this new endeavor with long forgotten enthusiasm, much to the chagrin of my family.

My father is a judgmental person. He's racist. He's homophobic. He's bigoted. I didn't realize this until we became estranged. He and most of my family, save my brother and my mother, would mock, deride, and criticize everything I chose to wear. Most of my husband's family is the same way. They began to target my parenting, criticizing each choice I would make. I was told often that a Good Mother ^TM wouldn't wear black eyeshadow. A Good Mother ^TM wouldn't wear stompy boots. A Good Mother ^TM wouldn't wear that enormous skirt around town.