Posted by dravon in LiveJournal, Random Stuff | 1 Comment
Period Quote On the 1890’s Fit
YAY!!! I was very happy to run across this quote regarding the extreme fashions of the 1890s, with the uber corsetting.
“Except for the most small-waisted, naturally dumb-bell shaped females, the ladies never seemed at ease, or even if they were wearing their own clothes. For their dresses were always made too tight, and the bodices wrinkled laterally from the strain; and their stays showed in a sharp ledge across the middle of their backs. And in spite of whalebone they were apt to bulge below the waist in front; for, poor dears, they were but human after all, and they had to expand somewhere.”
Gwen Raverat, Period Piece
Why is it that I was happy to find this description?? Because I always thought I was making things incorrectly, due to the lateral wrinkles (tight bodice) or the clearly visible ledge in the middle of the back (corset top)… But no, it’s not just me. It’s the fashion of the days … highly unflattering and in need of modification if such clear indications of poor fit are advertised for all to see, but still. I was getting exceedingly frustrated with wanted to wear my corset under a nice dress, only to see that terrible line at the top of the back and thinking “did I sew it wrong? I never see that in the illustrations.” heh,
My god that’s good to hear – I’d wondered the same myself, and it was one of the reasons that I liked heavy over tops or jackets on the Dicken’s fashions – it hid the ledge!