Media mentions
The View
In the first week of December, 2013 I was invited to appear on episode 64 of Whoopi Goldberg's program, "The View" in New York. When Barbara Walters expressed doubts as to my flexibility, I demonstrated toe-touches and jumping jacks!
http://abc.go.com/shows/the-view/video/PL5554876/_m_VDKA0_fi0z37rp
http://abc.go.com/shows/the-view/video/PL5554876/_m_VDKA0_fi0z37rp
The New York Times
11/22/13 (Online)
11/24/13 (Print)
The Return of the Tight Squeeze
By LAREN STOVERPublished: November 22, 2013
When Sarah A. Chrisman received a blue silk rose-patterned corset from her husband, a librarian and bicycle-shop manager, for her 29th birthday, she reluctantly allowed him to lace her into it. She believed then, she said recently, that corsets “deformed, broke bones, tortured and killed.”
But Ms. Chrisman, 33, a massage therapist and Victoriana enthusiast, quickly grew fond of her new undergarment. With constant wear — even sleeping in it — she said that her posture improved, that she ate less and that she transformed not only her wardrobe (from frumpy tees to fitted blouses), but also her waist size, from 32 to 22 inches.
This being the “Fifty Shades of Grey” era, it is no surprise that she then decided to write a book about the experience. But nothing about “Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present, and Myself” (Skyhorse Publishing) is racy. The most suggestive phrase the author uses to describe her newfound silhouette is “showed off my figure to full advantage.”
To describe that figure, “I would say ‘womanly’, and that can certainly be sexy,” said Ms. Chrisman, who lives in Port Townsend, Wash., reads 19th-century etiquette manuals, writes snail mail with antique dip pens and has thus far managed to avoid Twitter. “The corset emphasizes the difference between the genders, which I really like. My natural inclination to avoid that term ‘sexy’ per se probably comes out of my training as a massage practitioner, where everything has to be very distinctly delineated. That is, the sex stays out of it.”
While clients are respectful of her boundaries, Ms. Chrisman said, she has found herself frequently ogled, questioned and even groped by strangers.
The most popular question: Does it hurt? Her answer: “It’s like a hug that lasts all day.” Rudest question: Do you take that thing off before you have sex? Ms. Chrisman refuses to respond to that one.
She is not alone among moderns in her revival of what Valerie Steele, the director and chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, called “probably the most controversial garment in the entire history of fashion” in her book “The Corset: A Cultural History” (Yale University Press, 2001).
“Plenty of designers occasionally put a corset in their collections, but I’d say 99 percent of people choose Spanx as an undergarment,” said Dr. Steele, who credits the punks and Vivienne Westwood in the 1970s for giving the corset “the charisma of deviance” and Jean-Paul Gaultier in the ’80s (Madonna wore his corset onstage) for “making underwear as outerwear significant.”
Dr. Steele said that designers tend to interpret corsets in two ways: either they’re “fierce, dominatrix, S & M-inspired” or “romantic, glamorous and belle epoch.” Only the hourglass shape remains constant. “A small waist is a signifier of nubile femininity and fertility,” Dr. Steele said.
Alexis Lass, a former dominatrix in New York who wrote about her experiences in “The Posh Girl’s Guide to Play” (Seal Press, 2013), has a collection of more than 50 corsets. “Feminists have protested that the cinching of the waist is an ugly example of suffering for ‘beauty,’ but I find waist cinching to be physically and emotionally empowering,” Ms. Lass said, though she has her limits: “I’ve yet to go to Starbucks in my Marie Antoinette corset.”
Whether medically sound or not (opinions are mixed, and Ms. Chrisman seeks to debunk the taboos), celebrities, including Jessica Alba and Kourtney Kardashian, have worn corsetlike garments after pregnancy to help recover their figures. Scarlett Johansson wears a white corset on the cover of the December issue of Vogue México. And Dita von Teese, the burlesque star, appears in a scarlet corset and little else on her business card.
Ms. von Teese wrote in an email: “People ask if it’s comfortable, and I try to explain that it’s like wearing a very high heel. There is discipline involved, and of course, the quality of the construction is paramount to comfort.” Her collection includes examples from the revered corsetmaker Mr. Pearl, who has collaborated with Mr. Gaultier and Alexander McQueen.
Cindy Sibilsky, the producer of a musical based on Xaviera Hollander’s memoir “The Happy Hooker,” likes to throw a suit jacket over a corset. “The modern-day woman wears a corset on the outside as a symbol of her sexual liberation, power and prowess rather than the traditional idea of the corset as a tool of repression and restriction,” she said.
But Ms. Chrisman believes that corsets should remain tucked away. “I think that the fact that some people are wearing corsets as outerwear is a very good example of how little privacy there is in modern life,” she said. “People actively invade their own privacy.” Though she conceded: “I will say one thing about the people who wear corsets as outerwear: it does show off the beauty of the garment itself. They are beautiful pieces of art.”
Indeed, Mr. Pearl’s creations have prices starting at $10,000, Ms. von Teese wrote. Though Ms. Chrisman said she dreams of owning a Pearl model, her corsets (she now owns a half-dozen) are put through more-quotidian paces. They have set off metal detectors at airports, she said, and ascended Mount Townsend and Hurricane Ridge in Washington state.
She emphasized, again, that the corset to her is “strictly underwear” and that she sees herself as “a lady and not a vixen.”
Not that there would be anything wrong with that, of course. “The vibrator was invented in the Victorian era,” Ms. Chrisman said. “People forget that.”
A version of this article appears in print on November 24, 2013, on page ST12 of the National edition with the headline: The Return of the Tight Squeeze.
By LAREN STOVERPublished: November 22, 2013
When Sarah A. Chrisman received a blue silk rose-patterned corset from her husband, a librarian and bicycle-shop manager, for her 29th birthday, she reluctantly allowed him to lace her into it. She believed then, she said recently, that corsets “deformed, broke bones, tortured and killed.”
But Ms. Chrisman, 33, a massage therapist and Victoriana enthusiast, quickly grew fond of her new undergarment. With constant wear — even sleeping in it — she said that her posture improved, that she ate less and that she transformed not only her wardrobe (from frumpy tees to fitted blouses), but also her waist size, from 32 to 22 inches.
This being the “Fifty Shades of Grey” era, it is no surprise that she then decided to write a book about the experience. But nothing about “Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present, and Myself” (Skyhorse Publishing) is racy. The most suggestive phrase the author uses to describe her newfound silhouette is “showed off my figure to full advantage.”
To describe that figure, “I would say ‘womanly’, and that can certainly be sexy,” said Ms. Chrisman, who lives in Port Townsend, Wash., reads 19th-century etiquette manuals, writes snail mail with antique dip pens and has thus far managed to avoid Twitter. “The corset emphasizes the difference between the genders, which I really like. My natural inclination to avoid that term ‘sexy’ per se probably comes out of my training as a massage practitioner, where everything has to be very distinctly delineated. That is, the sex stays out of it.”
While clients are respectful of her boundaries, Ms. Chrisman said, she has found herself frequently ogled, questioned and even groped by strangers.
The most popular question: Does it hurt? Her answer: “It’s like a hug that lasts all day.” Rudest question: Do you take that thing off before you have sex? Ms. Chrisman refuses to respond to that one.
She is not alone among moderns in her revival of what Valerie Steele, the director and chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, called “probably the most controversial garment in the entire history of fashion” in her book “The Corset: A Cultural History” (Yale University Press, 2001).
“Plenty of designers occasionally put a corset in their collections, but I’d say 99 percent of people choose Spanx as an undergarment,” said Dr. Steele, who credits the punks and Vivienne Westwood in the 1970s for giving the corset “the charisma of deviance” and Jean-Paul Gaultier in the ’80s (Madonna wore his corset onstage) for “making underwear as outerwear significant.”
Dr. Steele said that designers tend to interpret corsets in two ways: either they’re “fierce, dominatrix, S & M-inspired” or “romantic, glamorous and belle epoch.” Only the hourglass shape remains constant. “A small waist is a signifier of nubile femininity and fertility,” Dr. Steele said.
Alexis Lass, a former dominatrix in New York who wrote about her experiences in “The Posh Girl’s Guide to Play” (Seal Press, 2013), has a collection of more than 50 corsets. “Feminists have protested that the cinching of the waist is an ugly example of suffering for ‘beauty,’ but I find waist cinching to be physically and emotionally empowering,” Ms. Lass said, though she has her limits: “I’ve yet to go to Starbucks in my Marie Antoinette corset.”
Whether medically sound or not (opinions are mixed, and Ms. Chrisman seeks to debunk the taboos), celebrities, including Jessica Alba and Kourtney Kardashian, have worn corsetlike garments after pregnancy to help recover their figures. Scarlett Johansson wears a white corset on the cover of the December issue of Vogue México. And Dita von Teese, the burlesque star, appears in a scarlet corset and little else on her business card.
Ms. von Teese wrote in an email: “People ask if it’s comfortable, and I try to explain that it’s like wearing a very high heel. There is discipline involved, and of course, the quality of the construction is paramount to comfort.” Her collection includes examples from the revered corsetmaker Mr. Pearl, who has collaborated with Mr. Gaultier and Alexander McQueen.
Cindy Sibilsky, the producer of a musical based on Xaviera Hollander’s memoir “The Happy Hooker,” likes to throw a suit jacket over a corset. “The modern-day woman wears a corset on the outside as a symbol of her sexual liberation, power and prowess rather than the traditional idea of the corset as a tool of repression and restriction,” she said.
But Ms. Chrisman believes that corsets should remain tucked away. “I think that the fact that some people are wearing corsets as outerwear is a very good example of how little privacy there is in modern life,” she said. “People actively invade their own privacy.” Though she conceded: “I will say one thing about the people who wear corsets as outerwear: it does show off the beauty of the garment itself. They are beautiful pieces of art.”
Indeed, Mr. Pearl’s creations have prices starting at $10,000, Ms. von Teese wrote. Though Ms. Chrisman said she dreams of owning a Pearl model, her corsets (she now owns a half-dozen) are put through more-quotidian paces. They have set off metal detectors at airports, she said, and ascended Mount Townsend and Hurricane Ridge in Washington state.
She emphasized, again, that the corset to her is “strictly underwear” and that she sees herself as “a lady and not a vixen.”
Not that there would be anything wrong with that, of course. “The vibrator was invented in the Victorian era,” Ms. Chrisman said. “People forget that.”
A version of this article appears in print on November 24, 2013, on page ST12 of the National edition with the headline: The Return of the Tight Squeeze.
Lucy's Corsetry Interview
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/arts/design/for-fans-of-sendak-the-artist-keeps-giving.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
Article by EVE M. KAHN
Published: August 1, 2013
CELEBRATING A TIGHT FIT
Antique corsets survive in surprising numbers, and scholars, curators and collectors are scrutinizing them.
Exhibitions at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have surveyed the topic, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has organized a traveling show, “Undressed: 350 Years of Underwear in Fashion.” In Manhattan, vintage corsetry has gone on view with bloomers and stockings in bedrooms at the Morris-Jumel Mansion and the Merchant’s House Museum.
Auction prices for the torso-constricting pieces, especially for those in bright colors, have reached the high four figures.
“People are fascinated by body shaping, by what goes on under the garment,” said Karen Augusta, a couture historian and auction house owner. She will be bringing corsets and attachable skirt bustle contraptions to a November sale at her business, Augusta Auctions, in Manhattan. She added, “A lot of it is considered erotic, which brings out the crowds.”...
“I loved the soft feeling of being hugged all day,” Sarah A. Chrisman, a writer and massage therapist in Port Townsend, Wash., writes in a book due out this fall, “Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself” (Skyhorse Publishing).
The corset has long been unfairly maligned, Ms. Chrisman said in a phone interview. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, a 19th-century cereal magnate and health proselytizer, set off a widespread anti-corset movement by describing the garments as a “barbarous practice” that caused “painful menstrual derangements.” But he was not quite a reliable denouncer, Ms. Chrisman said, given his other extreme views: he was married but largely celibate, and he called masturbation “a crime doubly abominable.”
She credits corsets for improving women’s posture, diet and self-image. “It’s like a good supportive pair of shoes,” she said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/arts/design/for-fans-of-sendak-the-artist-keeps-giving.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
Article by EVE M. KAHN
Published: August 1, 2013
CELEBRATING A TIGHT FIT
Antique corsets survive in surprising numbers, and scholars, curators and collectors are scrutinizing them.
Exhibitions at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have surveyed the topic, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has organized a traveling show, “Undressed: 350 Years of Underwear in Fashion.” In Manhattan, vintage corsetry has gone on view with bloomers and stockings in bedrooms at the Morris-Jumel Mansion and the Merchant’s House Museum.
Auction prices for the torso-constricting pieces, especially for those in bright colors, have reached the high four figures.
“People are fascinated by body shaping, by what goes on under the garment,” said Karen Augusta, a couture historian and auction house owner. She will be bringing corsets and attachable skirt bustle contraptions to a November sale at her business, Augusta Auctions, in Manhattan. She added, “A lot of it is considered erotic, which brings out the crowds.”...
“I loved the soft feeling of being hugged all day,” Sarah A. Chrisman, a writer and massage therapist in Port Townsend, Wash., writes in a book due out this fall, “Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself” (Skyhorse Publishing).
The corset has long been unfairly maligned, Ms. Chrisman said in a phone interview. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, a 19th-century cereal magnate and health proselytizer, set off a widespread anti-corset movement by describing the garments as a “barbarous practice” that caused “painful menstrual derangements.” But he was not quite a reliable denouncer, Ms. Chrisman said, given his other extreme views: he was married but largely celibate, and he called masturbation “a crime doubly abominable.”
She credits corsets for improving women’s posture, diet and self-image. “It’s like a good supportive pair of shoes,” she said.
Evening Magazine
Inside Edition
http://www.insideedition.com/videos/2077-woman-wears-corsets-to-live-in-victorian-era
Aired 12/17/13
(Click on the link above to watch the video.)
Aired 12/17/13
(Click on the link above to watch the video.)
***
MailOnline
'Wearing a corset is liberating!' Meet the woman living a modern-day Victorian life - with no cell phone, car, or home appliances
By OLIVIA FLEMING
PUBLISHED: 10:15 EST, 14 November 2013
For more than 50 years, American women have cast off constrictive undergarments, which feminists have long criticized as symbols of repression.
But for one Seattle resident, embracing the corset in the 21st century has been a tool of empowerment -- not oppression.
For the last four years, 33-year-old Sarah Chrisman has not only worn a corset on a daily basis, she has also unabashedly embraced the 19th century, deciding to live a wholly Victorian-era lifestyle.
Mrs Chrisman's new book, Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught me About the Past, the Present, and Myself, sees the massage therapist and writer chronicles her new way of life: ditching her cell phone, modern day clothes and her car.
'I have always loved the Victorian era, ever since I was a little girl,' she told MailOnline. 'My first corset was given to me by my husband on my 29th birthday, and unexpectedly, I really thoroughly enjoyed it.'
Now, Mrs Chrisman makes all of her own clothes to fit a Victorian-era shape, rides a 100-year-old penny farthing bicycle and cooks with the guide of 19th century women's magazines.
A typical day includes doing her laundry by hand with the 'proper temperature of water used back then - room temperature;' reading 19th century literature, etiquette guides and magazines, like a 1889 edition of Cosmopolitan. And when it comes to cleaning, Mrs Chrisman uses 'salt to clean the carpets.'
Her husband, Gabriel, a recent Masters of Library and Information Science graduate from the University of Washington who works at a local bicycle shop and library, is supportive of his wife's Victorian lifestyle.
'We both love history,' Mrs Chrisman explained. 'He participates and we have a lot of fun together. We're always experimenting with new ways to enrich our lives.'
Friends are also supportive. 'They are intrigued,' explained Mrs Chrisman. 'The wonderful thing is, our friends are friends -- our interests are still the same. We still enjoy discussing academic matters and things like hiking.'
And hiking, she says, is easier in her Victorian garb than one might think.
'I manage hiking quite well. I modeled my outfit off a photo of Fay Fuller, the first woman known to reach the summit of Mount Rainier in 1890. She was dressed in an "immodest" climbing outfit of her own devising.'
After one year of wearing a corset every day, Mrs Chrisman said her waist went from 32 inches to 22 inches, she experienced fewer migraines and her posture improved. 'And honestly, the corset lets me know when I'm full! I don't have to worry about eating too much,' she laughed.
But her desire to delve further into the Victorian lifestyle, and wear a corset every day, seems to have the public divided.
'People have mixed reactions,' she admitted. 'Some are enthusiastic and positive. The other day an old man ran out of a restaurant to tell me I made his day, he said: "You look beautiful."
'But there are perfect strangers who find what I wear such a point of contention. Some women scream oppression -- that I choose to wear a corset. But I focus on the positives. I don't find it restricting at all, in fact I'd venture to say that it's liberating to live how I want to!'
Mrs Chrisman adds that every day, she and her husband find 'wonderful insights' into the Victorian way of life.
In Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught me About the Past, the Present, and Myself, Mrs Chrisman chronicles her new way of life
'19th century furniture has so many mirrors!' she said. 'They are used to reflect the light as much as possible -- to create a more open space by expanding the natural daylight.'
Mrs Chrisman, who owns a home telephone and uses lights and electricity, said that 'as far as technology goes, people don't realize how early a lot of technology came into being'.
'You could say the Victorian internet was born in the 19th century,' she said, referencing a book by Tom Standage, who examined the revolutionary telegraph, which he labeled as 'the world's first Internet'.
'And in the 1870s, two inventors Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell independently designed the telephone,' she added. 'And the world's first public electricity supply was provided in late 1881, when the streets of Godalming in the UK were lit with electric light.'
While the couple minimize using modern elements 'when we can,' she conceded that they 'still live in the world'.
'We can't travel back in time, though we try,' she said.
By OLIVIA FLEMING
PUBLISHED: 10:15 EST, 14 November 2013
For more than 50 years, American women have cast off constrictive undergarments, which feminists have long criticized as symbols of repression.
But for one Seattle resident, embracing the corset in the 21st century has been a tool of empowerment -- not oppression.
For the last four years, 33-year-old Sarah Chrisman has not only worn a corset on a daily basis, she has also unabashedly embraced the 19th century, deciding to live a wholly Victorian-era lifestyle.
Mrs Chrisman's new book, Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught me About the Past, the Present, and Myself, sees the massage therapist and writer chronicles her new way of life: ditching her cell phone, modern day clothes and her car.
'I have always loved the Victorian era, ever since I was a little girl,' she told MailOnline. 'My first corset was given to me by my husband on my 29th birthday, and unexpectedly, I really thoroughly enjoyed it.'
Now, Mrs Chrisman makes all of her own clothes to fit a Victorian-era shape, rides a 100-year-old penny farthing bicycle and cooks with the guide of 19th century women's magazines.
A typical day includes doing her laundry by hand with the 'proper temperature of water used back then - room temperature;' reading 19th century literature, etiquette guides and magazines, like a 1889 edition of Cosmopolitan. And when it comes to cleaning, Mrs Chrisman uses 'salt to clean the carpets.'
Her husband, Gabriel, a recent Masters of Library and Information Science graduate from the University of Washington who works at a local bicycle shop and library, is supportive of his wife's Victorian lifestyle.
'We both love history,' Mrs Chrisman explained. 'He participates and we have a lot of fun together. We're always experimenting with new ways to enrich our lives.'
Friends are also supportive. 'They are intrigued,' explained Mrs Chrisman. 'The wonderful thing is, our friends are friends -- our interests are still the same. We still enjoy discussing academic matters and things like hiking.'
And hiking, she says, is easier in her Victorian garb than one might think.
'I manage hiking quite well. I modeled my outfit off a photo of Fay Fuller, the first woman known to reach the summit of Mount Rainier in 1890. She was dressed in an "immodest" climbing outfit of her own devising.'
After one year of wearing a corset every day, Mrs Chrisman said her waist went from 32 inches to 22 inches, she experienced fewer migraines and her posture improved. 'And honestly, the corset lets me know when I'm full! I don't have to worry about eating too much,' she laughed.
But her desire to delve further into the Victorian lifestyle, and wear a corset every day, seems to have the public divided.
'People have mixed reactions,' she admitted. 'Some are enthusiastic and positive. The other day an old man ran out of a restaurant to tell me I made his day, he said: "You look beautiful."
'But there are perfect strangers who find what I wear such a point of contention. Some women scream oppression -- that I choose to wear a corset. But I focus on the positives. I don't find it restricting at all, in fact I'd venture to say that it's liberating to live how I want to!'
Mrs Chrisman adds that every day, she and her husband find 'wonderful insights' into the Victorian way of life.
In Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught me About the Past, the Present, and Myself, Mrs Chrisman chronicles her new way of life
'19th century furniture has so many mirrors!' she said. 'They are used to reflect the light as much as possible -- to create a more open space by expanding the natural daylight.'
Mrs Chrisman, who owns a home telephone and uses lights and electricity, said that 'as far as technology goes, people don't realize how early a lot of technology came into being'.
'You could say the Victorian internet was born in the 19th century,' she said, referencing a book by Tom Standage, who examined the revolutionary telegraph, which he labeled as 'the world's first Internet'.
'And in the 1870s, two inventors Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell independently designed the telephone,' she added. 'And the world's first public electricity supply was provided in late 1881, when the streets of Godalming in the UK were lit with electric light.'
While the couple minimize using modern elements 'when we can,' she conceded that they 'still live in the world'.
'We can't travel back in time, though we try,' she said.
***
You.Beauty
The Woman Who Wears (and Sleeps in!) Corsets Every Day
Sarah Chrisman’s new book details how embracing the Victorian figure transformed her self-esteem and led to lasting happiness with her body.
By Grace Gold |
November 1st, 2013 |
Tags: Self Esteem, Body Shape, Style
Women’s fashion has long elicited controversy at every twist and turn of the trend, but no article of clothing has been celebrated and reviled quite like the traditional corset.
Today, popular opinion views the lace-up design as restrictive both literally and figuratively, with the rigid design coming to symbolize the social repression of the 18th to 19th century American woman.
Others have fetishized the garment as the ultimate in seduction wear. It’s not uncommon to see satin and bow-bedecked versions selling alongside massage oil and teddies (I’m not talking Paddington Bear) at adult lingerie stores.
So when "Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present and Myself" (Skyhorse Publishing: November 2013) landed on my desk, I was intrigued by the writer’s claim that wearing a corset was such a positive, body-loving—if not even feminist— move on her part.
At the beginning, author Sarah Chrisman is as dubious as anyone else about corsets. Having received one from her well-intentioned husband as a gift, she puts aside her initial reluctance to wear what she thinks is an uncomfortable and perhaps even subversive garment to give it just one polite try—and is shocked when she enjoys it.
Not only does she lose two sizes in the waist immediately upon lacing up, but an attractive hourglass takes form on her self-described fuller figure. The 30-something says she instantly feels more sensual and striking in the corset than she ever has in contemporary clothing, because, in her words, “I’m not fit like a 12-year-old boy.”
As we journey with the author on her adventure with Victorian wear, the well-researched Chrisman addresses what she says are safety myths surrounding corsetry from the get-go, like the storied broken ribs and moved organs she claims have no scientific basis. She also explains why the waist is the one area of the human body that’s so easily, and safely, moldable. (Try wearing a corset on your thighs. No matter how tightly one laces, sadly nothing gives.)
On the plus side, Chrisman finds the supportive corset back straightens her posture like a board; in fact, current orthopedic garments for back pain look strikingly identical in shape. She says that breasts are supported from below to hold the bosom up and shoulders back in the “proud” posture that was so valued by the Victorian era—a far cry, she adds, from today’s uncomfortable bras that slump shoulders down and pull the body forward, often leaving painful grooves on the tops of shoulders and leading some of us to celebrate a “braless day” as its own luxurious entity.
Generations ago, posture was considered next to Godliness for a literal reason. “The very phrase ‘upright citizen’ comes down to us from the Victorians because of the connection they saw between posture and decent behavior,” explains Chrisman.
Chrisman claims that the marked difference in her stature immediately changed how the outside world perceived and interacted with her. “My entire life I considered myself hopelessly clumsy, yet after I started wearing a corset, strangers began asking if I was a professional ballerina!” she recounts. “I was no longer slouching, my chin naturally came up, and I held my head higher—in an interesting connection of physiology and psychology, this not only made me feel personally more empowered, but also communicated a more alpha mentality to those around me,” she adds.
It’s interesting to note that Chrisman’s husband also takes to dressing in vintage Victorian wear with his wife. In a time when we often assume that only women bore all the high demands of fashion, it turns out that men had to meet discerning standards, too. They were also expected to hold perfect posture underneath cumbersome layers like suspenders, a waistcoat, a fussy collar (which had to be starched) that buttoned into the back of the shirt, and a large pocket watch that required daily winding and was weighted with heavy fobs and chains. “If a corset-wearer grows weary of holding herself erect, it’s possible to lean into the corset and be held up, like leaning into a hug,” says Chrisman. “Men, however, had no such support to lean on; the entire pressure of maintaining an upright bearing was on themselves alone.”
The Victorian’s infatuation with persnickety garments basically required assistance for both genders with daily dressing. This aspect held some unexpected charm for Chrisman. “The way in which helping each other with our clothing brought us closer together and deepened our relationship was one of the sweetest elements of the experience—it’s like an intimate form of team-building exercise,” says Chrisman, alluding to a time when dressing routines helped distinguish and establish relationships between Victorians.
As with every give, there’s usually a take. And Chrisman says the one thing she can’t do while wearing a corset is put down a big meal like she once enjoyed. Since the stomach can’t bloat with expansion, one feels full, faster. And yet this discovery became a pivotal turning point for Chrisman, who always refused to diet, though still battled the body image fight that so many women, regardless of size, often do.
“One day, I suddenly realized that I didn’t have to worry anymore—that a corset had made me more aware of exactly when I was full, and exactly when I wanted food. It was an incredibly liberating realization, like I had stepped off the tightrope and onto firm ground,” she says, adding that she eats as she pleases and never leaves the table hungry, but with such portion control built in she doesn’t have to think about it.
Wearing a corset doesn’t prevent Chrisman from the kind of active life Victorians enjoyed; she eschews a car (and even a driver’s license) to instead bike wherever she needs to go, and enjoys long strolls in the town where she routinely turns heads in and resides, having now embraced full Victorian wear from dramatic Edwardian hats to sweepingly full skirts with petticoats and kitten heel boots. (She makes many of her own pieces so that they stay authentic to the original fabric and cuts used by Victorians, and don’t resemble the polyester costume copies that one may see in a Halloween shop.)
For those looking to try a traditional corset, Chrisman advises going no more than 2 inches smaller than your starting waist measurement, and buying one that is marketed as a “tight-lacing corset,” which simply means that the design will support full-time wear and posture, and is not intended as a flimsier costume or boudoir-only wear; it’s not necessary to lace them uncomfortably tight in spite of the name. “Corsets are ultimately about support, foundation and structure, not simply about waist reduction,” she instructs.
Also be aware that any elasticized garment like Spanx, girdles and bustiers are not the same thing. “They won’t provide the same support as a structured corset any more than a trampoline will hold up a person the same way a floor would,” she adds.
So why did corsets go out of style? Contrary to popular belief that the suffragettes kicked them out as they emancipated women with the right to vote in the 1920s, it’s not so, says Chrisman. In fact, if you Google Susan B. Anthony images, you’ll see the unmistakable outline of a corset underneath the legendary suffragette’s dress. Chrisman instead attributes the demise in great part to Coco Chanel, who panned the corset in favor of vertical designs that sat better on a boyishly gamine body. And as with all things fashionable, trends always cycle in and out.
The supposedly liberated woman of today often pines for one aspect of our great-grandmothers’ era, says Chrisman—a time when naturally full hips and a fleshy flush of health were revered, and the waist was considered the most erogenous zone of all.
Might the corseted Victorian woman have been free in ways that the modern woman will never be?
Sarah Chrisman’s new book details how embracing the Victorian figure transformed her self-esteem and led to lasting happiness with her body.
By Grace Gold |
November 1st, 2013 |
Tags: Self Esteem, Body Shape, Style
Women’s fashion has long elicited controversy at every twist and turn of the trend, but no article of clothing has been celebrated and reviled quite like the traditional corset.
Today, popular opinion views the lace-up design as restrictive both literally and figuratively, with the rigid design coming to symbolize the social repression of the 18th to 19th century American woman.
Others have fetishized the garment as the ultimate in seduction wear. It’s not uncommon to see satin and bow-bedecked versions selling alongside massage oil and teddies (I’m not talking Paddington Bear) at adult lingerie stores.
So when "Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present and Myself" (Skyhorse Publishing: November 2013) landed on my desk, I was intrigued by the writer’s claim that wearing a corset was such a positive, body-loving—if not even feminist— move on her part.
At the beginning, author Sarah Chrisman is as dubious as anyone else about corsets. Having received one from her well-intentioned husband as a gift, she puts aside her initial reluctance to wear what she thinks is an uncomfortable and perhaps even subversive garment to give it just one polite try—and is shocked when she enjoys it.
Not only does she lose two sizes in the waist immediately upon lacing up, but an attractive hourglass takes form on her self-described fuller figure. The 30-something says she instantly feels more sensual and striking in the corset than she ever has in contemporary clothing, because, in her words, “I’m not fit like a 12-year-old boy.”
As we journey with the author on her adventure with Victorian wear, the well-researched Chrisman addresses what she says are safety myths surrounding corsetry from the get-go, like the storied broken ribs and moved organs she claims have no scientific basis. She also explains why the waist is the one area of the human body that’s so easily, and safely, moldable. (Try wearing a corset on your thighs. No matter how tightly one laces, sadly nothing gives.)
On the plus side, Chrisman finds the supportive corset back straightens her posture like a board; in fact, current orthopedic garments for back pain look strikingly identical in shape. She says that breasts are supported from below to hold the bosom up and shoulders back in the “proud” posture that was so valued by the Victorian era—a far cry, she adds, from today’s uncomfortable bras that slump shoulders down and pull the body forward, often leaving painful grooves on the tops of shoulders and leading some of us to celebrate a “braless day” as its own luxurious entity.
Generations ago, posture was considered next to Godliness for a literal reason. “The very phrase ‘upright citizen’ comes down to us from the Victorians because of the connection they saw between posture and decent behavior,” explains Chrisman.
Chrisman claims that the marked difference in her stature immediately changed how the outside world perceived and interacted with her. “My entire life I considered myself hopelessly clumsy, yet after I started wearing a corset, strangers began asking if I was a professional ballerina!” she recounts. “I was no longer slouching, my chin naturally came up, and I held my head higher—in an interesting connection of physiology and psychology, this not only made me feel personally more empowered, but also communicated a more alpha mentality to those around me,” she adds.
It’s interesting to note that Chrisman’s husband also takes to dressing in vintage Victorian wear with his wife. In a time when we often assume that only women bore all the high demands of fashion, it turns out that men had to meet discerning standards, too. They were also expected to hold perfect posture underneath cumbersome layers like suspenders, a waistcoat, a fussy collar (which had to be starched) that buttoned into the back of the shirt, and a large pocket watch that required daily winding and was weighted with heavy fobs and chains. “If a corset-wearer grows weary of holding herself erect, it’s possible to lean into the corset and be held up, like leaning into a hug,” says Chrisman. “Men, however, had no such support to lean on; the entire pressure of maintaining an upright bearing was on themselves alone.”
The Victorian’s infatuation with persnickety garments basically required assistance for both genders with daily dressing. This aspect held some unexpected charm for Chrisman. “The way in which helping each other with our clothing brought us closer together and deepened our relationship was one of the sweetest elements of the experience—it’s like an intimate form of team-building exercise,” says Chrisman, alluding to a time when dressing routines helped distinguish and establish relationships between Victorians.
As with every give, there’s usually a take. And Chrisman says the one thing she can’t do while wearing a corset is put down a big meal like she once enjoyed. Since the stomach can’t bloat with expansion, one feels full, faster. And yet this discovery became a pivotal turning point for Chrisman, who always refused to diet, though still battled the body image fight that so many women, regardless of size, often do.
“One day, I suddenly realized that I didn’t have to worry anymore—that a corset had made me more aware of exactly when I was full, and exactly when I wanted food. It was an incredibly liberating realization, like I had stepped off the tightrope and onto firm ground,” she says, adding that she eats as she pleases and never leaves the table hungry, but with such portion control built in she doesn’t have to think about it.
Wearing a corset doesn’t prevent Chrisman from the kind of active life Victorians enjoyed; she eschews a car (and even a driver’s license) to instead bike wherever she needs to go, and enjoys long strolls in the town where she routinely turns heads in and resides, having now embraced full Victorian wear from dramatic Edwardian hats to sweepingly full skirts with petticoats and kitten heel boots. (She makes many of her own pieces so that they stay authentic to the original fabric and cuts used by Victorians, and don’t resemble the polyester costume copies that one may see in a Halloween shop.)
For those looking to try a traditional corset, Chrisman advises going no more than 2 inches smaller than your starting waist measurement, and buying one that is marketed as a “tight-lacing corset,” which simply means that the design will support full-time wear and posture, and is not intended as a flimsier costume or boudoir-only wear; it’s not necessary to lace them uncomfortably tight in spite of the name. “Corsets are ultimately about support, foundation and structure, not simply about waist reduction,” she instructs.
Also be aware that any elasticized garment like Spanx, girdles and bustiers are not the same thing. “They won’t provide the same support as a structured corset any more than a trampoline will hold up a person the same way a floor would,” she adds.
So why did corsets go out of style? Contrary to popular belief that the suffragettes kicked them out as they emancipated women with the right to vote in the 1920s, it’s not so, says Chrisman. In fact, if you Google Susan B. Anthony images, you’ll see the unmistakable outline of a corset underneath the legendary suffragette’s dress. Chrisman instead attributes the demise in great part to Coco Chanel, who panned the corset in favor of vertical designs that sat better on a boyishly gamine body. And as with all things fashionable, trends always cycle in and out.
The supposedly liberated woman of today often pines for one aspect of our great-grandmothers’ era, says Chrisman—a time when naturally full hips and a fleshy flush of health were revered, and the waist was considered the most erogenous zone of all.
Might the corseted Victorian woman have been free in ways that the modern woman will never be?
You.Beauty
http://www.youbeauty.com/body-fitness/galleries/where-can-i-buy-a-real-corset#1
"Where Can I Buy A Real Corset?"
"Where Can I Buy A Real Corset?"
***
Today
Time warp: Woman lives as a Victorian, corset and all
Meena Hart Duerson
Nov. 15, 2013 at 9:08 AM ET
Sarah Chrisman never wanted to wear a corset, but after her husband gave her one for her 29th birthday, she says the old-fashioned undergarment changed her life.
"It was actually a moment of great revelation," the history lover, now 33, told TODAY.com of the experience, which allowed her to finally take advantage of her longtime obsession with Victorian-era attire.
She was inspired by the corset to delve deeper into wearing women's fashions from the Victorian age, and began to dress that way exclusively.
These days, she and her husband, Gabriel, are committed to living as Victorian a life as possible, within modern-day constraints. "We're as immersed as we can be," Chrisman said.
That means she washes herself "with a pitcher and basin every day," hand-sews all of her own clothes (from natural fibers), doesn't drive a car, and uses oil lamps for most of the lighting in their Victorian home in Port Townsend, Wash. When it comes to cooking, Chrisman uses a book of 19th century recipes, and said translating the centuries-old descriptions into modern-day measurements has proved the biggest challenge.
"It's involved a lot of experimentation to see what works and what doesn't," she said.
In Chrisman's book, she explains her motivation for living old-school.
The couple had always been fascinated by historical clothing and collected it, but while he could wear the vintage items, she couldn't find anything to fit her 21st-century body — all the clothes were tailored to a woman cinched in by a corset.
So, after years of resisting the shapewear over concerns it was unhealthy and uncomfortable, Chrisman was thrilled to find that putting it on wasn't nearly as bad as she'd imagined. "It was tough at first, but it just took some getting used to," she recalled.
As a massage therapist, she says her clients are very understanding and kind about her clothing. Gabriel joins in as often as he can, wearing Victorian clothes to his job at a library and on his days off, but abstaining on the days he works in a bicycle shop across town. They currently use a refrigerator to store their food, but are hoping to switch to an ice box for even more authenticity down the line.
Chrisman says they channel the Victorian era as a way of better understanding history. "The clothing is a really interesting window into everyday people's lives," she said. "It's a different way of looking at the world, and that was their world."
Ironically, she sometimes has to turn to modern technology to be transported to the past. Finding historically accurate light bulb replicas of what people would have used at that time, for example, entails shopping online.
"In the 19th century, it would have been very easy — we could have ordered it all from Sears and Roebuck," she laughs. "The 21st century Sears and Roebuck is the Internet."
In a book released Nov. 1, titled "Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present, and Myself," Chrisman offers insight, and explains her choice.
She says she was inspired to write the book after constant questioning about her appearance. "The reactions we get run the full gamut...everything from people who are wonderfully complimentary and kind to the ones that are incredibly vitriolic," she said.
"We've had everything from people stopping me to tell me I'm beautiful, or people stopping me to scream at me that I'm oppressing women. I never expected my underwear to be such a polarizing issue for complete strangers."
But despite the criticism, she says the experience has been incredibly positive, and she hopes other people who hear her story can apply some of the lessons she's learned to their own lives: "It's important to follow one's own interests and one's own dreams, and one should never let strangers dictate one's life," she says.
And for those who think it's just a gimmick, Chrisman says living this way is no experiment: "It's just our life."
Meena Hart Duerson
Nov. 15, 2013 at 9:08 AM ET
Sarah Chrisman never wanted to wear a corset, but after her husband gave her one for her 29th birthday, she says the old-fashioned undergarment changed her life.
"It was actually a moment of great revelation," the history lover, now 33, told TODAY.com of the experience, which allowed her to finally take advantage of her longtime obsession with Victorian-era attire.
She was inspired by the corset to delve deeper into wearing women's fashions from the Victorian age, and began to dress that way exclusively.
These days, she and her husband, Gabriel, are committed to living as Victorian a life as possible, within modern-day constraints. "We're as immersed as we can be," Chrisman said.
That means she washes herself "with a pitcher and basin every day," hand-sews all of her own clothes (from natural fibers), doesn't drive a car, and uses oil lamps for most of the lighting in their Victorian home in Port Townsend, Wash. When it comes to cooking, Chrisman uses a book of 19th century recipes, and said translating the centuries-old descriptions into modern-day measurements has proved the biggest challenge.
"It's involved a lot of experimentation to see what works and what doesn't," she said.
In Chrisman's book, she explains her motivation for living old-school.
The couple had always been fascinated by historical clothing and collected it, but while he could wear the vintage items, she couldn't find anything to fit her 21st-century body — all the clothes were tailored to a woman cinched in by a corset.
So, after years of resisting the shapewear over concerns it was unhealthy and uncomfortable, Chrisman was thrilled to find that putting it on wasn't nearly as bad as she'd imagined. "It was tough at first, but it just took some getting used to," she recalled.
As a massage therapist, she says her clients are very understanding and kind about her clothing. Gabriel joins in as often as he can, wearing Victorian clothes to his job at a library and on his days off, but abstaining on the days he works in a bicycle shop across town. They currently use a refrigerator to store their food, but are hoping to switch to an ice box for even more authenticity down the line.
Chrisman says they channel the Victorian era as a way of better understanding history. "The clothing is a really interesting window into everyday people's lives," she said. "It's a different way of looking at the world, and that was their world."
Ironically, she sometimes has to turn to modern technology to be transported to the past. Finding historically accurate light bulb replicas of what people would have used at that time, for example, entails shopping online.
"In the 19th century, it would have been very easy — we could have ordered it all from Sears and Roebuck," she laughs. "The 21st century Sears and Roebuck is the Internet."
In a book released Nov. 1, titled "Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present, and Myself," Chrisman offers insight, and explains her choice.
She says she was inspired to write the book after constant questioning about her appearance. "The reactions we get run the full gamut...everything from people who are wonderfully complimentary and kind to the ones that are incredibly vitriolic," she said.
"We've had everything from people stopping me to tell me I'm beautiful, or people stopping me to scream at me that I'm oppressing women. I never expected my underwear to be such a polarizing issue for complete strangers."
But despite the criticism, she says the experience has been incredibly positive, and she hopes other people who hear her story can apply some of the lessons she's learned to their own lives: "It's important to follow one's own interests and one's own dreams, and one should never let strangers dictate one's life," she says.
And for those who think it's just a gimmick, Chrisman says living this way is no experiment: "It's just our life."
Salon.com
SATURDAY, NOV 30, 2013 05:00 PM PST
What it’s like to wear Victorian corsets and underwear today
Author Sarah A. Chrisman talks about how corsets and pantalettes (Victorian panties) have changed her life
Article by RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL
Sarah A. Chrisman readily admits she’d far rather live in Victorian times — specifically 1889 — than the modern era. When her similarly historically-focused husband gave her a corset for her 29th birthday four years ago, she was dismayed, but soon got over her doubts and has since gone on to wear corsets 24/7 and make all her own clothes. Her memoir, “Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself,” is a paean to both the joys of corset wearing and a feisty defense of a bygone era. Making a concession to modern times, she chatted with Salon via Skype about being publicly groped by Baby Boomers, the physical benefits of corset wearing, advice on buying your first corset and why Victorian women’s underwear is superior.
How long have you had a fascination with Victorian clothing and life?
It goes back as long as I can remember, to be perfectly honest. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated with the Victorian era. When I was a child the books I chose to read were ones that took place in the Victorian era or were written then.
What made you decide to wear the corset even though you were skeptical?
Well, it was a gift and at the time I thought, this is a gift, I’ll play along and try it once. But actually once was all it took. It was very enlightening because there are so many stereotypes about how torturous they are, but when I put it on and experienced it for myself, I realized actually it wasn’t as uncomfortable as I’d been told. It wasn’t particularly uncomfortable at all. It was like a new pair of shoes, basically. The more I did research it, the more fascinated I became.
One of the reasons you didn’t want to wear it is you had heard these ideas that it’s dangerous and you might break a rib, which you debunk. Why do you think that idea that corsets are dangerous has persisted?
Even though the nineteenth century feminists like Susan B. Anthony were in fact wearing corsets, I think the twentieth century feminists felt they needed some sort of symbol that they could hold up as a visual aid to demonize. Because corsets had fallen out of fashion, it was a convenient scapegoat. It’s easy to make something foreign into a demon.
In the book, people come up and scold you for wearing a corset. Does that still happen to you?
Oh yes, it still happens.
Is there one type of area where it’s more pronounced?
I get the most negative reactions from women of the Baby Boomer generation. They’re the ones who will come up and actually try to grab me, which I hate.
Are they trying to take it off of you?
They’re just trying to literally put their hands around my waist and feel and grope, which I think is incredibly rude. In Victorian mentality the waist was a very erogenous zone and I can’t imagine anyone walking up to a complete stranger and groping her, yet they feel that they somehow have the right to do this to my waist and I hate it. It’s very invasive.
What advice do you have for someone interested in their first corset?
The first corset should be off the rack because they’re so much cheaper. Also my own experience with corseting was that as soon as I started my waist diminished dramatically. It doesn’t make sense to buy an expensive custom corset and then need another one two months later because that first one has become too large. I recommend Timeless Trends, and the Long Island Staylace Association is a good source of information. I also recommend “The Corset: A Cultural History” by Valerie Steele. I get my custom corsets from C & S Constructions.
How many corsets do you own now and what’s their size?
My corsets are 22 inches measured around the outside of the corset. I have six for wearing and then two underbust ones that are now too big for me. Those were my first ones that I keep for sentimental reasons. I also have two antique corsets which are not for wearing, but I display them when I do educational lectures about corsetry.
How has the corset benefitted you physically?
It definitely helps your posture. It helps with grace of movement because it reminds me to keep my back straight. People started asking me if I was a dancer, which I did not expect at all. I’d always considered myself quite clumsy. I would say I’m a lot more graceful now than before I started wearing the corset.
I want to know more about the pantalettes, the underwear Victorian women wore. You write “women’s liberation had taken a dramatic step backward when we’d given up this equality with the rougher sex.” Why do you think that modern underwear is inferior?
Pantalettes allow one to urinate standing up, because they are split right down the middle. Take camping, for example; there are many situations where it can be very awkward to try to hold garments out of the way when one makes use of trees, shall we say. Also in certain public restrooms one doesn’t necessarily want to sit down.
Do you wear pantalettes now?
Absolutely. Many gynecologists now recommend that women don’t wear modern synthetic fabric panties because they keep so much moisture in that area. Pantalettes allow for more air flow. I just find them a lot more comfortable.
Aside from corsets, what are your three favorite items of Victorian clothing?
Pantalettes are number one. They are very comfortable and very practical. Then petticoats. There’s this very luxuriant feel to petticoats, especially the silk ones. They help keep me warm. I’m very fond of my chatelaine and chatelaine purses. A chatelaine is a little toolkit that clips on. A lot of them would contain sewing tools; my indoor one contains a sewing cushion, a little notepad and a pair of scissors. For outdoors I switch to a chatelaine purse. It’s wonderfully convenient because it leaves my hands free, like a much more stylish version of a fanny pack.
What’s the biggest way your life has changed since you put on that first corset?
It’s really opened my eyes to the difference between what one perceives one can do and what one can actually do.
What do you mean by that?
Before I started wearing a corset I had always viewed the Victorian era as something that I loved the aesthetic of. Seeing the figures of all of the women in the antique photographs, I appreciated their beauty but thought I could never look like them myself. It was only after I started wearing a corset that I realized, wait a minute, I can look like that and it’s not very hard.
What it’s like to wear Victorian corsets and underwear today
Author Sarah A. Chrisman talks about how corsets and pantalettes (Victorian panties) have changed her life
Article by RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL
Sarah A. Chrisman readily admits she’d far rather live in Victorian times — specifically 1889 — than the modern era. When her similarly historically-focused husband gave her a corset for her 29th birthday four years ago, she was dismayed, but soon got over her doubts and has since gone on to wear corsets 24/7 and make all her own clothes. Her memoir, “Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself,” is a paean to both the joys of corset wearing and a feisty defense of a bygone era. Making a concession to modern times, she chatted with Salon via Skype about being publicly groped by Baby Boomers, the physical benefits of corset wearing, advice on buying your first corset and why Victorian women’s underwear is superior.
How long have you had a fascination with Victorian clothing and life?
It goes back as long as I can remember, to be perfectly honest. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated with the Victorian era. When I was a child the books I chose to read were ones that took place in the Victorian era or were written then.
What made you decide to wear the corset even though you were skeptical?
Well, it was a gift and at the time I thought, this is a gift, I’ll play along and try it once. But actually once was all it took. It was very enlightening because there are so many stereotypes about how torturous they are, but when I put it on and experienced it for myself, I realized actually it wasn’t as uncomfortable as I’d been told. It wasn’t particularly uncomfortable at all. It was like a new pair of shoes, basically. The more I did research it, the more fascinated I became.
One of the reasons you didn’t want to wear it is you had heard these ideas that it’s dangerous and you might break a rib, which you debunk. Why do you think that idea that corsets are dangerous has persisted?
Even though the nineteenth century feminists like Susan B. Anthony were in fact wearing corsets, I think the twentieth century feminists felt they needed some sort of symbol that they could hold up as a visual aid to demonize. Because corsets had fallen out of fashion, it was a convenient scapegoat. It’s easy to make something foreign into a demon.
In the book, people come up and scold you for wearing a corset. Does that still happen to you?
Oh yes, it still happens.
Is there one type of area where it’s more pronounced?
I get the most negative reactions from women of the Baby Boomer generation. They’re the ones who will come up and actually try to grab me, which I hate.
Are they trying to take it off of you?
They’re just trying to literally put their hands around my waist and feel and grope, which I think is incredibly rude. In Victorian mentality the waist was a very erogenous zone and I can’t imagine anyone walking up to a complete stranger and groping her, yet they feel that they somehow have the right to do this to my waist and I hate it. It’s very invasive.
What advice do you have for someone interested in their first corset?
The first corset should be off the rack because they’re so much cheaper. Also my own experience with corseting was that as soon as I started my waist diminished dramatically. It doesn’t make sense to buy an expensive custom corset and then need another one two months later because that first one has become too large. I recommend Timeless Trends, and the Long Island Staylace Association is a good source of information. I also recommend “The Corset: A Cultural History” by Valerie Steele. I get my custom corsets from C & S Constructions.
How many corsets do you own now and what’s their size?
My corsets are 22 inches measured around the outside of the corset. I have six for wearing and then two underbust ones that are now too big for me. Those were my first ones that I keep for sentimental reasons. I also have two antique corsets which are not for wearing, but I display them when I do educational lectures about corsetry.
How has the corset benefitted you physically?
It definitely helps your posture. It helps with grace of movement because it reminds me to keep my back straight. People started asking me if I was a dancer, which I did not expect at all. I’d always considered myself quite clumsy. I would say I’m a lot more graceful now than before I started wearing the corset.
I want to know more about the pantalettes, the underwear Victorian women wore. You write “women’s liberation had taken a dramatic step backward when we’d given up this equality with the rougher sex.” Why do you think that modern underwear is inferior?
Pantalettes allow one to urinate standing up, because they are split right down the middle. Take camping, for example; there are many situations where it can be very awkward to try to hold garments out of the way when one makes use of trees, shall we say. Also in certain public restrooms one doesn’t necessarily want to sit down.
Do you wear pantalettes now?
Absolutely. Many gynecologists now recommend that women don’t wear modern synthetic fabric panties because they keep so much moisture in that area. Pantalettes allow for more air flow. I just find them a lot more comfortable.
Aside from corsets, what are your three favorite items of Victorian clothing?
Pantalettes are number one. They are very comfortable and very practical. Then petticoats. There’s this very luxuriant feel to petticoats, especially the silk ones. They help keep me warm. I’m very fond of my chatelaine and chatelaine purses. A chatelaine is a little toolkit that clips on. A lot of them would contain sewing tools; my indoor one contains a sewing cushion, a little notepad and a pair of scissors. For outdoors I switch to a chatelaine purse. It’s wonderfully convenient because it leaves my hands free, like a much more stylish version of a fanny pack.
What’s the biggest way your life has changed since you put on that first corset?
It’s really opened my eyes to the difference between what one perceives one can do and what one can actually do.
What do you mean by that?
Before I started wearing a corset I had always viewed the Victorian era as something that I loved the aesthetic of. Seeing the figures of all of the women in the antique photographs, I appreciated their beauty but thought I could never look like them myself. It was only after I started wearing a corset that I realized, wait a minute, I can look like that and it’s not very hard.
***
XOJane
Article by Sarah A. Chrisman
Some people feel they were born in the wrong place, or in a body of the wrong gender. I have simply always felt that I was born in the wrong time, and there is no passport nor surgical procedure to help one of my particular condition.
At the age when other children were begging their parents to leave them at Disneyland, I told my mother that I wanted to live at a museum that we were visiting -- an old Victorian mansion that had been filled with artifacts of the 19th-century as if the original family were still there and might walk in at any moment. She had looked around and rolled her eyes.
"If you had lived here back then," she said, “you would probably have been one of the servants."
I looked around at the polished wood on a gleaming spiral staircase.
"It would have been worth it," I told her, "to live amongst such beauty!"
She had rolled her eyes again at my high-flown, flowery language and called me a hopeless romantic.
There is an old trope in 19th-century romance stories of sweethearts who meet when the maiden is still too immature of a girl to understand the feelings which the hero arouses in her. Patient and steadfast, the young man watches from afar while she grows, blooms into womanhood, and at last confesses her love.
The Victorian era was that patient suitor in my life: a presence I adored from our first meeting, and which subsequently, over the course of a typical adolescence, I was destined to admire, dream about, strike out at, obsess over, long for, then caress and finally embrace with open arms.
In college, I gained a corporeal beau who did not mind sharing my love. He likewise carried a passion for that era within his own heart. I do not guess what other couples discuss when they walk through woods dappled by moonlight, but I know what ideas we contemplate: what the trees saw when they were young, and the stories the great world was spinning as those saplings grew to giants.
By the time a few anniversaries passed, my husband knew that the most delightful gift, the dearest treasure when an occasion of merit approached, was an artifact from that past we both adored: a book with its pages yellow but its tale still bright and merry, a dress whose long-ago owner still showed her presence in the creases of worn pockets.
Not that the course of true love ever has run smooth. We collected antique clothing and although with patience it was possible to find suits which fit my husband's measurements, for me there seemed no hope. Victorian women's clothing, of course, was always made to the measurements of a corseted body, and my natural waistline was anything but that.
When my husband gave me my first corset as a gift for my 29th birthday, I had extreme doubts -- but then, love makes us all do things we would never have expected. There was something enchanting about the image the first time I saw my corseted form in a mirror's silvered glass, as if that figure had at last banished the hex of modernity. I altered my modern clothes to fit my new form and soon I started making replicas of my Victorian clothes to wear every day, doing away with the modern garments altogether.
Now we live in a house which was built in 1888,[ in the historic district of Port Townsend, Washington, a city which prides itself on being one of America's few remaining Victorian seaports. The corner grocery where I buy my milk first opened its doors in 1895.
When I go to the county archive and ask for the nineteenth-century account ledgers from the drugstore where I buy my first-aid supplies and soap, huge sturdily-bound volumes are brought out of storage. In their pages, delicate tracery of copperplate handwriting details the purchases of the woman who lived in my house when it was new: "Per. Ox. Hydrogen, rose water, bitter almond oil, glycerine." The lists are so similar to my own shopping forays at that same business.
From a beauty advice tip in an 1889 magazine, I learned to wash my hair with castille soap. I discovered the simple joys of handfuls of white lather winking rainbows by lamplight, and pitchers of cool water to rinse the bubbles from my long blonde hair. I was surprised not only by how much longer it stayed clean than it had with modern shampoos, but also how much more readily it adapted itself to period hairstyles when cared for in this way.
I scrimped and diligently saved my pennies, cutting every budgetary corner I could, and at last took that carefully hoarded sum to an antiques store and purchased an item I had long coveted: a beautiful porcelain set of a matching wash bowl and pitcher, painted with wild roses.
Even as I was saving for it I knew that washing this way would conserve water, a boon to environmental concerns as well as household budget. One thinks a lot more about the water used when it is carried in a beautiful pitcher into the bedroom than when it gushes out of the wall in the same room as the toilet. The effect on my skin was a side detail but a welcome one: less acne, and softer, smoother skin.
My husband and I had always enjoyed hiking together, and so when we decided it had been far too long since our last trek, I based my hiking dress on the outfit Fay Fuller had worn in 1890 when she became the first woman to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier.
We scheduled a trip to Mt. Townsend to follow on the tails of our tenth wedding anniversary. Since the tenth is traditionally the tin anniversary, Gabriel had a most unique gift for me: a vasculum. In a wonderful example of how living in a historic way teaches us about the past, Gabriel explained that the oval-shaped tin case with its hinged side and hempen shoulder strap, was a carrying case for collecting scientific specimens, used by professionals and hobbyists alike.
Designed expressly to hold an entire orchid or fern (complete with roots) while not being too cumbersome, the gift was as practical as it was thoughtful, and it rested perfectly against my back to carry my hiking supplies as we went up the mountain.
Through great and small occasions, we continue. Learning to write with a straight pen dipped in liquid ink was a laughter-filled process through which my husband and I helped each other. I went into raptures over the centuries-old ink recipes still produced by the J. Herbin company, pressed out of the petals of real flowers to yield a haunting fragrance they inscribe upon the page. Item by item, we bring the past that touches us into our everyday lives.
Our days are resplendant with the sensations of the era we love. There are no electronic buzzings in our home, but there are the tickings of mechanical clocks which I wind every morning. As winter comes on the air will be scented more and more by the kerosene in our heater and the clean-burning paraffin oil in our lamps, counterpointed by the smell of the historic perfumes which Gabriel loves to hunt down and pamper me with as gifts on Christmas and my birthday.
Moving through all this I hear the clack-clack of tools on my chatelaine, an antique woman's accessory which holds those little helpers one always wants on hand -- a notepad, a pair of scissors (artistically disguised as a dainty dagger), and a pincushion (shaped like a book).
This is not an easy life. People seldom understand lives which are different from their own, and often do not accept them. I've received everything from hate mail, to taunts from children whose parents were actually egging them on and encouraging them to behave still more badly.
People are constantly demanding that I first explain and then justify my entire existence. Complete strangers attempt to grope my waist, and then have the gall to expect an apology when I don't let them. (I've even had the experience of a customer in a café -- a woman whom I had never seen before in my life -- demanding the owner that I be thrown out, simply because I wouldn't let her fondle me!)
And yet I refuse to let the ignorance and misbehavior of others prevent me from living as I truly am in my heart, from following my honest ideals.
This is not the critics' life, it is mine: the one I have always wanted, and feel I was destined for.
At the age when other children were begging their parents to leave them at Disneyland, I told my mother that I wanted to live at a museum that we were visiting -- an old Victorian mansion that had been filled with artifacts of the 19th-century as if the original family were still there and might walk in at any moment. She had looked around and rolled her eyes.
"If you had lived here back then," she said, “you would probably have been one of the servants."
I looked around at the polished wood on a gleaming spiral staircase.
"It would have been worth it," I told her, "to live amongst such beauty!"
She had rolled her eyes again at my high-flown, flowery language and called me a hopeless romantic.
There is an old trope in 19th-century romance stories of sweethearts who meet when the maiden is still too immature of a girl to understand the feelings which the hero arouses in her. Patient and steadfast, the young man watches from afar while she grows, blooms into womanhood, and at last confesses her love.
The Victorian era was that patient suitor in my life: a presence I adored from our first meeting, and which subsequently, over the course of a typical adolescence, I was destined to admire, dream about, strike out at, obsess over, long for, then caress and finally embrace with open arms.
In college, I gained a corporeal beau who did not mind sharing my love. He likewise carried a passion for that era within his own heart. I do not guess what other couples discuss when they walk through woods dappled by moonlight, but I know what ideas we contemplate: what the trees saw when they were young, and the stories the great world was spinning as those saplings grew to giants.
By the time a few anniversaries passed, my husband knew that the most delightful gift, the dearest treasure when an occasion of merit approached, was an artifact from that past we both adored: a book with its pages yellow but its tale still bright and merry, a dress whose long-ago owner still showed her presence in the creases of worn pockets.
Not that the course of true love ever has run smooth. We collected antique clothing and although with patience it was possible to find suits which fit my husband's measurements, for me there seemed no hope. Victorian women's clothing, of course, was always made to the measurements of a corseted body, and my natural waistline was anything but that.
When my husband gave me my first corset as a gift for my 29th birthday, I had extreme doubts -- but then, love makes us all do things we would never have expected. There was something enchanting about the image the first time I saw my corseted form in a mirror's silvered glass, as if that figure had at last banished the hex of modernity. I altered my modern clothes to fit my new form and soon I started making replicas of my Victorian clothes to wear every day, doing away with the modern garments altogether.
Now we live in a house which was built in 1888,[ in the historic district of Port Townsend, Washington, a city which prides itself on being one of America's few remaining Victorian seaports. The corner grocery where I buy my milk first opened its doors in 1895.
When I go to the county archive and ask for the nineteenth-century account ledgers from the drugstore where I buy my first-aid supplies and soap, huge sturdily-bound volumes are brought out of storage. In their pages, delicate tracery of copperplate handwriting details the purchases of the woman who lived in my house when it was new: "Per. Ox. Hydrogen, rose water, bitter almond oil, glycerine." The lists are so similar to my own shopping forays at that same business.
From a beauty advice tip in an 1889 magazine, I learned to wash my hair with castille soap. I discovered the simple joys of handfuls of white lather winking rainbows by lamplight, and pitchers of cool water to rinse the bubbles from my long blonde hair. I was surprised not only by how much longer it stayed clean than it had with modern shampoos, but also how much more readily it adapted itself to period hairstyles when cared for in this way.
I scrimped and diligently saved my pennies, cutting every budgetary corner I could, and at last took that carefully hoarded sum to an antiques store and purchased an item I had long coveted: a beautiful porcelain set of a matching wash bowl and pitcher, painted with wild roses.
Even as I was saving for it I knew that washing this way would conserve water, a boon to environmental concerns as well as household budget. One thinks a lot more about the water used when it is carried in a beautiful pitcher into the bedroom than when it gushes out of the wall in the same room as the toilet. The effect on my skin was a side detail but a welcome one: less acne, and softer, smoother skin.
My husband and I had always enjoyed hiking together, and so when we decided it had been far too long since our last trek, I based my hiking dress on the outfit Fay Fuller had worn in 1890 when she became the first woman to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier.
We scheduled a trip to Mt. Townsend to follow on the tails of our tenth wedding anniversary. Since the tenth is traditionally the tin anniversary, Gabriel had a most unique gift for me: a vasculum. In a wonderful example of how living in a historic way teaches us about the past, Gabriel explained that the oval-shaped tin case with its hinged side and hempen shoulder strap, was a carrying case for collecting scientific specimens, used by professionals and hobbyists alike.
Designed expressly to hold an entire orchid or fern (complete with roots) while not being too cumbersome, the gift was as practical as it was thoughtful, and it rested perfectly against my back to carry my hiking supplies as we went up the mountain.
Through great and small occasions, we continue. Learning to write with a straight pen dipped in liquid ink was a laughter-filled process through which my husband and I helped each other. I went into raptures over the centuries-old ink recipes still produced by the J. Herbin company, pressed out of the petals of real flowers to yield a haunting fragrance they inscribe upon the page. Item by item, we bring the past that touches us into our everyday lives.
Our days are resplendant with the sensations of the era we love. There are no electronic buzzings in our home, but there are the tickings of mechanical clocks which I wind every morning. As winter comes on the air will be scented more and more by the kerosene in our heater and the clean-burning paraffin oil in our lamps, counterpointed by the smell of the historic perfumes which Gabriel loves to hunt down and pamper me with as gifts on Christmas and my birthday.
Moving through all this I hear the clack-clack of tools on my chatelaine, an antique woman's accessory which holds those little helpers one always wants on hand -- a notepad, a pair of scissors (artistically disguised as a dainty dagger), and a pincushion (shaped like a book).
This is not an easy life. People seldom understand lives which are different from their own, and often do not accept them. I've received everything from hate mail, to taunts from children whose parents were actually egging them on and encouraging them to behave still more badly.
People are constantly demanding that I first explain and then justify my entire existence. Complete strangers attempt to grope my waist, and then have the gall to expect an apology when I don't let them. (I've even had the experience of a customer in a café -- a woman whom I had never seen before in my life -- demanding the owner that I be thrown out, simply because I wouldn't let her fondle me!)
And yet I refuse to let the ignorance and misbehavior of others prevent me from living as I truly am in my heart, from following my honest ideals.
This is not the critics' life, it is mine: the one I have always wanted, and feel I was destined for.
***
Adelaide Now - The Advertiser (Australian)
***
Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand interview with Sarah Chrisman, December 3, 2013
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2578574/victorian-secrets
(Click on the link!)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2578574/victorian-secrets
(Click on the link!)
Salon.com
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/01/what_its_like_to_wear_victorian_corsets_and_underwear_today/
SATURDAY, NOV 30, 2013 05:00 PM PST
What it’s like to wear Victorian corsets and underwear today
Author Sarah A. Chrisman talks about how corsets and pantalettes (Victorian panties) have changed her life
RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL
Sarah A. Chrisman readily admits she’d far rather live in Victorian times — specifically 1889 — than the modern era. When her similarly historically-focused husband gave her a corset for her 29th birthday four years ago, she was dismayed, but soon got over her doubts and has since gone on to wear corsets 24/7 and make all her own clothes. Her memoir, “Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself,” is a paean to both the joys of corset wearing and a feisty defense of a bygone era. Making a concession to modern times, she chatted with Salon via Skype about being publicly groped by Baby Boomers, the physical benefits of corset wearing, advice on buying your first corset and why Victorian women’s underwear is superior.
How long have you had a fascination with Victorian clothing and life?
It goes back as long as I can remember, to be perfectly honest. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated with the Victorian era. When I was a child the books I chose to read were ones that took place in the Victorian era or were written then.
What made you decide to wear the corset even though you were skeptical?
Well, it was a gift and at the time I thought, this is a gift, I’ll play along and try it once. But actually once was all it took. It was very enlightening because there are so many stereotypes about how torturous they are, but when I put it on and experienced it for myself, I realized actually it wasn’t as uncomfortable as I’d been told. It wasn’t particularly uncomfortable at all. It was like a new pair of shoes, basically. The more I did research it, the more fascinated I became.
One of the reasons you didn’t want to wear it is you had heard these ideas that it’s dangerous and you might break a rib, which you debunk. Why do you think that idea that corsets are dangerous has persisted?
Even though the nineteenth century feminists like Susan B. Anthony were in fact wearing corsets, I think the twentieth century feminists felt they needed some sort of symbol that they could hold up as a visual aid to demonize. Because corsets had fallen out of fashion, it was a convenient scapegoat. It’s easy to make something foreign into a demon.
In the book, people come up and scold you for wearing a corset. Does that still happen to you?Oh yes, it still happens.
Is there one type of area where it’s more pronounced?
I get the most negative reactions from women of the Baby Boomer generation. They’re the ones who will come up and actually try to grab me, which I hate.
Are they trying to take it off of you?
They’re just trying to literally put their hands around my waist and feel and grope, which I think is incredibly rude. In Victorian mentality the waist was a very erogenous zone and I can’t imagine anyone walking up to a complete stranger and groping her, yet they feel that they somehow have the right to do this to my waist and I hate it. It’s very invasive.
What advice do you have for someone interested in their first corset?
The first corset should be off the rack because they’re so much cheaper. Also my own experience with corseting was that as soon as I started my waist diminished dramatically. It doesn’t make sense to buy an expensive custom corset and then need another one two months later because that first one has become too large. I recommend Timeless Trends, and the Long Island Staylace Association is a good source of information. I also recommend “The Corset: A Cultural History” by Valerie Steele. I get my custom corsets from C & S Constructions.
How many corsets do you own now and what’s their size?
My corsets are 22 inches measured around the outside of the corset. I have six for wearing and then two underbust ones that are now too big for me. Those were my first ones that I keep for sentimental reasons. I also have two antique corsets which are not for wearing, but I display them when I do educational lectures about corsetry.
How has the corset benefitted you physically?
It definitely helps your posture. It helps with grace of movement because it reminds me to keep my back straight. People started asking me if I was a dancer, which I did not expect at all. I’d always considered myself quite clumsy. I would say I’m a lot more graceful now than before I started wearing the corset.
I want to know more about the pantalettes, the underwear Victorian women wore. You write “women’s liberation had taken a dramatic step backward when we’d given up this equality with the rougher sex.” Why do you think that modern underwear is inferior?
Pantalettes allow one to urinate standing up, because they are split right down the middle. Take camping, for example; there are many situations where it can be very awkward to try to hold garments out of the way when one makes use of trees, shall we say. Also in certain public restrooms one doesn’t necessarily want to sit down.
Do you wear pantalettes now?
Absolutely. Many gynecologists now recommend that women don’t wear modern synthetic fabric panties because they keep so much moisture in that area. Pantalettes allow for more air flow. I just find them a lot more comfortable.
Aside from corsets, what are your three favorite items of Victorian clothing?
Pantalettes are number one. They are very comfortable and very practical. Then petticoats. There’s this very luxuriant feel to petticoats, especially the silk ones. They help keep me warm. I’m very fond of my chatelaine and chatelaine purses. A chatelaine is a little toolkit that clips on. A lot of them would contain sewing tools; my indoor one contains a sewing cushion, a little notepad and a pair of scissors. For outdoors I switch to a chatelaine purse. It’s wonderfully convenient because it leaves my hands free, like a much more stylish version of a fanny pack.
What’s the biggest way your life has changed since you put on that first corset?
It’s really opened my eyes to the difference between what one perceives one can do and what one can actually do.
What do you mean by that?
Before I started wearing a corset I had always viewed the Victorian era as something that I loved the aesthetic of. Seeing the figures of all of the women in the antique photographs, I appreciated their beauty but thought I could never look like them myself. It was only after I started wearing a corset that I realized, wait a minute, I can look like that and it’s not very hard.
SATURDAY, NOV 30, 2013 05:00 PM PST
What it’s like to wear Victorian corsets and underwear today
Author Sarah A. Chrisman talks about how corsets and pantalettes (Victorian panties) have changed her life
RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL
Sarah A. Chrisman readily admits she’d far rather live in Victorian times — specifically 1889 — than the modern era. When her similarly historically-focused husband gave her a corset for her 29th birthday four years ago, she was dismayed, but soon got over her doubts and has since gone on to wear corsets 24/7 and make all her own clothes. Her memoir, “Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself,” is a paean to both the joys of corset wearing and a feisty defense of a bygone era. Making a concession to modern times, she chatted with Salon via Skype about being publicly groped by Baby Boomers, the physical benefits of corset wearing, advice on buying your first corset and why Victorian women’s underwear is superior.
How long have you had a fascination with Victorian clothing and life?
It goes back as long as I can remember, to be perfectly honest. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated with the Victorian era. When I was a child the books I chose to read were ones that took place in the Victorian era or were written then.
What made you decide to wear the corset even though you were skeptical?
Well, it was a gift and at the time I thought, this is a gift, I’ll play along and try it once. But actually once was all it took. It was very enlightening because there are so many stereotypes about how torturous they are, but when I put it on and experienced it for myself, I realized actually it wasn’t as uncomfortable as I’d been told. It wasn’t particularly uncomfortable at all. It was like a new pair of shoes, basically. The more I did research it, the more fascinated I became.
One of the reasons you didn’t want to wear it is you had heard these ideas that it’s dangerous and you might break a rib, which you debunk. Why do you think that idea that corsets are dangerous has persisted?
Even though the nineteenth century feminists like Susan B. Anthony were in fact wearing corsets, I think the twentieth century feminists felt they needed some sort of symbol that they could hold up as a visual aid to demonize. Because corsets had fallen out of fashion, it was a convenient scapegoat. It’s easy to make something foreign into a demon.
In the book, people come up and scold you for wearing a corset. Does that still happen to you?Oh yes, it still happens.
Is there one type of area where it’s more pronounced?
I get the most negative reactions from women of the Baby Boomer generation. They’re the ones who will come up and actually try to grab me, which I hate.
Are they trying to take it off of you?
They’re just trying to literally put their hands around my waist and feel and grope, which I think is incredibly rude. In Victorian mentality the waist was a very erogenous zone and I can’t imagine anyone walking up to a complete stranger and groping her, yet they feel that they somehow have the right to do this to my waist and I hate it. It’s very invasive.
What advice do you have for someone interested in their first corset?
The first corset should be off the rack because they’re so much cheaper. Also my own experience with corseting was that as soon as I started my waist diminished dramatically. It doesn’t make sense to buy an expensive custom corset and then need another one two months later because that first one has become too large. I recommend Timeless Trends, and the Long Island Staylace Association is a good source of information. I also recommend “The Corset: A Cultural History” by Valerie Steele. I get my custom corsets from C & S Constructions.
How many corsets do you own now and what’s their size?
My corsets are 22 inches measured around the outside of the corset. I have six for wearing and then two underbust ones that are now too big for me. Those were my first ones that I keep for sentimental reasons. I also have two antique corsets which are not for wearing, but I display them when I do educational lectures about corsetry.
How has the corset benefitted you physically?
It definitely helps your posture. It helps with grace of movement because it reminds me to keep my back straight. People started asking me if I was a dancer, which I did not expect at all. I’d always considered myself quite clumsy. I would say I’m a lot more graceful now than before I started wearing the corset.
I want to know more about the pantalettes, the underwear Victorian women wore. You write “women’s liberation had taken a dramatic step backward when we’d given up this equality with the rougher sex.” Why do you think that modern underwear is inferior?
Pantalettes allow one to urinate standing up, because they are split right down the middle. Take camping, for example; there are many situations where it can be very awkward to try to hold garments out of the way when one makes use of trees, shall we say. Also in certain public restrooms one doesn’t necessarily want to sit down.
Do you wear pantalettes now?
Absolutely. Many gynecologists now recommend that women don’t wear modern synthetic fabric panties because they keep so much moisture in that area. Pantalettes allow for more air flow. I just find them a lot more comfortable.
Aside from corsets, what are your three favorite items of Victorian clothing?
Pantalettes are number one. They are very comfortable and very practical. Then petticoats. There’s this very luxuriant feel to petticoats, especially the silk ones. They help keep me warm. I’m very fond of my chatelaine and chatelaine purses. A chatelaine is a little toolkit that clips on. A lot of them would contain sewing tools; my indoor one contains a sewing cushion, a little notepad and a pair of scissors. For outdoors I switch to a chatelaine purse. It’s wonderfully convenient because it leaves my hands free, like a much more stylish version of a fanny pack.
What’s the biggest way your life has changed since you put on that first corset?
It’s really opened my eyes to the difference between what one perceives one can do and what one can actually do.
What do you mean by that?
Before I started wearing a corset I had always viewed the Victorian era as something that I loved the aesthetic of. Seeing the figures of all of the women in the antique photographs, I appreciated their beauty but thought I could never look like them myself. It was only after I started wearing a corset that I realized, wait a minute, I can look like that and it’s not very hard.
Leggo.IT (Italian)
***
Libero (Italian)
La Voce di Venezia (Italian)
Sarah Chrisman, una donna Vittoriana. La nostra intervista a Sarah che ha scelto di vivere come nell’800
Sara Prian
Aggiunto da Redazione il 24 novembre 2013.
Sarah e Gabriel Chrisman vivono la loro vita come se fossero nell’800: cose tecnologiche il meno possibile e vestiti in stile Vittoriano.
Per raccontare a tutti la sua storia Sarah ha scritto un libro “Victorian Secrets – What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself”, inedito in Italia. Un’opera veramente interessante, scritta con uno stile veloce, scorrevole che fonde con perfetto equilibrio le avventure di Sarah, eroina simile a quelle di Jane Austen e o di Emile Zola, e le nozioni riguardanti il periodo Vittorio.
La Voce di Venezia l’ha intervistata per voi.
Sarah, se potessi reintrodurre un elemento dell’epoca Vittoriana nella nostra epoca, cosa sceglieresti?
Se potessi reintrodurre un elemento sarebbe sicuramente il grande ottimismo che permeava quell’epoca. In un numero della rivista per le donne del 1889, “Good Housekeeping” Mi sono imbattuta in un meraviglioso sentimento: “Un problema allontanato non sopravvive. Rifiutati di dimorare in ombra quando c’è tanto sole nel mondo.” Nel XIX secolo, la maggior parte delle persone ritenevano che il mondo fosse un bel posto, e che, concentrandosi su quella bontà – identificata come il sole – potevamo far andare le cose ancora meglio.
Ora (nel 21 ° secolo), troppe persone si concentrano solo sulle ombre. La gente moderna vede solo il male nel mondo e negli altri, preferirebbero lamentarsi nel buio piuttosto che aprire una finestra.
Invece se potessi reintrodurre un abito Vittoriano nei giorni nostri sarebbero i “pantalettes” (un tipo di mutande divise in due come brache). Sono molto più comode e igieniche delle moderne mutande perché permettono alla pelle più sensibile di respirare. Inoltre con queste andare nei bagni pubblici sarebbe molto più facile e veloce e la coda nei gabinetti femminili sarebbe molto più breve!
C’è qualche oggetto o vestito a cui tieni veramente tanto? A parte l’orologio di tua nonna…
Sono molto legata alla mia “chatelaine” (una sorta di catenella che veniva appesa attorno alla vita dove si appendeva tutto ciò che una donna avrebbe potuto aver bisogno durante la sua giornata: dal kit da cucito alle chiavi ndr.). Fanno parte di una vecchissima tradizione dove le padrone di case tenevano le chiavi importanti arrotolate in un fagotto attorno alla vita. Durante il 19esimo secolo, la tradizione si è evoluta in una specie di pinzetta da cui pendevano oggetti di uso per la casa. Il tipo di arnesi appesi variavano da donna a donna, quindi erano strumenti strettamente personali, tanto che molte volte erano decorati in maniera originale a significare il gusto e lo stile di chi li portava con sé. Guardando gli oggetti che pendevano dalla vita di una donna si poteva capire quali erano le cose essenziali per lei. La mia ha un block-notes con una penna decorato con orchidee, un paio di piccole forbici decorate a farle sembrare un pugnale uscito dalle favole e un puntaspilli a forma di libro. Mi ci è voluto più di un anno per trovare il “chatelaine” più adatto e gli utensili giusti a prezzi che potevo permettermi.
Qual’è stato il commento più strano o curioso che tu abbia mai ricevuto?
Ricevo qualsiasi tipo di reazione: dai commenti più dolci a quelli più acidi. Odio quando dei completi sconosciuti vogliono tastarmi la vita come se fossi una sorta di animale o una statua. La più strana reazione che ho ricevuto è iniziata così: una donna che non avevo mai visto in vita mia, ha iniziato ad indicarmi in un affollato café, lo ha attraversato tutto continuando a puntarmi il dito contro e poi ha iniziato a palpeggiarmi il busto. Alla fine è stata una cosa molto maleducata, ma sfortunatamente per me non era niente di nuovo, era già successo. La cosa più strana, però, è accaduta dopo che ho bloccato la sua mano e non le ho permesso di stringermi la vita. Solitamente a questo punto la gente mormora qualche insulto e vanno via, ma questa donna e suo marito hanno iniziato ad urlare che ero pazza, chiedendo al proprietario del café di sbattermi fuori… Tutto perché non avevo permesso ad una totale sconosciuta di palpeggiarmi! “Deve andarsene! Deve andarsene!” Il marito continuava ad urlare, muovendo le sue braccia e puntandomi ancora il dito contro la mia faccia e contro quella del proprietario del locale. Alla fine lo stesso proprietario ha chiesto loro di andarsene, non a me.
Un’esperienza come questa non è sicuramente piacevole, così di solito preferisco concentrarmi sugli incontri più cortesi. Capita che a volte della bambine piccole, che hanno magari da poco imparato a parlare, mi chiedano se sia una principessa. Mi piace rispondere loro: “No tesoro, ma lo sei tu!”. E’ molto più bello concentrarsi su ricordi come questo.
C’è un’altra epoca, oltre a quella Vittoriana, in cui vorresti vivere?
Come epoca, quella Vittoriana è sicuramente la mia preferita, ma ce ne sarebbero altre che mi piacerebbe rivivere per un breve periodo. Alcune persone sognano di vivere in Italia, magari poi passando un anno in Spagna, un mese in India e poi un periodo negli Stati Uniti. Se fosse possibile viaggiare nel tempo come ora si possono coprire grandi distanze, sarebbe grandioso poter vivere nell’epoca Vittoriana e poi fare una vacanza nell’antica Roma e nell’antica Grecia. Sarebbe meraviglioso scoprire le diverse dinamiche della Roma che fu il cuore pulsante del mondo civilizzato; e allo stesso modo sarebbe bellissimo vedere il Partenone quando il marmo era ancora fresco e Atene era appena nata. Mi piacerebbe fare anche una piccola escursione nell’Europa del 1490 per vedere come le persone hanno affrontato la nuova visione del mondo dopo la scoperta dell’America. Dato che questo è solo un sogno, vorrei aggiungere anche un piccolo viaggio nel futuro per una cosa: odontoiatria!
Qual è stata la cosa più difficile da cambiare nel tuo atteggiamento per indossare i corsetti o i vestiti?
E ‘stato difficile abituarmi a stare in piedi e a muovermi con una postura corretta. Una volta che ce l’ho fatta, però, il mio atteggiamento in generale è migliorato.
Pensi che le persone vengano giudicate di più per i propri abiti ora o nell’epoca Vittoriana?
Che fantastica domanda! Penso che l’ubiquità dell’industria di massa, “one-size-fits-all” (una taglia va bene per tutti ndr), ha portato le persone di oggi a giudicare gli altri dai loro abiti meno rispetto a quanto facevano i vittoriani, ma questo è emerso dopo una lotta per la libertà di espressione personale. Una donna vittoriana poteva giudicare un’altra donna dai vestiti, perché questi abiti avrebbero rispecchiato l’identità della persona che li indossava. Avrebbero dimostrato se aveva un sarto personale o si faceva gli abiti da sola, qual è era il suo gusto nello stile e che tipo di esigenze richiedevano le sue attività quotidiane. Ora quando molte persone indossano, virtualmente, la stessa moda che si può trovare nei centri commerciali, i vestiti diventano un indizio meno rilevante per capire di che pasta è fatta quel tipo di persona, è come se si indossasse una sorta di uniforme. Giudichiamo l’altro meno dagli abiti, ma vediamo anche meno della nostra bellezza individuale. Gli americani in special modo, perché qui i grandi magazzini e i centri commerciali sono molto popolari. Penso che gli europei consentono ed incoraggiano un po’ più di stile personale – e li applaudo per questo.
Di questi tempi c’è un esigenza nel rivendicare la propria femminilità anche attraverso il modo in cui una donna si veste. Sei d’accordo?
Sono d’accordo che stiamo, in generale, alzando il livello dello stile delle donne. Penso sia un bene per le donne celebrare la propria bellezza femminile. Non dobbiamo vestirci come se fossimo delle versioni di minor importanza degli uomini: è meglio che ci vestiamo come una versione superiore delle donne.
Il tuo libro, “Victorian Secrets” è ben scritto, spiritoso, divertente, pieno di nozioni interessanti e avventure irresistibili. Quando ti è venuta l’idea e sapevi già che tipo di stile utilizzare?
Mi fa piacere che ti sia piaciuto il mio libro! L’ho scritto perché continuavano a farmi sempre le stesse domande ogni volta che uscivo di casa. Ho notato che le persone hanno curiosità verso i corsetti e l’età Vittoriana, e un libro sembrava il modo migliore per raggiungere il maggior numero di persone in un modo che potesse essere coinvolgente. Dal momento che ho iniziato ad indossare il corsetto 24 ore al giorno 7 giorni su 7 per un anno, mi sono sentita di avere abbastanza esperienza da poter scrivere un libro. Mi ci sono voluti sei mesi per prepararlo.
Ho notato che molti dei libri del 20esimo e 21esimo secolo (e anche i film) tendono a concentrarsi e a denigrare la cultura e la tecnologia del passato. Nelle fonti narrative e in quelle saggistiche troviamo dei commenti esaustivi riguardo a quanto il passato fosse (presumibilmente) ignorante e pieno di scomodità, e quanto invece sono (presumibilmente) migliorate le cose ora. Nel mio libro ho voluto evitare questo tipo di atteggiamento. Ho deliberatamente scelto di scrivere in uno stile ispirato al modo in cui i cronisti moderni hanno scritto e parlato del passato, ma invertendo il modo. Invece di sminuire i dettagli del 19 ° secolo per esaltare quanto meravigliosa sia l’era moderna a confronto, ho cercato di sottolineare quanto scomodo il mondo moderno possa essere effettivamente e gettare luce su alcune delle parti migliori del XIX secolo.
E’ difficile far colpo nel mondo dell’editoria per uno scrittore esordiente, ma volevo che questo fosse un libro che potesse vedere tutto il mondo. Per due anni, ho fatto delle copie individuali ricopiandole a mano e vendendole nelle botteghe locali o attraverso un piccolo sito internet. Rilegare i libri è stato un processo che ha comportato 27 passi, e per ricopiare ogni copia ci è voluto tra le 4 e le 5 ore (durante il corso di 3 giorni, perché dovevo attendere che la colla asciugasse in ognuno degli step di rilegatura). Ho stampato le singole copie del testo su una stampante laser che ho comprato da un’azienda che la stava buttando via. Poi ho ripiegato ogni singola pagina a mano e le ho legate assieme con una tradizionale rilegatura in osso, le ho in seguito unite e cucite insieme con un filo apposito. Anche fare la copertina ha comportato una serie di elaborati steps. Dopo due anni che avevo venduto oltre 200 copie in 13 diversi paesi con questo metodo avevo difficoltà a star dietro agli ordini che mi venivano richiesti. Dopo che sono riuscita a trovarmi un agente con la volontà di far conoscere la mia storia, lei mi ha presentato alla Skyhorse Publishing che ora produce il libro.
Che libro consiglieresti alle persone che vogliono saperne di più riguardo all’età Vittoriana?
Mi sono sempre piaciute le fonti primarie, cioè ricerche su materiali che provengono proprio dal periodo preso in esame. Alle persone suggerirei di iniziare con i propri interessi e cercare dei documenti vittoriani che riguardano quel specifico ambito d’interesse. (Conviene anche perché molti ormai sono fuori copyright e li si possono trovare tranquillamente su Google Libri). Se ti piace andare in bicicletta, leggi i magazine del 19esimo secolo che ne parlano come “Le Vélo” oppure “Outing”. Se sei amante della tecnologia, dai un occhio alle riviste scientifiche dell’epoca; o se ami i racconti di mistero prova a leggere le opere di uno scrittore dell’epoca come Wilkie Collins. Le persone in epoca vittoriana avevano interessi che variavano altrettanto ampiamente come quelli delle persone del 21 ° secolo, e partendo da uno di propria passione si può usarlo come quadro di riferimento per esplorare il periodo.
Un libro moderno, invece, che dà un quadro generale dell’epoca Vittoriana è di A.N. Wilson “The Victorians”. Mi piace Wilson perché ha un approccio molto imparziale. E ‘allettante per uno scrittore sia divinizzare o denigrare un soggetto, ma Wilson riesce a presentare in maniera sia affascinante che sinistra gli aspetti della storia.
Sara Prian
[24/11/2013]
Sara Prian
Aggiunto da Redazione il 24 novembre 2013.
Sarah e Gabriel Chrisman vivono la loro vita come se fossero nell’800: cose tecnologiche il meno possibile e vestiti in stile Vittoriano.
Per raccontare a tutti la sua storia Sarah ha scritto un libro “Victorian Secrets – What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself”, inedito in Italia. Un’opera veramente interessante, scritta con uno stile veloce, scorrevole che fonde con perfetto equilibrio le avventure di Sarah, eroina simile a quelle di Jane Austen e o di Emile Zola, e le nozioni riguardanti il periodo Vittorio.
La Voce di Venezia l’ha intervistata per voi.
Sarah, se potessi reintrodurre un elemento dell’epoca Vittoriana nella nostra epoca, cosa sceglieresti?
Se potessi reintrodurre un elemento sarebbe sicuramente il grande ottimismo che permeava quell’epoca. In un numero della rivista per le donne del 1889, “Good Housekeeping” Mi sono imbattuta in un meraviglioso sentimento: “Un problema allontanato non sopravvive. Rifiutati di dimorare in ombra quando c’è tanto sole nel mondo.” Nel XIX secolo, la maggior parte delle persone ritenevano che il mondo fosse un bel posto, e che, concentrandosi su quella bontà – identificata come il sole – potevamo far andare le cose ancora meglio.
Ora (nel 21 ° secolo), troppe persone si concentrano solo sulle ombre. La gente moderna vede solo il male nel mondo e negli altri, preferirebbero lamentarsi nel buio piuttosto che aprire una finestra.
Invece se potessi reintrodurre un abito Vittoriano nei giorni nostri sarebbero i “pantalettes” (un tipo di mutande divise in due come brache). Sono molto più comode e igieniche delle moderne mutande perché permettono alla pelle più sensibile di respirare. Inoltre con queste andare nei bagni pubblici sarebbe molto più facile e veloce e la coda nei gabinetti femminili sarebbe molto più breve!
C’è qualche oggetto o vestito a cui tieni veramente tanto? A parte l’orologio di tua nonna…
Sono molto legata alla mia “chatelaine” (una sorta di catenella che veniva appesa attorno alla vita dove si appendeva tutto ciò che una donna avrebbe potuto aver bisogno durante la sua giornata: dal kit da cucito alle chiavi ndr.). Fanno parte di una vecchissima tradizione dove le padrone di case tenevano le chiavi importanti arrotolate in un fagotto attorno alla vita. Durante il 19esimo secolo, la tradizione si è evoluta in una specie di pinzetta da cui pendevano oggetti di uso per la casa. Il tipo di arnesi appesi variavano da donna a donna, quindi erano strumenti strettamente personali, tanto che molte volte erano decorati in maniera originale a significare il gusto e lo stile di chi li portava con sé. Guardando gli oggetti che pendevano dalla vita di una donna si poteva capire quali erano le cose essenziali per lei. La mia ha un block-notes con una penna decorato con orchidee, un paio di piccole forbici decorate a farle sembrare un pugnale uscito dalle favole e un puntaspilli a forma di libro. Mi ci è voluto più di un anno per trovare il “chatelaine” più adatto e gli utensili giusti a prezzi che potevo permettermi.
Qual’è stato il commento più strano o curioso che tu abbia mai ricevuto?
Ricevo qualsiasi tipo di reazione: dai commenti più dolci a quelli più acidi. Odio quando dei completi sconosciuti vogliono tastarmi la vita come se fossi una sorta di animale o una statua. La più strana reazione che ho ricevuto è iniziata così: una donna che non avevo mai visto in vita mia, ha iniziato ad indicarmi in un affollato café, lo ha attraversato tutto continuando a puntarmi il dito contro e poi ha iniziato a palpeggiarmi il busto. Alla fine è stata una cosa molto maleducata, ma sfortunatamente per me non era niente di nuovo, era già successo. La cosa più strana, però, è accaduta dopo che ho bloccato la sua mano e non le ho permesso di stringermi la vita. Solitamente a questo punto la gente mormora qualche insulto e vanno via, ma questa donna e suo marito hanno iniziato ad urlare che ero pazza, chiedendo al proprietario del café di sbattermi fuori… Tutto perché non avevo permesso ad una totale sconosciuta di palpeggiarmi! “Deve andarsene! Deve andarsene!” Il marito continuava ad urlare, muovendo le sue braccia e puntandomi ancora il dito contro la mia faccia e contro quella del proprietario del locale. Alla fine lo stesso proprietario ha chiesto loro di andarsene, non a me.
Un’esperienza come questa non è sicuramente piacevole, così di solito preferisco concentrarmi sugli incontri più cortesi. Capita che a volte della bambine piccole, che hanno magari da poco imparato a parlare, mi chiedano se sia una principessa. Mi piace rispondere loro: “No tesoro, ma lo sei tu!”. E’ molto più bello concentrarsi su ricordi come questo.
C’è un’altra epoca, oltre a quella Vittoriana, in cui vorresti vivere?
Come epoca, quella Vittoriana è sicuramente la mia preferita, ma ce ne sarebbero altre che mi piacerebbe rivivere per un breve periodo. Alcune persone sognano di vivere in Italia, magari poi passando un anno in Spagna, un mese in India e poi un periodo negli Stati Uniti. Se fosse possibile viaggiare nel tempo come ora si possono coprire grandi distanze, sarebbe grandioso poter vivere nell’epoca Vittoriana e poi fare una vacanza nell’antica Roma e nell’antica Grecia. Sarebbe meraviglioso scoprire le diverse dinamiche della Roma che fu il cuore pulsante del mondo civilizzato; e allo stesso modo sarebbe bellissimo vedere il Partenone quando il marmo era ancora fresco e Atene era appena nata. Mi piacerebbe fare anche una piccola escursione nell’Europa del 1490 per vedere come le persone hanno affrontato la nuova visione del mondo dopo la scoperta dell’America. Dato che questo è solo un sogno, vorrei aggiungere anche un piccolo viaggio nel futuro per una cosa: odontoiatria!
Qual è stata la cosa più difficile da cambiare nel tuo atteggiamento per indossare i corsetti o i vestiti?
E ‘stato difficile abituarmi a stare in piedi e a muovermi con una postura corretta. Una volta che ce l’ho fatta, però, il mio atteggiamento in generale è migliorato.
Pensi che le persone vengano giudicate di più per i propri abiti ora o nell’epoca Vittoriana?
Che fantastica domanda! Penso che l’ubiquità dell’industria di massa, “one-size-fits-all” (una taglia va bene per tutti ndr), ha portato le persone di oggi a giudicare gli altri dai loro abiti meno rispetto a quanto facevano i vittoriani, ma questo è emerso dopo una lotta per la libertà di espressione personale. Una donna vittoriana poteva giudicare un’altra donna dai vestiti, perché questi abiti avrebbero rispecchiato l’identità della persona che li indossava. Avrebbero dimostrato se aveva un sarto personale o si faceva gli abiti da sola, qual è era il suo gusto nello stile e che tipo di esigenze richiedevano le sue attività quotidiane. Ora quando molte persone indossano, virtualmente, la stessa moda che si può trovare nei centri commerciali, i vestiti diventano un indizio meno rilevante per capire di che pasta è fatta quel tipo di persona, è come se si indossasse una sorta di uniforme. Giudichiamo l’altro meno dagli abiti, ma vediamo anche meno della nostra bellezza individuale. Gli americani in special modo, perché qui i grandi magazzini e i centri commerciali sono molto popolari. Penso che gli europei consentono ed incoraggiano un po’ più di stile personale – e li applaudo per questo.
Di questi tempi c’è un esigenza nel rivendicare la propria femminilità anche attraverso il modo in cui una donna si veste. Sei d’accordo?
Sono d’accordo che stiamo, in generale, alzando il livello dello stile delle donne. Penso sia un bene per le donne celebrare la propria bellezza femminile. Non dobbiamo vestirci come se fossimo delle versioni di minor importanza degli uomini: è meglio che ci vestiamo come una versione superiore delle donne.
Il tuo libro, “Victorian Secrets” è ben scritto, spiritoso, divertente, pieno di nozioni interessanti e avventure irresistibili. Quando ti è venuta l’idea e sapevi già che tipo di stile utilizzare?
Mi fa piacere che ti sia piaciuto il mio libro! L’ho scritto perché continuavano a farmi sempre le stesse domande ogni volta che uscivo di casa. Ho notato che le persone hanno curiosità verso i corsetti e l’età Vittoriana, e un libro sembrava il modo migliore per raggiungere il maggior numero di persone in un modo che potesse essere coinvolgente. Dal momento che ho iniziato ad indossare il corsetto 24 ore al giorno 7 giorni su 7 per un anno, mi sono sentita di avere abbastanza esperienza da poter scrivere un libro. Mi ci sono voluti sei mesi per prepararlo.
Ho notato che molti dei libri del 20esimo e 21esimo secolo (e anche i film) tendono a concentrarsi e a denigrare la cultura e la tecnologia del passato. Nelle fonti narrative e in quelle saggistiche troviamo dei commenti esaustivi riguardo a quanto il passato fosse (presumibilmente) ignorante e pieno di scomodità, e quanto invece sono (presumibilmente) migliorate le cose ora. Nel mio libro ho voluto evitare questo tipo di atteggiamento. Ho deliberatamente scelto di scrivere in uno stile ispirato al modo in cui i cronisti moderni hanno scritto e parlato del passato, ma invertendo il modo. Invece di sminuire i dettagli del 19 ° secolo per esaltare quanto meravigliosa sia l’era moderna a confronto, ho cercato di sottolineare quanto scomodo il mondo moderno possa essere effettivamente e gettare luce su alcune delle parti migliori del XIX secolo.
E’ difficile far colpo nel mondo dell’editoria per uno scrittore esordiente, ma volevo che questo fosse un libro che potesse vedere tutto il mondo. Per due anni, ho fatto delle copie individuali ricopiandole a mano e vendendole nelle botteghe locali o attraverso un piccolo sito internet. Rilegare i libri è stato un processo che ha comportato 27 passi, e per ricopiare ogni copia ci è voluto tra le 4 e le 5 ore (durante il corso di 3 giorni, perché dovevo attendere che la colla asciugasse in ognuno degli step di rilegatura). Ho stampato le singole copie del testo su una stampante laser che ho comprato da un’azienda che la stava buttando via. Poi ho ripiegato ogni singola pagina a mano e le ho legate assieme con una tradizionale rilegatura in osso, le ho in seguito unite e cucite insieme con un filo apposito. Anche fare la copertina ha comportato una serie di elaborati steps. Dopo due anni che avevo venduto oltre 200 copie in 13 diversi paesi con questo metodo avevo difficoltà a star dietro agli ordini che mi venivano richiesti. Dopo che sono riuscita a trovarmi un agente con la volontà di far conoscere la mia storia, lei mi ha presentato alla Skyhorse Publishing che ora produce il libro.
Che libro consiglieresti alle persone che vogliono saperne di più riguardo all’età Vittoriana?
Mi sono sempre piaciute le fonti primarie, cioè ricerche su materiali che provengono proprio dal periodo preso in esame. Alle persone suggerirei di iniziare con i propri interessi e cercare dei documenti vittoriani che riguardano quel specifico ambito d’interesse. (Conviene anche perché molti ormai sono fuori copyright e li si possono trovare tranquillamente su Google Libri). Se ti piace andare in bicicletta, leggi i magazine del 19esimo secolo che ne parlano come “Le Vélo” oppure “Outing”. Se sei amante della tecnologia, dai un occhio alle riviste scientifiche dell’epoca; o se ami i racconti di mistero prova a leggere le opere di uno scrittore dell’epoca come Wilkie Collins. Le persone in epoca vittoriana avevano interessi che variavano altrettanto ampiamente come quelli delle persone del 21 ° secolo, e partendo da uno di propria passione si può usarlo come quadro di riferimento per esplorare il periodo.
Un libro moderno, invece, che dà un quadro generale dell’epoca Vittoriana è di A.N. Wilson “The Victorians”. Mi piace Wilson perché ha un approccio molto imparziale. E ‘allettante per uno scrittore sia divinizzare o denigrare un soggetto, ma Wilson riesce a presentare in maniera sia affascinante che sinistra gli aspetti della storia.
Sara Prian
[24/11/2013]
Living Victorian in Port Townsend:
Sarah Chrisman's corset gains international attention
Port Townsend author publishes book on Victorian lifestyle in the modern world
http://www.ptleader.com/news/living-victorian-in-port-townsend-sarah-chrisman-s-corset-gains/article_48de1cee-6c31-11e3-aa0d-0019bb30f31a.html December 24, 2013
Article By Megan Claflin of the Leader
It was her first time in a limousine. A surreal experience, said Sarah Chrisman, of Port Townsend, and one that did not become tangible until she stepped out in front of the ABC Studios in New York City.
Dressed in the Victorian style that is now gaining her international notoriety, she walked through the doors and onto the set of The View, a popular, morning television talk show.
"That was the moment it finally sank in, that this was real and it was really happening to me," said Chrisman, 33.
On Dec. 4, Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd interviewed Chrisman about living as a Victorian woman in the modern day and the release of her book Victorian Secrets: What a corset taught me about the past, the present, and myself.
She completed the book in 2012 and has been selling hand-bound copies since the spring, but it wasn't until Chrisman joined forces with Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., that her life and writing began to gain attention outside Jefferson County.
"I was never expecting any of this, it's been truly gratifying," she said of her recent success.
Now available in most bookstores and online retailers, Chrisman has been contacted by media outlets and fans from as far away as Italy. There are even talks of a reality television show starring husband Gabriel and herself, she said, but the proposal is still on the drawing board.
Despite the attention, Chrisman remains grounded. She maintains her massage practice in Port Townsend; she and Gabriel are slowly restoring their 1888 Victorian in Uptown; and she still sews the majority of her garments.
And, back in New York, when she looked up to see Whoopi Goldberg holding the door for her, she simply smiled, thanked her, and walked past. "I always try to interact with people as people, so despite the impulse to stop and stare and say, 'Wow, you are Whoopi Goldberg!', it was important to me to treat her as a person and not a celebrity."
True to form, Chrisman wasn't afraid to playfully slap away Walters' hands as the talk show host reached out to apparently handle her 22-inch waist.
"She totally deserved it," Chrisman said, smiling. "I'd admire the Mona Lisa but I'm sure I'd get in trouble too if I was to start fondling it."
'Ugly duck'
Victorian Secrets begins on March 12, 2009, Chrisman's 29th birthday and the day that her husband presented her with her first corset. (The two married in 2002.) At first, she admits, she wasn't pleased with the "unwelcome" gift.
"In the beginning, I believed many of the stereotypes surrounding corsets and didn't have any interest in wearing one," she said.
A year later, Chrisman was wearing a corset every day (even while sleeping). She says it has transformed her waist from 32 inches to 22 inches, improved her posture and her balance, helped her to improve her diet (eating smaller, more thoughtful meals), and built her self-confidence, results that are all chronicled in her book.
"I feel like the ugly duckling waking up and seeing his beautiful feathers," she said.
Home and hearth
Rare is the trip to the store or about town when Chrisman isn't approached and questioned about her attire. "After a certain point there is a certain lack of pragmatism when answering the same questions over and over," she said.
But sharing information and dispelling myths regarding the corset, and the greater Victorian era for that matter, is a cause close to the Chrismans' hearts. They both continue to research their particular areas of interest and regularly host educational presentations on topics such as the corset, or in Gabriel's case, Victorian-era bicycles.
"Gabriel is my gadfly and I'm his gadfly," she said. "We love to converse over topics that interest us; it's a big part of our relationship."
So, when transforming her daily journals into the novel, Chrisman also made a point to "flip preconceptions on their head" and have an honest conversation about the good and the bad of the 19th century.
"So many of the books I've read have presented Victorian life as good or bad," she said. "But it's not black and white. There are a lot of 19th century stuff that is really earnest and there are a lot of modern aspects of life that are not as convenient as people like to think."
At home, the Chrismans are steadfastly reverting to a simpler lifestyle. Retrofitting their home with oil lamps and heaters, utilizing an icebox, hand-washing clothing, and dressing each day in their traditional attire gives the couple a sense of fulfillment, Sarah said.
"Our home is a work in progress. But the changes we've made have already made such enhancements. The greatest aspects of many of the Victorian additions is that they allow us to maximize the efficiency of the resources being utilized."
A person, not a persona
While the presentations and Victorian Secrets have offered audiences a different perspective on an uncommon lifestyle, the author said criticism is still common. Sentiments of anti-feminism are tiring, she said, and perpetually being told by strangers how to live her life can be frustrating.
"I do get sick of the negativity. Often I'll try to walk away, or if I can't, I'll address them in as concise a manner as possible," she said. "But I am not going to change who I am for anyone. Believe it or not, my underwear has nothing to do with you."
She added, "Something I've come to realize: The people who come up to me and start screaming, the people who try to grope me, the people who have a positive reaction, they're not really interacting with me; they are interacting with the preconceived notions of what they think I represent."
To learn more about the Chrismans, Sarah's book and her upcoming appearances, visit chrismancollection.weebly.com.
Sarah Chrisman's corset gains international attention
Port Townsend author publishes book on Victorian lifestyle in the modern world
http://www.ptleader.com/news/living-victorian-in-port-townsend-sarah-chrisman-s-corset-gains/article_48de1cee-6c31-11e3-aa0d-0019bb30f31a.html December 24, 2013
Article By Megan Claflin of the Leader
It was her first time in a limousine. A surreal experience, said Sarah Chrisman, of Port Townsend, and one that did not become tangible until she stepped out in front of the ABC Studios in New York City.
Dressed in the Victorian style that is now gaining her international notoriety, she walked through the doors and onto the set of The View, a popular, morning television talk show.
"That was the moment it finally sank in, that this was real and it was really happening to me," said Chrisman, 33.
On Dec. 4, Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd interviewed Chrisman about living as a Victorian woman in the modern day and the release of her book Victorian Secrets: What a corset taught me about the past, the present, and myself.
She completed the book in 2012 and has been selling hand-bound copies since the spring, but it wasn't until Chrisman joined forces with Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., that her life and writing began to gain attention outside Jefferson County.
"I was never expecting any of this, it's been truly gratifying," she said of her recent success.
Now available in most bookstores and online retailers, Chrisman has been contacted by media outlets and fans from as far away as Italy. There are even talks of a reality television show starring husband Gabriel and herself, she said, but the proposal is still on the drawing board.
Despite the attention, Chrisman remains grounded. She maintains her massage practice in Port Townsend; she and Gabriel are slowly restoring their 1888 Victorian in Uptown; and she still sews the majority of her garments.
And, back in New York, when she looked up to see Whoopi Goldberg holding the door for her, she simply smiled, thanked her, and walked past. "I always try to interact with people as people, so despite the impulse to stop and stare and say, 'Wow, you are Whoopi Goldberg!', it was important to me to treat her as a person and not a celebrity."
True to form, Chrisman wasn't afraid to playfully slap away Walters' hands as the talk show host reached out to apparently handle her 22-inch waist.
"She totally deserved it," Chrisman said, smiling. "I'd admire the Mona Lisa but I'm sure I'd get in trouble too if I was to start fondling it."
'Ugly duck'
Victorian Secrets begins on March 12, 2009, Chrisman's 29th birthday and the day that her husband presented her with her first corset. (The two married in 2002.) At first, she admits, she wasn't pleased with the "unwelcome" gift.
"In the beginning, I believed many of the stereotypes surrounding corsets and didn't have any interest in wearing one," she said.
A year later, Chrisman was wearing a corset every day (even while sleeping). She says it has transformed her waist from 32 inches to 22 inches, improved her posture and her balance, helped her to improve her diet (eating smaller, more thoughtful meals), and built her self-confidence, results that are all chronicled in her book.
"I feel like the ugly duckling waking up and seeing his beautiful feathers," she said.
Home and hearth
Rare is the trip to the store or about town when Chrisman isn't approached and questioned about her attire. "After a certain point there is a certain lack of pragmatism when answering the same questions over and over," she said.
But sharing information and dispelling myths regarding the corset, and the greater Victorian era for that matter, is a cause close to the Chrismans' hearts. They both continue to research their particular areas of interest and regularly host educational presentations on topics such as the corset, or in Gabriel's case, Victorian-era bicycles.
"Gabriel is my gadfly and I'm his gadfly," she said. "We love to converse over topics that interest us; it's a big part of our relationship."
So, when transforming her daily journals into the novel, Chrisman also made a point to "flip preconceptions on their head" and have an honest conversation about the good and the bad of the 19th century.
"So many of the books I've read have presented Victorian life as good or bad," she said. "But it's not black and white. There are a lot of 19th century stuff that is really earnest and there are a lot of modern aspects of life that are not as convenient as people like to think."
At home, the Chrismans are steadfastly reverting to a simpler lifestyle. Retrofitting their home with oil lamps and heaters, utilizing an icebox, hand-washing clothing, and dressing each day in their traditional attire gives the couple a sense of fulfillment, Sarah said.
"Our home is a work in progress. But the changes we've made have already made such enhancements. The greatest aspects of many of the Victorian additions is that they allow us to maximize the efficiency of the resources being utilized."
A person, not a persona
While the presentations and Victorian Secrets have offered audiences a different perspective on an uncommon lifestyle, the author said criticism is still common. Sentiments of anti-feminism are tiring, she said, and perpetually being told by strangers how to live her life can be frustrating.
"I do get sick of the negativity. Often I'll try to walk away, or if I can't, I'll address them in as concise a manner as possible," she said. "But I am not going to change who I am for anyone. Believe it or not, my underwear has nothing to do with you."
She added, "Something I've come to realize: The people who come up to me and start screaming, the people who try to grope me, the people who have a positive reaction, they're not really interacting with me; they are interacting with the preconceived notions of what they think I represent."
To learn more about the Chrismans, Sarah's book and her upcoming appearances, visit chrismancollection.weebly.com.
Timeless Appeal of the Hourglass Figure
Published: Thu, February 27, 2014
WHEN my husband gave me my first corset as a birthday present in 2009 I was to put it mildly less than thrilled.By: Sarah A Chrisman
I had after all specifically told him not to buy me one.
In one of those conversations when both halves of a couple are talking but neither side seems to be listening I had been rattling off everything I thought I knew about corsets while my historian husband had been commenting on how hourglass figures shaped the Victorian "look" we both love. When I tore open my birthday gift a few weeks later and found a set of silken stays I was somewhat irritated but not at all surprised.
It seemed the thing to do would be to try the corset on, model it for my husband then shove it to the farthest corner of my wardrobe, never to let it see the light of day again. Every comment I'd ever been indoctrinated with about corsets had led me to believe simply being in the same room as one would asphyxiate me and shatter my bones (while at the same time robbing me of my right to vote).
Yet trying on the corset - even that very first time - I was shocked by how comfortable it was. In our previous conversation my husband had told me about stumbling across one enthusiast's comment that a corset was like a hug that lasts all day. At the time I had scoffed and rolled my eyes at the idea but now I found it to be exactly the case. It was a dear little hug that followed me everywhere I went - and the effect of that embrace upon my figure was remarkable.
I had always loved the beauty of Victorian garments, their elegance and femininity. Yet I had always looked on 19th-century photographs and fashion plates with much the same lip-quivering air as a pauper peering through a keyhole at a glimpse of royal regalia, convinced these wonderful marvels were not accessible to one such as myself.
My shape was all wrong and I believed I would never have the graceful form of the women in the illustrations who wore the clothing I coveted. Exercise hadn't done it, skipping countless desserts hadn't made it happen and yet this simple supportive garment of silk and steel had accomplished it instantly. The corset was my key to unlocking the world of the Victorian era - a world to which I had been desperate to belong my entire life.
Before long I was spending every spare moment researching this fascinating garment - and wearing it every day. As I gained first-hand experience, together with my research, what I learned often astonished me. Contrary to 20th-century claims 19th-century women by and large actually loved their corsets.
Some people recognise the corset for what it is - some don't
In the time when women were wearing stays the very few voices railing out against them came not from the women but from male moralists who objected to fashionable clothing on the grounds that it incited lust.
The seemingly infinite modern misconceptions about alleged organ displacement are easily refuted with a quick glance at a simple anatomical chart: the viscera of the lower abdomen are nearly all hollow. The main effect of a corset anatomically speaking is to reduce the capacity of the stomach and intestines so that a person feels full faster when they eat.
As for the tired old chestnut about not being able to breathe in a corset I'm sure it would have amused the opera divas of the 1880s and 1890s who inspired awe in audiences before the days of mechanically amplified sound - and who are so obviously corseted in their photographic portraits.
Within a few months of receiving my first corset (and wearing it on a daily basis) I was already altering my modern clothes to fit the shape of my new waist. Within a year I was sewing entire Victorian outfits and wearing them as my everyday clothes. I had always wanted to wear these fashions and one day it finally occurred to me that there was no reason I couldn't.
I still do wear my corset every day and over the past five years people's reactions have been interesting.
The best was the old man who told me I reminded him of his first sweetheart. But with the good came the bad and I received my fair share of hate mail.
The cutest have been the little girls who wide-eyed asked if I was a princess; and quite possibly the oddest was the grown woman who threw a temper tantrum in the middle of a crowded caf© and demanded that I be removed - all because I wouldn't allow her (someone I had never seen before in my life) to grope my waist. Humans can truly be strange creatures sometimes and I never imagined that my underwear would be such a polarising issue for strangers.
Some people recognise the corset for what it is - some don't. Waists have fallen so far off the radar of modern people that a significant number can't identify a corset when they see one. "What a pretty dress!" they'll say, attributing the entirety of the hourglass figure to a flimsy piece of cotton to which no one gave a second glance before I started corseting.
Some attribute my small waist to an optical illusion. "Is your waist really that small?" they'll ask.
The clothes that I wear and the lifestyle that I lead is almost entirely for myself - it is my life after all. And the small portion that's not for me? I do it to make people re-evaluate their prejudices about the past. I do it as a reminder that history has always been populated by real people.
Most of all I do it to show others whose style or sentiments might be different from that which is currently accepted by the mainstream that every individual has a right to express themselves no matter what form that expression might take.
Victorian Secrets by Sarah A Chrisman is published by Skyhorse Publishing, £16.99 (RRP £18.99). To buy a copy with free UK postage and packing please call 0871 988 8451 or visit expressbooks.co.uk. You can also send a cheque or PO (payable to The Express) to: The Express Orders Dept, 1 Broadland Business Park, Norwich NR7 0WF
WHEN my husband gave me my first corset as a birthday present in 2009 I was to put it mildly less than thrilled.By: Sarah A Chrisman
I had after all specifically told him not to buy me one.
In one of those conversations when both halves of a couple are talking but neither side seems to be listening I had been rattling off everything I thought I knew about corsets while my historian husband had been commenting on how hourglass figures shaped the Victorian "look" we both love. When I tore open my birthday gift a few weeks later and found a set of silken stays I was somewhat irritated but not at all surprised.
It seemed the thing to do would be to try the corset on, model it for my husband then shove it to the farthest corner of my wardrobe, never to let it see the light of day again. Every comment I'd ever been indoctrinated with about corsets had led me to believe simply being in the same room as one would asphyxiate me and shatter my bones (while at the same time robbing me of my right to vote).
Yet trying on the corset - even that very first time - I was shocked by how comfortable it was. In our previous conversation my husband had told me about stumbling across one enthusiast's comment that a corset was like a hug that lasts all day. At the time I had scoffed and rolled my eyes at the idea but now I found it to be exactly the case. It was a dear little hug that followed me everywhere I went - and the effect of that embrace upon my figure was remarkable.
I had always loved the beauty of Victorian garments, their elegance and femininity. Yet I had always looked on 19th-century photographs and fashion plates with much the same lip-quivering air as a pauper peering through a keyhole at a glimpse of royal regalia, convinced these wonderful marvels were not accessible to one such as myself.
My shape was all wrong and I believed I would never have the graceful form of the women in the illustrations who wore the clothing I coveted. Exercise hadn't done it, skipping countless desserts hadn't made it happen and yet this simple supportive garment of silk and steel had accomplished it instantly. The corset was my key to unlocking the world of the Victorian era - a world to which I had been desperate to belong my entire life.
Before long I was spending every spare moment researching this fascinating garment - and wearing it every day. As I gained first-hand experience, together with my research, what I learned often astonished me. Contrary to 20th-century claims 19th-century women by and large actually loved their corsets.
Some people recognise the corset for what it is - some don't
In the time when women were wearing stays the very few voices railing out against them came not from the women but from male moralists who objected to fashionable clothing on the grounds that it incited lust.
The seemingly infinite modern misconceptions about alleged organ displacement are easily refuted with a quick glance at a simple anatomical chart: the viscera of the lower abdomen are nearly all hollow. The main effect of a corset anatomically speaking is to reduce the capacity of the stomach and intestines so that a person feels full faster when they eat.
As for the tired old chestnut about not being able to breathe in a corset I'm sure it would have amused the opera divas of the 1880s and 1890s who inspired awe in audiences before the days of mechanically amplified sound - and who are so obviously corseted in their photographic portraits.
Within a few months of receiving my first corset (and wearing it on a daily basis) I was already altering my modern clothes to fit the shape of my new waist. Within a year I was sewing entire Victorian outfits and wearing them as my everyday clothes. I had always wanted to wear these fashions and one day it finally occurred to me that there was no reason I couldn't.
I still do wear my corset every day and over the past five years people's reactions have been interesting.
The best was the old man who told me I reminded him of his first sweetheart. But with the good came the bad and I received my fair share of hate mail.
The cutest have been the little girls who wide-eyed asked if I was a princess; and quite possibly the oddest was the grown woman who threw a temper tantrum in the middle of a crowded caf© and demanded that I be removed - all because I wouldn't allow her (someone I had never seen before in my life) to grope my waist. Humans can truly be strange creatures sometimes and I never imagined that my underwear would be such a polarising issue for strangers.
Some people recognise the corset for what it is - some don't. Waists have fallen so far off the radar of modern people that a significant number can't identify a corset when they see one. "What a pretty dress!" they'll say, attributing the entirety of the hourglass figure to a flimsy piece of cotton to which no one gave a second glance before I started corseting.
Some attribute my small waist to an optical illusion. "Is your waist really that small?" they'll ask.
The clothes that I wear and the lifestyle that I lead is almost entirely for myself - it is my life after all. And the small portion that's not for me? I do it to make people re-evaluate their prejudices about the past. I do it as a reminder that history has always been populated by real people.
Most of all I do it to show others whose style or sentiments might be different from that which is currently accepted by the mainstream that every individual has a right to express themselves no matter what form that expression might take.
Victorian Secrets by Sarah A Chrisman is published by Skyhorse Publishing, £16.99 (RRP £18.99). To buy a copy with free UK postage and packing please call 0871 988 8451 or visit expressbooks.co.uk. You can also send a cheque or PO (payable to The Express) to: The Express Orders Dept, 1 Broadland Business Park, Norwich NR7 0WF