published 1932 chapter 4
I lived at the flat at Chiswick with my Grandmother. I wore a stiff linen collar and tie and corsets with bones in them. A few years later I cast them aside. My Grandmother and an elderly cousin said that it was indecent and disgraceful and women’s backs were not strong enough to support themselves; I am now forty-one and my backbone has not yet crumpled up…
I was now sixteen. I drew from the nude at the Art School, but I had never dared to look at myself in the mirror, for my Grandmother had always insisted that one dressed and undressed under one’s nightdress using it as a kind of tent. One day, feeling very bold, I took off all my clothes and gazed in the looking-glass. I was delighted. I was much superior to anything I had seen in the life class and I got a book and began to draw.
observations: Nina Hamnett had a splendid and unashamed idea of her own good looks. She seems ready to take her clothes off and dance at the most casual request – the picture above is almost too modest for her self-descriptions - and there is a great story much later when she is staying with friends in the south of France:
-- it’s her flat description of what she was doing that I find so endearing.
In a previous entry on her, we showed some brightly-coloured stockings: she is very interested in legwear, and says she had long feet with nice toes which she was very proud of.
She would have loved the modern MyTights website and these from Pretty Polly:
And she tells us about Gertrude Stein’s legwear:
More from Nina Hamnett: click on the label below.
The picture, from Wikimedia Commons, is from the cover of an American magazine called Puck.
LOOKING AT WHAT GOES ON UNDER THE CLOTHES
I lived at the flat at Chiswick with my Grandmother. I wore a stiff linen collar and tie and corsets with bones in them. A few years later I cast them aside. My Grandmother and an elderly cousin said that it was indecent and disgraceful and women’s backs were not strong enough to support themselves; I am now forty-one and my backbone has not yet crumpled up…
I was now sixteen. I drew from the nude at the Art School, but I had never dared to look at myself in the mirror, for my Grandmother had always insisted that one dressed and undressed under one’s nightdress using it as a kind of tent. One day, feeling very bold, I took off all my clothes and gazed in the looking-glass. I was delighted. I was much superior to anything I had seen in the life class and I got a book and began to draw.
observations: Nina Hamnett had a splendid and unashamed idea of her own good looks. She seems ready to take her clothes off and dance at the most casual request – the picture above is almost too modest for her self-descriptions - and there is a great story much later when she is staying with friends in the south of France:
One morning I was standing in the middle of my room with no clothes on, assuming a variety of poses and looking at myself in two mirrors, so that I could see the effect all round. The window was open and suddenly the round red face of a workman appeared. He had come up a ladder and was engaged in painting the house. I stood still with shock, and so did the astonished workman. I then walked up to the windows and closed the shutters.
-- it’s her flat description of what she was doing that I find so endearing.
In a previous entry on her, we showed some brightly-coloured stockings: she is very interested in legwear, and says she had long feet with nice toes which she was very proud of.
I had a wonderful collection of stockings at that time and wore flat-heeled shoes with straps on them like children do. They made my feet look very large. They cost five francs and were worn by concierges. I had red stockings and yellow stockings and some that looked like a chess board.
She would have loved the modern MyTights website and these from Pretty Polly:
And she tells us about Gertrude Stein’s legwear:
She wore in the winter thick grey woollen stockings and Greek sandals. The stockings had a separate place for the big toe, as the sandals had a piece of leather which went between the big toe and the other four toes.And there is a funny story where a pedlar selling silk stockings tells her they would be ‘an investment’ for her, and she is complimented because he thinks she is a ‘lady of loose morals’.
More from Nina Hamnett: click on the label below.
The picture, from Wikimedia Commons, is from the cover of an American magazine called Puck.
Moira - I just find that old fashioned attitude (dress beneath you nightdress) so endearing in its way. Very...period if I can put it that way. I think one of the more fascinating changes in society came after WWI, when those attitudes really underwent a revolution. Oh, love those tights, too. :-)
ReplyDeleteAS modern women, it's hard for us to imagine - but then Nina Hamnett managed to throw off the restraints without shame or guilt. Way ahead of her time...
DeleteThis is amazing and interesting and funny. And shocking to have been written in 1932. I would love to be that uninhibited but never ever could or would.
ReplyDeleteI know - she is a very modern person, who doesn't seem to let the standards of her time affect her at all... I admire her for that, but it is startling.
DeleteHamnett won't be making it onto my wishlist, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteI've only just noticed that her last name is very similar to that of Dashiell Hammett, and in your particular case I would stick to DH rather than NH!
DeleteShe partly earned her living as a model - might explain the posing. I'd love to know what kind of dancing she did. Probably the popular "Greek" kind.
ReplyDeleteI love her because she is so vain and so open about it, and so funny. I see her dancing as a cross between Isadora Duncan and Josephine Baker.
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