tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post7747056131801825619..comments2024-03-28T09:33:29.705+00:00Comments on Clothes In Books: Dress Down Sunday: The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton by Elizabeth SpellerClothes In Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-85810326106757857862013-07-08T09:14:30.452+01:002013-07-08T09:14:30.452+01:00Thanks Margot - this is a book that had me torn, a...Thanks Margot - this is a book that had me torn, as I think my second entry will make clear. I liked it very much, and I think she's a terrific writer, but I had reservations!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-72593478334573346502013-07-08T03:36:48.175+01:002013-07-08T03:36:48.175+01:00Moira - Thanks for this. Thanks to you too, Ken. I...Moira - Thanks for this. Thanks to you too, Ken. I never knew much about liberty bodices before but you've both made it clear. And I do want to know who Louise is and who 'he' is. So I'm looking forward to your other post, Moira. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-45644491227619880312013-07-07T23:19:57.836+01:002013-07-07T23:19:57.836+01:00Thank you, most helpful and informative! And good ...Thank you, most helpful and informative! And good catch on the matter of what exactly is subsiding, I hadn't noticed that. You should offer yourself out as an editor....Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-91589599656454873342013-07-07T15:45:35.272+01:002013-07-07T15:45:35.272+01:00And right on cue...
Well Moira, I'm having a b...And right on cue...<br />Well Moira, I'm having a bit of trouble visualizing this one. Perhaps UK usage is different than it was here in Canada, but this would have to take the prize as the most glamourous liberty bodice on record. The pictures you've found belong to before the turn of the century when normal corsets rose to the armpits and pushed the breasts upward. Boning kept them from falling into folds at the waist, especially if they were worn laced tightly. The boning *also* kept the waistbands and drawstrings of heavy skirts from cutting in painfully at the waist. By the early 1900's the stockings were also hung from the bottom of the corset instead of being held up by tight garters around the leg. The sort of firm but unboned and unlaced "waists" that developed and survived to become the "liberty bodice" for children were designed to transfer the pressure of waistbands and garters/suspenders from the waist to the shoulders. By 1914, the "corset" although still laced and boned was well on it's way to becoming the elastic girdle of the next generation, and was used mostly to shape the hips and waist. The top edge came under the breasts which were worn low and were covered and/or supported by a separate garment called a camisole or bust-bodice, and by 1910 even "brassiere". These were chosen according to the needs of the wearer and ranged from firm and well shaped, to bits of embroidered lawn and ribbon. I think, if I were offering editorial advice to the writer, I would suggest changing "liberty bodice", which is associated with shapeless, utilitarian and decidedly *not* glamourous undergarments worn by children to "camisole" to be more in line with what a woman in 1914 would have been wearing and to match the rest of the description.<br /><br />"her small breasts rising and falling. They both subsided on to the window seat." *blink* I had to read that more than once... <br /><br />"He drew her gently down on to the window seat" maybe?? But I overstep myself...Ken Nyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08838597854722716546noreply@blogger.com