~*~ A Wedgy Primer ~*~
Agatha had occasion to lament with wrath
her voluminous robe one day in Bath.
Bessie St.Clair looked 'round in distress
as she excavated great wads of her yellow dress.
Carolina knew not how her problem had started;
she only caught on right after she ---
Well, really. That's quite enough of that.
With all due respect to the ancient and noble profession of Fashion Plate Illustrator, seriously, what are you people smoking? Does it REALLY show off the sexy new dress better if a buxom beauty is clawing at her rump with an apparently broken arm? Should we be reading scenes like this between the lines of every Jane Austen novel? Maybe Bingley would've made his move on Jane Bennet earlier if she hadn't been digging for gold at the dance. Or maybe she wasn't digging hard enough.
Historical context, people. It's all around us.
Oh my sides...I really shouldn't check your blog while I'm at work because it is painful to try to keep a straight face when I'm wheezing for breath. I'm enjoying Bessie St. Clair having an Angelina-Jolie-leg-flash moment minus the actual showing of skin. That is quite the display of lower female extremity with the dress being wedged so tightly in poor Bessie's nether regions. Seriously, what is the point here?! It's not even like they've effectively managed to gather their trains off the ground or anything. Oh those crazy Georgians.
ReplyDeleteThe surgical precision with which Agatha is using that pinky finger is deeply disturbing for me. She's IN there. These things crack me up so much. I wonder how much women actually related to these images 200 years ago? Was it really as absurd as Vogue is to most women now, or could they look at these and think "YES! Finally! A frock that will look great bunched up in my crack! I WANT TO LOOK JUST LIKE THAT."
ReplyDeleteAnd Bessie St. Clair's eyes say it all...
ReplyDeleteNancy N
I remember laughing heartily the first time I read this post, and wondering how in the world these bizarre poses ever made it into fashion plates. And then this happened yesterday: https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1455099_738431406184827_1865954046_n.jpg
ReplyDeleteYep.
You are a brave woman. As we say 'round these parts:
DeleteBless your heart.