Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself

263 Pages·2013·7.11 MB·English

by  Sarah A. Chrisman

Victorian Secrets

Copyright © 2013 by Sarah A. Chrisman Foreword copyright © 2013 by Sue Lean All Rights Reserved. No
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN: 978-1-62636-175-1
eISBN: 978-1-62873-562-8
Printed in the United States of America
For Gabriel
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Nature and Artifice
CHAPTER 1:
Ribbed Rumors and Stayed Truths
CHAPTER 2:
A Step Backward in Time . . . and a Knotty Problem
CHAPTER 3:
Waisted Curves
CHAPTER 4:
Stayed Slumber and Sizing Down
CHAPTER 5:
A Museum Visit
CHAPTER 6:
Twenty-Four-Seven
CHAPTER 7:
Meeting Mom
CHAPTER 8:
Serving at Table
CHAPTER 9:
Figure Facts
CHAPTER 10:
Broken Bones
CHAPTER 11:
Customized Curves
CHAPTER 12:
The Freedom of the Corset
CHAPTER 13:
Objections
CHAPTER 14:
Votes for Women
CHAPTER 15:
Feminine Anatomy, and Matters of Hygiene
CHAPTER 16:
“All the Pretty Girls”
CHAPTER 17:
Duck the Malls
CHAPTER 18:
Waisted Flight
CHAPTER 19:
Straight-Laced Security
CHAPTER 20:
Hatter’s Logic, and Pinned Perils
CHAPTER 21:
Veiled Glances
CHAPTER 22:
Crisis for Beauty
CHAPTER 23:
A Year On
CHAPTER 24:
A Victorian Lady’s Dressing Sequence
CHAPTER 25:
Fifty Years of Fashion: A Model Performance
CHAPTER 26:
Loose Laces to Tie Up the Tale
CHAPTER 27:
Epilogue
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Foreword
At the State Capital Museum in Olympia in 2009, at a High Tea Reception for the
publication of Shanna Stevenson’s book Women’s Votes, Women’s Voices: The
Campaign for Equal Rights in Washington, I met Sarah Chrisman. Here was this
lovely authentically clothed young woman I’d never seen at an historical event
before. She had come all the way from Seattle—taking five modes of transportation
to be able to attend. The fifth was a ride with my friend, Mary Murphy, who saw
her walking up Capitol Way from the bus station downtown. She pulled over and
said, “I think we are going to the same place.” Sarah in her long skirts gratefully
accepted the ride.
Mary showed Sarah around to the museum guests and they all marveled at her
beautiful Victorian tan linen dress. You could tell by looking that it was made of
natural fibers with fine hand-stitched detailing.
As a member of the Women’s History Consortium (an advisory board to the
Washington State Historical Society) with a mission to collect women’s history and
to celebrate the 2010 suffrage centennial in Washington, I zeroed right in on Sarah.
I hoped she would be in the Olympia’s Lakefair Festival parade as part of the
“Suffragettes on Parade” entry. Naturally, I was hoping she would appear at other
suffrage celebration events.
I was astonished to learn that she and her husband had an extensive collection of
both women’s and men’s Victorian clothing. Happily, they were interested in
sharing it with the public. Sarah and Gabriel invited me to lunch in their tiny
studio apartment near the University of Washington in Seattle. I was to see an
extraordinary collection of exquisite antique clothing. Especially thrilling was a
black hat and dress very much like that worn by Susan B. Anthony in an old
photograph.
At once, I became determined to do all I could to advance this outstanding
collection into public view. Organizations were being encouraged to celebrate the
suffrage centennial by having a Pink Tea. This was the most formal of Victorian
color-themed teas and guests sometimes spoke among themselves about winning the
vote.
The opportunity came to have a Pink Tea and historical fashion show for the
Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation. The Chrismans’ in-depth knowledge
of Victorian clothing was paired with commentary about leading northwest
suffragists, both men and women, who would have worn similar clothing. The idea
was to honor key leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Abigail Scott Duniway, and
Carrie Chapman Catt in the long struggle in for the right to vote. Washington
women won and lost the vote more than once before becoming the fifth state to
enfranchise women in 1910, the first new star on the women’s suffrage flag in
fourteen long years.
As a first offering, there were a few glitches. Once Gabriel was delayed in being
able to change outfits, but Sarah carried on, valiantly entertaining the guests. It was
a rather grand start and Evie Greenberg was able to take wonderful photographs,
extending the outreach for their collection in a significant way. No small amount of
organization, work, and travel are involved in putting on an historical fashion show
—not to mention the research and presentation planning involved.
Sarah’s experience as she transformed herself into a Victorian lady is laced with
candid insights and surprises about the underwear of yesteryear. It was a lucky day
that we met, and I am still fascinated by the fact that Sarah has worn a corset
twenty-four-seven for so many years. She and Gabriel have educated many people
about this amazing undergarment, which the reader will find through Victorian
Secrets is subject to many misconceptions.
It is fortuitous that the Chrismans live in Port Townsend with the state’s best
Victorian architecture, wonderful heritage, and steampunk festivals. Sarah and
Gabriel add a great deal of historical color to these events. The best part, without a
doubt, is that this historical color is authentic.
—Sue Lean, Historian
Washington Women’s History Consortium