For real??

[chocolatepot]

I want to say something sarcastic, but I'm kind of too frustrated: someone on FB asked a question about bodiced petticoats, had a short exchange with someone else regarding bust support, and said she trusted a particular blog post that said the "divorce" look didn't come in until the late 1810s (written by a blogger who is great but doesn't specialize in that era at all). I responded with a very polite correction of the post, and she posted "I trust her 100%" and deleted the whole thread!

It's your prerogative to believe who you want to believe, but trust me, 18th century-style stays didn't come back in fashion in the 1800s and the long corset wasn't invented in 1817. I don't think pointing that out should be grounds for deleting my comment, but hey, you do you.

Comments

[lliira]

Ugh, that would bug me too. People who take any kind of disagreement as condemnation and therefore can't handle it are so frustrating.

Tangent, if you have time: what's the "divorce" look?

[chocolatepot]

The Regency community is unfortunately really bad at dealing with people saying "I don't think that's accurate," whether it's about a statement or a garment. Like people get annoyed if you say that a painting or gown is probably misdated by the museum because of [traits]. So it's of course the one where I have real experience/research to contribute.

At the beginning of the high-waisted period (ca. 1795) everyone was like "WHOA, breasts," and wanted to look like they were not in the solid 18th century cone-stays but were loose but supported. After the first few years into the 1800s this was exaggerated into holding the breasts up and far apart (hence "divorce") - the goal was not to have the cleavage line we consider sexy but to get a smooth wide bosom.

I love it because that's how I naturally look, but everyone else is always like "oooh, east-west, I can't stand that."

[lliira]

Thanks!

Ugh, I've been trying to research fashion in the last quarter of the eighteenth century for half a year (off and on), and this is the first time I have seen the term "cone-stays". Everyone only seems to want to talk about Regency and later stuff, unless they're talking about princesses.