Wanted: Lady's Maid....

[j_cheney]

Must be sarcastic and out-spoken, but good-natured, not prone to theivery, and really good at lacing up a corset....

Seriously folks, how the heck did women do this on a daily basis?

I got my corset in the mail today, (plain black Duchesse satin) and immediately tried it on over my jogging shorts (black) and my t-shirt (black). I made a bizarrely Athletic-Goth picture when I looked in the mirror, but was gratified to discover that everything was adequately covered, even my chest (this is an overbust, girls).

But lacing the thing? Wow, I had enough trouble manipulating the busk! (Just nod and smile here, those of you who don't know what a busk is.) Also, the busk allows a narrow sliver (maybe 1/4 inch) to show, so I'll definitely be wearing something under it. (Which is a good plan anyway.)

I'm seriously grateful that displaced_texan will be there to help me lace!

And for sarah_prineas, I now know why he had to use the pen-knife. ;o)

Comments

[lisamantchev.livejournal.com]

Um, yeah. Wearing something underneath keeps your back cleavage from showing, too...

I've never been able to get myself into one alone. And I got to lace Sam Henderson into hers for the Shimmer Pirate party... *G*

[tchernabyelo.livejournal.com]

I used to be in the Sealed Knot - civil war reenactment society (and that's the English civil war, so we're talking mid-17th century costumes). The women universally wore bodices, but they were all ones that laced up the front (and were worn with blouses underneath, and sometimes a sort of waistcoat-y thing as well). A front-lacing bodice can be done up by yourself (though it doesn't hurt to have help). Back-laced ones, which I think came in later, you have no chance whatsoever of getting into on your own.

It's certainly something that I had to keep half an eye on when writing some of my renaissance-period fiction; I had my heroine and her (male) companion travelling together, as merchant venturers, and I wanted them to be spending lots of time alone together, but realistically if she was travelling she would have had a maid along, precisely to help with dressing her every day. And he would probably have had a manservant/groom as well. I still need to do lots of rework on that stuff, bringing in those supporting characters (one idea was that since my MC was low-born and has clawed her way up through society, she actually has no idea how to handle having a maidservant and gets through a succession of temporary ones because she just can't find the balance of how to be someone's "boss" - an important part of her learning process...).

[rcloenen-ruiz.livejournal.com]

Mmmm...I dream of someday being slender enough to wear a corset again. I wore one on my wedding day...but haven't been able to fit myself into one since the kids arrived.

Oh, do post pics, please :)

[sarah-prineas.livejournal.com]

Hah!

Better than knots, any day!

[displacedtexan.livejournal.com]

Seriously folks, how the heck did women do this on a daily basis?

They had staff. You don't have staff, unless you count the dog, and he doesn't have thumbs.

[sci-fi-writer.livejournal.com]

Dudette, would you please send me an email at jeff@jverse.com? I have a fun request before you go to the WOTF events next month. ;)

The Other JC