WELCOME BACK TO THE BLOG MIA!!!
Meet Mia:
Connect with Mia: Author Site | Facebook | Twitter
The Age of Deception
Eighteenth century fashion required conformation to unrealistic ideals. Lest you think only women fell prey to the urge to be more or less than they naturally were, let me assure you men indulged in deceptive fashion, too. Both sexes wore wigs and face paint. Men and women wore 'beauty spots' to cover small-pox scars or evidence of sexually transmitted disease. Well-developed calves were prized in men, so spindly- legged fellows wore wooden 'falsies' in their stockings. Women's figures were manipulated into the shape favored by fashion through tight binding in some instances and heavy padding in others.
A lady's costume started with a chemise, a thin slip-like garment. This was covered by a heavily-boned corset that flattened the breasts and shoved them up into the "rising moons" position. A gown's neckline might be cut so low that the nipples were displayed as part of the décolletage. Georgians did not fetish-ize breasts, so a well-bred lady was just as likely as a courtesan to show her nipples in public.
I probably wouldn't have believed this startling fact if I hadn't seen a Georgian miniature in a schloss (castle) when I visited Germany. Sure enough, the lady was depicted with two little pink dots peeping above her gown's low neckline.
Next, the panniers would be attached to a lady's hips. This contraption of wire and horse-hair might expand the width of the woman's hips so much, she'd be forced to turn sideways to fit through doorways. If the lady needed additional derrière enhancement, she'd wear a "bumroll" made of carved cork. It was said a woman wearing one could never drown.
Stockings of silk or cotton were gartered at the knee. This completed the undergarments of the Georgian woman. I know what you're thinking. What? No undies? That's right. No undies. This was probably handy for quickie trysts in the garden, but with the yards of a woman's skirts held out with panniers, I expect a lady would feel naked from the waist down most of the time.
Lady's gowns were tightly fitted in the bodice, but might be loosely flowing in the back. This draped style was known as a sack dress. The stomacher on the front of the gown was frequently ornamented with bows of descending size from the bosom to the waist.
In HOW TO VEX A VISCOUNT, Daisy Drake wears 6 inch high Venetian platform shoes as part of her courtesan disguise. These were actually quite conservative. Some women tottered along on 22 inch chopines until a maximum height of 11 inches was mandated by law. In a time when streets frequently doubled as sewers, platform shoes might have made a good deal of sense.
It just goes to show, practical platforms notwithstanding, fashion makes fools of us all!
###
HOW TO VEX A VISCOUNT:
Genre: Historical
Length: 458 KB
Publisher: Novel Ideas (September 9, 2012)
As children they sparred with wooden swords and Lucian Beaumont has the scar to
prove it. Now that he and his old nemesis Daisy Drake are all grown up, the real battle is only beginning!
Daisy never quite got over her fascination with Lucian. Now that he's Viscount Rutland, she won't rest till she helps him find the Roman treasure he seeks.
Whether he wants her help or not!
Get Your Own Copy: Kindle | Nook
Book Extras: Read an Excerpt
Other Book in Series:
_____________________________
RED HOT DEAL!
Mia Marlowe’s TOUCH OF A THIEF is a Kindle Top 100 for $3.99! You won’t want to miss the romance New York Times Bestseller Victoria Alexander calls “Absolutely terrific!” Especially at this price, but you’d better hurry. The deal is over at the end of the month!
Get Your Own Copy: Kindle
Book Extra: Read an Excerpt
_____________________________
- Leave a comment answering this question: Share your most embarrassing fashion faux pas.
- Fill out the rafflecopter form below. You must leave a comment. All other entries are optional.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Share your most embarrassing fashion faux pas.
ReplyDeleteUmmmm - Everything I wore in the eighties, complete with frizzy perm. :)
OMGosh, yes, the frizzy perm. I was pregnant when I had my hair cut and hyper-permed. I looked like a circle (big belly), two circles (pregnancy boobs) with another circle ( my frizzy head) on top. What a mistake!
DeleteBack when I was in my 20's, a long time ago, I had this leather top I liked to wear and believe me, it was not that fashionable. I did love wearing it though.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you love it, wear it!
DeleteI didn't have a frizzy perm, my perm was like a jerrycurl. I cried when I got my perm. I wanted a spiral and I had a medium tight curl. I wash my hair the next day and it was still there, so much for being able to wash it out. That sucker took 2 1/2 years to come out. Not cool. When I went back to school they thought I was a new kid. Rough thing to happen in middle school.
ReplyDeleteOh, how I longed for a spiral perm. My hair has always been tough to curl when it's long. The most I managed was frizzy.
DeleteWhen I was a teenager in the eighties, I was afraid to get the sides of my hair cut short for a mullat so I used to slick back the side of my hair for a faux mullat. At the time I thought it looked really good, however looking back at photos I have to wonder what I was thinking.
ReplyDeleteI already have How to Vex a Viscount so please don't enter me in the contest.
Thanks for buying my book, Ora. I really appreciate it! Hope you love my VISCOUNT.
Deletewent to my nieces wedding and at the bar, the bone out of new new bra slipped up and out and nearly caught the barmaid in the eye, we laught so much every body was looking at us, so for the rest of the day i was quite wobbly
ReplyDeleteOuch! I always knew those things were lethal!
DeleteIn the 80s I had a frizzy perm (I was in the seventh grade at the time, so allowances can be made), pegged my jeans, wore 2 different color socks, and had those awful "bushy" bangs. So horrible...
ReplyDeleteAfter making the mistake of cutting my hair really short in 5th grade, I just let it grow when I was a kid. It was straight as a horse's tail, but not nearly as thick!
DeleteHaha. I guess the frizzy perm is a definite fashion faux pas. I tried it out in middle school and my mother still has my school picture from 6th grade hanging on the wall. *dies*
ReplyDeleteSchool pictures should be forbidden! I took up two spaces in my kindergarten pic and of course, my teacher put the little fat girl smack in the middle of the front row!
DeleteThanks for a fabulous post and giveaway! I grew up in the 80's... so there are many to choose from. Maybe the neon stretch pants, hightops and bearclaw bangs :)
ReplyDeleteEvery decade has its own fashion foibles.
DeleteI hate to admit it but I actually owned and wore leg warmers. Sigh! Carin
ReplyDeleteI see your legwarmers and raise you toe socks!
Deletewhile I was driving to work, I noticed that my outfit was mismatched. I was wearing a brown top with blue pants. I thought they were the same color in my closet which was dark and put them on. I couldn't go back home and change them, so I went to work like that. Nobody said a thing, but I knew it looked dumb. OH well.
ReplyDeleteI have to really watch the DH when he offers to help fold laundry. His sense of color never extends to socks.
DeleteI used to wear men's shirts and I thought they looked okay until I saw pictures of myself. Ouch, they were terrible.
ReplyDeleteBecket was wearing Castle's shirt in the Season's first episode and my DH thought she looked pretty good. I think not wearing anything else had something to do with it!
DeleteProbably striped shirt with flower print skirt. lol I also wear tennis shoes with skirts, and toe socks with flip flops. lol I'm a walking fashion disaster.
ReplyDeleteYou could have made Cosmo!
DeleteJust about everything I wore in the '80's. I had the curly perm too.
ReplyDeleteMisery loves company. That's the only explanation for the perm I can think of.
DeleteI am a little busty (think smaller than Pamela Anderson but definitely not athletic build). Anyway, when I was a teenager I loved the Gunny Sacks dresses with the buttons down the front until the day one of the football players stopped to let me know that me dress was pretty much unbuttoned down the front! I turns out that only a few buttons were undone but the dress was basically see through because I was sitting in the windows with the light behind me. Needless to say, I never wore it again!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Jen. I never wear anything that buttons down the front.
DeleteMy biggest fashion faux pas was gaucho pants and clogs, not a pretty picture.
ReplyDeleteOk, You made me snort!
DeleteI think my biggest fashion faux pas was wearing a sweater inside out and then another time I had left a price tag on a new shirt.
ReplyDeleteOne time I didn't get the size sticker off my pants. Yikes!
DeleteI have a lot of problems with shoes & live in sneakers. I can be all dressed up but don't look below my knees! Doesn't help that I hate shopping (other than shopping for books of course)
ReplyDeleteOh me too, Linda. I am the Anti-Shopper!
DeleteMost things i wore as a child. I had hair down to my waist and it was extremely curly, and it was natural. It was always frizzy. I also wore mismatched clothes. I was one of those kids who wore what was comfortable but didnt care what i liked like. Scary pictures. lol
ReplyDeletement looked like
DeleteIsn't it funny how we all want what we don't have? I'd have given my left pinky for long curly hair.
DeleteIn the late 80's I loved the hair bands/heavy metal music. I think I pretty much lived in black clothing! Now, I own very little black and love colors! Plus, I did have the permed hair too and after that the crimper. Can we all just agree to forget the 80's? LOL
ReplyDeleteI have to watch myself or my wardrobe fades to black. I can't tell you how many pairs of black pants are hanging in my closet in varying sizes as I go up and down.
DeleteI do believe that I'm walking fashion faux pax right now! I still wear scrunchies in my hair! Lol!
ReplyDeleteScrunchies are a fashion essential!
DeleteI have made a lot of fashion mistakes. Maybe my worst was the matching top and bottom sweat suits I wore in different pastel shades.
ReplyDeleteI have an olive green set in my drawers!
DeleteWhen I was in 7th grade, I wore a striped skirt with a polka dotted top. Also, my hair was unfashionably curly, and always kinky.
ReplyDelete