Travel Day

Tags

Cuesta Doll & Study Club, family, Shell Beach - CA, vintage clothing, vintage lingerie

Today is a travel day (well, first it was a work day, so now I can travel).  I’m heading to the Central Coast to hang out with my Daddy, brother, and the Cuesta Doll & Study Club ladies.

I finally have the car loaded with a huge box of vintage underpinnings, a hatbox with Victorian hats, gloves, and jewelry, and an armload of exquisite dresses on fancy hangers.  Plus the usual backpack of “stuff”, of course.

I’ll check in tomorrow.

Lingerie revisited

Tags

Victorian clothing, vintage lingerie, Women's Equality Day

This morning I was writing a thank you note to a very sweet lady who had gifted me with a beautiful, turn of the century gown for my vintage clothing collection, and I started thinking about all the fun I have had sharing my pretties with others.

Here are a few pictures from a lovely Lingerie Tea in San Jose a few years back, celebrating Women’s Equality Day with my Women’s Liberation Through Lingerie talk.

Taking my place at the podium, with corset advertisements in front.

More of the “whites” displayed

Ladies getting a close-up look

Emily putting a modern twist on a Victorian hat and hand-painted chicken feather fan

For more about my lingerie talks, take a look back to an earlier post.

Day #14: N is for Numerous

Tags

A-Z Challenge, books, doll collecting, dolls, family stories, friends, frogs, petticoats, teapots, unicorns, vintage lingerie

Dictionary.com defines “numerous” as “very many; being or existing in great quantity”. Or as my young granddaughter would say, “lots and lots!”

Some fortunate (or possibly boring) people are very focused in their interests and only concentrate on one or two interests or activities. Then there are those of us whose interests are so scattered that “numerous” barely describes the breadth of our activities. I, of course, fall into that latter group.

I am a collector. I happily collect dolls (old, new, expensive, or affordable), and have done so since I was a small girl. My mother, grandmother, aunts, and sister are/were doll collectors, too. I have dolls from my childhood and one very special one that was my mother’s last childhood doll, as well as my daughter’s dolls that haven’t yet been given to her daughters. And I have numerous friends in two doll collecting clubs that add to the joy in my life.

I collect books. Or perhaps they collect me. They surround me with little islands of pleasure and story, carry me away to exotic places, or help me discover hidden treasures. There are books in book cases throughout the house, books stacked under my bed, books on my computer desk, books in my car. And in my rented storage space there are book cases overflowing with books, and boxes and boxes and boxes. I’m working at thinning them out, but it is a slow and torturous process.

I collect frogs…stuffed ones, pewter ones, porcelain ones, magical ones. Also a unicorn or a dragon or two (or perhaps three).

I collect vintage clothing, especially lingerie. Until my last go-round searching for cartons, cases, and hatboxes spread across my storage unit over my past two moves C is for Challenging, I had no idea how many wonderful lacy petticoats, split drawers, and chemises I actually own. The practical voice in my head says I need to cull my collection; the secret hoarder inside says, “No way!”

I collect family stories. They end up in my blog, in my photo albums, told to my children and grandchildren. Family stories connect the generations with each other and with our shared history.

I collect teapots and tea paraphernalia. Once upon a time I dreamed of having a tea room with my mother, and we started gathering teapots, English bone china cups and saucers, and other tea accessories. I’m not sure where that dream is right now.

But most satisfying of all, I collect friends and family. I am so blessed to have dear friends who have become family, and family who are dear friends. I appreciate the bloggers who visit and comment and the friendships we are forming as we share our writing. If what I have heard is true, and friends are the gifts we give ourselves, I have been a very generous giver!

Is there something especially numerous in your life? Comment and share in the fun!

Day #12: L is for Loquacious

Tags

corsets, Mary Frances (Fanny) Pender, mores, undergarments, vintage lingerie, William Dorsey Pender

Google defines “loquacious” as “tending to talk a great deal; expansive; communicative; chatty”. I love that word, and hereby claim it for my own.

I spent the morning doing what I do best — talking. Specifically, talking to a lovely group of women while adopting the persona of my great-aunt many generations removed about a subject near to most of our hearts but not discussed much: lingerie. And more specifically, talking about the correlations between the restrictions placed on us by our underpinnings throughout history and the restrictions put on our freedom of movement, self-determination, etc.

You may have read about my search for my missing corsets and lost script. The corsets were eventually found, the lost script is still lost. So this morning I got up extra-early, sat down and wrote my new script, then reduced the amount of vintage clothing and lingerie I was taking by about two/thirds.

The ladies were very receptive to both my clothing and my story, and I think I did my Great-great Aunt Fanny proud as I told her story of loving and becoming the widow of Major General William Dorsey Pender. Lots of words were exchanged this morning. Good stories, honest sharing, women letting their hair down. Loquacious. It just fits!

Pretzel Day (with a lingerie quest included)

Tags

A-Z Challenge, Pretzel Sunday, St. Paul's Episcopal Church -- Visalia, vintage lingerie, Visalia Rescue Mission

Wow! It’s my night off! The A – Z Challenge is a “write Monday through Saturday” thing, so “F is for Friendly” has gotten postponed for a day. That’s a good thing, too, as I just woke up from a lovely little catnap seated in front of my computer!

Today was “Pretzel Sunday” at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Visalia. By tradition, instead of Sunday School the children of the congregation and a couple of like-minded adults bake pretzels in the kitchen adjoining the sanctuary. Then the children sell them (for $1.00 each or 4 for $5.00, or whatever the buyer offers. They don’t give change!) As part of the occasion, the children decide where the money raised will go. Today’s baking session included three boys who were new to the tradition and three girls who were old pros, and they came out of the kitchen glowing from a job well done. As part of the announcements at the end of the service, the kids give their sales pitch and tell who will benefit. Today our junior bakers raised nearly $100.00, which will be given to Visalia Emergency Aid along with the First Sunday food collection.

This is such a wonderful tradition on several fronts. The congregation is treated to delicious fresh pretzels for a minimal donation, the bakers experience the sweetness of success by selling out their wares, and their “giving muscles” are exercised, as Dave Ramsey would say.

After church I headed home and continued my vintage lingerie quest. I pulled out pretties from boxes and containers, unearthing most of my vintage outerwear, but the heart of my collection is still playing hard-to-get. There has to be at least one more box hiding in storage…because the 1903 black corset and its newer companions have not yet surfaced.

So tonight my bedroom reflects a visit from “that woman”, as boxes and containers are still spilling open everywhere. I may end up camping on the couch out of sheer laziness. On the upside, I have filled a bag of things to donate to the Visalia Rescue Mission, as well as becoming reacquainted with my wedding gown redesigned for my daughter to wear, the dress I wore in my sister’s wedding, and my favorite Christmas formal.

And now it is time for bed. Sweet dreams.

Day #3: C is for Challenging

Tags

challenge, chemise, corsets, petticoats, vintage lingerie, women's liberation

The Free Dictionary Online defines “challenging” as “calling for full use of one’s abilities or resources in a difficult, but stimulating effort. Ambitious.” And “challenging” is the best word for the three-fold task I have undertaken.

A number of years ago I developed a women’s history presentation I call “Women’s Liberation Through Lingerie”. The basic premise is that throughout our history, a woman’s life has been proscribed by the underpinnings she wore. Case in point: A woman of breeding in the Victorian era, corseted and hobbled by petticoats and voluminous skirts, would have found a brisk game of tennis (or even a footrace) nearly impossible. Working-class women had more leeway, as the reality of their background meant that less importance was given to being “properly dressed” than to getting the job done — whatever that job was.

So here is my current challenge: I have been asked to share this presentation with a group of professional women in two weeks. I am excited and looking forward to it, as it has been a while since I have done so. The challenge comes because, since my last presentation, I have moved twice, and my collection of vintage lingerie has been put into storage (in a rather hit-or-miss fashion, I fear). Today I spent an hour or so in said storage room, digging out boxes to bring home and go through, in order to re-discover the lingerie I wish to share with the ladies. So now the boxes are here, and I have begun searching through them. I have yet to discover my best two corsets, so I’m more than a little frustrated.

Adding to the challenge is that my current living space is already maxed out! It would be unrealistic (not to mention unfair) to expect my family to spend the next two weeks surrounded by vintage undies. I don’t think that was part of the deal for my son-in-law when I moved in here! So I can’t really get everything out at once in order to see which chemise goes with which petticoat and under which corset, with what pair of satin pumps and elbow-length kid gloves. (Some challenges are just plain fun!)

The third part of the challenge…and I hope this is the easiest part…is that the script that I have developed over the years has not yet surfaced, and I may have to reinvent the wheel (I hope not…I really like what I had created).

So that’s my challenge. I must find all the beautiful (okay, some are just down right utilitarian and homely) undies, spread them all over the house to sort them and then put them back as soon as I am done, and rediscover and fine-tune my script…and I have twelve days to do it. Is it doable? Sure. Will I be mildly panicked along the way? Probably. Watch these A-Z Challenge pages as April continues to see a progress report.