Confession: for the last two days, I’ve been sitting around eating turkey and pie, not getting any exercise, and watching Deadwood DVDs. So, for this Saturday’s post I knew I had to find something where I could use lots of pictures. Something that wouldn’t take much brain-power, since I lost that a few slices of apple pie a la mode ago. Something that grows out of last week’s post. Something with–corsets! Yes! That’s what I need after mashed potatoes and gravy. Elizabethan Costuming 101.

The Basic Elements:

The Smock A basic garment, worn by all classes to help protect outer clothing. There are various styles–some are cut close to the body with a low, square neck and close-fitting, ungathered sleeves. Some have puffed sleeves gathered to cuffs. Generally made of linen.

Partlet A rectangular fill-in for the open-necked bodice. If a smock with a low, square neck is worn, this can go over it. It’s cut with a straight, standing collar, and can have a small ruff attached, or have a larger ruff pinned or basted to it.

Stockings These came to just above the knee, could be made of wool or fine silk yarn, tied by a ribbon garter.

Corset (or Stays, or Pair of Bodies) The Elizabethan corset, unlike the Victorian, is not designed to squeeze the waist to Scarlett O’Hara proportions, but to smooth the line of the torso into a cone shape and flatten the bosom into a high, mounded bustline. Made of heavy boning, generally with back lacing. Extant examples are very rare; this pic is a German corset from around 1598.

Farthingales There are 2 popular varieties: Spanish and French. The Spanish is the most flattering, a straight A-line angle from waist to hem. The French, or drum farthingale, is a large, crescent-shaped pad or rigid framework worn around the waist. This was the fashion later in the 16th century.

Bum roll A crescent-shaped pad worn around the waist, supporting most of the weight of the skirt.

Drawers Not generally worn by Englishwomen. Queen Elizabeth had a few Italian pairs, but they were a shocking, racy rarity.

Underskirt (or kirtle) with a decorated forepart A plain skirt, gored or pleated to fit over hoops, bum rolls, etc. The forepart is decorated, embroidered or made from fancy fabric, and it lies flat in a gentle, downward arc. Over this goes the overskirt, attached to the bodice to form the gown. The overskirt is split up the front.

Two common styles of bodice are the square-necked variety and the doublet (with standing collar, fastened down the front center. See the portrait of Mary Queen of Scots on the right).

Sleeves detachable, could match the bodice fabric or could be contrasting (sleeves were often used as a fairly easy way to try out new looks)

Surcoats were a popular loose, coat-like garment, either worn over the bodice and skirt for warmth or on their own over the undergarments. (See the portrait of Christina, Duchess of Milan, in black).

A few good sources to read more:

Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe Unlocked by Janet Arnold (this book is one of the great Prides of my book collection! One of the most valuable both in terms of money and information. Also check out her two volumes of Patterns of Fashion)

The Tudor Tailor by Ninya Mikhaila

The Tailor’s Pattern Book ( reprint of a Spanish book of cutting layouts from 1589)

Dressing the Elite: Clothes in Early Modern England by Susan Vincent

Funeral Effigies in Westminster Abbey by Anthony Harvey

And a few pics of my own costumes (match to the inspiration! The silver gown isn’t actually mine, though I wish it was–it belongs to the Folger Shakespeare Library)

I hope everyone had a great holiday! I think it may be time for me to get up off the couch before I need a corset and bum roll, too…

I am covered with embarrassment that I forgot to announce what will be the next movie we’re discussing in the Jane Austen Movie Club!

I’m so sorry! (And I also apologize to Janet, for posting this on her day without asking first!)

We will discuss the 2005 version of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, the one with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. And the discussion will be on Tuesday, December 4 — always the first Tuesday of the month.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled Riskiness…

Cara

Last week I blogged about the fun of doing amateur art, music, theatre, etc… without the pressure of making a career of it. Risky friend Susan Wilbanks commented that she enjoys singing, but though she has not yet sold a novel, her writing is not a hobby. I know what she means and I definitely don’t think it’s publication that separates the amateur writer from the professional.

It’s harder to put my finger on the difference, though.

There are people in Romance Writers of America who believe that membership in the organization confers professionalism. But some have been members for a decade or more, write sporadically or not at all and have not completed or submitted a manuscript. So I don’t think declaring oneself a professional is enough.

Part of it is that the pro seeks payment for her art (and that’s where finishing and submitting come in). She will take her craft seriously and strive to create work worthy of publication.

But it’s not just money either. Here’s what Steven Pressfield (THE WAR OF ART) says about the difference between the amateur and the professional: “The word amateur comes from the Latin root meaning ‘to love’. The conventional interpretation is that the amateur pursues his calling out of love, while the pro does it for money. Not the way I see it. In my view, the amateur does not love the game enough. If he did, he would not pursue it as a sideline, distinct from his ‘real’ vocation. The professional loves it so much he dedicates his life to it. He commits full-time.”
To me this quote feels a bit derogatory to the amateur (though perhaps it wasn’t intended that way). Nor do I think one has to write full time to be a professional. But I do believe it is about commitment. Being an amateur is like dating while being a pro is like marriage. One can walk away from a hobby but a true professional hangs in there.

Some writers say one should write every day. I agree with that in principle but I also suspect the ones who say that have wives to deal with sick kids and household disasters. I agree with a married, working friend of mine who once said there were times she wished she had a “wife”. 🙂

Whether or not one writes every day–or even takes occasional breaks from the writing–I do think it’s important to come up with goals (which can be modest) and a schedule (which doesn’t have to be anything like 9-5) and stick to it. At one point I was working a “regular job” 3 days a week and had a young baby. I wrote during her naps (when they happened) on my two days off and on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons when my husband was able to babysit. The hours were erratic, but I showed up and did my best. LORD LANGDON’S KISS was the result.

So anyway, this is what I’ve come up with so far. A professional writer is one who strives to improve her mastery of the craft, one who sets goals and shows up for work even if she’s not in the mood.

What do you think makes a professional writer?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Wandering the internet looking for a topic for today, I came upon the fact that in 2005, November 19 was designated “World Toilet Day” because of a big conference being held that day on sanitation standards. Last week my husband actually halted his channel surfing to watch a show on the history of toilets (I think on Modern Marvels, History Channel, but I’m not sure) so it seemed the Universe was telling me to talk about toilets.

We probably don’t stop and think about toilets much, about how the development of this ceramic seat and the plumbing system associated with it has contributed more to the eradication of disease than perhaps any other medical discovery. To learn everything you ever wanted to know about this topic go to theplumber.com, which has a dizzying array of articles about the toilet and its place in history.

There are ancient examples of toilets and efforts at sanitation, but one notable inventor, Sir John Harrington, godson to Queen Elizabeth I, invented a flush toilet in 1596. Even though the Queen used it, the invention did not catch on. An improved flush toilet was patented in 1775 and another version in 1778. Wikepedia says that water closets using this type of toilet were widely used in London by 1815, which surprised me because I thought “our” time period was one that used chamber pots. Almost all the toilet sites–websites–I visited today said that the contents of chamber pots were simply tossed out into the streets. London did not build a sewer system until 1853.

The lack of sanitation as we know it greatly contributed to disease and it took a long time for man to figure out the connection between the two. The Black Plague was caused by flea bites spread by lice that lived on rats and rats, of course, fed on garbage and waste. Napoleon lost thousands of his men to typhus in his Russian campaign. Typhoid fever was the cause of Prince Albert’s death and almost caused the death of his son Edward years later. A cholera epidemic killed thousands in India in 1817. By 1827 it had spread throughout the world. In a London cholera epidemic of 1854, Dr. John Snow charted the course of the disease and discovered that the contaminated water was to blame.

Thomas Crapper, whose name says it all, did not invent the flushing toilet, by the way. He owned a plumbing business that supplied toilets to royalty in the 1860s and he put his name on his product. The company is still in business today.

Some of the most beautiful toilets ever made had to be Victorian ones. Here is a lovely example.

Finally, does anyone find the following hilarious?

The Thesaurus of the Victorian Water Closet (1837-1901) was developed to index the Stooly Collection bequeathed, in 1998, to the Victorian Library of the British National Heritage Trust.

What toilet stories might you have today?

If you want the whole poop on Risky Regencies, sign up for our newsletter now at riskies@yahoo.com

What an absolutely delightful garden party you throw, my dears! So pleased to be invited.

Oh, er, yes, well. Perhaps we should introduce ourselves. Regina Scott and Marissa Doyle here. We write stories about charming young heroines finding true love and their place in the world with no on-screen sex but plenty of sizzle. Traditional Regencies, you say? Oh, no, darlings!

We write Young Adult romances, affectionately known as YA.

No, truly we do. Believe it or not, teens want to read historical fiction. Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy has been very popular, and Anna Godbersen’s The Luxe, set in 19th century Manhattan, has generated Prinny-sized buzz. The divine Meg Cabot even wrote 2 Regencies for Avon’s now-defunct YA line: Nicola and the Viscount and Victoria and the Rogue.

For teens, historical fiction can have the same allure as fantasy, also hugely popular right now. Both feature exotic settings, intriguing people, and legendary customs. And gorgeous clothes, of course.

Hm. Intrigue, legend, and clothes. Who wouldn’t want to read these books!

To reach out to teens and those of us who nourish our inner teen, we started a blog, Nineteenteen where we have fun talking about many aspects of teen life in the 19th century. Music, clothes, language, roller coasters, it’s all lots of fun.

Yes, roller coasters! You simply had to be there.

How did we embark on such a course? Regina took the plunge after realizing all her previous books had the theme of finding one’s place in the world, which translates well to YA. Her first YA, La Petite Four, which will make its debut in July 2008, features 4 friends making their debut in London Society in 1815 and suddenly running afoul of a handsome young lord who just may have more up his sleeve than a well-muscled arm. Marissa didn’t even realize she was writing a YA story until a contest judge told her that her book, A Bewitching Season, would make a great YA. After picking her jaw up off the ground she hasn’t looked back! Bewitching Season is coming from Henry Holt in April 2008. It’s set in 1837, but she hopes Regency purists will be willing to hold their noses and have fun with her twins Persephone and Penelope, who rescue Princess Victoria from an evil scheme to control the Crown.

That’s all part of the fun of writing YA! Adventure and romance mix with history, humor, and all that teenage angst. So, if you were a teen in Regency England, what would you do? Dance at Almack’s? Race a gentleman through Hyde Park? Or play it safe, dress in white, and speak only to the nice young men your charming mother picked out for you???

Be sure and visit Regina and Marissa at nineteenteen, and check here at Risky Regencies in a few months for more on these exciting new books!