SOB*
You said a mouthful Pullet …
I ask any doper who has ever seen the inside of an auction house or cheesy Ye OldE antiqueeee shoppEEE type place.
What is one of the absolutely MOST dirt common set of victorian era items found?
Ye olde commode set. You know, a pitcher and a basin [and sometimes even the matching chamber pot].
What does one do with said pitcher and basin? It ain’t drinking, or a finger bowl.
Oddly enough, you put water in the pitcher, and lug it up to the bedroom. You then pour said water into said basin, where you wash your face and hands, then take a cloth and wash the rest of your body. Then you lug the basin over to a window and toss the contents out into the street, or the maid of all work comes around and takes the wastewater and chamber pot down to the drains and dumps the pot contents into the drain, then dumps the wash water into the pot and dumps that into the drain.
Sheesh.
Look at any household inventory and there are a multitude of washing clothes and towels listed.
Hell, look into inventory lists from the middle ages and renaissance, most commoner servants had several shifts [men and women both wore the shifts. think of them as the generic white tshirt and tighty whities of their day], a formal ‘sunday going to meeting/holiday’ outfit, and usually 2 sets of daily clothes. [going by listings of servants ‘livery’ or the clothing provided to servants by their masters] which was issued at a specific interval [frequently mentioned as the first issue when they started working there, and then subsequenty every Twelfthnight/christmas, or frequently on a specific holiday like a name saint.]
AS to Marie Antionette being sewn into her undies and let rot?! Where the heck would you get that tidbit?
Quoted from The Memoires of Marie Antoinette
The Queen’s toilet was a masterpiece of etiquette; everything was done in a prescribed form. Both the dame d’honneur and the dame d’atours usually attended and officiated, assisted by the first femme de chambre and two ordinary women. The dame d’atours put on the petticoat, and handed the gown to the Queen. The dame d’honneur poured out the water for her hands and put on her linen. When a princess of the royal family happened to be present while the Queen was dressing, the dame d’honneur yielded to her the latter act of office, but still did not yield it directly to the Princesses of the blood; in such a case the dame d’honneur was accustomed to present the linen to the first femme de chambre, who, in her turn, handed it to the Princess of the blood. Each of these ladies observed these rules scrupulously as affecting her rights. One winter’s day it happened that the Queen, who was entirely undressed, was just going to put on her shift; I held it ready unfolded for her; the dame d’honneur came in, slipped off her gloves, and took it. A scratching was heard at the door; it was opened, and in came the Duchesse d’Orleans: her gloves were taken off, and she came forward to take the garment; but as it would have been wrong in the dame d’honneur to hand it to her she gave it to me, and I handed it to the Princess. More scratching it was Madame la Comtesse de Provence; the Duchesse d’Orleans handed her the linen. All this while the Queen kept her arms crossed upon her bosom, and appeared to feel cold; Madame observed her uncomfortable situation, and, merely laying down her handkerchief without taking off her gloves, she put on the linen, and in doing so knocked the Queen’s cap off. The Queen laughed to conceal her impatience, but not until she had muttered several times, “How disagreeable! how tiresome!”
The proceedure was that she started out naked, and then put her shift on, then the rest of her clothing. Doesnt sound like they sew her into it.
Although they did tend to sew women into the outer layer to get the fit of the bodice correct, as it was more stable than the earlier habit of pinning the outer layers together [you lace up the bodys, then pinned a decorative highly decorated piece called a stomacher that served to change the overall look for the day. You might choose a light floral one for a spring day or a festival involving young girls, or a heavier darker very elaborate one for a more formal event. Just like sleeves could be changed so the look of the general garment could be changed.
