I Don't Follow Fashion Trends
The High Ruffled Collar as an Aide to Noble Poise, Good Cheer, and Virtue!
Perhaps you remember seeing them on "Masterpiece Theater:" Ladies of the British Victorian and Edwardian eras with their necks strictly buttoned up to the jawbone in those tall, stately stand-up collars, finishing like flower petals in a pretty flourish of ruffled lace all around from chin to nape. I learned in a history class that many wives of British officers stationed in India, disappointed that the hot climate wilted the starch in their standup collars, were so determined to keep their necks strictly ensconced in the manner they loved that some of them washed and cut open empty tin cans, trimming them to fit their collars as a properly rigid lining. More common were thin metal stays, inserted into pockets inside their collars, to stand like supportive little fenceposts all around their necks and enhance the comfort they enjoyed from the excellent starched rigidity at their throats. Miss Prim beams with delight (and more) to contemplate such a powerful reminder, with a tight-laced corset a sweet, beloved little prison, molding one's character to maintain Correct Propriety at all times! Not from fear, nor prudish self-importance, but for the health of it, the simple enjoyment of it. If some think it an acquired taste, it is one I encourage and wish to promote. And some may immediately resonate
X{:D}X
Perhaps you remember seeing them on "Masterpiece Theater:" Ladies of the British Victorian and Edwardian eras with their necks strictly buttoned up to the jawbone in those tall, stately stand-up collars, finishing like flower petals in a pretty flourish of ruffled lace all around from chin to nape. I learned in a history class that many wives of British officers stationed in India, disappointed that the hot climate wilted the starch in their standup collars, were so determined to keep their necks strictly ensconced in the manner they loved that some of them washed and cut open empty tin cans, trimming them to fit their collars as a properly rigid lining. More common were thin metal stays, inserted into pockets inside their collars, to stand like supportive little fenceposts all around their necks and enhance the comfort they enjoyed from the excellent starched rigidity at their throats. Miss Prim beams with delight (and more) to contemplate such a powerful reminder, with a tight-laced corset a sweet, beloved little prison, molding one's character to maintain Correct Propriety at all times! Not from fear, nor prudish self-importance, but for the health of it, the simple enjoyment of it. If some think it an acquired taste, it is one I encourage and wish to promote. And some may immediately resonate
X{:D}X
70-79, T
