Sunday afternoon

[supercheesegirl]

Update from today:

- The phrase "Robbins 8th and Walnut" has been stuck in my brain since my childhood. It's a diamond jewelry store that advertises on the radio all the time and has since forever. They do TV spots, too, featuring one of the jewelers/owners who wears a diamond in his beard. All this time, though, it never really occurred to me that "Robbins 8th and Walnut" denoted an actual location. Today, however, I drove down 8th Street, which has jewelry stores up one side and down the other between Chestnut and Walnut, culminating in the Robbins store on the corner of (you guessed it) 8th and Walnut. Wow, revelation.

- Today I tried on a corset. No, a serious corset. A corset made according to old Victorian patterns, and actually boned and stuff. A corset that costs several hundred dollars. I'm actually not quite sure how I feel about it. I couldn't breathe kind of at all, but I knew that. It was also hard to tell how it would really look on the top because I had to try it on over my shirt. I don't think I've had a 24 inch waist since puberty, though. The girl who laced me into it really knew what she was doing. I don't know, for some reason the whole experience kind of made me feel like crying, and I don't know why. Because here's this lovely thing and I so totally and completely should not be buying it? Maybe a little, but that wasn't entirely it. Because I couldn't breathe and was feeling lightheaded? Partly. Because a corset is a thing that both celebrates my womanly body and also shapes and restricts it to an uncomfortable ideal form? Because I was supposed to feel beautiful?

- I spent a small chunk of the afternoon playing Scrabble with the old Muslim guy who owns the Alhambra Cafe on 3rd right off of South Street. He was persuasive. We are now friends on Facebook and are playing Scrabulous there. If you want to get your ass kicked, go friend him and play a game.

Comments

[lizabethanqueen]

I love the look of corsets but they can be super uncomfortable.

I'd say if you want one, find a costumer with some free time. You'll be able to pick out your own pattern and fabric. And there are are historically accurate boning patterns and then the cheapo 6 bones to a corset crap you buy at Victoria's Secret. For costume ones we do about half the bones of historical ones. You get the shape without the pain.

If I had more free time I'd totally make you one.

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

Wow, I hadn't thought of that. You could totally make one, that would rock.

Guilty admittance: my acquaintance mrpet makes really beautiful corsets. Right before I left Boston we were talking about trading work: I would edit the text on his website in exchange for him custom making me a corset. And I never followed up! It's heartbreaking, it is.

My friend Lisa is actually thinking of getting a job at the corset-selling place, in which case she'd get a lovely employee discount that she could possibly use on my behalf. No idea if that will pan out. F is also thinking of contributing to the corset fund for my birthday. I think the whole thing may just get postponed until next year, though, when F and I will be living together and will have a lot more flexible cash flow (theoretically, at least). If I don't end up seriously considering getting one till next year, maybe you'll have enough time to make it! That would be a fun excuse for us to hang out more!

[amedia.livejournal.com]

I can't remember where I read about this, but there was a very cool feminist article or book a few years ago speculating on corsets and looking at them not simply as a way to keep women trapped and breathless, but as a sneaky sideways ploy that women embraced to express their femininity and sexiness at a time when that was almost entirely denied. If you look at it that way, then I think a feminist can enjoy trying on corsets guilt-free! :-)

[tisana.livejournal.com]

So I'm not an expert, but I've heard that you really shouldn't be uncomfortable in a corset that's properly fitted, and you should be able to breathe just fine. Part of that was that you get laced in and don't lace it as tight as possible the first time around--you wait 10-20 minutes to allow yourself to get used to it. Part of it is also that what fits another woman may not fit you (me, every time I tried them I was using something meant for a woman with a shorter waist).

Sooo...if you're lightheaded, it may have been a bad fit. It shouldn't have done that to you.

[dreda.livejournal.com]

This comment is exactly correct.