Victorian Secrets - Part 2

In this episode of EXPLORING NEVADA youll take an undercover journeyto discover the underwear secrets of fashionable women living during Victorian times in Nevada. With fashion-history expert Jan Loverin as guide, youll travel to historic Bowers Mansion in Washoe Valley for the inside scoop on how a genteel lady of the times (as re-enacted by Paulette Grune of Sparks) donned her corset, hoop skirt and other unmentionables.
Then youll get a private view of the genuine artifacts which are safeguarded at the Nevada State Museums Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center in Carson City, where Loverin oversees the study and preservation of thousands of items of clothing used by Nevadans over the past two centuries.
The Center houses more than 10,000 artifacts ranging from the 19th century to current-day fashions, and includes such items as the Inaugural Ball gowns of Nevadas First Ladies, hats and shoes, mens and military wear, as well as items from the Nevada Historical Society and the University of Nevada School of Home Economics. The Center is named for former First Lady Marjorie Guild Russell, whose father, Judge Clark Guild, started the Nevada State Museum in 1939. It is open by appointment to the public. For more information, call 775.687.6173.
The video features period music performed by Sparks Little Theater for the Nevada Womens History Project 2002 conference, at Pipers Opera House in Virginia City .
nevadaculture.org/

[@MizzKittyBichon]

1. This woman cannot lace a corset properly. Tying the corset in front like that, she is basically ruining the busk and grommets. 2. Tightlacing was only done by a few people back then. It was considered too daring and somewhat rebellious, if not a little provocative. 3. Corsets were worn for the same reason women wear bras today. 4. It was actually fashionable at one point in the Victorian era for men to wear corsets. These are the facts. Look em up if you don't believe me.

[@AngelisNotMyName]

the corset part annoyed me... one hook and eye not closed, not closed/alined properly in the back and the way it buckles in the back. *shivers*

[@Chris25rod]

@cottonhollow1 Also most women didnt tight lace. They would just tighten it about 2 inches or so to achieve the fashionable figure. If you tightlaced it was though of as an act of vanity and would be frowned upon

[@bajubner]

Watching her mangle that corset was so distressing. Poor thing

[@cadaverous6]

Corsets ain't that terrible as people say they are. The problems women had were with IMPROPERLY fitting corsets, or lacing up too tight. A well fitted corset isn't that bad, take it from me.

[@ItsVerosLife]

Paulette stood there awkwardly as the narrator kept on narrating.

[@pattseitas6174]

Extant dresses from the period, which probably belonged to young women show waists about 24", not 20". When I was a teenager, my waist was 23-24" and I wasn't wearing a corset. Extant dresses with waists of 20" also have small busts and probably belonged to girls, rather than adult women.

[@coralaisly]

Even when corsets were highly in fashion, working class women didn't usually push their bodies to those extents. It probably just about directly related to the plastic surgery industry today... Also, average height was much shorter way back when, probably due to diet, which means there's a good chance that un-corsetted, the torso would've been smaller anyway. A 20 inch waist would look much different on someone who's under 5 foot and someone who's over 5'6".

[@BeyondFuture3000]

The model looks dazed and like shes actually transported from the 19th century.

[@theatropawood]

I know, I almost died watching her tie the strings around the waist at the end... ugh, the fabric will be completely ruined...

[@misfitwriter16]

she needs to learn the true facts about corsets. when done correctly they had more benifits then negative factors. The idea of the muscles becoming to weak to hold oneself up is a myth that has been proven wrong by many corseters who where there;re corsets for 24 hours when back then they only wore them for the day, often not till later in the evening. plz do not believe that corsets were a torture used. yes they restricted movement and some of the ability to breath but they werent torture

[@OfWebsAndChocolates]

The very top clasp of the busk wasn't fastened. Oh God I'm cringing, that poor corset.

[@horseslove45]

That what I said!

[@cupidonsarecreepy]

7:11 Ooooh, I'm gonna cry forever. D:

[@terrryc]

Totally fascinating, authoritative lecture...

[@fancyshmancypants]

From my knowledge, tying a corset in the front is how prostitutes did it. Easy access and whatnot.

[@ahnyisbillingsley3401]

Prostitutes did not were them

[@mastersnet18]

that was for the woman's convenience in order to go to the bathroom easily, not for the man's convenience lol

[@MyLifeInWonderland]

@TheCroco99 i can see your point but do need to tell you about the underwear, that hole in the crotch its not there for men to acess a womans intimate parts with ease, its there because wearing the fashionable hoops of the period, as well as the corset, you cant just pull down your underwear when going to the toilet so with the split drawers, a woman wouldnt have to unlace her corset and take of the hoops to go to the toilet convenient, yes, though most women today would find it uncomfortable :)

[@JackAttack6six6]

Actually, no. Bloomers and drawers are two different things. Bloomers, while Amelia Bloomer did suggest them as womens wear in around the 1850s, weren't really used until the 1880s and even then only for sportswear such as cycling suits.

[@cottonhollow1]

@madidog124 actually a properly fitted corset is not all that uncomfortable. I have a hand made corset that I where for reenactments and it is quite comfortable. You also must understand that you don't achieve that 19 inch waist at the first try. It would have taken a women years of corset training to achieve that.

[@nnannnan7946]

The video is very interesting.

[@weekendmom]

The corset was worn by both men and women? Suddenly that scene in Wacky Wabbit where Bugs Bunny cuts away Elmer Fudd's shirt makes sense, revealing a corset. Fudd says,"Don't laugh. I bet plenty of you men wear one of these." Turns out he was right.

[@Madidog123]

the whole time she was putting on that corset i was cringing and holding my breath ^^;

[@horseslove45]

Omg that corset. I want to hide my eyes. Girl! You didn’t do it right. The top button is undone that can ruin the corset

[@NotYourAngel]

new research is in place regarding women drawers since the discovery of underwear (which were similar to our modern-day underwear).

[@kissiebooashes]

In those times a girl started wearing a corset a few years before puberty took place, about 10 or 11, possibly even earlier depending on how quickly the girl developed. Until puberty, however, the corset wasn't as rigid or as shapely. It's the same concept of trainer bras for pre-teens today, bras without padding or wire, but worn so that the girl can get used to the routine of having to wear one everyday.

[@cadaverous6]

SwizzleFish I’ve seen corset-like garments for young children

[@coralaisly]

Yes, but they also corsetted from an early age, which meant that the rib cage / waist never expanded as much as a modern waist, so it wasn't necessary to reduce more than a few inches to achieve what would be today considered a dramatic waist, as the resting waist would, by today's standards, be considered very, very small and shocking.

[@mallorykay13]

on top of that. her top knob and loop on the busk isnt done

[@Omg_imsoawesome]

She seems to be struggling with her shoes. xD

[@kendraholloway368]

I have those shoes!!!

[@LaDivinaLover]

Half of the "Facts" she gives about the effects of corseting are WRONG WRONG WRONG wife's tales. None of thise extreme things happened.

[@Natalie-gr7mk]

bruh i always thought chemise was pronounced "keh-miss" im shook

[@SimbaStaarFighter]

shes how old and doesnt know how to tightenb a corset? im 14 and i know pretty well .-.

[@mastersnet18]

that's not really true. I mean if a married woman committed a crime her husband would be punished for it not her so it's not entirely true that women didn't have any rights.

[@morgana262]

the underbriefs are called bloomers actually x x

[@TheCroco99]

God this is horrible. I didn't know how damaging Victorian women's wear was. The picture of the deformed ribcage at is the stuff of nightmares. And thousands of women died because their large skirts caught fire! Notice that it's difficult for the women to move but easy for men to just lift their skirts and access their crotch, the underwear had a hole in the crotch! The clothes may be beautiful on the outside, but thank god women are allowed to wear non-crippling clothes now - as we should be.

[@AkApRoDuCtIoNs101]

she needs to lace smaller.

[@tokidokilager]

open drawers? i'm really hating every man from back then.

[@salemgirl123]

no. she did it wrong. tieing it like that. and tighting it like that. can ruin the laces and the material over the boning..

[@MyLifeInWonderland]

the way she dresses isnt entirely correct atleest not with the corset, you can also see the corset is poorly made it bulges out in the back, and its doesnt give her a clean shape, its rather weak and you should NEVER EVER tie your corset in the front, it causes unnecessary bulge at the front of the shirt or dress youll wear over it, and it can also tear into the fabric, and we know for a fact that women back then did not tie it in the front as this would shorten the life of the corset

[@Luminasita]

Or she's nervous being on camera doing something like that ;)

[@XxMissNoNamexX]

@PlainJaneMystik But oh, what a horrible time to be a women. It must have been absolutely miserable.

[@FanceeNarwhal12]

@PlainJaneMystik no its me too!