Ladies in bulky dresses: as in the past, women had to cope with toilet

How was it possible to live, work, dance, and hygiene in such clothes? In Soviet times, the guides amused as old paintings, where ladies in corsets and not the most comfortable-looking skirts and lived, and worked, and danced, and sometimes kept hygiene — especially the playful authors.

The history of women's clothing that should be worn necessarily with a corset that goes back many centuries. From the medieval fashionista Agnes Sorel, who began to flaunt the dresses that rest just on top of the corset, and up to the outfits of women of the First World. A small break occurred in the period after the French revolution — but in the background of the General history of dresses in the corsets he looks so short that can be neglected.

The corsets in the attire of the women were necessarily added such inconvenient details, like skirts in a large number or immense crinoline, a different sort of design for the extension of the hips and a bustle — skirt design, which Leo Tolstoy believed imitation invitingly protruding ass. Layers of clothes even in summer, even at home on any lady was pretty much copy, too.

As these piles of fabrics and accessories, not counting the corset, women could visit the toilet, to ride, to dance, to do housework, but even just walking — and, in the end, not stink then? Of course, they had to come up with many ingenious solutions. And to give up many amenities.

Reading classic literature, it is easy to see that the clothes the woman is almost always determined by its function: morning dress, walking dress, "dressed for dinner", ballroom and so on.

We can imagine how it was possible to endure endless cross-dressing. Of course, we walk rarely go in home clothes, but to change clothes twice a day at home, not going to go anywhere? What is morning dress is fundamentally different from the one in which sits down to dinner?! And why there is a separate dress between the morning and evening?

The thing is, how hard is it to keep clean clothes (without modern Laundry and dry cleaning) and one's own body. Customary to change dresses at least one, and preferably two times a day, was associated with the need to basically change the smell.

If wearing one dress all day, on top of the body tightly compressed by the corset, in an era without deodorant, it can zavalatica. And dresses managed to get some air from one day to another. But, changing the dress, could change and shift, if there was such a need — although the average preppy lady was missing one of the bottom shirt for one day. But, you know, are different.

Washed the dress as a whole very rare. Usually planted spot on the same day separately processed. If it was impossible to change it, then replaced a piece of her dress. The benefit of gowns, in the first place, were themselves composite (separately wore a bodice, separate skirt, I can wear a collar or an additional overlay on the bodice, depending on the era), and, secondly, the bodice, and the skirt consisted of different parts, which you could unpick and replace the same, but from a different cloth.

Otvarivanie parts of the dress was the ruffles on the skirt (they were erased from nametennym hem dirt or replaced, if it was impossible to wash), collars and cuffs because they touch the skin directly without shirts.

Babydoll, in fact, was one of the main means of maintaining hygiene for ladies. She washed the skin with sweat and dying skin to absorb them and not giving, if possible, to touch upon more expensive and more difficult to clean fabric dress. She herself was a lot easier to wash than the actual clothes.

However, without water, sanitation, and washing machine daily wash, few practiced — shirt was postponed until the day of General Laundry and put on fresh. The poorer a woman was, the less she could change and wash shirts. The number of shirts was a matter of hygiene, so that the dowry they had to be enough — it ensured the neatness of the young wife. For extra protection from sweat under the arms of the dress were sewn special wladecki. They were spanking and washed as needed.

In the lower part of the body with the purity of a particular historical moment began to observe the trousers. By the way, popular item of linen trousers began only in the nineteenth century, before the ladies relied on petticoats — they absorbed sweat and, if necessary, other physiological secretions.

In the crotch of the pants are not sewn together, because to remove them was almost impossible: the upper edge of the trousers clamped by the corset. Finally, at the bottom of the foot wore cotton stockings — and then, I must say, the stockings were not as long as in our days, because they were required to cover only the foot, Shin and knee.

By the way, the answer to the question, as in fluffy skirts passed through the door, a short door openings were expanded. Yes, there was the skirt, in which it was possible to contrive to pass sideways or tilting sideways a portion of crinoline, but I tried to just not bother. That's why it was so popular the double doors.

It is clear that to put on and take off dress, especially if you have a maid, it was not as difficult as you can imagine — the details of the dress worn and secured at a time, and not just dived inside, trying not to get lost in the pile of the fabric. But how to cope with the skirts, crinolines, bustles, and ruffles with when you wanted to use the toilet?

Pee in toilet ladies went for a long time with the help of the maids. They give them a special, elongated, receptacles, or even held them in the process. The front crept the hem of the dress, the lady just squatted over the glass — it's simple. At night, when there was no impeding dress enjoyed a normal night vases, reminiscent of our childhood pots, only bigger.

There were also special vases, put into a chair with a hole. On a chair, depending on the dress, the lady sat down, or as usual, picking up the skirt, or cavalry, that is, face to the back, picking up the hem in the front. When in use, began to enter the toilets with a flush (in the last third of the nineteenth century), as well first ladies sat on the toilet.

Pick up skirt properly girls were taught from an early age, in certain periods, this used small hooks to hang the skirts, and Yes, sometimes it takes a lot of time and effort — so the ladies used the services of maids in order to restore the purity of the body, when the lady took a dump.

In addition, you had to watch not to accidentally stain your skirt — and-so the lady ventured to bring with them a train of unpleasant odors, and stained skirt provided this trail for a long time.

Nevertheless, the main difficulty in going to the toilet was quite different. Free to visit his woman could only be at home or away from the other ladies. In any other situation, she should have been able to show that she's prone to such baser urges. That is — to be able to endure. For a very long time the opportunity to remove themselves from the house for women is strongly determined by the availability of the toilet. Public women's toilets began to appear very late.

First, in large stores, similar to our shopping centers that the ladies lingered for the entire day, felt more temptation and spent more money. Then I went to the street but met strong resistance at first, men, because women will go where they want and how they want, and it is against women's modesty and chastity.

Last, many countries appeared the ladies room in restaurants and cafes. After all the decent women go to restaurants only in the company of her husband for a short time, and that time could be patient! With the ability to visit the restaurant outside the home to women other questions arose, which, in General, often get up now.

Designers and booths, and a shared space toilets are often little imagine, how much and what should a woman in a bathroom outside the house. The same old "shopping centers" had several times to change the layout of toilets, a roundabout learning than actual bad, before there was an opportunity to do something with the purse, turn into a lush skirt and hat and so on.

In light of how difficult it was to maintain good hygiene, it is easy to understand why this lady recommended to go very smoothly and do not make a fuss. If only once again covered with sweat! However, the ladies went on walks, played some street games, rode horses, sat down on the couch and got up with him and, of course, danced at balls.

It is clear already that after outdoor walks, with dresses as needed spanking soiled frill (although he could gently wash on the dress itself), and sometimes ladies just hands lifted the skirt to get dirty in a puddle. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, ladies have become much more active; this required additional measures in order to save her dress from the mud.

Everywhere began to use pages, special clips for skirts that allowed to lift the hem folds a few inches. These pages have raised the trail skirts when fashion entered the lush tails on dresses in the back.

The main rule when you pin the hem to lift it so I wouldn't have looked out a white petticoat — of course, the bottom skirt was a lot shorter than the top, so as not to get dirty of the street dirt. Another rule, however, is not everywhere strictly observed, was that the top of the Shoe should reach the edge of even pages selected for the hem — so, a huge popular high lace-up boots.

Street games with the participation of the ladies and the ladies was very moderate in terms of movement. For example, in SERS, the lady could only stand on the spot, throwing a Hoop and pick up a skewer to run around with her and hoops to catch, could not. However, the rules of this game see and Freudian motifs: oblong men and women that placed on oblong. Also played croquet and other games with balls that don't require running around and bustle.

The challenge of combining fashion and horseback riding in a different time it was ladies in different ways. In the Middle ages many women, for example, wore dresses with slits front and back, and rode "like a man". In the eighteenth century quite a number of women believed that horseback riding is not a sin to dress in men's clothes. Yes, and in the seventeenth century were such originally.

In General much of the history of women's clothing on corset rides were conducted in special boarding "look like a lady". Usually the planting is described as follows: the lady was sitting sideways, but the top part was turning towards the neck of the horse. Of course, in this position the long ride.

In fact, the lady was sitting, turning forward corps and one leg bent to hold the bow a ladies ' saddle. The other leg was lowered from the side of the horse to lean on the stirrup, but was also deployed forward.

With this landing still with the usual corset and skirt would be a problem, so the lady wore a special, softer corset along with skirt, elongated on one side so that the foot resting on the stirrup, was completely covered.

However, this position though was not so uncomfortable as you'd think, but was much more dangerous than the male. If the horse throws woman out of the stirrup or fall more or less without consequences was almost impossible.

In the days just full skirts or skirts, push outwards with special constructions, ladies sit on the couch without any problems. But with the crinoline had to make their manners to the hoops normally shifted, and the skirt looked decent. By the way, these hoops were quite flexible, they had a reserve of elasticity that did the manipulation of the skirt easier. The problems began in the era of bustles.

The cheapest bustles are not folded and greatly hurt to sit up straight. This is one of the reasons why ladies in the portraits of the era of bustles, sitting half-side. However, good models have developed and expanded without much effort. But then the fashionista was beset with another problem — the corsets of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

They were often designed so that the woman became very uncomfortable when trying to sit straight and, even more, leaning back on the couch. The only possible posture was leaning forward, leaning on the armrest. This position is also often seen in portraits of the era. Perhaps this inconvenience was the reason that more and more young women began to prefer to wear athletic, more flexible, corsets and at home.

However, dancing was tightened as tight as you can. Not to say that lovers of balls is kept in the dance activity, but, if you look at the classic ballroom dances of the past centuries, we can see that they limit women's movement of the body and often a lot of men's support — without her ladies, perhaps, out of breath sooner.