Romance novelist buys full set of Victorian undergarments to understand what makes a bodice-ripper
Fumbling in the dark, he reached for her corset lace and, with one tug, released her from the garment Or not.
As racy Victorian novelist Deeanne Gist has gone to lengths to show, there was no such thing as a steamy, quick undress 150 years ago.
At the recent Romance Writers of America's annual convention in New York, period novelists watched Ms Gist squeeze herself, with help, into 12 layers of imitation Victorian garments.
Waisting away: Corsets were one layer of the dozen that made up a full circa 1860s outfit - and got in the way of romance
Starting in nothing but her unmentionables, Ms Gist's aim was to illustrate just how historically inaccurate many period novels are.
Taking an hour to dress, it would have taken the same amount of time to undress and help in the form of a ladies maid would have been absolutely necessary.
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Ms Gist, who has written seven period romances, including the upstairs/downstairs drama of Maid to Match, ordered a specially-made full set of Victorian underwear and dress, specifically to lend her seductive love scenes as much credibility as possible.
Perfectionist: Ms Gist uses her specially-made outfit to illustrate the chore of daily dressing circa 1880
The outfit came with a 17 minute instructional video and forced Ms Gist to completely rethink many potential love scenes.
What became clear, she told the Wall Street Journal, was that modern depictions of Victorian clothing are often wildly off the mark.
It would never have been possible to rip off and then relace a corset during a tryst in a carriage, for example.
You'll see pictures of corsets on bare skin. That's completely historically inaccurate, she said.
There goes many a favourite books or movie's romantic undressing scene, then.
Instead, corsets were worn over a chemise and bloomers, which would have been made of plain white linen, rather than silk.
User manual: Ms Gist's Victorian dress came with a 17 minute instructional video
Labour of love: Ms Gist tries to be as accurate as possible, her novels part of a booming interest in historical romance
Ms Gist is one of a set of dedicated historical novelists who is reacting to the recent boom of interest in the genre.
VICTORIAN LOVE: THE 12 LAYERS BETWEEN THE LORD AND HIS LADY
- Bolero jacket
- Vest
- Blouse or shirtwaist
- Skirt
- Petticoat
- Crinoline or hoop skirt
- Corset
- Chemise
- Bloomers
- Garter
- Stockings
Citingbook-industry analyst Bowker, the WSJ said that historical romance accounts for 25 per cent of the burgeoning $1.4 billion romance novel industry.
And that makes a lot of romance scenes with a lot of removals of unmentionables to get right.
First popularised in the 1840s, corsets and their layered accompaniments may have made dressing and undressing a chore, but exaggerated the female form so that the waist was nipped to impossible proportions and the hips and derriere were full and would sway.
The complicated daily rigmarole doesnt end there - the obligatory hats, parasols, shoes and purses of the era would have completed the scene, making a trip to the ladies let alone a passionate clinch - seem nigh-on impossible.
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