I’ve been doing some research into London in the mid-1950’s; this is where my stash of old books, maps, catalogues, guides and magazines comes in handy. The more down-market women’s mags – Woman’s Own, Woman’s Realm, Woman’s Mirror, Woman’s Day and the rest – are probably the most useful in gauging the real lives of real people, but my favourite is English Vogue. If I ever need a quick, emergency cheer-up, they are the very thing.
My heroine, Helen Harris, is an Australian librarian working in London and though I dreamily turn the pages on her behalf, unfortunately she doesn’t have the money to buy anything, since she was probably earning between 8 and 10 pounds a week for full-time work. Take this suit, for instance. It was 11 guineas (the guinea was a unit worth 21 shillings, and used for ‘posh’ or luxury goods, like professional fees, high fashion, antiques and art) and it would be over AU $700 now.
But, she would also have had to buy a corset or girdle and perhaps a long-line brassiere so that the skirt and jacket would fit. There are pages and pages of ads for corsetry in amongst the fashion, and I keep thinking how uncomfortable ordinary life must have been if you had to achieve a teeny-tiny waist on a daily basis. A few years ago, I bought a pair of Spanx – so-called ‘shapewear’ – to wear underneath a tight dress for a special occasion. It was hell, and not worth it.
Just look at the waist on this suit!
Oh my gaad, that looks like agony. Tragically my waist vanished years ago after I had kids and has never returned — I didn’t appreciate it when I actually had one! I’m boggling at the ‘circular springlets’!