Sarah A. Chrisman - Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself

Victorian Secrets

Copyright 2013 by Sarah A. Chrisman

Foreword copyright 2013 by Sue Lean

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-62636-175-1

eISBN: 978-1-62873-562-8

Printed in the United States of America

For Gabriel

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At the State Capital Museum in Olympia in 2009, at a High Tea Reception for the publication of Shanna Stevensons book Womens Votes, Womens Voices: The Campaign for Equal Rights in Washington, I met Sarah Chrisman. Here was this lovely authentically clothed young woman Id never seen at an historical event before. She had come all the way from Seattletaking five modes of transportation to be able to attend. The fifth was a ride with my friend, Mary Murphy, who saw her walking up Capitol Way from the bus station downtown. She pulled over and said, I think we are going to the same place. Sarah in her long skirts gratefully accepted the ride.

Mary showed Sarah around to the museum guests and they all marveled at her beautiful Victorian tan linen dress. You could tell by looking that it was made of natural fibers with fine hand-stitched detailing.

As a member of the Womens History Consortium (an advisory board to the Washington State Historical Society) with a mission to collect womens history and to celebrate the 2010 suffrage centennial in Washington, I zeroed right in on Sarah. I hoped she would be in the Olympias Lakefair Festival parade as part of the Suffragettes on Parade entry. Naturally, I was hoping she would appear at other suffrage celebration events.

I was astonished to learn that she and her husband had an extensive collection of both womens and mens Victorian clothing. Happily, they were interested in sharing it with the public. Sarah and Gabriel invited me to lunch in their tiny studio apartment near the University of Washington in Seattle. I was to see an extraordinary collection of exquisite antique clothing. Especially thrilling was a black hat and dress very much like that worn by Susan B. Anthony in an old photograph.

At once, I became determined to do all I could to advance this outstanding collection into public view. Organizations were being encouraged to celebrate the suffrage centennial by having a Pink Tea. This was the most formal of Victorian color-themed teas and guests sometimes spoke among themselves about winning the vote.

The opportunity came to have a Pink Tea and historical fashion show for the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation. The Chrismans in-depth knowledge of Victorian clothing was paired with commentary about leading northwest suffragists, both men and women, who would have worn similar clothing. The idea was to honor key leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Abigail Scott Duniway, and Carrie Chapman Catt in the long struggle in for the right to vote. Washington women won and lost the vote more than once before becoming the fifth state to enfranchise women in 1910, the first new star on the womens suffrage flag in fourteen long years.

As a first offering, there were a few glitches. Once Gabriel was delayed in being able to change outfits, but Sarah carried on, valiantly entertaining the guests. It was a rather grand start and Evie Greenberg was able to take wonderful photographs, extending the outreach for their collection in a significant way. No small amount of organization, work, and travel are involved in putting on an historical fashion shownot to mention the research and presentation planning involved.

Sarahs experience as she transformed herself into a Victorian lady is laced with candid insights and surprises about the underwear of yesteryear. It was a lucky day that we met, and I am still fascinated by the fact that Sarah has worn a corset twenty-four-seven for so many years. She and Gabriel have educated many people about this amazing undergarment, which the reader will find through Victorian Secrets is subject to many misconceptions.

It is fortuitous that the Chrismans live in Port Townsend with the states best Victorian architecture, wonderful heritage, and steampunk festivals. Sarah and Gabriel add a great deal of historical color to these events. The best part, without a doubt, is that this historical color is authentic.

Sue Lean, Historian

Washington Womens History Consortium

The desire to... be beautiful surrounds us on every hand with grace, elegance, and refinement. The little girl that studies her features in the mirror, while she evinces possibly a disposition to be vain, nevertheless in this act shows herself to be possessed of those instincts of grace which, rightly directed, will beautify and embellish all her surroundings through life.

Thomas E. Hill,
Hills Manual of Social and Business Forms, 1891

People often ask me about my clothes. Are they religious? No. Are they for a job? No. Are they a costume? Most definitely not. People are always curious when encountering something unusual, but there never seems to be sufficient time to explain the entire tale, no matter how much I enjoy sharing it. The complicated story of how I came to dress as a Victorian lady on a daily basis cannot really be told in the sort of short, electronic headlines currently popular in modern media. The true taleincluding all the motivations, reactions, and everything I have learned since starting out on this pathrequires a far more Victorian manner of telling: starting at its beginning and with all the details intact.

Throughout the years, I have found that people are curious to learn more about my choices. They ask me to provide insights into simple ideas, such as Victorian garments being, in many ways, more practical than their modern counterparts. They dont mind listening to me speak of discoveries that refute popular myths. (Have you heard the one about the broken ribs? They werent human bones.)

Yet even the most interested of people have buses to catch, friends to meet, work to get back toand if they dont, I do. Throughout the nearly four years since this historical experiment (which has become my life) began, Ive developed a sort of short elevator speech that touches on some of the most common questions and gives a truncated explanation of the lifestyle I have chosen.

This, however, is the long version of that story...