Sunday 28 February 2010

Cleaning my Crinolines!

Gorgeous girl has been out in Derbyshire doing Duke of Edinburgh training so I have spent the weekend cleaning (definition - moving things about admiring bits and putting them in new places). I didn't realise how much had changed until she came home grumpy and tired saying "Everything's changed - I'm so confused!"



I'm not sure what's going on as I found several crinoline ladies dotted about and they are so very Not Me! Pretty and dainty and delicate are not used in sentences with the word Wend in them! They've all been picked up at car boots etc - I hate to see them being thrown out!



Having taken pics of them I've added them to the Crinoline Lady group on Flickr where there are just 3 "ladies" who have added their Crin Ladies to the group. If you are tempted to look check out the photos of "The Custards - sheer eye candy for the vintage lover...



Can anyone tell me where this passion for crinolines came from? Was there a film which started it off? She and her beau also appeared on the early Quality Street tins until they were phased out...



All my messing about was accompanied by the man below in the form of Lenny Henry playing Othello on Radio 4. I always love a bit of Shakespeare and was able to listen without interruption and I wasn't disppointed! Bliss!



Hope your weekend was good!

Love Wend

10 comments:

  1. Love exhileration and the lovely snowy picture

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wasn't it the thirties when the crinoline lady became popular? Perhaps it was just a kick back at the straightness of the fashion of the day, or that women were cutting their hair short and the design was the result of a longing for the 'feminine days'. I don't know, I'm guessing. Your cake stands are very pretty, though. xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. I do rather like those crinoline ladies - I think they were a bit of a nostalgic thing, a dream of a past that never really existed. Which is probably why I like them!

    Pomona x

    ReplyDelete
  4. oh miss wend( said in a southern american drawl) ...didn't all the ladies in the westerns we watched as a child dress like this , and the ladies of Little house on the prairie and Seven brides for seven brothers and Oklahoma....i could go on but now i think of it, did all the american TV of my youth have these crinoline ladies ...

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am sure my mum embroidered the same lady with the bird table - she was a driver in the WAF in the WW2 and used to embroider whilst she was waiting around for her passengers. Unfortunately I don't have any of them any more. I don't know how she got hold of the the silks and cotton during the war. How about Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939)as part of the trend. Perhaps the frugality of rationing made this extravagant style popular. Does that match in with the dates of your china?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Elaine - Yes, I was thinking of those Saturday afternoon film reruns in the 70s.

    Jill - It does match I think - such a shame that those you mother stitched have gone.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh to have a waist like those crinoline ladies!
    I had that LH very good in Othello although If it's on Listen Again service I may have a listen whilst doing the ironing!
    Lisa x

    ReplyDelete
  8. so that's where all the nice cake stands have gone!
    I've been looking for a decent two tier'r for ages:
    love that second one you lucky beast:

    ReplyDelete
  9. Am I imagining it but were there also crinoline ladies to cover up the spare loo roll?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh to actually wear that Jennifer Collier map dress..yes i'm a big fan her stamp dress reminded me of your collection.... maybe you could rustle up a crinoline stamp dress ?

    ReplyDelete