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| Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian's Threaded Blog and article by Emily Stiveck, Stocking Series, Part 4: The Rebellious Roll Garters |
Women often rouged their knees suggestively, implying that their legs had seen more of the light of day than one might have expected...
It was a popular fashion trend for young women and since stockings did not have stretch in them, they needed something to hold them up. Enter the roll garter...
Without the requirement of being attached to a garter belt or a girdle, the roll garter gave women the freedom to roll their stockings to whatever level they desired...
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| Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian's Threaded Blog and article by Emily Stiveck, Stocking Series, Part 4: The Rebellious Roll Garters |
Now what does this have to do with Mrs. Rose? Well...I think she continued to wear the stockings she was most comfortable with...those without elastic...and she still used her roll garters.
Though without fail, the lack of elastic in her stockings and the lack of tone to her old legs, often left her stockings sagging a bit...
I found this to be very true of many of the older women in my life in the 1960s and 70s. In fact, it was such a stereotype that the idea was used by a famous comedian...
These knees belong to Vicki Lawrence as "Mama"...I had forgotten all about Mama and Eunice (Carol Burnett)...so I admit I got distracted watching this video on YouTube of Mama's Funniest Moments.
But I digress.
For Mrs. Rose's rolled stockings I hand-stitched my own little pair of hose to slip over her one free leg...
And once she gets her shoes on, I'm hoping her hose will still bag a bit around her ankles...
Here's the whole block to date. The block size is 8"and Mrs. Rose is about 4.5" tall.
Now it's back to work for the both of us. See you next time.
Thanks for the trip back in time. Love the photos but I thing those garters would cut off circulation!
ReplyDeleteI loved watching the Carol Burnet show as a kid. No other show even came close to this one as far entertainment.
Rose is lovely, and so stylish!
every little change brings Mrs.Rose closer to life! I'm curious to see how you're going to manage the shoes!
ReplyDeleteAww she is looking so so sweet ...
ReplyDeleteBig hugs x
Mom told me once, that by the 1940's the women would have orange legs from using tanning lotion, since stockings were scarce. Mom inculded.
ReplyDeleteThe Two Nerdy History Girls just sent out this last weeks "Breakfast Links" with an article about how The Great Gatsby got their flapper dresses wrong, and if you scroll down towards the bottom of the article, there's a bit about flappers rebelling with rolled stockings.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-great-gatsby-still-gets-flappers-wrong/
Enjoy! :) Hope Mother's Day was a blast!
~ Sheila
I am delighted by your work, all these little details you think of...
ReplyDeleteYou are really talented.
Man oh man.... I can see my mother developing before my eyes!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMiss Rose just keeps getting better and better!!! Loved watching "Mama"! I miss good clean shows like that!
ReplyDeleteShe is precious! It's been very fun watching you bring her to life. Those stocking, though, make my legs hurt just looking at them.
ReplyDeleteI can't for the life of me figure out what those ladies are doing posing in their garters!! Too cute!!
ReplyDeleteMemories of the ladies in the nursing home. .......
ReplyDeleteMrs. Rose is coming to life each time I see a new segment. I am loving those rolled down stockings.
ReplyDeleteShe is reminding me more and more of several older women I have known...a compilation/amalgamation/composite of women. Lovely! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWell, this is weird. My grandmother used to wear saggy hose folded/rolled whatever just below her knees. I thought is was just an old woman way to wear the hose with her house dress and no garters. I never knew it was really a fashion statement in HER era.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother was born in 1884. Does working on this piece make you wonder about your mother or grandmother's transition through their life? I often think about my grandmother's life.
I love Mrs. Rose. She's a tiny little thing, isn't she!
xx, Carol
I can remember my grandmother having rolled stockings. I tried it once and they wobbled down to my ankles so I gave it up. She was born in 1898 and died in 1991 so she would have been a young woman when that was in style. I no longer have either grandmother, but I learned so much from them.
ReplyDeleteyou are taking us back to the good old days! I can remember hearing about how ladies put gravy browning onto the legs if they had no nylons!
ReplyDeleteMrs Rose is looking wonderful you have created something totally unique and wonderful here.
A whole world opened for me! :))
ReplyDeleteNever heard of rolled stockings or garters, guess it was an American 'fashion' only?
One more of those unpractical garments that women have used at some point :)
With you no detail goes unnoticed....the block is really coming to life.
ReplyDeleteDeb
Wow, attention to detail down to the tiniest part! My Nan sometimes had rolled stockings, but I don't think she ever had the garters......... Mrs. Rose is looking wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI loved the Carol Burnett Show!
I'm sure my grandmother wore rolled stockings when she was a girl, but she moved on with relief to stockings that stayed up when she got older. She would have hated wrinkles around her ankles!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness this rolled stocking fashion has gone by the wayside. Mrs. Rose looks very appropriate with her custom hand made rolled stockings. Sew many details in such a small space. Pure genius dear...
ReplyDeleteLOL, this made me laugh. We had a character, Nora Batty, from a long running sitcom that was famous for her wrinkled stockings. My mum tells of staining her legs with tea and drawing a seam line with eyeliner when stockings were not available. My mum also had a strange dream many years ago about me spending an extortionate sum on a pair of mauve stockings and I can recall a conversation with my beloved Nan about darning stockings. So many lovely memories from one post :-) Thank you.
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