The facing illustrations are overlaid with longer statements gleaned from such sources as medical descriptions, old and new advertisements, and the artist’s own commentaries. Many of the combinations are painfully ironic. Under “U” we find, “Undulating curves create an aura of distinction,” followed by the artist’s own distressing words, “…pushing unforgivingly on my ribs with any movement and demand[ing] a most erect posture to prevent my shoulder braces cutting into me.” The pages may mention idyllic phrases like “the superb proportions of the ideal figure” and offer the appealing possibility of “swinging graceful lines,” |
but cast as they are in the context of unwelcome clinical prognoses and the artist’s disquieting words, such pursuits of beauty become only distant dreams.
Stone continues her wry examination of corsets in her book Dress versus Woman (Plain Words for Plain People). An antique corset forms the foundation – so to speak – for two hand-bound and hand-stitched booklets that fit neatly into two lace-edged pockets. Four garter straps are embroidered with the words, “Cultivate an easy, graceful carriage and deportment.”
Dress versus Woman (Plain Words for Plain People)
Tamar Stone
|
