[h-cost] National Geographic: History of the Bra
It should have been titled How a Bra is Manufactured. But the show was
really good. Did anyone see this show Friday night on the National Geographic
Channel?
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/ET/popup/200709282200.html
I thought at first it was that dumb show that was on a couple of years ago, so
I didn't start videotaping it under after the first 20 minutes. But the show
comes on again Sunday and I will tape it all then.
What the show covers:
***About 10 minutes (at most) of the history of corsets and bras.
***Silk, present day development: Vietnam: worm to cocoon--to obtaining the
strands from the cocoons, spinning weaving, dyeing, weaving. This part and the
next were really interesting.
***Lycra: From the pipeline, transport to factory, mixing of chemicals and how
they react (good example by chemist), colorants, spinning, and weaving. Those
who love dyes, will love this part.
***Fitting a bra properly: States that 8 out of 10 women are wearing and
incorrect bra size. How to measure for bra and cup sizes. A famous NYC bra
shop that shows how to fit a bra and for what occasions. I would love to go
there! Also states how women's average bra size has increased dramatically
over the past 15 years. Average size now is a 36 C. They do state that
different types styles and manufacturers of bras fit differently. The average
bra is only to last three months.
My sidenote: {I have been so tired of salespeople only interested in sale
instead of the quality of the fit. I go to Williamsburg, VA to the Maidenform
Outlet Store and their salespeople will not let you leave until the bra fits
perfectly. I don't know if this is a company or manager decision, but I love
these salesladies. Also, JC Penney's catalog dept. is know to carry the
largest variety of bra sizes and cups. It is their #1 products sold in their
catalog dept.}
***Assembly of bras: Cutting and manufacturing processes of the fabric pieces,
underwires, claps clips.
***Science of the bra: Model wearing sensors while jogging with different types
of bras. This is to show which bras are good for exercise. Hint: The sports
bra did not win!
***All pieces of the bra, underwires and clasps are shipped to Vietnam to be
assembled. The bras are sewn on industrial sewing machines by workers.
Underwires and clasps are put on by hand. The workers change positions every
couple of hours to keep from being bored. I was happy to see this! When I
first saw the Vietnam assembly, I thought, I would go crazy doing that process
all day long.
***Finally the bras are sent to a show for buyers from businesses.
Penny Ladnier,
Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites
www.costumegallery.com
www.costumelibrary.com
www.costumeclassroom.com
www.costumeencyclopedia.com
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[h-cost] Ironing: Revisited
I talked with my Aunt Susie last night about ironing and keeping cotton and linen cool before ironing. She was born in 1922. I love my sweet aunt... she is very intelligent and her memory as clear as a bell. I first asked about when they had electricity in her home. I think this is important factor after watching another Modern Marvels titled Wired. I learned from the show how some rural areas of the U.S. did not have electricity until 1949, especially the south. Five homes had to be located witin a given radius to have electric lines drawn to them. My aunt grew up in Hendersonville, North Carolina in a rural area near a major highway. So her family's home was wired earlier because of the highway, between 1928-1930. BUT she said this not the norm for the area. Some of the farms in her county were not wired until the late 1940s. She remembers an icebox in the house until 1934. She remembers this because it was a big deal to have an electric refrigerator. When she said this, I remembered what a big deal in my family growing up was to have color TV, and when I got married the milestones of having cable TV, microwave, a computer, and internet. While listening to her, I thought how spoiled we are! Back to Aunt Susie... she said that they washed clothes on scrub-boards generally in the creek until they bought an electric washing machine with a ringer. The washer was kept on the back porch. By the way she talked this event occurred when she was a teenager. If someone was sick, her mother had a large cast-iron pot in the yard to boil water and wash the clothes. IRONING: They had a large cast-iron stove until she moved out after WW2. The iron was placed on the stove to heat. This was used until she moved away from home. If there was clothing to be ironed and there wasn't enough time to do it, the wet clothing was rolled up, and placed in a spring box or milk box in the creek. This same reason given, as we previously discussed, to decrease mildew. The clothing was not to go into the frig or icebox. The spring box / milk box was a new term! I love interviewing older people to learn from their past! What is a spring box / milk box? It is was a large cement box in a spring to catch water in a creek / spring / river. Products that would spoil easily such as milk, eggs, and butter were but into a spring box to keep them cool. My aunt said their creek's water was cold year round. She also commented that they cooled watermelons in the spring box. The spring box was large. The part that faced the creek's downsteam flow had a grate to let the water into the box. The opposing end of the box had a pipe that allowed water to flow out. From this point the water was piped up to their home. The spring box's pipe had a flywheel that so good that it pumped water up to the third story in my aunt's home. In the shallow end of the spring box the water was generally 4 deep and the deeper end 8. The butter was kept in the shallow end and the milk in the deep end. She stated that her family survived the Depression by selling milk, eggs, and butter to the locals. My aunt said there was a teacher in Georgia who sent her students on assignment to record the old ways of doing things from the elders in the area. These were published in a series named Foxfire. My aunt owned two volumes of Foxfire but Hurricane Katrina took them, along with the rest of her home. Aunt Susie said the series were all kinds of recipes and methods of how to do all sorts of things. Penny Ladnier, Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com www.costumelibrary.com www.costumeclassroom.com www.costumeencyclopedia.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Harper's Bazaar
I have a goal to get through the stack of thirty current fashion magazines on my office floor. I have been carrying magazines with me everywhere to read. This week, I brought a Harper's or W to my doctor's office to pass my waiting room time. There was a medical article in the issue and we were discussing it. Then, he started reading the article and said that the information was correct. The article was included the history of the 1300s plague. Today, I was toting a Harper's with me while waiting to see my teenage daughter's French teacher and principal. The 20-something y.o. French teacher came into the waiting room. She asked, What are you reading? I showed her the Harper's Bazaar. She said in a snippy tone, Oh, my mother reads that! I should have given her my noteworthy mother's stare over my glasses. The next time that I have a meeting with this teacher, I am going to bring in an 1870s issue of Harper's and say, My great-grandmother read Harper's too! Then pull out my 1858 bound Harper's and say that her mother read these! I generally past down all my present day fashion magazines to my 30 y.o. daughter-in-law. I gave my DIL some magazines this past week and she remarked that Harper's was her favorite fashion magazine. Harper's is also more than 50% of my college students' favorite fashion magazine. I would love to know the average age of present day Harper's subscribers. Maybe I should write Harper's for an advertising demographic profile. I know Harper's has a monthly section called Fabulous are Every Age, that highlights fashions for women in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70+. Well, I know my 16 y.o. old daughter will only read the magazine, IF Harper's is the only reading material in the van other than the van's owner manual. Penny Ladnier, Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com www.costumelibrary.com www.costumeclassroom.com www.costumeencyclopedia.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] questions about wool
Thanks everyone for all of the great advice! Teena ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Ironing: Revisited
By the way she talked this event occurred when she was a teenager. If someone was sick, her mother had a large cast-iron pot in the yard to boil water and wash the clothes. from home. If there was clothing to be ironed and there wasn't enough time to do it, the wet clothing was rolled up, and placed in a spring box or milk box in the creek. My earliest real job (like not delivering papers) was in an industrial laundry. We rarely started a load late afternoon to avoid having wet clothing overnight - - we would at most load machines and leave them dry for a quick start the next day. If a load was started late, it would be washed and spun but left in the spin drier (a thing about the size of a Volkswagon) with the lid sealed for what looks like a similar reason to keeping washing in the spring box. Shows how the technology changes, not the action. I remember from when I was a kid (not THAT long ago) we had a copper, a copper tub in an iron frame for boiling clothes. I vaguley remember it being used to boil jeans. I wish I had one now instead of the welded galvanised iron rubbish bin (trash can) I lug up onto my stove for large dye jobs. I do have one of the old stove-top irons, it makes a great doorstop; and a bronze iron stand which is an ornate frame the size of a sheet of writing paper -- I use for (you guessed it) my ironing, -C. This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Ironing: Revisited
Thanks for this fascinating post, Penny! By the way, the Foxfire Books are wonderful, and well known in some circles (e.g., folklorists, cultural anthropologists, conservationists, craftspeople, and former Hippies!). I believe you can still get them all, and new volumes are still being developed. Go to the source: http://www.foxfire.org/prodFFbooks.html --Ruth Anne Baumgartner scholar gypsy and amateur costumer On Sep 29, 2007, at 3:43 AM, Penny Ladnier wrote: I talked with my Aunt Susie last night about ironing and keeping cotton and linen cool before ironing. She was born in 1922. I love my sweet aunt... she is very intelligent and her memory as clear as a bell. snip My aunt said there was a teacher in Georgia who sent her students on assignment to record the old ways of doing things from the elders in the area. These were published in a series named Foxfire. My aunt owned two volumes of Foxfire but Hurricane Katrina took them, along with the rest of her home. Aunt Susie said the series were all kinds of recipes and methods of how to do all sorts of things. Penny Ladnier, Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com www.costumelibrary.com www.costumeclassroom.com www.costumeencyclopedia.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Ironing: Revisited
--- Ruth Anne Baumgartner [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: By the way, the Foxfire Books are wonderful, and well known in some circles (e.g., folklorists, cultural anthropologists, conservationists, craftspeople, and former Hippies!). I believe you can still get them all, and new volumes are still being developed. Go to the source: http://www.foxfire.org/prodFFbooks.html --Ruth Anne Baumgartner I ran into the Foxfire Books some fifteen years ago, and was quite impressed at their quality. And this was in some Northeast US library, not a specialist bookstore or anything. :) Ann in CT Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids. http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mailp=summer+activities+for+kidscs=bz ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Ironing: Revisited
We too did not get electricty until 1949...the year my brother was born.(NH) Much of what you have described was my own experience...except the 'spring box'. I did not get to wear a fresh dress every day until I was able to iron them myself. Pressing cloths and the sprinkling bottle were old familiars. The trick in warm weather was to get to the prepared ironing pile before mildew set in...then one would need to practice all the old remedies to treat it. In the early '50s we set our full skirts with sugar water as stiffner (or potato or pasta water). When we got 'wired', mother got a wringer washer and we had to learn how to deal with fancy plastic buttons that were regularly killed if we didn't fold them in carefully before they slipped between the rollers. Kathleen Original Message - From: Penny Ladnier [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: h-costume [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2007 3:43 AM Subject: [h-cost] Ironing: Revisited I talked with my Aunt Susie last night about ironing and keeping cotton and linen cool before ironing. She was born in 1922. I love my sweet aunt... she is very intelligent and her memory as clear as a bell. I first asked about when they had electricity in her home. I think this is important factor after watching another Modern Marvels titled Wired. I learned from the show how some rural areas of the U.S. did not have electricity until 1949, especially the south. Five homes had to be located witin a given radius to have electric lines drawn to them. My aunt grew up in Hendersonville, North Carolina in a rural area near a major highway. So her family's home was wired earlier because of the highway, between 1928-1930. BUT she said this not the norm for the area. Some of the farms in her county were not wired until the late 1940s. She remembers an icebox in the house until 1934. She remembers this because it was a big deal to have an electric refrigerator. When she said this, I remembered what a big deal in my family growing up was to have color TV, and when I got married the milestones of having cable TV, microwave, a computer, and internet. While listening to her, I thought how spoiled we are! Back to Aunt Susie... she said that they washed clothes on scrub-boards generally in the creek until they bought an electric washing machine with a ringer. The washer was kept on the back porch. By the way she talked this event occurred when she was a teenager. If someone was sick, her mother had a large cast-iron pot in the yard to boil water and wash the clothes. IRONING: They had a large cast-iron stove until she moved out after WW2. The iron was placed on the stove to heat. This was used until she moved away from home. If there was clothing to be ironed and there wasn't enough time to do it, the wet clothing was rolled up, and placed in a spring box or milk box in the creek. This same reason given, as we previously discussed, to decrease mildew. The clothing was not to go into the frig or icebox. The spring box / milk box was a new term! I love interviewing older people to learn from their past! What is a spring box / milk box? It is was a large cement box in a spring to catch water in a creek / spring / river. Products that would spoil easily such as milk, eggs, and butter were but into a spring box to keep them cool. My aunt said their creek's water was cold year round. She also commented that they cooled watermelons in the spring box. The spring box was large. The part that faced the creek's downsteam flow had a grate to let the water into the box. The opposing end of the box had a pipe that allowed water to flow out. From this point the water was piped up to their home. The spring box's pipe had a flywheel that so good that it pumped water up to the third story in my aunt's home. In the shallow end of the spring box the water was generally 4 deep and the deeper end 8. The butter was kept in the shallow end and the milk in the deep end. She stated that her family survived the Depression by selling milk, eggs, and butter to the locals. My aunt said there was a teacher in Georgia who sent her students on assignment to record the old ways of doing things from the elders in the area. These were published in a series named Foxfire. My aunt owned two volumes of Foxfire but Hurricane Katrina took them, along with the rest of her home. Aunt Susie said the series were all kinds of recipes and methods of how to do all sorts of things. Penny Ladnier, Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com www.costumelibrary.com www.costumeclassroom.com www.costumeencyclopedia.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] National Geographic: History of the Bra
Now, if only they could make the underwires STAY in the bra and not poke through Kathleen Norvell ** See what's new at http://www.aol.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
