#museum myths

[marzipanandminutiae]

I once went to a fashion museum, which had a temporary exhibition on corsets. I, having recently started watching historical fashion youtubers, was really excited to read more about historical corsetry, and happy that slightly fewer people would fall for the corset-myths.

Can you guess what I found?

Correct! The entire fucking exhibition was about tightlacing! Not once did it mention working class women and their relationship to corsetry and work, no mention of stays or any corset that is not made for tightlacing, nor any practical use of corsets or any non-vanity-related reasons for wearing corsets. They didn't even mention the people who are, today, recommended corsets for medical reasons.

Oh god.

It really is like that sometimes, though! Early (mostly male) dress historians like Cecil Willett Cunnington FULLY took those semi-pornographic tightlacing magazine letters from the 1800s as gospel, or satirical images as valid primary sources. It seems from my reading like Doris Langley Moore- writing in the mid-20th century when female dress historians were rare, natch -was the first to literally include a drawing of a 17"-circumference circle in her book and say "Guys. There's NO WAY this was widespread based on the overwhelming majority of extant garments."

And even now, while it's not a corset myth, I had a young curator I consulted with last year say "Well, of course these dresses WERE unhealthy to wear," with full confidence and no further elaboration.

We're not getting out of the dress history myths alive, friends.

[rosieandthemoon]

Labyrinth \\\ via

[diemelusine]

Ophelia (1851) by John Everett Millais. Tate Britain.

[namedvesta]

Bust of Agrippina the Elder. First half of the 1st century CE.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul.

[buggykitty]

Greek Pottery from the Getty Villa in Los Angeles

Odysseus counseling Achilles when he refuses to fight after Agamemnon seizes Briseis

Artemis presenting a laurel to a musician

[froggyfriendsworld]

Torso of Bacchus (1st-2nd century CE) Roman Imperial period

[jujoobedoodling]

Three Sisters

and a gay history nerd staring longingly at them

[belovedapollo]

finally met Apollo and Artemis in the Altes Museum in Berlin 🪽 reblog is ok, don’t repost/use

[fervi-g]

Sala della Niobe. Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze

My Instagram account

[fallbabylon]

Pictures from this year's Black Shuck Festival- Black Shuck

In English folklore, Black Shuck, Old Shuck, Old Shock, or simply Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog that is said to roam the coastline and countryside of East Anglia- Bungay, UK

[metanoias-substack]

The gods perceive what lies in the future,

and mortals, what occurs in the present,

but wise men

apprehend what is imminent.

— Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, VIII, 7

© Image by Sueda Gln

[marzipanandminutiae]

While not a lie specifically I had a museum guide extoll the virtues of physical punishment in the classroom while showing us around the old schoolhouse. Explaining how the students were often hit or put in the "dunce corner".

I was viscerally uncomfortable the entire tour.

Yikes.

I mean, yeah, that happened. You also had 16-year-old teachers over classes of children barely younger than them sometimes. The 19th century (I'm guessing?) wasn't really a golden age of education.

But a lot of literature from the time- or about the time, written by people who lived it -looks down on teachers who keep order primarily through hitting or humiliating their students. Little Women, Little House on the Prairie, Jane Eyre, and Anne of Green Gables come to mind. It was seen as commonplace and on principle acceptable, but still Not Great, it seems.

[rosieandthemoon]

Antique Mythology Book

[mercurymarine404]

Saken..

[namedvesta]

Alexandre Cabanel, Samson and Delilah (𝟣𝟪𝟩𝟪)

[wishmemellon]

In a modern au I’ve done absolutely nothing with I’ve given Apollo pet rats and mice.

They love them dearly and carry them around in their shirt pocket.