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VestalVirginSeptember 25, 2024
Man was sick in bed and still wore tights?
Only a man would do that.
There may be some freaky women who don't wear sweatpants when sick at home, because they view sweatpants as the sure sign of a jobless loser, and they might wear other comfortable clothing.
(And in 1887, I wager most women would have worn a nightgown and nothing else.)
But tights? With an illness so severe he was at home for two months?
Insane.
This man wasn't wearing tights, though. The article from 1882 that OP provided says he was wearing "long stockings." OP mistook that to mean he was wearing tights.
As I point out in my another post, in 1882 long stockings would have meant single-legged hose that went up above the knee. Could have been just a bit above the knee, mid-thigh, or more than halfway up the thigh.
Also, lots of girls and women who wear nightgowns wear socks with them - ankle socks, tube socks, athletic socks, knee-high socks, leg warmers. This is most common in cold weather, of course, but some women and girls wear socks with nightgowns even in warm/hot weather.
SomeoneElseSeptember 25, 2024
I wear sleep shorts when I’m sick. Not for any sexy reasons, I just get way too warm in sweatpants. I will often balance it by wearing a baggy sweater or sweatshirt, just so I can make sure I’m not overheating or freezing.
Metal_detector [OP]September 25, 2024
I wear nightgowns when I’m sick now. Or a giant t shirt/pajama pants. Sometimes just underwear. Because that’s comfortable for me.
samsdatSeptember 25, 2024
Even then, it was the engineers.
And what are palpitators? Of course he had them on his breasts. It’s always been a fetish.
"Palpitators" was a 19th-century term for the bosom-enhancing pads that in the mid-20th century came to be known as "falsies."
palpitators:
Dated, outdated term for pads stuffed inside a bra to give the impression of larger breasts.
https://www.sex-lexis.com/-dictionary/palpitators
Falsies:
Pads worn inside a brassiere to make the breasts appear larger. Synonym: colpomentiors; gay deceivers; padding; palpitators; patent heavers; props.
samsdatSeptember 25, 2024
Thank you, @proxymusic. I should have done that myself, but I’m grateful to you for doing it.
VestalVirginSeptember 25, 2024
Gay deceivers? Does that refer to the other meaning of gay, or were those used by more men than women? 🤔
(Padded bras aren't uncommon nowadays, but I have heard from girls that they use them to make sure their nipples aren't visible, not per se to make their breasts look larger.)
(Padded bras aren't uncommon nowadays, but I have heard from girls that they use them to make sure their nipples aren't visible, not per se to make their breasts look larger.)
Many bras today have cups made up multiply foam fabric, or with a thin foam lining. Those kinds of bras are meant to provide more coverage and nipple concealment for the sake of modesty, and it they also provide more shape than bras whose cups are made of sheer or much thinner fabric. But AFAICT, bras that use foam fabric or a thin foam lining don't fit the definition of a genuinely padded bra.
As I understand it, a padded bra has much thicker, pillowy cushions in the cups that are meant to make the breasts look noticeably larger than they actually are. A padded bra is usually meant to change/ehance the shape of the breasts too. Today, the padding in a padded bra is usually constructed to make the breasts look much rounder than they are, and to push them up as well. Whereas in the mid-20th century, many bras - both with and without padding - were constructed to make the breasts project outwards and look pointy.
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/vintage-bra-ads/5/
https://cubicmuse.com/?attachment_id=1434
Metal_detector [OP]September 26, 2024
Thank you for all the information! It’s been really fun reading everything.
Gay deceivers? Does that refer to the other meaning of gay, or were those used by more men than women?
I think the term "gay deceivers" in this case meant gay as in showy, amusing, happy, lighthearted and pleasantly appealing - maybe in a slightly naughty "wink-wink" way.
In the 19th century, the word "gay" didn't denote homosexuality. Until well into the 20th century, gay meant carefree, cheerful, mirthful, festive, frivolous, fun, colorful, happy-go-lucky.
Hence, small bouquets of sweet-smelling flowers used to be called "nosegay." And in the US in the 20th century, the last decade of the 19th century came to be known as "the Gay Nineties."
Definition of the adjective "gay" in Samuel Johnson's dictionary from 1773:
1 Airy; chearful; merry; frolick.
Smooth flow the waves, the zephyrs gently play;
Belinda smil’d, and all the world was gay. -- Pope.
Ev’n rival wits did Voiture’s fate deplore,
And the gay mourn’d, who never mourn’d before. --Pope.
2 Fine; showy.
A virgin that loves to go gay. Bar. [Book of Baruch in the Bible] vi. 9.
The definition Noah Webster gave in his dictionary of American English in 1828:
GAY, adjective
1 Merry; airy; jovial; sportive; frolicksome. It denotes more life and animation than cheerful.
Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay
2 Fine; showy; as a gay dress.
3 Inflamed or merry with liquor; intoxicated; a vulgar use of the word in America.
GAY, noun An ornament.
VestalVirginSeptember 25, 2024
Ah, so that was before the meaning shifted. Thanks!
Some more info on the shifting meanings of the word gay. Apparently by the close of the 19th century, "gay" could have sexual connotations too. But when gay was used in a sexually suggestive way back then, it simply meant sexy, risqué, racy, naughty and bawdy in a general sense - it wasn't referring to specifically to homosexual sex.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/gay
https://www.newsweek.com/please-return-word-gay-205916
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/magazine/homolexicology.html
Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney performing the song "The Gay Nineties" in the movie "Strike Up the Band" from 1940: https://youtu.be/NR69Xvx6Cx0?si=YjPA0RPQoHbtHe_c
During the early era of American television in the late 1940s, a variety show called "The Gay Nineties Revue" aired on the ABC network: https://youtu.be/ISAWr98imwI?si=x_3AmO1pftDTElNq
The 1969 movie "The Gay Deceivers" - about American men pretending to be homosexual to avoid being drafted into the armed services during the height of the US military involvement/war-waging in Vietnam - is on YT: https://youtu.be/8TrNwO5FZ8g?si=0lirURNNjWi3NYsf
BehindtheCurtainSeptember 25, 2024
So men have been able to dress in feminine frock while women were still considered property
womeninloveSeptember 25, 2024
I imagine the humiliation fetish in doing so would have been just as potent at that time.
CryingInYourInboxSeptember 25, 2024
This is why it's so annoying when they claim to be feminists
"We've always existed!"
Yea and during that time you jacked yourself to death instead of doing anything for women's (or black people's) rights
Metal_detector [OP]September 25, 2024
Precisely! Ciz women aren’t people! :D
Please note this is to be read with sarcasm.
I’ve camped outside in Tennessee in late July/August. It can get a little chilly but not cold enough for tights. And certainly not in the daytime if one can help it. Especially if you’re sick in bed.
Granted I’m aware this is 1887 but still. I’m allowed to poke a little fun at this.
OP, just to be clear for those not well-versed in fashion history, this man wasn't dressed in "TIGHTS" like the thread title says. The article says that when his body was discoverd, he was wearing
In 1882, "long stockings" wouldn't have meant "tights" as that term is understood today. Long stockings would have meant a pair of two individual single-legged hose that were put on and taken off one foot/leg at a time and went above the knee. Today we'd call them "thigh highs" or "over the knee" stockings.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/156699
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?sortBy=Relevance&geolocation=Europe&material=Costume|Hosiery&era=A.D.+1800-1900
https://au.pinterest.com/elvacawood/victorian-stockings-socks-1837-1901/
https://www.pinterest.com/thechangelingsims/late-19th-century-clothing-stockings/
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/stockings-of-1880-1895-1900-and-1910-news-photo/3253270
https://viennemilano.com/blogs/tights/history-of-pantyhose?srsltid=AfmBOop2ZCmOFw_QzU9OIyfOahWhY_RtA7Fy1yTHtqs9Vl6YZMk5vs_Q
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Woman-in-black-stockings.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Goulue#/media/File:La_Goulue2.jpg
http://www.dutempsdescerisesauxfeuillesmortes.net/textes_divers/french_cancan/photos/goulue_la_00.jpg
https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/collection/object/NG.M.02244
https://www.paintingmania.com/woman-putting-her-stockings-55_8052.html
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/woman-getting-dressed-also-known-as-young-woman-fastening-her-stockings-1880-pc-berthe-morisot.html
https://collection.barnesfoundation.org/objects/5221/Woman-with-White-Stockings-(La-Femme-aux-bas-blancs)/
https://www.gettyimages.fi/detail/kuvitus/vintage-illustration-of-sketch-of-a-young-woman-rojaltivapaa-kuvitus/1477247851
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/semi-nude-woman-wearing-feathered-hat-at-dressing-table-1900-french-nude-postcard.html?product=greeting-card
Thank you!!! I appreciate your input. I didn’t know this 🖤 also I have a habit of calling all thigh highs, pantyhose’s, leggings “tights”. So that’s on me.
And this further proves my point that these men are obsessed with thigh highs lol