Making the Calendar

It really is quite amazing how a dozen professional women, ranging in ages from late 20's to early 80's, enjoyed the unusual task of modelling some choice garments from the Ivy Leaf Collection. The glorious corset quality satins were much in demand and, although nobody had ever worn a lower foundation before, several of the ladies found the experience thoroughly good fun, interesting and quite an education. The youngest model when asked if she would like to wear a corselette, corset or girdle, paused for a few seconds before replying that she was not exactly sure what such things were! In the event she was one of the most enthusiastic models and tried on many garments from the collection although, as her expression (below left) reveals, struggling into a 1970's Marks & Spencer girdle was not an easy experience. The final product however (below right) shows that, as many women have learned over the decades, that one must suffer to be beautiful!

All the models were given a free choice of garment from the extensive range in the Ivy Leaf Collection. It was quite apparent that the intricacies of the more complex foundations were neither understood nor appreciated, however, the elegance of the satins and the brocades was the attraction. Since we were trying to fit garments that had been specifically made-to-measure for individual clients, it is not surprising that the fit on many of the models would make (and indeed did make) a corsetiere cringe! Short of re-constructing all the garments to fit the models, an exercise that, even if it was possible, would cost many thousands of pounds and negate the simple objective of the calendar that was to make money for charity.

In order to get the calendar made, we had to recruit volunteers from a professional woman's society, get the measurements of all the amateur models, find a venue, find photographers and construct what I believe is called a 'story board'. Then we would would try and take all the photographs in a day-long session. As it happened, we were lucky on nearly every count.

My husband initially was highly sceptical that we would find any volunteers, so the enthusiastic response was something of a surprise. We tried to fit between two and four models per evening however, time pressures meant that on one hilarious occasion, we had four models, two helpers, a guest and somebody's mother all in the limited area of the fitting rooms at the same time! It was only the mother that recognised some of the garments and volunteered "I used to wear one of those." Without exception the fitting sessions were incredibly good natured. The only stress was when today's woman failed to fit into yesterday garment (we are a species that has been growing with our increased wealth, a sentiment that caused my husband to suggest that we'll all be as thin as rakes in 10 years time!) We realised that the models' estimated measurements and reality were often a little adrift. "Oh dear; I seem to have grown since I last measured myself!" We would call up my husband to search the collection for the larger garments "Are you all decent up there?" he would enquire, totally un-nerved by the feminine giggles and arch comments. Eventually, all sizes were not just fitted as well as we could manage, but looked very elegant as well.

At this point, we were very fortunate in that one lady possessed a fabulously decorated house and offered it for the whole photographic session. The snag was that she was going on holiday far sooner than we would have wanted, however, there's nothing like a deadline to concentrate one's mind.

Another lady volunteered her son-in-law as photographer. This was extremely fortunate. There is no way we could have afforded a professional's fees, however, the son-in-law, although breaking into the professional business, offered to do the shoot for expenses only, realising that he would be able to add a unique collection to his portfolio.

It took many evenings, spreadsheets, plans and crossings out to come up with sufficient scenarios to fill the 12 month calendar whilst keeping to the theme of the women's society. Finding a date was actually helped by the restricted time-frame. "It's that Saturday or nothing. If you can't make it, you won't be in the calendar. Sorry, but that's the way it is!" Since everybody wanted to appear, everybody found a way to make it on time, however, not all could stay for the whole day. So the plan was torn up again, and re-drafted to accommodate the timings, to move the photo shoot from the top of the house to the bottom and to minimise the setting up time for the photographers.

The day, thankfully was very sunny, that allowed some photographs to be taken outside. Sometimes  it is worth noting what is going on in your neighbour's garden.

An incredible diversity of garments was modelled that day. On the left is a German Ilona brassiere from the 1970's and an Australian Jenyns corset from the 1960's. On the right is a relatively modern British Spirella brassiere from the mid 1980's worn over a Canadian Spirella 325 corset (front and back-laced) from the 1960's. In the middle we see an American Spencer matching brassiere and corset from the 1950's and a beautiful pre-War Charis all-in-one. A purist (and our corsetiere friend is one of those) could point out many deficiencies of the fit, the looseness of the lacing and that the lady on the left wears her brassiere inside the corset, but without a seamstress on hand, we simply had to manage as well as we could. As the smiles below indicate, everybody enjoyed what was for many, one of the most unusual days of their lives.

Credits:

Photography:  DDM Photographic  www.ddmphotographic.co.uk

Fabrics:  Indigo Flair  www.indigoflair.co.uk

Garments supplied by the Ivy Leaf Collection  www.corsetiere.net/ILC