As my transfixed gaze took in the detail of the garments suspended in the glass case, I wondered about the women who had inhabited their forms, the bodies once swathed in fabrics coarse and refined. I wondered about their curves, their skin, their scent, their sensuality, desires and cravings, my eyes absorbing the shapes and textures, attempting to place my fair flesh within them and within that time and place.
Standing in the shadowy museum light, I willed them to speak their secrets, their stories of love and lust and loss. I willed them to whisper the tales of these women if only to reassure me of my own place in the world. If only to reassure me that my voracious and often limitless carnality is not merely a product of the here and now but rather a hunger we carry, we bear, we release through each and every lifetime.
10 comments:
Surprising photo and post. I like them!
Great picture, very dream-like. Isn't it amazing how an old garment can make your imagination work! And I'm always in admiration of the minutely hand sown fabrics.
I believe we are not merely a product of the here and now. As women we do have the good fortune of being of this time where we can express our aliveness our carnality as free as any man and still maintain the allure of our femininity. Terrific post. xo - E.
And no one, Ella, does it much better than CM!
This is why museums always hold such a gripping fascination for me. Why I tend to stay there longer than whoever is with me wants me to. I behold the artifacts. I wonder at the hands that made them. The bodies that used them or wore them or killed with them. The tales that these objects could weave - if only they could speak.
If I reached out to touch them - could I feel the Span of Time? Somehow grasp through the Past and touch a life that once possessed this object?
To Feel and Hear the Testimony of the Lives of the Past.
Their Passions. Their Loves. Their Hates. Their Joys.
I wonder how many floors of men like me they have graced?
I look at them and get the sense of 'scary, stern, and sexy' from left to right. And those would make for very interesting stories indeed.
What an insightful way to approach such a display.
You convey much here. The frocks mystical femininity whispering untold secrets to us.... dare we listen?
Just A. Girl: Thank you kindly!
Frenchy: I also marvel at the glorious frocks and fabrics from times gone by! Thank you...
Ella: It seems we are on the same page once again. I am grateful everyday to be living in a time, place and culture where I can freely express my multifaceted personality, sexual or otherwise. Thank you, xx
Os: Oh my, thank you! You're making me blush...
Muffin: I couldn't agree with you more on the lure of museums and their glorious artifacts. If only they could whisper their secrets...
Sage: I suspect if these pretty pieces of lingerie had come into contact with men like you, they might be in a slightly different condition... ;)
Topaz: They would indeed. And the boning in the corset alone is enough to scare me!
Keats: Thank you so very much! And welcome...
SG: Thank you, lovely! I think we should dare to listen and bare witness to the lives of the women before us...
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