Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Grace Kelly Style and My Own Hellish Experience



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 One of my favorite movies is Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window starring James Stewart (my absolute favorite actor of all time) and the gorgeous Grace Kelly. Besides the fact that this movie is still quite a thriller The fashions that Grace Kelly wore in it are stunning! I remember my mom had a similar black and white dress that I would play dress-up in and I wished she had kept it because I swear I would have worn it to my wedding rehearsal dinner.
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Gorgeous green suit. When she took off the jacket she wore a backless sort of wrap blouse that was simply beautiful. It wasn't overly sexy. It just had a smidgen of sexiness by being backless. If I could sew well I would make this blouse in a second. and look at those pearls and bracelet...simply perfect.
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Another beautiful dress. It has illusion sleeves and a very cinched waist. I would probably faint from lack of oxygen, but damn I'd look good! That's only if I lost 40 pounds!This is the problem with these fashions they look great on thinner woman. This little number on me might look like a balloon tied in the middle. I guess the down side to these fashions is that one had to wear a girdle with them. I mean just look at any rerun of I love Lucy...all the women's waists seemed to be painfully cinched.

 A few years ago my husband and I were invited to a fancy shmancy party. I knew that I was to see old friends there and that I had gained quite a bit of weight since I last saw them. I bought a great outfit, but it needed a good girdle to make the overall silhouette look nice. I went a few better. I wore hose with a lot of waist control, a spandex girdle ...and a waist cincher.

At first it didn't really bother me; but about two hours in (as chit chat wafted all around me) in my head I heard screaming. I was in girdle agony! My mental screams dominated my brain until a migraine started to form.  The metal stays of the waist cincher were stabbing my sides raw and the tightness of the girdle hurt my back. I was miserable!!! There was my old friend comfortable with her extra weight on display loose and fancy free while I was encased in a hellish contraption of my own making.

When we said our last goodbyes with promises of luncheons that were never to be; I waited for my husband to bring the car around (I couldn't walk because In addition to several girdles I had worn very high heels that left me semi paralyze with foot pain). I got into the car and when we were about half a mile away I started to strip myself of the contraptions. when the last of it was off and I peeled off the shoes from my swollen feet I had the nerve to look at my Husband and say...

"That was fun we should do that more often." 

9 comments:

  1. My grandma used to wear a girdle, I remember seeing her put it on before taking us to church. WILD! I can't imagine being in pain all the time for vanity, but I used to care about such things when I was younger:)

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  2. Love Grace Kelly and Jimmy S, Im a huge fan of old movies. I love the dresses and sets. I have not worn a girdle before but have worn those pantie hose that suck you in. It's so hard in your mind i find to see yourself different, when i look in the mirror i see someone different than i used to be. In my mind though im still 19 and 110lbs. lol I felt bad for a long time about the weight i gained after my kids but now im ok with it. My hubbie loves me for me!! Working out now if for health and not my weight, though i do wish my pants were not so tight some days. lol PS, i just looked up some of the people i knew from HS and they dont look like they did as a teenager either. Made me feel alot better!! lol

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  3. I remember when I was first married wearing a girdle and I was very thin then. It was just the style. As I grew older I threw the girdle away and let it all hang out. :-)
    Now I try to stay fit by exercising each day.

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  4. omg you poor thing al that to look nice and then to want to do it again. my hero

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  5. @Ma~ My Mom wore a girdle and in fact still wears one every day! I guess old habits die hard.

    @Looking Glass Miniatures~ Hi Jenn! I totally know what you mean about looking in the mirror...I always expect a different outcome!LOL.

    @Beth~ I hear Ya! I am starting to exercise again and boy am I out of shape!

    @Becca~ LOL Thanks Becca! I had to do it...couldn't let them think I was pregnant! Vanity, it's what makes us do these awful things! ;O)

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  6. hehe you crack me up girlie I am so the same way, and rolling out of those items yes actually rolling them off my body!

    Do it again ... hehe you crack me up!

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  7. This made me laugh. Why DO we do these things to ourselves????

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  8. @ Alexis~Ah yes the old roll the girdle off your body technique! Glad to know someone else does the same thing!!! LOL

    @Retired English Teacher~ well I know why I do It.....to try and displace 4o extra pounds from my middle to other parts! LOL

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  9. Terrific post! Am a nut for classic coutoure. Oh how I'd love to be able to zip back in time and rummage through all those racks on the backlots at some of the giant movie studios of old. Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, even Doris Day...they always wore clothes that spoke to me.

    Glad to hear you survived your mini-reunion. And maybe next time you and the old gang get together you can do it at the park or something where you can wear something tres chic, yet sporty and comfortable.

    Loved the post,
    L. Avery Brown
    http://whenasouthernwomanrambles.blogspot.com/

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