Dear Sir,– Some three years ago I read a most interesting article in a magazine on the cult of the elongated or stove-pipe waist. I learned that, although the fashion did not catch on to any extent in England, it was very popular for some time on the Continent and in America.
My aunt, with whom I live, assured me that at one time, without going to extremes, she attained a perfect round “pipe” stem waist, 4in. long and exactly 16in. in circumference, without ill results to her health.
I was keenly interested in the method she adopted to give her waist its long slender shape, and had a great desire to cultivate a similar waist myself. Although over 30 years of age, I had always been so very tightly laced that I was unusually slim.
My figure was very tractable and, noting my interest, my aunt was confident that with suitable belts and stays I would be able to gratify my fad. Some old-fashioned stay-makers were communicated with, and readily provided the training belts. Methods similar to, but not so drastic as those described by “E. Boyd,” were used. Being naturally long-waisted and the roughly accustomed to tight-lacing, enabled me to lengthen my waist with comparative ease.
In less than two years I could wear a belt which made my waist 16½in. round and 4in. long. Two photographs which illustrated the magazine article mentioned above showed a South American lady who had a perfect “pipe” waist of 13in. in circumference and 6in. long. In addition, this lady, who had a naturally long neck, had elongated it until she could wear a stiff collar 6in. high and 12in. in circumference.
This latter fashion was copied from the Padua tribe in Central Africa, whose womenfolk have brass rings, constantly riveted around their necks. More and more rings are added until the necks are stretched to as much as 10in. or more in length. (See “Living Races of Mankind,” published by Hutchinson.)
“E. Boyd’s” original letter on the “pipe” waist so greatly interested two young friends of mine, girls of 18 and 19, that both are being strictly tight-laced to prepare their waist for the stove-pipe belt. They are very keen to beat my 4in. long waist; and their mother who is an extreme tight-laces, is enthusiastically training them.
The cultivation of a “stem” waist is far more thrilling than ordinary lacing-in for a wasp-waist, and I should be delighted to hear of other readers who have similar experiences to mine.
Yours truly, ANN PENSTONE