Restrictive Clothing and Cramped School Desks

A while ago I received an emailed comment from an anonymous reader, to whom I must apologise for not getting to it sooner, regarding restrictive discipline clothing. As usual I have run it through the good old spell checker, but unusually I have also carried out a little bit of editing - not because there was anything wrong with it as it stood, but rather because I enjoyed the ideas presented and couldn't resist embellishing it a bit. Also it led me to think more about a prospective governess's thought processes if presenting her take on a school uniform suitable for a young lady continuing her education in somewhat private circumstances (see next post)...now read on...

"Dear Garth, I read your blog of February 16th with great pleasure. Restrictive clothing has always been a favorite of mine, underwear especially. What can be more restrictive than a tight corset? I am all for the inclusion of a long chapter with a number of girls in a classroom where the (stated) goal of the experiment is to study the influence of “proper dress” on learning. Of course the girls as they sit in the classroom cannot forget for a minute their appearance. Be it the tight constricting, lace-up oxford shoes; sized far too small and that hobble them, imprisoning their feet so tightly that nothing can move inside. Walking in these shoes is painful; sitting in the classroom is the only way to alleviate the pain. But then the corset takes over, as it has been equally carefully designed to dig into the pubic bone and under the arm when sitting. The back garters are positioned so that it is impossible not to sit on them and not leave their imprint on their skin - with time, angry red marks develop.

The stockings are support stockings or wool or maybe both just to keep warm in the winter or summer! The backboard, integral to their corsetry ensures that there can be no stooping in the classroom - or anywhere else for that matter. I like the idea of a smock or tunic, back buttoned and with a starched cotton blouse underneath and a high tight collar, also buttoned in the back; the girls can help each other dress up in the morning… I could go on and on, suffice it to say that the idea gets my vote."

Yes and yours would get mine too... Especially if they are crammed into the typical Victorian schoolroom desk-and-seat combo or some modern variant. The most interesting point about that type of design is that...in actuality it is so poor when it comes adaptability. Even in its original for it was designed to accommodate comfortably only a narrow size range - and of course the pupil has no control over the relative positions of the desk and chair, there can be no slovenly swing back on the chair or twisting nonchalantly to one side or the other and facing outwards with legs crossed...or even crossing the legs under the desk if the design has been engineered correctly. In short it is that very lack of flexibility that makes the Victorian schoolroom desk so amenable to enforcing the standards required for the imposition of strict discipline - it represents a little more of the aspect of personal choice rested away from the governess's charge.

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In the context of the above writer's ideas; the incorporation of such furnishings into the schoolroom when dealing with girls in their late teens or even early twenties, especially if scant regard has been paid to their physical maturity, would be the icing on the cake, so to speak. I have rustled up a couple of suitable pics (above) to illustrate what we are talking about here : if you imagine such a design having been realised in a tough white molded plastic, all smoothly-curving lines but otherwise just as restrictive (perhaps more so, having been especially put together for that very purpose) then you have something of the atmosphere of the schoolroom depicted in INSTITUTIONALISED volume 1.

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There is scope here for further refinement of course: for example the chair back (straight-backed of course) could be increased in height as far as the back of the girl's head to enforce a correctly alert and disciplined posture and restrain her from stretching and throwing back the head in an unladylike manner.

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On the other hand the chair could be reduced to the dimensions of a narrow bench seat and her posture be maintained by discipline (and the fear of the cane) alone. But then, of course, one looses that cramped feeling of restraint - and I do think that the desk edge should fit snugly against the midriff at all times, with the girl's hands kept where the governess or schoolmistress can see them; above the desk and demurely clasped or kept flat with palms uppermost (my choice!) when not writing. I think that I would recommend a combination of aspects of the two approaches: a high straight back to the chair but the seat itself reduced to a narrow bench, little more than a perch, and a gap between the two sufficient for the swell of her bottom cheeks to protrude. Very uncomfortable, very humiliating.