A Short Progress Report & Another Piece of Contributed Writing

Hi folks,
A very busy week this week but here's a short progress report and also a comment posted on 'A Well-deserved Regime' (click to read original posting). First the progress report: as of yesterday afternoon INSTITUTIONALISED volume 2 stood at 230 pages and some 122,000 words, having typed up (well, dictated in anyway) some 3100 words that I had written in various pubs over the weekend. Some of you may recall I said a while back that it would be published mid-March at the latest. Well, it is getting close to that date admittedly but then again the thing is close to completion also. Most of what needs to be added is already written and just needs to be tweaked here and there so all being well by this weekend I should be proofreading in one way or another...

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And now for the contribution; another anonymously written piece, in the form of a letter addressed to Judith's aunt. Once again I have to say that this particular series has only a tenuous connection with the INSTITUTIONALISED series storyline (click on title - left in blue - to read a synopsis / book preview of volume 1 on Lulu) but does have a lot to do with the general concept of 'domestic discipline' and provides quite a nice feel for the atmosphere and the sort of possibilities that might come to exist given the right circumstances -particularly if read along with the other letters making up this thread. (In fact it is the continuation of a discussion that had been taking place on a message board sometime ago and is the result of an invitation that I extended for that discussion to be continued here - as it was being flamed somewhat on that site). Based on this contribution I couldn't resist adding on a couple of pictures that I think illustrate how Judith should be dealt with... oh, and a suitable pair of knickers for her to wear when she is (particularly galling in front of visitors, don't you think?).

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"My Dear Judith’s Aunt -
First before everything may I congratulate you on the steps that you have been taking to bring your misguided niece to a proper sense of shame and decorum.
Then may I offer some very modest suggestions as to how her punitive regime may be improved still further. I hesitate to do so, since you are obviously well versed in discipline and may even regard these suggestions as impertinent. However, as you have requested such suggestions, and have already received correspondence from two others, I will proceed.
Corporal Punishment...
Corporal discipline is a fine old tradition that should carry with it a certain dignity and even majesty. The better class of educational supplier should be able to provide you with a display rack of implements. Typically fashioned in a solid dark wood, the rack can be affixed to a wall and will bear perhaps a row of three vertical canes – thick, medium, and thin – with a brace of fine-quality leather tawses hanging to each side. This tasteful object should be placed in a public area - ideally in the hallway of your residence where it is visible to any casual visitor. What better way to proclaim that this is a house of discipline! The two leather straps should be kept highly polished, which is another regular chore for Judith to perform.
It may well be that, in practice, the trusty old cane and strap kept in the schoolroom are the most frequent visitors to Judith’s hands and bottom. Perhaps grown a little worn and shabby from years of faithful service, they still impart their lesson. But something more presentable should be kept on display. And, of course, on more formal occasions, Judith should be sent to obtain a rod from the hallway rack. This might be appropriate for the formal Sunday punishments in front of your guests. However, to be personal, I think that her Sunday spanking should be just that. A proper small-child’s bare-hand-on-bare-bottom over-the-knee spanking while your guests look on. It would differ from a small child’s spanking in that it would last much longer. Twenty minute sessions will be enough to begin on, but this can be increased later if desired.
It is possible that your guests may wish to take some of the burden of such an undertaking from you, by substituting as spanker some Sundays. If, as I assume, the Vicar is one of those who call on you, he would doubtless think it his Christian duty to relieve you of this task sometimes.
Mouth-Washing...
This little ceremony should not be stinted or carried out in any perfunctory way. A stiff bristled toothbrush should be used to work the soap well in to both the upper and lower surfaces of the tongue. Too mush rinsing afterward is an uncalled for luxury. A standard sized glass just over half full of water will provide more than sufficient for this purpose.
Castor Oil
Should you decide to proceed with this old-fashioned (and none the worse for it) remedy, I will only make one caution. Do not even consider a teaspoon. A tablespoon should be administered at the very least. In Young Ladies’ Academies of old, a full glass had to be swallowed.
Nomenclature...
It occurs to me that, so long as Judith is the only miscreant in your care, there is really little need of her given name. “Child”, as in “Come, Child”, “Say your lesson, Child”, or “Bend Over, Child!” will be quite sufficient of an address, and will constantly re-inforce her true status in her mind. "

The Gymslip: The Governess's Choice Every time

After reading the comment / contribution I featured in my last posting I came upon an anonymous comment posted on my entry entitled "The Perfect Gymslip?" (click to view post if you haven't already) simply stating :"Love the work. Long live the gymslip!"

In the context of the last posting and taking inspiration from some of that anonymous benefactor's ideas as regards rear buttoning garments in particular, and the question of discipline in general, I started asking my self the question: just what would constitute the perfect gymslip in the eyes of our governess or institutional mistress?

The first question I suppose has to be; why the gymslip? I think the answer there lies in the distance between it and most everyday garb a young adult might chose to wear - always assuming that she has any choice in the matter of course. After all general speaking; a skirt is a skirt is a skirt - but a gymslip instantly shouts; juvenile. It is an anachronistic thing to boot and being a full-length garment has a far greater scope for imaginative stylistic refinements - the open-sided bodice style, that I personally would favour, in particular as there is much scope there to work there with different yoke shapes as well as shoulder-strap widths, lengths and buttoning arrangements. Talking about the latter leads to the first refinement I could imagine our governess incorporating.

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The traditional fastening would be by two or three in-row buttons along the top of each shoulder strap but I have seen the buttons running across at a point around a quarter of the way down the front of each shoulder strap - which of course eases the chore of fastening and unfastening in the case of the young child. But our governess is, of course, in charge of recalcitrant young adult women - a pair of young ladies, say, in dire need of strict discipline and unlikely to take kindly to the imposition of uniform as it is, let alone to be enamoured with their new gymslips. The imaginative governess surely would have created for her charges a pretty little confection with a row of three buttons to fasten each shoulder strap, but sited running across each at around a quarter of the way down the rear of the strap. Very, very fiddly and extremely difficult to fasten and unfasten unaided - how galling!

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The second thought that comes to mind is one of practicality. In an institution practicality and functionality may well be considered to be paramount, with the fabric choice being influenced accordingly: easy care, easy to clean, perhaps by simply sponging down , hard wearing fabric etc. But I would think that any governess worth her salt and deeply steeped in the subject of discipline, would actually be more likely to go for the diametrically opposite qualities, if giving careful though to a suitable uniform - or uniforms - for the young women under her supervision. Consider; a fussy design, as difficult and troublesome in dressing as in wearing. A myriad sharp knife-pleats decorate a skirt of a fabric guaranteed to require ironing on a daily basis. The fabric chosen particularly because it is known to crease extremely easily - perhaps it scuffs and marks easily as well. If stockings are worn then surely they would be of extremely fine denier, anything but run-resistant and of course seamed. It goes without saying that dress inspections would be frequent, long and tedious and the slightest crease, stain, button misplaced or left unfastened, would result in sever hard strokes of the cane. Likewise crooked seams or (horror of horrors) a ladder in that expensive but delicate hosiery. Needless to say that a creased skirt would be near impossible to avoid with the utmost care in sitting - and of most relevance to the anonymous contributor mentioned in the last posting - necessitating the absolute minimum of fidgeting throughout the seemingly endless schoolroom day. Then we come to thoughts of suitable underwear, of which more another time...but just imagine semi-transparent knickers, in a suitable colour to match the uniform, as an interesting diversion from the obvious...just look at the pic, above left, and imagine this under a suitably abbreviated pleated skirt. Then there is the possibility of combining this feature with traditional school knickers style, full, high-waisted, nice broad leg elastics - all very traditional...until we get to the gusset.

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Well, that's it for now, Tomorrow I'm off to Broadstairs (a little town on the Kent coast in south-east England) where I shall be until Monday. I'll be taking my trusty pad and pen so I can put together those last little niggling details of volume 2 (I need to come up with a suitably vivid description of a British woman police officer's uniform - don't ask why...I wont tell you - coz it would give too much away...and then you might jump to conclusions). I also hope to come up with some ideas / make some decisions for the blog and/or the upcoming discussion board/website I have planned. Talking of blog posts: I am going to begin a small series through which those that are interested can watch the evolution of the INSTITUTIONALISED volume 2 book cover - starting with the hand drawn layout guide I have come up with (created in the pub, of course - a real mess). I have to apologise if today's effort seems a little error prone, perhaps a bit of a mess, disjointed or just plain rambling nonsense. I have been writing all day and it is now the early hours of the morning - and I have to get up early too! PS: Just to keep you all up to date: volume 2 is currently standing at 221 pages completed.