A Girl And Her Governess

 

Slippering, Sunshine and Other Joys

Hi folks! It is a blindingly sunny day here in London and hopefully it is just as great wherever you are too. I didn't get to go to the beer Festival at Camden Town Hall in the end so I had to be satisfied by making up for it with a few beers yesterday whilst taking my mother out for Sunday lunch - it was 'Mother's Day' all mother or Mothering Sunday, as it is sometimes called. I had taken along my netbook computer and had hoped to get a few pages typed up while awaiting her arrival but as it turned out she arrived only a few minutes after I got the thing booted up - and that was that. I've only got a couple of free hours in which to get some writing done today so I'm going to go on with it in a moment and so I will keep this short and sweet for now. I just wanted to use this opportunity to tell you about a couple of blog I have just today come across and an 'Imagefap' user profile that is chock full of interesting pictures and artwork based around our favourite subject. The chap calls himself Mr Tawse and you can get to see his collection, such as the picture top left, by clicking on the link I have provided in the right-hand side bar - listed as Mr Tawse (amazingly) - under the 'Useful Resources' category (I know I have posted this pick before, but I just love it anyway). The two blogs are called 'Dr Fetish (Medfet's WebBlog)' - a medical fetish / medical restraint blog, well worth a visit and 'Simply Slippering' (does exactlyy what it says on the tin). Quite amusing, that latter one, as the other half seems to think that she invented the term 'slippering' - no, really, LOL! Now it's back to the grindstone; I'm so full of ideas that moment that something is going to go bang if I don't get them down on paper quickly. Meanwhile, click on either blog title to visit or look for the relevant link in the right hand sidebar blog roll (the Imagefap thing can be found listed under Mr Tawse in the 'useful resources list - also in the right hand sidebar ). Check out the nurse; just perfect, I pinched her from Mr Tawse's collection (well he's pinched a couple of my scans by the looks of things). She looks well worth a visit too (her site's URL can be seen on the picture - just click for a larger version). How I would love to be able to use her photo on the cover of the new book when it's finished - what could be more apt? Wishful thinking of course, but...wow!

More on Home Schooling, Victorian school uniform and Other Stuff

Hi folks! Well, what can I say; despite my best intentions for the life of me I couldn't get my wireless 3G Internet thingy to work sufficiently well to satisfactory update my blog while I was away travelling. I'm back in London for a few days and having done a fair amount of writing wall on the move I shall be concentrating on scanning various items from my collections that have inspired me over the years and at the same time looking for further inspiration for the two upcoming volumes that I outlined last time.

In particular I will be researching into the designs and styling of school uniforms of bygone ages, especially the Victorian era. As I said before; without giving too much away, the premise behind volume 3 is the idea of a pair of late-teenage sisters being schooled at home, having been removed from the conventional education system just prior to taking the final exams that would undoubtedly have opened the door to university placement and Independence. Their guardian’s original expressed reasoning being that, in this way when they did finally take those exams the grades they would achieve would be far superior - thus their placement that much more prestigious - seems belayed by the fact that some two years on, educationally they are still no closer to that goal, indeed if anything they are further than ever from it. The governess employed to rule over them, placing the greatest emphasis on discipline above all else, is of the opinion that there is little point in her attempting to further their education until such a time that she is satisfied that she has them both properly under her control, by which term she means living under - and accepting - what she calls ‘good boarding school discipline’. Two years of written impositions, line writing, parrot fashion rote learning of nonsense rhymes and meaningless tables of numbers - all under the constant threat of the cane or the strap - have undermined their expensive education and eroded their self-confidence.

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By the time we first meet them they are both completely and hopelessly under her domination and the question then is - under those circumstances, can either Susan or Meredith, joining them to make up a quartet for the summer, hang on to any semblance of Independence and self-reliance and will either be able to stand up for herself when at the end of summer she is handed documentation to sign there will effectively return her to the incarceration of the institution of experimental psychology? I feel it would be likely that, freed of the straitjacket of convention, any guardian or governess given totally free rein over a small select group of late-teenage girls in such a situation, particularly given the predilections of the particular woman discussed above, would expend no little imagination or effort in the design of a suitable school uniform, for what other form of attire could be more apt? Assuming that to be true, as the creator of the character, I too must expend a similar amount of effort and creativity.

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For example; in the situation where a girl is largely confined to the home or at most her excursions are limited to a very occasional, closely supervised and guarded stroll in the secluded and high-walled grounds of the house; three from prying eyes and well-meaning busybody interference I can well imagine elements that would normally be associated with so-called ‘shame clothing’ being Incorporated in her dress -I would certainly expect an emphasis on restriction in the design, as I have said before. Why the emphasis on Victorian school uniform? Well, the entire wing of the house in which the two sisters are pretty much incarcerated in one way or another has not one modern contrivance - even the lighting is by way of gas lamps - and it is furnished almost as if a museum exhibit of the Victorian era. Indeed by the time we meet the sisters their governess, along with her nursery-nurse assistant, is beginning to get them into the state of mind wherein in some ways they are actually beginning to believe they are really living in the 19th-century, so isolated have they become from the outside world under her influence.

But therein lies my problem as to date I found very little pertaining to Victorian school uniform, although I have come across one or useful sources dealing with the early part of the twentieth century. An example is the drawing on the top left dating from the 1920s; not likely to be particularly influential in my thinking - I'm thinking along far more fussy and restrictive lines - it is food for thought nonetheless. If anybody comes across any suitable pictures or descriptions or has any suitable ideas and inspirations please feel free to let me know either as a comment or by direct e-mail to yours truly.

Now last time I promised you a couple of links and here they are, albeit somewhat delayed (sorry). If you're interested in restrictive clothing as pertaining to discipline of the female than it's worth visiting Retroxotique (just click the pic on the left or site title to visit the fashion links - but I've also added it to the resource list in the sidebar). As well as vintage pictures they also have stories so click HERE for the site's story page or HERE to check out the story link list.

By the way, if you just can't get enough of those vintage spanking magazine covers and can't find enough of interest in my own album (see Picasweb album list in sidebar on right) then you'll be interested in a YahooGroup I recently came across that has literally masses. It is where the cover picture on the above right came from so just click on it to visit, or look for the link in a YahooGroup list in the sidebar (of course you have to join yahoogroups first).

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You might also like to visit The Woody Back to School Unit an interesting little blog I have neglected to mention some how (embarising considering the owner was kind enough to congratulate me on the publication of INSTITUTIONALISED Volume 2 on the pages of his blog!

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.

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.

An Anonymous Contribution and a Reply

Some time ago I posted some story ideas under the title of; Some story ideas: An original inspiration (Click to view). An anonymous visitor has left an interesting comment on this post; one I thought inspiring enough to reproduce here - particularly as I am about to post in a serialised form (in two parts) a governess-and-her-charge orientated story scanned from a spanking magazine of the period the writer speaks of.

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I recall from the 1970s one of the "spanking" mags had a feature called "Diary of a Victorian Young Lady". The young lady's parents went abroad leaving her in the charge of a governess, who introduced her - never before so much as spanked - to he "delights" of the cane, the birch, and the heavy tawse.

I could probably recall some more detail of the story, if it be of interest. What I perhaps remember best is the reader's letter castigating the governess on her leniency.

- In case she takes it into her head to attempt to run away again, she should be taken to the blacksmith to have a chain permanently shackled to her ankles. This will prevent her wearing any drawers, but there is no need for such a garment - absence makes her person more readily available for discipline. She should not be allowed to idle away her time in the schoolroom, but should be helping the maidservants to scrub the floors, and they should be permitted to discipline her should her efforts slack. Finally the application of soothing creams should be totally forbidden, instead she should be birched every bedtime with stinging nettles. This is not only an effective punishment, but would help her skin to heal and be once more available for discipline on the morrow. Anon.

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I for one would love to hear more details from this story; it is not one I recall coming across and it sounds promising to say the least. Equally inspiring are the details from the reader's letter that our anonymous contributor quotes, particularly the part about the shackling of her ankles - an absconding charge is always a worry under such circumstances.

But there are more than one kind of shackles and not all bonds are visible nor, indeed, even tangible. Self-confidence can be fragile, self-doubt quite debilitating and, similarly, agoraphobia can be quite immobilising.

Whether the germ of the idea be introduced through manipulative suggestion or a mild propensity be amplified in severity through a similar means, the increased sense of dependency on her governess, sure to result, would serve to tether the girl every bit as well as steel or iron.

Although certain of the protagonists inhabiting the pages of INSTITUTIONALISED volume 2 will undoubtedly encounter individual physical restraint and those of volume 1, once actually ensconced within the walls of the institution, find themselves languishing behind steel security grilles, it is the more psychological approach, broached above, that has guided two such young ladies into their new lives and that threatens to curtail their freedom. In volume 2 we will see the power of such a non-physical technique lovingly as wielded by a particularly strict governess to control and bind her charges to her. Corporal punishment is of course introduced, with cane, tawse and martinet as is a suitably humiliating uniform for her girls, but the discipline applied and enforced within that invisible framework of restraint.

Strict Governesses, Uniforms, Canes and Gymslips

Some uniforms look so much better with cane in hand (Click here to see the article with the original of the blue dress - look at the bottom of the page when you get there)

Others appear as if designed to invite the sting of swishy rattan - below - it seems the natural order of things, at least to my mind

(and those that inhabit the INSTITUTIONALISED universe of course).

Some Influential Articles: Whips Incorporated - Part 1

Whips Incorporated Part 1

(Click on title above to go to part 2)

Home again, home again! ...But only to find that I still have a 'phone line that sounds as if ten thousand bangers ( sausages for all you non-Londoners ) are being fried at the far end - my modem is not amused, and neither am I. Under the circumstances I'm going to be putting the majority of my efforts into finishing off the new volume - it is far too frustrating doing much involving the Internet. However, I'm not one to give up so easily, at least not entirely, so for the next few days I'm going to try to update to some extent while keeping things rather simple.

To this end, so as to combat the hugely overlong upload times I am encountering at the moment, I am going be posting scans of some of the articles / stories that have been influential over the years in developing my writing style, but in a serialised form and at a rate of a couple of pages at a time.

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This first offering is s piece by the master of historical (particularly Victorian) spanking writing, Richard Manton, published in Janus magazine, I think in the mid to late 1980s. I'm not sure of artist behind the illustrations but I rather suspect the hand of Hardcastle at work here (As always, click to enlarge or click on Richard Manton's name for a listing of his books on Bookfinder)...to be continued...

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Up-link speed willing, I will be posting the next two pages tomorrow (a single page if things are running too slowly).

Introduction and welcome message

Welcome, one and all, to the official

INSTITUTIONALISED

blog and discussion site

The home of Garth. P. ToynTanen, his ideas and, it is hoped, yours!

This is the place to learn more about the author and what makes him tick,to learn more about the influences and inspirations behind the INSTITUTIONALISED trilogy (more likely tetralogy, if all pans out)

This is most definitely NOT the place to discuss anything of a paedophilic nature;the author does not condone paedophilia in any form and where the term 'girl' is used it is as a derogatory term intended to apply to any young woman stripped adult privileges in one way or another.

If you are an aficionado of literature dealing with young ladies undergoing strict discipline, of the imposition and enforcement of petty rules and restrictions, of strict and humiliating uniforms and the enforcementof the same through the judicial application of the cane, the tawse, the riding crop etc as well as less orthodox, psychological methods...then this is the place for you!

This is particularly so if you tend to favour the imposition of discipline within the institutional environment, although there is much to be said also for the more domestic environment if suitably enclosed, secure, and isolated from prying eyes and interfering moderates: Given the right situation and a well chosen and imaginative governess, much can be achieved in curbing a young lady's spirit.

From the outset the idea behind the project was always to go beyond the traditional world of corporal punishment portrayed in the works of authors such as Victor Bruno, Richard Manton et al ( has much as I admire their work) and to attempt to incorporate more of a psychological aspect, both in terms of examining the mindsets of the protagonists, of the disciplined and of the discipliner both, and in terms of the approach to discipline and correction. Corner-standing, impositions such as the writing of lines or rote learning and strictly decreed postural requirements, such as having to sit for long periods with back straight and hands flat on the school desk; all these have their part to play. So feel free to discuss your own view of what discipline means and how it should be introduced to a young lady or young ladie, also how it might relate to the storyline of volume 1 (if it indeed does) or how it might fit into future volumes (or indeed the sort of thing you would like to see included).

It was also decided at the outset that the storyline should incorporate other fetishes interests that, while being strictly speaking outside my own sphere, nevertheless seemed appropriate in many ways as being amenable the imposition of restraint and of control. Various forms of bondage were an obvious inclusion of course, but then there are such subjects such as enforced diaper use, leading inexorably to the inclusion of plastic and latex rubber knickers, bloomers, pants etc. And then there are the uniforms, of course; the latter open to all sorts of discussion, from the physical aspects, the type of fabrics, nylon, serge, the underwear, girdles, corselletes, corsets, stockings, you name it, to the psychological effect on the wearer, whether submissive or assertive depending on the role.

And as all these aspects of control unavoidably involve changes to the psyche the inclusion of certain forms of mind control to the story-arc seemed most appropriate (indeed the entire project was originally stimulated by a series of mind control story ideas published on one of the newsgroups, of which more later). Thus aspects of sensory deprivation, hypnosis, NLP and even the deliberate induction or intensification of certain phobias can be introduced in order to wield control over a young lady; the latter approach while being particularly suitable in the institutional environment is not impossible to initialy introduce within a more domestic scenario.

So you see, there is much that can be discussed here, practically without limit, much that can be incorporated into the continuing story arc; your imagination is the only limitation, within the bounds of what can be logically incorporated in a sensible manner of course.

• What do you like, or dislike, or indeed hate, so far?
• What would you like to see incorporated in the story arc to come?
• What were your interests vis-a-vis the discipline and control of young women?

Let your imagination rip!!!