I purchased this from eBay after reading her book, This Victorian Life. I was fascinated by her lifestyle described in that book, but quite put off by her character. This book is even more shocking in terms of her disgustingly enhanced pomposity, but I think I've figured her out.

Chrisman talks a lot about the "alpha creature" vs. the "subordinate". She also seems to adhere to a lot of pseudo-scientific beliefs about macro-evolution that are just as archaic as the Victorian age she emulates. I seriously think she sees herself as a more evolved human---an alpha species---because she's chosen to believe her lifestyle (what she calls her "research") makes her a more intelligent and better dressed member of society. To put it in plainer terms for all us lesser people: she thinks she's better than us.

I don't want this review to be all about how much I can't stand this woman, but that's pretty much all I could think about as I read this book. So, before I launch into a more vehement rage than I did for her last book, let me expound on the parts of this one that I did like.

Her conclusions on corset wearing were delightfully surprising. There seem to be many happy benefits: a much trimmer waist, better posture and back support, help with portion control, not to mention a better appearance and self-image. I was also very encouraged to seize the day when it comes to doing the things I want to do but am afraid to because of the opinion of others. I don't have a HUGE problem doing my own thing, but I do have some hangups about my appearance. I feel like I can be more bold in presenting myself the way I desire to, rather than worrying about fitting into someone's mold.

Now...Chrisman started right in with the arrogance. On one hand, I understand she and her husband are offended by those who could so bungle the art of dressing Victorian with plastic jewelry and synthetic fiber, on the other hand---SHE is NOT a VICTORIAN!!! They are playing a game---just like the other reenactors they come across. She gets so angry when someone calls her clothing a "costume" because people who wear costumes are people who play pretend. Um. Reforming your entire existence to emulate people who lived over 100 years ago---all while selectively living, working, and interacting with the 21st century---if that's not playing pretend, I don't know what is!

I get a sense she feels she and Gabriel are "real Victorians" while others are just play-acting. Get a grip, lady! You are a 21st century woman deeply involved in an extreme form of historical pretend. You drive a DeLorean, for crying out loud! Leave others alone about how they choose to engage in this game and they'll leave you alone about how you do.

In every encounter, (often besides, but not completely excluding personal friends) she runs down everyone from her own mother to a woman who accidentally swished her long ponytail into cupcake frosting. These put-downs are never necessary, but someone who sees herself as superior must continuously put down others in order to keep up appearances. The only people she speaks positively about are children and those who compliment and are sympathetic to her.

She is so specific with her descriptions and put-downs that I can't imagine she's gained many friends in the PNW community---unless they're all just as snotty and judgemental as she. As I said in my review of This Victorian Life, decent people likely aren't mean to her because of how she dresses---they're probably disillusioned by the way she acts. There's more to being a lady than dressing like one. Give me a smiling "rotund" plastic-clad reenactor, any day, over a white-washed high school bully in a more accurate costume. ( )

Fascinating. I haven't exactly been convinced to go buy a corset and see for myself, but it was enlightening as a historical experiment and I was especially interested to learn what it would've felt like as a woman in the 19th century. ( )

I liked some of her points... but I don't think that we'd like spending time with each other. Having just read a book by A J Jacobs (the real experimentalist), her experience didn't seem as thorough. I would have liked a before and after examination with a doctor. That might have supported her points a little better. ( )

Very interesting. I'd really be interested in a modern medical point of view on this topic. I really enjoyed Sarah Chrisman's second book, This Victorian Life. It was more comprehensive about Victorian life in general. This book is more the start of her interest in the life style. I hope she will write another about her Victorian cooking now that they have purchased a wood cook-stove. That will certainly have a learning curve I would think. She writes a very readable cross between personal experience and history. I would definitely recommend this to others. ( )

"An opinion has become common that everything about the present is superior to anything that existed in the past. It is difficult . . . to grasp that lifestyles may have been completely . . . satisfactory to those living them."
While I've suspected that for some time, it was really nice to find it stated so clearly in a well-written and researched book.
And oh my gosh, what a surprise this book was - I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a read quite this much. The Chrismans are history lovers & re-enactors, the latter on a small scale, but they do dress in Victorian clothing as often as possible. At the time of writing, he is a grad student in llibrary science; she has 2 degrees with no job market for either, and is studying for a massage license. He buys her a corset for her birthday, even though she has always said she does not want one. She loves him, it's a lovely thing; she puts it on & is taken almost instantly at the improvement in her looks, and the way it makes her feel.
The following 230 pages describe her growing attachment to the fashion. And it makes sense. SO MUCH sense. Her posture is instantly improved. Her back no longer aches. She is unable to overeat and loses weight. She graduates into one that supports her breasts and her shoulders feel amazingly lighter.
Sprinkled liberally through her story is scholarly material, about clothing, about fabrics, behavior and feminism and feminists. I love the social insights, how people used to depend upon one another in ways one doesn't often think about - to get dressed, for instance.
Hat pins get their own chapter, suffragetttes are sprinkled liberally throughout and it turns out they were not always totally innocent in their physical efforts toward winning the vote.
The book is not all historical research; I am surprised at the number and variety of people who take it upon themselves to remark, rudely, on Ms. Chrisman's attire. I do believe many of us have been misinformed, or uninformed, about a lot of what she's learned, but to shout at her that she's wrong? In the street, or in a park?
Thoroughly researched and liberally cited with a good balance of primary sources, I can't think of another book I would recommend more highly. ( )