I immediately thought 'matron'' (but not in the nursing sense) when I saw her, so I thought I'd better just check the definition. I immediately found these two:
"An older married woman who usually has a high social position."
I'm not sure about staid (we've yet to get to know each other) but she definitely looks dignified to me and her outfit and bearing certainly suggest a high social position!
This is her Grecon label and she has 'Small Oxford' feet which probably dates her to the mid- to late-1940s.
I love her silk dress with generous black lace trims and collar, and the cream ruffle held by a bugle-bead broach at her neck, but the very best thing about her has to be the wonderful bonnet.
A bit of Googling leads me to believe that the bonnet is in the style of the 'Late-Victorian Small Bonnet'; so it certainly seems to indicate that, even when new, this particular lady had stubbornly ignored changing fashions for a good forty years or so!
I was reminded of this photo of my great great grandparents.
They look fairly dignified to me and maybe a little staid but it's not likely that they held "a high social position" since my great great grandfather was a coal miner just like his father before him and his sons and grandsons after him; though I suppose such things are subjective.
The photo isn't dated but it is labeled 'Venice Dunn, 7&8 Medomsley Road, Consett' (in County Durham) which I believe dates it to between 1891 and 1914.
I have another [very slightly earlier and of the larger 1:12 scale] Grecon granny with this type of bonnet but when I look at her I really don't think 'matron' - I defy anyone to tell me that she's staid and I have serious doubts about her dignity! 'Eccentric' is the word that springs to mind...
This is the new arrival on the right, next to a slightly older granny with the larger Oxford feet dating [probably] to the mid-1940s. The slightly later lady clearly has more of the matron about her. I wonder how they're going to get along...
Until next time,
Zoe
The new arrival is lovely Zoe. Will she be living in the Handicrafts house or is she just boarding until she finds a place of her own?
ReplyDeleteThe tall lady in the stylish print looks like a far less staid character. I bet she smokes with one of those elegant cigarette holders; I had a great-aunt who did snd I thought she was SO sophisticated.
Oo, I’ve never actually met anyone who smoked cigarettes in a holder, I can imagine how it would make an impression on a youngster. Yes, the new arrival (I must find out what she’d called!) is just boarding with ‘the bisques’ in the Handicrafts for the time being, until she gets the measure of Grecondale and where she might fit in there. So many lives to shape and so little time....
ReplyDeleteMrs Eccentric - I think that it's the smile! She looks slightly unpredictable.
ReplyDeleteYes, ‘unpredictable’ Is a good word for her!
Delete