If I were not in the process of beginning a comprehensive book on fashion in the “Wild West” from about 1850 – 1910, it is possible I might not be as disgusted with the pathetically ignorant remarks made by Edward Vaughn, the head of the Alabama NAACP.
Evidently Mr. Vaughn finds the flamboyant costume of the Mobile Azalea Trail Maids to be offensive. It reminds him of slavery. He feels the young women, who will be representing Alabama in the upcoming Inaugural Parade, will be an embarrassment and a laughingstock.
THE AZALEA TRAIL MAIDS
The Mobile Azalea Trail Maids are “goodwill” ambassadors for the city of Mobile, Alabama. From what I gather each girl designs her own dress, which must in some way resemble more an “azalea” than an actual “hoop skirt”. The dresses take over 100 yards of fabric and weigh a good 35 pounds. The average dress costs upward of $3000. There are 50 girls in the group, representing all races. Until Vaughn’s remark, no one has ever associated them with slavery or racism. The tradition began in 1929 and has included future Miss America Lee Meriwether. The 50 girls have made appearances in the Rose Bowl Parade, Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, and even at Disneyworld.
THE COSTUME “PROBLEM”
Mr. Vaughn is insulted because the girls are wearing what some call “antebellum” costume. The prominent feature of the period is a hoopskirt, or a crinoline. Unfortunately Mr. Vaughn appears to assume that the costume was worn only in the pre-Civil War South, and was worn only by women who were slave owners. To make such an assumption is exhibit abject ignorance about the history of fashion.
The style Mr. Vaughn denigrates as Gone with the Wind was worn throughout the world. The evolution of the “Scarlett O’Hara dress” began as something of a rebellion against the beautiful Regency styles familiar to anyone who is a fan of Jane Austen, and were a hallmark of the reign of Queen Victoria in England.
During the period chronicled by Jane Austen, women were experiencing the first throes of “liberation.” They cast aside the constraints of the corset, and indeed, some women threw away all underwear entirely. It was a time of innocence and freedom for women as the more daring would dampen their sheer gauze gowns so that they would appear to be nude. All the “best” women were doing it, during the winter, only to succumb to pneumonia early in the spring.
THE VICTORIAN SKIRT
By the mid-1820s women discovered their bloomers, stockings, underwear, and no proper woman would be seen even outside her bedroom without her corset. The years of freedom were over as women were soon defined by frail, sloping shoulders, and entombed in a corseted waist that had best be no more than 18 inches. If she moved or took a deep breath, the result was the infamous Victorian swoon. In other words, the woman entombed in that corset and not exactly the regulation 18 inches in the waist would pass out, frequently.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Shelley
Thanks for your support of the Azalea Trail Maids!Keep it up and be sure to watch us in the parade!!
2 - Cindy D
SJ,
I liked your article. Lots of interesting background. I just looked up corsets and discovered they even had "pregnancy corsets". ugh...
That you wore the a gown and experienced the cage first hand was fascinating.
Vaughn--what political correctness won't try to suppress.
3 - Roger Nowosielski
SJ,
I don't know how many men are going to make it into this thread, so let me be the first. A lucid and informative article, and quite a change of pace from the daily diet one finds in the Politics section.
I totally concur with Cindy. We politicize nearly everything these days, forgetting there's life outside of politics. Sign of the times, I guess.
Nice reference to Jane Austin and her times. She was a pioneer of sorts, a precursor of woman liberation.
Roger
4 - Ruvy
SJ,
Ignorance abounds in the mass media these days. The sick society that America has descended into (at least as it appears over the internet to this writer) is filled with sleaze and feces on the one hand and overweening ignorance on the other. And this is the stuff that America keeps pumping out daily to the rest of the planet as the cultural hegemon it is - for now.
Frankly, I cannot wait for American society to go broke altogether, so that it is brought down quite a few pegs and is unable to broadcast its pathetic decadence.
But to your article - I found it fascinating in the extreme. Jewish women are expected to dress modestly in the religious circles in which I move. But a hoopskirt? What nonsense! I find it admirable that you were willing to suffer such a thing in your youth, though. But what is the point?
As for the idiot who provoked this article, the less said the better. May he be granted the privilege of obscurity, soon and at a near time.
5 - Dan(Miller)
A perhaps irrelevant comment, but here goes.
Carnival is widely celebrated in Panama. In Puerto Lindo, a village of about two hundred on the Caribbean coast, the celebration starts weeks ahead of time, with folks stopping traffic to collect "free will donations" for their costumes and for beer and other spirits to make their celebration more well, spirited.
Very few people live in Puerto Lindo who are not Black. As a principal part of the celebration, a few of the celebrants dress up as slave masters, with top hats and whips, and herd the "slaves" around. It is all in fun, and nobody gets offended or excited. We (Whites) felt entirely welcome, and everyone had a good time. The booze was plentiful, the costumes surprisingly well made, and there were no protests about what was going on.
Puerto Lindo (like much of the Caribbean coast) is poor, with high unemployment. During the dry season, many have to hike far into the hills to collect buckets of drinking water. Fish, however, are plentiful.
Perhaps the lack of political correctness there, and the corresponding lack of need to be offended* at just about everything, make a difference.
Dan(Miller)
*Somehow, the Al Cap acronym SWINE -- Students Wildly Indignant About Nearly Everything -- pops into my head.
6 - Dr Dreadful
The Trail Maids remind me more of marshmallow peeps than anything. Where Mr Vaughn got slavery I don't know.
7 - Al Barger
Mmm, marshmallow peeeps. That just makes these girls look even MORE tasty.
I posted a modest blast at the NAACPs obvious foolishness HERE, but Ms Reidhead has it all over me for the specific knowledge of fashion and fashion history.
This article oughta be picked up by Drudge and Google News as the definitive response - or even by some conservative talk show host, Limbaugh or Hannity.
8 - Hope and Change?
Its seems that the NAACP has outlived its usefullness...they are nothing but an old school "blame the white man for all our problems" hate group.
9 - Cindy D
Are you being ironic H&C? I'm not sure if I get what it is you're about.
10 - El Bicho
Well-written article. Too bad it has such a terrible title. I almost skipped over it.
11 - Glenn Contrarian
SJ -
Good article...and I agree with you that to women, it is 'all about the dress'.
But since your article alluded to the politicization of women's fashion, may I also point out some more nationally-known examples:
1 - Hillary's pantsuits
2 - Rush Limbaugh: “The feminist movement was created to allow ugly women access to the mainstream of society”
3 - Mark Levin: "It's not the National Organization of Liberal Women. It's the National Organization of Ugly Women."
4 - Jim Quinn: "...the National Organization for Women [is really] the National Organization for Whores."
Any Googling combining 'liberal women' and 'ugly' gets LOTS and LOTS of hits ranging from sites containing the above quotes and blogs/forums stating just how ugly liberal women are...but a search for 'conservative women' and 'ugly' gets hits ONLY for conservative/Republican sites that complain about how liberals call conservative women ugly...but I see NO liberal sites making such general claims. In fact, the ONLY liberal sites I saw that made sexist comments had to do with determining Ann Coulter's actual gender (which is a legitimate question since she opposes a woman's right to vote)!
Could this be yet another example (as with voter fraud, fiscal irresponsibility, and gay sex scandals) of how Republicans and conservatives accuse liberals of something that Republicans have been doing to a FAR greater extent for a long time? Looks like it....
12 - Roger Nowosielski
Glenn,
Sorry to disagree with you, but I didn't detect any anti-liberal agenda in this piece. Perhaps I had missed something (I never read things too closely the first time around, just a well-proven strategy, I think), but if I did, would you please point it out. (Personally, I don't care where the author is coming from - so long she is not Ann Coulter! On that, I agree with you entirely!)
Again, no disrespect intended. Just asking!
Roger
13 - Glenn Contrarian
Roger -
I didn't say the article had anti-liberal bias. I agree about the politicization of women's dress...and I wanted expand the issue, to point out how it's not just about dress but about the woman's appearance as a whole - AND how those of one certain political bent seem to engage in such politicization FAR more than the other side.
14 - Roger Nowosielski
Yeah, but you're not scoring any points with her because she's almost on our side.
Personally, as I re-read your comment, I perfectly agree. "Hillary's pantsuits" is all the proof I need. Never mind Rush or the obnoxious Levin. They don't deserve a comment. Hard as I tried, and only for entertainment value, mind you, I tried to stay tuned to his show. Most of the times, I couldn't it. Such a vitriol and hatred from an intelligent man. It's beyond imagination.
15 - Al Barger
Ah, here's a little sumpin-sumpin for you Ann Coulter hatas pleasure. Enjoy!
16 - Roger Nowosielski
You know, Al! The conservatives keep on thinking she's not only intelligent and hilariously funny! They also espouse her beauty, like she was some Hollywood starlet or a gift from heaven.
I happen to think she's as ugly as sin. Have had the pleasure with a great many better looking and attractive women in my better days - drunk or sober.
I guess the golf-course/country-club crowd don't know what they miss. They're can't even tell a good whore from a facsimile!
17 - Baronius
You guys are forgetting about the big political / women's fashion story of the year: the supposed scandal about Palin's wardrobe expenses.
18 - Glenn Contrarian
'supposed' scandal about Palin's wardrobe?
Hey - that was just your Republican party donations at work. Wait till she gets hold of your tax dollars....
And Roger - you know, you just might be right! Ann Coulter DOES sometimes seem like she's on our side by being such a complete...well, I won't go there. But I will agree that I'm not man enough for her. Heck, neither is Ahnold, or even Rosie O'Donnell....
19 - Hope and Change?
I think the Azalea Trail Maids should be wearing Pant Suits instead....since Hillary and Bill seem to be calling all the shots in Obamas administration she deserves it....
Hope and Change.... has turned into another four years of the Clintons at the wheel.
20 - Jet
Does anyone know whose got the net and harpoon? I can't find it anywhere dammit!
21 - Hope and Change?
Gee not here...maybe you are sitting on them...
22 - Al Barger
Roger [comment 16]: Why exactly is it that you Coulter hatas feel the need to denigrate her looks? That generally looks to me like being in active denial. If you thought she really was homely, you likely wouldn't be feeling near the need to keep saying so. It's like you're trying to talk yourself into believing that. I guess it's tough accepting that she could be so evil, and yet so hot. It's almost like they go together.
But of course being sexy isn't her job. Her job is sticking it to y'all pinkos. And judging by how many of your goats she's gotten, I'd say she's doing pretty well.
23 - Dr Dreadful
How to drive Al crazy:
Lock him in a room with two doors. Both are unlocked, but once he has opened one door, the other locks permanently. There is no key.
Behind one door is Ann Coulter and behind the other is Sarah Palin.
24 - Jet
All part of his charm Doc... all part of his charm.
25 - Cindy D
RE #22
Al,
It must be puzzling to notice evolution happening right under your nose.