You are here: >>> Summary biography >>> Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the 1930s we meet a young loving couple, Ethel and William. Ethel's appearance was not noteworthy.
She wore the shapeless dresses of the 1920s, had short hair, and didn't wear a corset, high heels, or earrings. William liked all these things, and whenever William saw a
woman who did wear any of them, he made favorable comments to Ethel.

He made it clear how wonderful it would be if he could put his arms around her waist when she was wearing a corset, and that his interest extended also to beautiful extravagant earrings which might elegantly adorn her ears.
All his attempts to arouse Ethel's interest in corsets and earrings bore fruit. One day Ethel asked him to put his arms around her waist.
To William's surprise, Ethel was wearing a corset.

Meanwhile Ethel became interested in earrings and was noticing what types of earrings her girl friends were wearing. What worried her was that her ear lobes would have to be pierced, and she knew from a girl friend that it was painful. Furthermore it seemed that the healing was slow if one didn't take the proper hygienic precautions. For this reason William proposed to do the piercing himself. He had the necessary instruments, and he designed the first pair of earrings.

Finally the time came for him to pierce her ear lobes so she could wear the earrings. The pain turned out to be less than Ethel expected, and after the necessary medical care, Ethel was able to wear the earrings.
She decided also to let her hair grow long, and they bought some high-heeled shoes. Ethel began her metamorphosis.

When William and Ethel married, she was wearing shoes with a very high heels, beautiful earrings, and a short knee-length skirt. A corset completed her outfit.

Will discovered a very interesting magazine, "London Life", which contained many articles and letters about corsets. In addition to information on tight lacing and how to wear a corset, it described various types of corset, such as pipe-stem corsets (corsets with a cylindrical waist section), hourglass corsets, and even metal corsets. It also published photographs of very high-heeled shoes. Heels of six or seven inches (1 inch = 2.54 cm) were not exceptional.