The Romance of the Highlands

From Aubade Lingerie at La Petite Coquette NYC.
Whence comes this enduring romance of the Scottish Highlands? Is it because of Robert Burns?

"Then come, thou fairest of the fair,
Those wonted smiles, O let me share;
And by thy beauteous self I swear,
No love but thine my heart shall know."

Is it because of Sir Walter Scott and his 12th century romance novel, "Ivanhoe"? The northmen of Scotland have been feared for centuries, nay even millenia, to the point where Hadrian built a wall to keep them out and proper English-speaking teachers forbade Gaelic from being spoken. No wonder since they represent what is wild and free and natural and untamed. Mothers and fathers want to protect their daughters from Bad Boys, yet the yearning for wildness in a girl's heart rarely goes away. I fell for my own Scottish "bad boy" -- 6 feet tall, long sinewy muscles, thick long black hair, sang Celtic love songs like a bard of old, drove me off into the sunset on his trusty steed (a 1990 Honda motorcycle), and boy did he look good in a kilt. How could a girl resist? Beware! Bad Highland boys aside, enjoy the romance of the ancient clans in a lovely corset gown such as this with rebellious asymmetrical touches (no prim and proper British tidiness here!).

In a hay field at sunset...

For the romance novel look obviously the hunk -- long-haired beefcake Fabio -- has no need of clothing to enhance his assets. But, should you ever find yourself in a hay field at sunset with such a lover, you now know what to wear -- an underbust corset (or is that an overbust corset... it's hard to tell with her heaving bosom) in a shell pink color, lacy ivory camisole, ivory petticoat. Where are the strewn clothes? Next to the horses patiently munching while the lady and gent enjoy the sunset? What an expression of blissed out rapture and anticipation on her face. He’s looking down sternly, probably trying to ignore how much the dried grasses are itching his butt and hairy thighs. The wind is blowing just perfectly on their hair. I love how the artist included complimentary colors of a purple sky with golden grass. Is it just me or does her head seem much smaller than his? The proportions do not seem right...

And for a further bit of corset romance, a 19^th century etching showing subtle French humor… perhaps this is the Lady of the Straw later in the evening? I’m sure that Mr. Romance, given a choice between a knot or a bow, would choose to tie the stays in a bow, as a final romantic flourish.

Ever so romantic corsets

I am a huge fan of romance novels, but not the modern ones. I prefer the historic ones. You know... the mysterious stranger on the dark stallion, the headstrong misunderstood brilliant girl wandering the moors in her cloak, haunted Gothic manors, nasty selfish relatives, smuggling in a hidden cove, buried treasure, a family mystery, kidnapped onto a pirate ship, smoldering eyes, the hero defending his lady, ... You know, that sort of fun stuff.

Part of the fun of romance novels comes from imagining one is the heroine in these grand adventures, imagining dressing in these beautiful old-style clothes -- the gowns, the petticoats, the stockings, the cloaks, and, most exciting of all, the corsets. There are many styles of corsets to choose from, especially now that one can buy anything over the internet. You can get basic underwear style corsets, corsets that are worn over clothes, corsets that are part of the dress, and corsets that are primarily meant as lingerie worn in the home. I found this corset on a computer search and think it is the epitome of romance! I'm drooling. So gorgeous! The passionate romantic burgundy wine red color, the ribbons, the ruffles, ... Would I wear it out? It'd be tricky wearing under clothes because of the ribbons and ruffles.