Chatelaines

I have been watching Jericho - you know, that series on ITV set in Victorian times with something of an American West feeling as a group of people try to build a viaduct and lives for themselves and are constantly running into problems, with Jenny from Call the Midwife (whose nicked Irene Adlers coat in the early scenes).

I have to get my hands on that coat... just check she's not looking...

Right! Got it! Quick kids, better leg it before she sends her sleuth hound after us. Should be alright in the middle of nowhere.

I could have sworn I had a coat a minute ago...

Sherlock,  dear, I seem to have mislaid my coat. You wouldn't mind lending me yours, would you? I mean, surely You wouldn't send a lady out onto the cold streets of london improperly attired?

Ok, deviation over. Sorry. The mind seems to become extra imaginative when your meant to be working on something else. I expect the answer to life, the universe and everything would be found by a procrastinating student, if only because they'd end up reading Douglas Adams.


Now where was I? Oh yes: Jericho.

 Now, as I was watching this I noticed something silver hanging from the waistband of Annie's skirt. I tried to ignore it, but curiosity has finally gotten the better of me.

 As you may be able to see, its a simple but pretty little thing: a wheel like thing hooking onto the belt with two chains hanging from it, which suspend in this case a couple of keys and a little hook.
She can wear it with different skirts too, so it's clearly not a permanent fixture.

 so, curious as I am about most things I share on this blog, I googled. First for details of her costume - nothing. Then for edardian female accessories - still not much. Finally for edwardian female accessories,  and thats when I found it.

 The Chaterlaine.
 I found a very nice website too in collectables, detiling their history and form :  http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-killer-mobile-device-for-victorian-women/

I'll leave them to detail the topic. Suffice to say, victorian women with their neat silhouettes and crisp lines suffered from a lack of pockets. A problem not entirely resolved in the present day

 So, for the practical (or wishing to appear so) Victorian woman,  the answer was the Chaterlaine.  this nifty little thing clipped onto the belt or waistband and kept what she needed at hand - fans, perfume bottles, note books, sewing kits, watches and keys just to name a few things. And, often, they were interchangeable: planning on a day in the countryside? Swap that fan for a pen knife!


 its interesting to note? (As Wikipedia reminds me) it was hardy a revolutionary practice that came with the 1800s:  theres evidence of similar practices among romans

 Anglo-Saxons and vikings:

 and in the middle ages belts were more common, from which one may hang any number of bags, tools and accessories and tuck their skirts up into. (And I have just discovered its not worth searching google images for "medieval womens belt": there are only a handful of good results between all the fantasy ones and ones with a bit too much metal, if you catch my drift - quite unexpected results.. dear gods googles going down hill if it doesn't bring you what you actually ask for):

 because ultimately a lack of pockets in womens clothing is an age old problem. *Helloooo? Fashion Designers? Are you listening? Stop all that modern art-y flouncy strange stuff you push up and down catwalks and start working out how to handle a real fashion problem. We're not dolls to dress up and leave around doing nothing - we lead busy and interesting lives too and need to get that balance between practicality and looking good*



 back to chaterlaines. They really are pretty things,  often delicately made with silver.  oh, you dont get craftsmanship like that much nowadays.

A quick browse through etsy reveals a number of beautiful and often pricey antiques, adnd often pricey antiques, including the tiny maile purses they used to carry. It seems theres a bit of a victorian revival going on.
















The quest to find the Chaterlaine also brought to my attention some other little gadgets for ladies of the past: skirt lifters, hankey holders, glove hooks.  Add to that the medieval thing of having belt books and you've quite a range of possible and interchangeable additions. Why haven't the modern merchants and trend setters realised this? What a way to make money in this mass-produced individualistic world, by offering another way to show charms and such.































Links:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatelaine_(chain)