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  • Regency era couples exchanged a wide range of romantic gifts while courting. “The vast majority were given by men,” says Holloway. “Women did give gifts, but the onus was not so much on them to do so. When they did, they gave distinct types of objects—perhaps ruffles or waistcoats they’d made by hand, or a handkerchief embroidered with their hair and their suitor’s hair, literally combining two bodies in a single item.” Men might give a lady specially mixed perfume, miniatures, a silhouette, or book with passages underlined,” says Holloway. “He might present a book saying, ‘Look what I’ve underlined on page 42. Do you agree?’ which was a way to test whether they were literally on the same page.” A courtship’s progress could be tracked through the particular object given. “A lock of hair was one of the more symbolically important gifts because it was literally cut from the body,” says Holloway. Other gifts worn against a woman’s body were also intensely romantic—or even racy. “Gloves were symbolic of obtaining a woman’s hand in marriage,” says Holloway. “Garters was the most erotic gift a man might purchase for a woman—extremely intimate because they held up her stockings. Worn inside her dress, the garters often had messages embroidered on them like, ‘I die where I cling.’ They were very suggestive.”ALT
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    oh my god. og my god. the symbolism of it all

    • Nov 320,852 notes
    EMBROIDERING WITH YOUR HAIR ENTWINED......I DIE WHERE I CLING????? OH MY GODfuck dudeignore menotes1k5k10k15k
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      oh my god. og my god. the symbolism of it all