Why weren't Victorian upper class women fat?

[waltzingparrot]

They sat around drinking tea, playing the piano, embroidering, reading. Just the odd amble round a park, occasional dance.

How did they stay slim with their tiny waists?

Poor Victorian women were half starved - rich ones chewed every mouthful 100 times apparently 😏

GnomeDePlume

Ruth Goodman has an excellent book 'How to be a Victorian'. Absolutely fascinating. She reckons that once you are used to them that corsets are quite comfortable

I love this book it’s absolutely fascinating abs really easy to read. I have given the book as a present to a few people they have all loved it full of fascinating facts

I was watching something on corsets and now the bigger sizes were used by more people and so it tends to only be the small ones that survived and we see

I've worn a very tight laced corset before and it's much more restrictive than a gastric band. I could hardly eat or drink in it.

If it like wearing Spanx you end up constantly burping after you have eaten i guess body is so squashed it’s difficult to digest food

@Cocomarine

Also, you say the odd amble around the park… but every single journey you might jump in a car for, they’d have to walk if the carriage wasn’t brought round! I will admit I’ve driven a 10 minute walk to the shop - because I think I’m too busy not to. I’d imagined Victorian women - even upper class! - had a higher step count than you think!

An amble round the park could easily hit 10,000 steps. With my WFH desk job, some days I’ve not even hit 1,000.

But mostly I reckon portion size and far less yummy processed crap.

An amble round the park could easily hit 10,000 steps. With my WFH desk job, some days I’ve not even hit 1,000.

This. I walk to our park and back most mornings. Half an hour to get there and back. 15924 steps/5.78 miles today. I needed to go and check something with a friend, so I walked to their house... only 10 minutes each way on foot. but it all adds up. A bit of pottering in our garden (moving plants around on our terrace) has increased the count, but not by much.

Portion size. Not sure about "yummy" processed crap. Processed crap isn't yummy.

@Billybagpuss

And for those mentioning piano playing. According to my Garmin, one Beethoven sonata = 5k 😂 and that’s for real.

Wow! Love this.

This is an Abby Cox video looking at a Victorian gown with a 33 inch waist. Not everyone was thin, even with the corsetry!

One word... sugar

I know they had it, but it wasn’t in everything like it is today (ie many processed foods including savoury).

Sugar is why we is getting fat. Not fat.

This is a other one entitled "people were not smaller in the past" she does quite a lot on this!

Victorian diaries show that they exercised every day. Often walking in the park (and also to the park) but also cycling (later in the century), skating, and in the summer bathing, tennis and rowing.

possibly portion size etiquette, I expect it was smaller than today

DM has her grandparents wedding crockery, which is around 100 years old. The dinner plates and pudding bowls are tiny compared to modern ones. The dinner plates are barely bigger than my Denby side plates, and the bowls must be half the capacity of mine.

Far less carbs

They had loads of carbs: bread, porridge, porridge, potatoes, root veg would have been the staples for most people.

What they didn't have was much sugar, meat or convenience food, and for most of the population, they couldn't overeat because they simply couldn't afford it.

Because they didn't have hyperpalatable food designed by scientists to make them addicted to it

@JudgeJ Lizzie Bennett in P and P walked over to Netherfield, 'It's only three miles'! [[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O138889/stays-unknown/
Regency era corsets were often rather shorter.]] Some of them resembled a boned, longline bra.

@SirSamuelVimes I thought you'd posted this video but it's a different one.

Last one!

Reaction by various dress historians, including Abby Cox and Bernadette Banner, to a 'history of the corset' video that it seems was full of common inaccuracies.

Promise to stop now! I fell down a YouTube wormhole on this stuff some time last year, it's really interesting!

Aha you did post it!

I'm trying to avoid posting her whole back catalogue! 😂

@Classica

If you got too chonky your wealthy and aristocratic husband could have you confined to an asylum so he'd be free to perambulate about St Johns Wood with his fancy piece, Florrie de Vere.

HAHAHAHA thanks, that has rounded off the day with a good laugh!

@Mysterian

They were fat but also short. This meant that when their corsets were done up tight they became tall and thin. Basic science.

@Iamthewombat: Except that was entirely possible, so not remotely funny.

They sat around drinking tea

There's part of answer.... alcohol has a lot to answer for

Has anyone else read the Arrowood series of novels by Mick Finlay about a Victorian detective? "The rich go to Sherlock Holmes, everyone else goes to Arrowood". I think book no 4 is just about to come out. There are some really good observations about food. No ordinary people have a kitchen to cook in at home and most hot food is bought out eg from a pie shop. Arrowood lives behind a pie shop so he is quite portly. The coachmen drink this really hardcore sounding drink called Vin Mariani which is cheap wine with cocaine in it, to keep them awake when they are driving through the night. There are some great women characters - but you will have to read to find out. PS I am not and have never met Mick Finlay but these books are brilliant. Happy reading Victoriana lovers

@nongnangning

Vin Mariani sounds fun. And also like something that would cause controversy on the baby names board!!

I have a house keeping book from that era. According to the "health" section I should weigh six and a half stone. I am 5ft 4in!