The woman is decorative and passive; just like her hobbies of embroidery and flower arranging; just like a flower. The white and pastel colour palette is indicative to the idealized pale and pure appearance.
The Violet Kimono, , ca. 1910 Robert Reid
Hollyhocks, ca. 1912–1913 Frederick Carl Frieseke
Picking Roses Margetson, William Henry
Fleur de Lis, ca. 1895–1900 Robert Reid
Charles Courtney Curran, 1888 Lotus Lilies
Flower references (from left: crocus, hollyhocks, rose, iris, water lily)
Satin ribbons, a symbol of elegance, are attached to nylon stockings. The stocking became a staple garment of the modern woman with industrialization. Worn with shorter and shorter dresses the perception turned them crude, tacky and cheap.
Sewing on the body
The body: extended, exhibited
Women of colour were not considered feminine with the standard of paleness imposed. The racial and classist undertones make my body a site of demolishing the floral ideal.
