on-looker's

Updated: May 18, 2025

From the on-looker's point of view, it mightn't violate decorum at all; indeed, clearly did not. But Miss Wollaston herself, if she hadn't been more or less rigidly laced, stayed, gartered, pinched, pried and pulled about; if she could have moved freely in any direction without an admonitory "take care" from some bit of whalebone somewhere, wouldn't have felt dressed at all.

Henry Kitchell Webster - Mary Wollaston