So. Here's dolly. Jointed at the shoulders and hips. Kitteh is jealous.
She is a Bas Bleu! But that dress simply will not do, it is stiff with glue.
So we make something new.
And we soak the old dress off, and look for a maker's mark.
No marks. Just glue residue.
Now for an under skirt.
Something with a little frou-frou for
Mademoiselle Babette Bleu.
Viola! C'est magnifique!
Que es une "Bas Bleu", says you?
Bas bleu, the French equivalent of a Bluestocking, refers to an intellectual woman; up until the late 18th century, it referred to learned folk of both genders. The term later developed negative connotations [read:frumpy]. Beliefs persist [obviously] about the need for women to dress fashionably; an old saying is "women don't become bluestockings until men have tired of looking at their legs". Another prejudice, attributed to William Hazlitt goes something like "The bluestocking is the most odious character in society ... she sinks wherever she is placed, like the yolk of an egg, to the bottom, and carries the filth with her."
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