While some people want to make the most of technology by adding more and more fancy gadgets to their daily lives, others simply prefer going back to the basics. Meet Sarah Chrisman, a 33-year-old Seattle resident who decided to ditch almost every aspect of modern life, from cooking to clothing, and embrace a Victorian-era lifestyle.
Although she has liked the stories from the Victorian age ever since she was a little girl, the big change took place just 4 years ago, when Sarah received a unique birthday present from her husband. “I have always loved the Victorian era, ever since I was a little girl. My first corset was given to me by my husband on my 29th birthday, and unexpectedly, I really thoroughly enjoyed it.” The feeling she had when wearing the corset determined her to change her lifestyle entirely: Sarah now wears custom-made Victorian clothes, tries not to use any appliances that didn’t exist in the Victorian age (such as the now mundane washing machine), gave up her car for a 100-years-old bike, she uses old fashioned cleaning methods instead of modern detergents and cooks using the recipes found in 19th century women’s magazines. That’s right, this modern-day Victorian woman enjoys the 1889 edition of Cosmopolitan, and because she considers her lifestyle very exciting, she even wrote a book, “Victorian Secrets. What a Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present and Myself”. She also studied the Victorian age etiquette.
The people’s reaction to Sarah’s nowadays unconventional ways is usually a positive one, with very few exceptions. “People have mixed reactions. Some are enthusiastic and positive. The other day an old man ran out of a restaurant to tell me I made his day, he said:
. But there are perfect strangers who find what I wear such a point of contention. Some women scream oppression — that I choose to wear a corset. But I focus on the positives. I don’t find it restricting at all, in fact I’d venture to say that it’s liberating to live how I want to!” Sarah chooses to explore only the bright side of the Victorian age. What you may not have known is that some ideas of today’s technology were born in those times. “As far as technology goes, people don’t realize how early a lot of technology came into being. You could say the Victorian internet was born in the 19th century. And in the 1870s, two inventors Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell independently designed the telephone. And the world’s first public electricity supply was provided in late 1881, when the streets of Godalming in the UK were lit with electric light”, Sarah explains.
Although Sarah and Gabriel have cut out or reduced the use of modern day technology, they are very much aware of the times they live in. “We can’t travel back, though we try.” But there is one aspect of modern life not even this Victorian-age lady can’t resist, Facebook. Yup, she has her own Facebook account.
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