Harry and Caresse obtained a 20-year lease on a mill outside of Paris in the grounds of the Château d’ Ermenonville, France, which belonged to their friend Armand de la Rochefoucauld, for 2,200 dollar gold pieces (about $33,222 today). They named it “Le Moulin du Soleil” (“The Mill of the Sun”). Friends were invited frequently for intimate or wild parties. ‘Never no’ was the motto of Caresse Crosby (born Mary Phelps Jacob; April 20, 1892 – January 24, 1970) and is the title of a series of paintings inspired by her life. She was the inventor of the modern bra, …

Caresse and Harry Crosby lived a life of utter dissolution off Harry’s inheritance which, when it ran out, had to be supplemented by telegrams to his banker father such as the infamous, “PLEASE SELL 10,000 WORTH OF STOCK. WE HAVE DECIDED TO LIVE A MAD AND EXTRAVAGANT LIFE”. They madly loved each other and although their glamorous and luxurious lifestyle soon included an open marriage, Caresse was his true love that he would never leave. PTSDHarry, who witnessed gruesome scenes and traumatic experiences in World War One as an ambulance driver, most probably suffered from PTSD. He began to grow nutty. He was …

In 1910, at age 19, Polly (a.k.a. Mary Phelps Jacob a.k.a. Caresse Crosby was preparing to attend yet another débutante ball one evening. As was customary, she put on a corset stiffened with whalebone and a restrictive, tight corset cover  that flattened and jammed her large breasts together into a single monobosom. Corset to bra A corset was cinched in to form as tiny a waist as possible, and the woman’s torso was held very erect. A corset was very confining, and it would have been difficult to feel comfortable dressed in one. Mary wore a dress she had worn …

NEDERLANDSE VERSIE