In Service: Julia Fullerton-Batten

Here is another maid-related photo shoot to add to my growing collection. This one is exquisitely done and my only complaint is that not every picture featured a maid! The photographer, Julia Fullerton-Batten, quite unusually, also provided a detailed "artist statement", which, among other things, says the following:

“In Service” concentrates on amoral episodes that took place in some of the stately homes of Britain during the Edwardian era. I was fortunate to find three stately homes in the south of England that provided eminently suitable backdrops for shooting the series. Built in the 18th Century their interior decorations closely resemble those found in grand houses in the Edwardian era. I dressed the servants in authentic Edwardian era style clothing. To heighten the class difference I went for a contrast in fashion styles and dressed some of the female employers in clothing designed by Alexander McQueen and Chanel.

Story: Klavdia Kuznetsova. Chapter 1.

by Violet Carson

Chapter 1

Claudia Andrews stared blankly at the screen of her laptop. It had been almost 6 months since her husband Dave Andrews had died suddenly of a heart attack aged just 53. At only 36 herself, she was now a relatively wealthy and very attractive business woman and widow. Many had viewed her as Dave’s “trophy wife” when they wed, knowing very little about her and what they could possibly have in common. In fact she had to admit that with her endlessly long legs and shoulder length expensively highlighted blonde hair, she ticked most of those boxes.

She day-dreamed the afternoon away, in between checking the odd email that flashed up on the screen and aimlessly staring out of her office window. She had told her PA: Sam to hold all her calls for the afternoon, for no particular reason other than she wanted time to think about how she was going to bring her undoubtedly insane plan into action and how much her life had changed since her teenage years growing up as Klavdia Kuznetsova an only child in post Communist Russia in Volgograd in the country’s south. She was always known as Klava, which had been a common girl's name on her mother’s side of the family. She had always hated it and when she settled in London changed it to the more international sounding Claudia.

Story: Paid in Full

(Replaced with an extended and re-edited version on February 9, 2017)

by B.L Sharp

Marley Stein was beyond shock as she read the text message from her neighbor, Jessica. Still, she stared intensely at the threat conveyed in the message and displayed so vividly on her phone screen. Jessica had borrowed $4,000 from Marley a while ago, stating it was to recompense the funds she’d overdrawn from the joint bank account she operated with her husband. But, when the time to repay Marley arrived, Jessica refused to take her calls or respond to any one of Marley’s text messages for two weeks. It took a direct ultimatum asking her to ‘either pay up or deal with a court case’ to get a response from Jessica.

The response, in any case, turned out to be a direct threat to Marley’s livelihood, delivered in a curt manner. Jessica warned that, if Marley ever threatened to sue her again, then she would ‘tank’ her business and credibility.

Marley was a real estate entrepreneur and for over three years, had built herself a multi-million-dollar empire by buying and selling commercial real estate. And, she wasn’t going to put up with anyone who threatened to ruin her reputation or business. The 5’2 120lbs raven-haired tycoon sat up and placed a call to a close friend.

Story: Cinderella, Humble, Haughty Child

This short story was recommended to me by T.H. Enerdly. It comes from a 1999 book called "Inverted Odysseys" (affiliate link), which, among other things, includes this "pervered" version of Cinderella written by the Surrealist artist and photographer Claude Cahun.

Strictly, this is not a lady2maid story, but comes pretty close, suggesting themes of self-imposed downgrade. I hope it's to your liking.

“She let fall one of her glass slippers,

which the Prince carefully picked up.”

Perrault

My father remarried and I was very happy about it all. I’d always dreamed of having a stepmother. But heaven overwhelmed me, giving me two sisters by marriage. They were deliciously cruel. I especially loved the elder, who despised me delightfully: When she saw me always sitting in the cinders by the fireplace, whose warmth penetrated me with delight (sometimes even burning me), did her dear familiar voice not call me Kitchenella? Never was a word so sweet to my ears.

Sadly, they were pretty girls, marriageable maidens; they left us soon, leaving me with my parents, who, devoted to one another, regarded the world with a drunkard’s tenderness—and included me in their superb universal indifference. I will do anything to avoid a marriage like that . . . But how would I do it? I with my loving nature, and so submissive? . . .

Story: A Servant's Revenge. Epilogues.

by Mally01

1.

The steady beep beep beep of the Electrocardiograph monitor was the only sound in the room. A nurse and a doctor looked at their patient when a maid entered. The patient eyes started to move rapidly under the owner's eyelids, slowly opening. Charlotte blinked, then looked around the room as her blurred vision cleared. The doctor and nurse checked her over in silence then left the room. Rosa approached and sat next to the bed and waited for the questions that would come.

"Rosa how, how. what happened, where am I?"

"Well, Miss Charlotte, you were out riding and took a fall. You are in hospital."

"Rosa, I had the strangest dream, I dreamt I was a maid and that you were the Lady of the house."

"It was just a dream, Miss Charlotte"

"Rosa, I dreamt it lasted three months"

Young Woman and Her Maids

Tetora pointed me to an excellent photo shoot on Getty Images that I thought I'd share with you as well. I am a big fan of maid-inspired fashion shoots and posted a few of them in this blog over the years, so here is another one for your enjoyment. It almost looks like an illustration to a lady-to-maid story. Sorry I cannot remove watermarks, but they are not in any way obtrusive.

Story: A Taste of Her Own Medicine.

By B.L Sharp

In the story "A Bet Was Maid" an out of place woman named April approached a local woman named Heather and challenged her to a game of pool. The condition of the bet was that the loser had to be the winner's maid for a month. April pulled a conned and beat Heather making her April maid for the month. After the month, Heather mom Maura approached the con artist and challenged her to a game of pool with the same terms that April and Heather made. April was not prepared for the fact that the woman beat her and forcing April to be her maid.

There is something else April does not know. Something that will lead to her demise and social downgrade from respected billiards player to a maid once and for all.

"False modesty can be worse than arrogance"—David Mitchell

Tonight will be the ultimate downfall of April Yeoh, the professional billiards player that have been running scams on women pretending not to know how to play pool and suckered them into games with the conditions of the losers being maids to her. Heather Thompson, the woman who fell for this con, learned about her scheme from a few friends in the pool hall. She started a campaign to bring this scamming professional pool hustler all the way down the social ladder back to her rightful place. The place she had before she became a professional pool player. A maid!