Old-hand. Have you read the beginning of the thread? Maude has already been here. Lil was Maude but wanting to be Julia on Designing Women.
Isn't it funny how Maude made such an imprint on our lives as women? I am older than Lil. In relation to you, I don't know. Unless you watch a lot of re-runs you can't be a spring chicken.
What is it about Maude, that she became such an icon to women? I have read that she was quite esteemed by gay men, but it seems she touched women too.
OK. Back to Della and Agnes. The brass I refer to is like "brassy," in the sense of tough or rough or vulgar--maybe even a class distinction or more, the sense of being sexualized. Like in my youth a so-called "bad' girl would be thought of in this way. There was the cultivation of a little too much-ness, kind of like what more contemporary young (and older) women strive for with nose rings, or tattoos, or pink hair or combat boots (which I have!)
Nobody has commented on my alter-ego which I decided was Sally Bowles from Cabaret. And my want-to-be who is Lady Gaga. Who knew I had these identifications until this thread!
I can "see you" and Della as "no nonsense." And I can imagine the reserve. But I do not see Della as reserved. Self-confident, yes. In command, yes. Self-possessed, yes. Sexy, in the most self-confident, deliberate and self-contained way, yes.
I did not much like the show Bewitched so I know Agnes Moorehead through her movies in which she seemed to always play herself, a kind of hard-boiled, sarcastic Maude-type character. I think I read that Maude in real life (Bea Arthur) was NOTHING like the role. (It was the voice.) But I bet Agnes Moorehead in real life was Maude.
When you describe dressing well, I can see it. But in a different way than as typical. I see you "composing yourself, your image" kind of as a composition, a theatre of self-presentation, rather than in any way as creating an impression or a need to impress.
Later I will try to ask you about a dilemma that I am facing about exactly this. I will try to get back to you because I find your posts interesting and thought-provoking. Thank you.