| tyling - you must have seen that term before! It is | | | | latex allergy affected wearers, but whatever the |
| applied to everything from clothing to home furnishings. | | | | reason, these girdles are no longer manufactured by |
| Retro comes from the Latin meaning 'backwards'. | | | | Playtex. |
| Here we are discussing retro shapewear. | | | | Retro shapewear share the same objective as |
| Much of the following discussion relates to the fifties | | | | vintage shapewear did, namely to sculpt the shape of |
| sleek,chic girdles, but it equally applies to today's girdles | | | | the body. Elasticity can help to hold and control figures |
| modelled on the original designs. | | | | but for more rigid control a variety of 'bones' have |
| The war years were years of austerity and women | | | | been used over the years. The original whalebone |
| on both sides of the channel dressed for comfort, to | | | | corset did actually use whale baleen - which are the |
| help the war effort. Women, eager to attract partners | | | | cartilage-like "teeth" which whales use to filter plankton. |
| at the end of the war, so fashions reflected this desire. | | | | Each baleen is enormous, around ten inches wide and |
| Couture house Christian Dior came up with styling | | | | ten to twelve feet long. It proved an ideal material for |
| needing a sleek, chic silhouettes. Now girdles, corsets | | | | corset makers because it consisted of parallel fibres |
| or corselets became essential. Suddenly all women | | | | that could be relatively easily split into thin strips; these |
| wore girdles, and not just women either - all the | | | | strips could be shaped by heating them over steam |
| shapewear manufacturers targeted not just women | | | | and when they cooled they held their shape. As |
| but teens as well. A variety of girdles for the young | | | | whales decreased supply became critical. Fortunately |
| adult were produced. Probably the teen girdle that | | | | other alternatives proved suitable - artificial plastics |
| gained the maximum coverage, in more than one | | | | such as celluloid, and at one point even coiled metal |
| sense, was the panty girdle - a tight-fitting cross | | | | springs! |
| between a girdle that held the tummy in and one that | | | | Historic background to the corset The forerunner of |
| protected the wearer from advances, whether | | | | the girdle was the corset, and that had its origins |
| unwelcome of otherwise! | | | | further back still in ladies stays. Indeed there is |
| The girdle had several functions - to give that sleek | | | | archaelogical evidence going back to 3000BC showing |
| chic silhouette to the wearer and to hold up the nylon | | | | women with waists cinched in tightly by a garment that |
| stockings. Girdles generally had a minimum of two | | | | appears ribbed. It was around the fourteenth century |
| pairs of garter clips. There are two at the front and | | | | that women started wearing a stiffened linen |
| two garter clips, usually slightly offset from the rear. | | | | undergarment garment, laced in at the front or back, |
| The garters are offset so that when the girdle wearer | | | | and by the fifteenth century these 'stays' were |
| sits down they do not have to sit directly on the clips! | | | | relatively common; the probable derivation of the |
| The open bottom girdles usually have the garter clips | | | | English corset from bodice ('bodies') to the French |
| on elastic straps, which is useful in keeping the nylon | | | | translation of this 'corps' which transmuted back to |
| stockings taught as the wearer moves about, sitting | | | | corset. The original corsets were made by stitching |
| and standing. The nylon stockings from the fifties did | | | | together two layers of linen with a paste in the middle |
| not have spandex or lycra and were non-stretch; | | | | of the 'sandwich' to provide stiffening. By the 16th |
| without the elastic of the garter strap the stocking | | | | century corset makers had turned to using whalebone |
| would 'bag' as the wearer stood up. | | | | (actually more correctly called baleen) to offer the |
| The panty girdle, and particularly the long-leg panty | | | | stiffening. This provided more rigidity than the earlier |
| girdle often has the garter tab attached directly to the | | | | paste corsets. |
| girdle itself. The long-leg panty girdle legs usually | | | | By 1940, in both America and Europe, the corset had |
| completely overlap and cover the stocking-welt, losing | | | | given way to the girdle, worn in conjunction with a bra. |
| the gap of bare thigh above the stocking top. Men | | | | After the fifties came the swinging sixties, when |
| usually find the flash of bare thigh and garter strap | | | | women were exhorted to burn their bras and stop |
| exciting; however, a long leg panty girdle, although | | | | wearing such restrictive underwear. But as with all |
| practical, hides all this and has consequently been | | | | fashion, girdle wearing has now gone full circle. |
| described (along with pantyhose) as a "passion killer". | | | | Burlesque artists have made the 'art of tease' in which |
| Girdle materials Modern and retro girdles usually | | | | girdles, basques and corsets are on show, into popular |
| feature spandex or Lycra for elasticity, but the original | | | | entertainment. Now burlesque model Dita von Teese |
| girdles dating from around the 1930s usually used | | | | has even designed, modelled and marketed a beautiful |
| rubber to give stretch. The introduction of rubber was | | | | selection of fifties inspired girdles and bras. Suddenly |
| a major step in corsetry - the ultra-rigid corset had | | | | fifties is in vogue. |
| suddenly become more flexible. In parallel with its | | | | The burlesque art form is now burgeoning and the |
| introduction the terms associated with such items of | | | | esteemed Royal Festival Hall held the worlds largest |
| clothing also metamorphosed: from the original corset, | | | | burlesque lesson in January 2009, evidencing how |
| the term roll-on came into vogue, particularly in the | | | | mainstream this art has become. Original fifties girdles, |
| USA, then came the step-in and the corselette, often | | | | corsets and basques are found in specialist online |
| known as the 'all in one'. | | | | lingerie boutiques or vintage stores, but to satisfy the |
| Actually Playtex did briefly market a solid rubber girdle | | | | demand all sorts of outlets have now sprung up to |
| molded from pure latex (with airholes so the body | | | | satisfy the demands of burlesque. These shops and |
| could 'breather') - these have become quite the | | | | online stores invariably turn to the forties and fifties for |
| collectors item these days, partly because of rarity | | | | styling inspiration for their retro shapewear - and the |
| value. Pure latex deteriorates over time and the | | | | biggest item that seems to be in demand is the corset. |
| garment then perishes, so few remain in good | | | | Fashion really has returned to its roots. |
| condition. It is interesting to know whether the common | | | | |