The return of the girdle

A brief history

I am fully aware that tight waist-cinching corsets are, and always will be, a perennial genre of fetish outer garment or dress-up undergarment.

I have read that corset wearers can experience a rush of excitement to be squeezed real tight around the waist. However, I have never heard this described as comfortable.

As standard female underwear requirements, the “girdle” - a reinforced elastic, boned and structured corset - and its companion the “panty-girdle” disappeared from popular use around the mid-1960s. You may ask, why?

At a recent dinner party there was some debate about the reason for the decline in corset wearing as an everyday garment. Present at the dinner was Marie Forster, the designer of highly regarded 1980s Australian fashion label, Sabot.  Marie put the disappearance of  these garments down to the change of fashions in the 1960s. Styles like baby doll, mumu, tent dress and princess line were in, and hourglass figures were oh so 1950s.

In my view this simplifies the phenomenon too much. Actually, what was going on was a revolution against formality and constraint. Especially in a hot climate, women complained bittterly of tight, rubbing and chafing corsets which by the 1950s were commonly known as girdles. Obviously they were more comfortable than the Victorian era, but nonetheless they were hated by the women who wore them. The fashions reflected this rebellion, as fashions do.

There was also a moralistic slant on those women who did not wear girdles. Girdles were like armour, providing that bit of extra modesty between a woman and any who might like to savour her curves. Not wearing one made you, quite literally, loose.

I was too young to wear a girdle, but only by a very few years. 

Check out this advertisement. Amazingly it appeared in the 1968 edition of The Chronicle, the official school magazine of Sydney Girls High School. Along with advertising secretarial school and the benefits of an all electric home for aspiring home-makers, it was considered appropriate to advertise corsetry. 

People of my age regarded corsets and panty-girdles with ridicule and scorn. They were of the past, and it seemed inconceivable that they would ever return.

But they are indeed returning, albeit in a new form. 

Todays corsets are known as “slimwear” and “shapewear”. They may be cleverly structured, and their materials are revolutionary high-tech fibres. There are too many brands of these garments to name, but top names include Nancy Ganz and Spanx. Some brands even make claims to reduce cellulite and even lose weight just by wearing them, and changing nothing else about your lifestyle.

Drop two sizes instantly

I saw with my own eyes a friend who dropped two full sizes wearing Spanx on New Year’s Eve. I had seen her less than a month before, so it wasn’t just weight loss - these things are amazing. I have to say, though, she didn’t look comfortable, and there was a bit of tugging and squirming going on.

I won’t be testing these garments, so do not expect a personal review, but another friend tells me she felt real bad after wearing a similar product to a dinner party. 

Still, they have their fans - such as the author of a “big girls”  blog I found on line. Check this out for a comprehensive product line-up plus reviews:

http://www.biggirlsbrowse.com/blog/2009/08/big-girls-ultimate-shapewear-review-updated/

In describing one of her favourites, the blog author writes: “Corsets improve your posture and keep everything well and truly strapped in, and overall, this is probably one of the pieces I wear the most, but it is restrictive (I rarely sit down / eat when I have it on)!”

Hmmm

But who are you kidding?

The reality is that unless you make love under a kaftan, or in the dark, someone is going to see you naked.  And that “someone”  is probably the person in all the world you most want to impress. What good is your corset then?

Then there is the beach, where very few women have opted for the burkeeni. Again, what good is your corset?

Have you ever seen the gym slogan : “Look better naked”.

Why go to all that effort and expense to squash your fat temporarily into place, when you can get rid of it?

I hear people often say “I hate gyms”, “I hate exercise” and the like.

Well, I hate being uncomfortable! Constricted! In denial! Saying I hate exercise would be like saying I hate breathing.  But that is just me. Modern corset undergarments are here to stay in a big way judging by the growing plethora of products coming on the market. 

Just watch out for the possibility of false claims. It is possible that a new weave technology can “massage” the thighs and make the cellulite go away. Give it a try if you must, but don’t expect miracles.