Strange but True?

This section of the site is the repository for strange and unusual facts relating to girdles and corsetry that don't belong anywhere else. For example, the above image shows the strange predilection in the 1950's to dress advertising woman up in black leotards. This was done so that when they danced on stage it could look as it the girdles were dancing in mid air by themselves!

• In the 1960's this advertisement could appear without readers thinking that it was promoting crossdressing.

• Early advertising promoted electric and magnetic corsets for health, and even radio active corsets were produced during the late 30's. Silhouette produced a garment called the ‘Silhouette Radiante’ which was said to have"..a stimulating, even rejuvenating influence on the cells of the human body, aid fatigue, warm the body and help rheumatic pain". This was also certified by the Marie Curie Institute as being radioactive.

• Corsetry could also be a source of family entertainment as this Victorian stereo image called "Taking in a reef" shows. Cards were placed in a special viewer but with practice you can get the same effect by looking at this image without the viewer. Sit about 40cm in front of the screen, staring at the two images. Then touch the centre of the image with your finger and then gradually bring your finger closer to your eyes whilst still keeping it in focus. You should be aware of the two images behind your finger starting to converge to create a 3D image that appears in front of the screen- Good Luck!

• There is a range of foundation wear to promote health that promises giving the wearer isometric exercise and massage with every movement. Since the 1930's there have also been all rubber corsets advertised to help reduce weight and improve the figure by assisting in sweating off excess fat. Sitting in a personal sauna must have been a strange experience for those women prepared to wear such garments!.

• During the second world war pockets were sewn into corsetry so that essential documents and other small items could be kept safe ( women in the armed forces were not allowed to carry purses). In more recent times some women have use the same principle to keep valuables safe when going on holiday abroad! A woman might be attacked by a foreigner, but no criminal would dare violate a woman's corset!

• Women used to have a long stool at the end of their beds where their control garments and other underwear were placed at night. For modesty they were then covered with a discrete cloth. In a divorce case from the 1920's one of the examples of a husbands unreasonable behaviour cited was that he had 'laughed at her couvre-linge'.

• Whalebone has not been used in corsetry since the turn of the century, and whalebone was in such short supply during the Victorian period that even second hand umbrella's were used as a source of the material. Modern corsetry uses spiral steel, with silicon rubber also being a recent innovation.

• The health hazards of wearing corsetry have always been debated, with opinion often being mixed. Tight lacing has been a particular concern, and there was even an experiment carried out in the 1940's to investigate the effects of tight lacing by putting tight corsets on monkeys. The experiment was terminated after at least one of the monkeys died!

• During the second world war girdles were listed as essential items of clothing after women protested that they needed to wear them during essential war work in factories. During the first world war women also wore corsets in factory work, but were forbidden to wear garments with any metal parts when working in munitions factories. There was a fear that sparks from metal corset stays could could ignite the explosives! A special range of corsets were therefore produced using paper and cord stiffenings instead of metal. Another reason could have been the shortage of metal at this time, and women were encouraged to give up their steel boned corsets in the effort to build more battleships!

• Black was considered a racy colour for underwear even for married women, and there is a reported case in the files of Silhouette of an Irish woman returning a black foundation garment because she thought it was sinful to wear it ( she had got a rash after wearing the girdle and thought it was punishment for her sin!). Tea Rose was the most popular colour for corsetry until easy wash materials became available in the 1950's. White became the most popular colour for underwear however, as brightly coloured underwear was difficult to coordinate with different clothes. Contrary to many male fantasies, red is not a popular colour for woman's underwear!

• Girdles were produced in many different colours and patterns after the 1960's. One range produced in the late 1960's came complete with the American flag or Union Jack (British Flag) printed in it. Later patterns were printed into the fabric of the girdles and bright colours became available in the late 60's and early 70's.

• One company produces a range of small figures on the theme of the history of modern costume called 'The Latest Thing'. The Silhouette range covers the history of underwear from 1900 and includes girdles and corsets.

• A variety of ways to enhance the bust have been used over the years. An early bust enhancing device involved spring loaded cups that created a cage around the breast. In the 1950's the concept was refined with an inflatable bra that added extra inches by the simple expedient of adding air. The girl on the far left is inflating her bra with a special straw designed for the purpose. Caution was presumably needed when flying in aircraft, but was much safer than breast implants!

• During the 1950's so much foam rubber was used for the bras in foundation garments that it was estimated that more foam rubber was used in this industry than in the entire USA furnishing trade!

• The foundation garment industry doubled in the ten years between 1948 and 1958 in the UK, and it was estimated that the female per capita spending on foundation garments was about £2.45 a year. In those days this was a lot of money!

• A perfume is often added to the Lycra used to make girdles and some have very distinctive smells. The same make of girdles from different countries may also smell different because of this!

• It took until the late 70's for most girdle manufacturers in the UK to stop putting suspenders on panty girdles even though most women at that time were wearing tights. Open bottomed girdles and corselettes complete with suspenders were being sold well into the late 90's even though stockings were rarely seen. More mature women increasingly had to get their stockings from speciality shops that still catered to the more traditional girdle wearer.

• In 1995 the bustle looked as if it might make a comeback when Vivienne Westwood produced a cage designed to provide an artificial shape to the bottom. It was attached to a panty girdle by tapes. I suspect very few wore it, as it must have been very strange to sit down in!

• Giant legs in stocking were once used to promote sales in American department stores.

• Girdle advertising appeared everywhere. Even match box covers!

• You could even buy special 'Fresh Look' shampoo to wash your bra and girdle with, as this Gossard instruction leaflet from the 1950's demonstrates.

• The concern about personal hygiene in the 1960's even lead to deodorant sprays for underwear

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