Latin America
My husband visited Peru in the mid-1980's and was struck by the number of well-stocked lingerie shops, often selling powerful looking panty-girdles. Corsets appeared not to be present other than some formidable back-supports and surgical corsets that seemed to be copies of the CAMP brand made by a firm 'Pro Infirma.' Indeed, the catalogues that the owner of the shop possessed were all from American CAMP, however, most of the products were locally copied. Basically, the Latin lady enjoys style and stylish modes and, as we shall see, will go to extraordinary lengths to achieve this. Let us travel back to a South America steeped in international intrigue in the days leading up to the Second World War.
| From Uruguay come these stunning, traditional silk corsets from this period. Beautifully made, they would have been the property of a well-to-do, older lady, a wealthy politician or diplomat's wife for example, determined that her figure would not be an embarrassment at the consular parties. |
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These styles of corset are shown modelled below on the Dollhouse Vintage (DH) site. It poses an interesting question. The corsets are obviously tight on the model's waist but very loose on the hips. Did these South American women have abnormally large hips, or were they prepared to lace in dramatically at the waist? The latter is probably part of the solution. I believe that these corsets belonged to a wealthy woman, well past her prime but determined to show a slim waist whatever it took. Forget the principles of support here, tight-lacing was the function of these elegant devices.
Our friend who lived in Argentina for several decades, referred to such parties that she thoroughly enjoyed. Fluent in Spanish, she had many Argentinean acquaintances, whom she praised for their style and deportment, whilst adding "Mind you, you wouldn't believe what they went through to achieve those figures!" Well, now we know, as would she in later life. Taking a leaf from from her South American sisters, our friend would discard her daily M&S girdle and resurrect a corset for any special occasion.
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I mentioned in the pages devoted to 'Reducing Corsetry' "After eight decades of rubber corsetry, the marketers have persuaded a new generation of girls to aspire and to perspire for beauty. Perhaps in the torrid summer heat of Rio de Janeiro at least the reduction aspect may have a chance of working." The rubber corset is alive and well in South and Central America. Whether women wear these tortuous devices at home, at work, or for special occasions, I do not know. Certainly, some manufacturers recommend a four hour limit suggesting 'reduction' in the privacy of one's home. Even the elaborate patterns of the ventilation holes has made a comeback. As we see below, any number of these contraptions is available to trim the señorita, and not just in pure latex. Confections of extraordinarily complex elastic and bones are pressed into service. |
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The magnificent creature on the left comes from the Ardyss range. Although nominally American, there's sufficient Spanish in the site to suggest her origins. The actually garment above looks rather like (to quote my husband), an 'empty pair of tights.' Nevertheless, the complexity of the garment is revealed and, if you care to count, you'll find that the señorita has a total of no less than eight bones and an amazing 30 hooks-and-eyes with which to play. I've not seen such a number since the under-belted corselette, or the Spen-all. |
Even the rather pretty girl on the left who wears a non-rubber pantie-girdle has the discomfort of shoulder straps, and innumerable hooks and eyes. The poor Latin woman suffers to be beautiful, and, I must confess, often succeeds as well.
| One feature of modern Latin corsetry advertisements is their superb
quality. The prettiness of the models is somewhat contrasting to the
complex rubber and elastic garments they they appear to don before a
night's 'clubbing'. I have never 'clubbed' and I never will, but if I
was (cough cough) years younger, I certainly wouldn't wear rubber to do
so! The model on the left sports the highest-waisted panty-girdle in the world where the flesh coloured parts are elastic, and the white parts latex. Why only part of the garment is latex I don't know. Perhaps heat generation is a genuine problem with these garments. The lady on the right looks terribly sad. Mama has not allowed her to spend the extra money on latex and she is stuck with boring old elastic. How WILL she secure a mate dressed in the flesh underpinnings of the previous generation. This is 2006. Latex is the miracle substance; it was only first used in corsets exactly 100 years ago!
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Bale Gold
Scary and formidable corsetry on show from Brazil. Yes - each one of those bone casings contains a piece of steel.
Just in case it's not tight enough, you can wrap an extra cincher around your waist.
In case the construction isn't rigid enough for you, they can sell you a steel boned Tala Abdominal to stick up the front of the corset.
The movie above can be seen here.
This lady even sticks a board under her already tight girdle, but it does work!
This particular faja colombiana (as these garments appear to be called generically) would appear to be bullet-proof with over 25 steel bones.
Mind you, that part of the world is known for its level of violence so perhaps this garment makes sense.
We have described bullet-proof corsets in last year's diary. Madame Chiang Kai-shek was one such wearer.
