Articles by other Authors

Roger has also found many articles written by others on the subject of foundation wear and corsetry. We have assembled these articles below.

Veronica Dengle, “Hold Your Man!” 1945, pp. 93-96:  

Veronica Dengle, “Personality Unlimited: The Beauty Blue Book,” 1943, pp. 390-97:

Elizabeth Head (Hollywood costume director), “The Dress Doctor,” 1959:

Elizabeth Head & J. Hyams, “How to Dress for Success,” late 60’s, pp. 168-73: 

Keith Saunders, “So You Want to be an Airline Stewardess,” 1967, 1973, p. 50:

Barbara Coffey, “Look 10 Pounds Thinner, 10 Years Younger,” 1988, p. 79:  

Ann Craig London, “Discover a Lovelier You,” 1972, pp. 123-24:

Judith Keith, “I Haven’t a Thing to Wear,” 1968, pp. 50-51:  

Candy Jones, “Time to Grow Up,” 1962, p. 57:  

Harriet T. McJimsy, “Art in Clothing Selection,” 1963, p. 58:

G.A. Dariaux, “Elegance,” 1970, pp. 149-50: another entry (same book ?)

L. Belle Pollard, “Experiences with Clothing” (high school home-economics text), 1961, 142-43:

Jan King, “Killer Bras: And Other Hazards of the 50’s,”

Marge Caskey, “The Merry Widow:  ah, sweet misery of life …,” West Seattle News Herald, July 8, 1981, p. B1:

Ann Combs, “Girdle Grief,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nov. 6, 1977, p. C1:

Patricia O’Brien, “Repressed?  You Bet!  And Here’s Why…,” originally in the Chicago Sun-Times, reprinted in the San Jose Mercury, Nov. 28, 1975:

Getting Ready for the Reunion:  Unknown

Meet Girdle Girl   by  Claudia Connell    Sunday, 8th March 2009

Veronica Dengle, “Hold Your Man!” 1945, pp. 93-96:

Is It fascinating to watch you dress?

One of my treasured childhood memories is the privilege of being present when my mother dressed for a party. There were three girls, and we would sit in a row on the edge of the bed, watching the preparations. Mother putting on a sheer, lacy chemise. Mother pulling herself into that instrument of torture, the laced-up corset. Mother drawing on a filmy corset cover decked with yards of starched ruffles. Mother drawing on unbelievably heavy silk stockings, then little satin slippers with sparkling bows of net and gold. After the two taffeta petticoats came the dress--ah, the dress! Yards of satin and lace from which she emerged a queen. Touches to her hairdress, and Jewels at her throat and on her arms--and just a wee bit of powder (could that pink chamois have just a speck of rouge on it?). A long cloak, and Mother was ready for Papa to take her off. We would sit there for an hour dreaming about the party, the lights, the music, the laughter--and Mother, the loveliest one there.

As we grew up, women wore fewer and fewer clothes, until dressing today is a very simple procedure. Nevertheless it can be exciting and fascinating for your children to watch--or perhaps your husband.

Your clothes should be assembled before you ever start to dress. Lay them out on a chair-your girdle, bra, panties, slip, dress, stockings, and shoes. If you wear more than this, you are old-fashioned!

When your girdle fits properly, and your skin is smooth, the few wriggles you have to make to adjust it are amusing. On the other hand, pulling and grunting, and squeezing too much flesh into too little space, are simply comic. If you dress just after your bath, remember to dry the skin thoroughly; and while it is not wise to powder the body all over since it will rub off on your dress, a little powder on the hips and abdomen will let your girdle slip on easily.

Girdles will fit trimly only when worn next to the skin as intended; and great care must be exercised to keep such garments immaculately fresh. Gone are the days of having corsets dry-cleaned [written in WW2]. They can be tubbed and dried overnight--nylon girdles take less time than that. Perhaps three girdles are the minimum one could have: one in use, one drying, and one in reserve. Pantie girdles should be rinsed out at the crotch after each wearing and the whole garment washed after two or three days of use. Straight girdles might be worn three times before being laundered. Never be guilty of wearing a soiled girdle-it harbors odors as no other piece of underwear will.

Your figure will dictate the type of girdle which is best for you. However, don't think you need none at all because you are very young or very slim. A girdleless figure is seldom seductive, and many girls whose rounded tummies and bouncing hips are unhappily revealed by a close-fitting dress seem rather immodest. Most men are embarrassed by feminine exposure in public; and again, a hint of your charms is far more enchanting than a flaunting show of them.

This also applies to those who ardently believe their bosom line is so intriguing it should not be concealed. A brassiere can mold the line of the bust, give it firmness and support. Just be sure it does not fit so tightly that extra flesh flows over the top, or that there is a roll of fat between the girdle and the bra. There is nothing engaging in such a sight. Choose a model which gives a good separation between the breasts and thus avoids that horrible "great divide." In putting on your bra, first put the arms through the straps, then lean forward so that the breasts drop into the bra cups. Hook it at the back, and as you straighten up, the bust has a better "uplift" line.

Your movements in putting on your stockings and shoes can be most interesting to watch. Sitting on a chair-or on the floor, as I know some women still do as a hangover from schooldays--how did you look in your test? Practice again, then. Arch your foot as you put it into the stocking. Extend your leg gradually as you draw the stocking up. Cross your legs and bend your knee as you slide into each shoe. Back up to a mirror to inspect the straightness of your seams before you hook the garters. (Are you sure there is no bulge between the edge of your girdle and the stocking top?)

Veronica Dengle, “Personality Unlimited: The Beauty Blue Book,” 1943, pp. 390-97:

When you go to see a beautiful painting in an art gallery, you admire the perfect whole. But to achieve perfection, the artist has given infinite care to each microscopic point. Every part, no matter how small, has received loving thought, both regarding its own importance and its final relation to the entire canvas. So, too, in the portrait you create of yourself, must you consider each little item in order to achieve the lovely effect you desire. But in a truly well-dressed woman, what you cannot see is as important as what you see. Inside and out, you must dress your new personality so that no false note is sounded, no unhappy mistake allowed.

Just as in the building of good health, you acquire an external beauty and charm, so, too, must the building of your costume start with the right undergarments. A brassiere and a girdle are required by every figure. Naturally the slender, well-proportioned figure can use very lightweight types, but I am always disturbed to see young girls without any girdle or "bra" at all. Never can a smooth contour of the hips be achieved without a two-way elastic pantie, at the very least. And a sheer net brassiere gives the bustline a better line. I thoroughly dislike heavy foundation garments; they are only necessary when the figure is very large. The only sensible solution then is to get rid of the "very large figure."

As a general thing, a corset or a girdle, and a brassiere, are more desirable than an all-in-one foundation garment. It does seem that the bustline is pulled down in so many instances by the all-in-one. If a heavy corset is required, the figure is seldom well-proportioned, and ready-made one-piece foundation garments are necessarily planned for "average" proportions, Of course, if they are made to order, that is an entirely different matter.

A separate brassiere may be fitted to give the proper uplift line, leaving the diaphragm section smoother and more slender. A long brassiere is necessary when there is flesh on the back and diaphragm. The corset may then be fitted according to the figure requirements.

Be careful, however, that the corset you select does not fit too tightly. After all, the fat must go somewhere, and if the corset binds too snugly around the hips, it forces excess flesh up to the waistline, and the result is a "spare tire." It is impossible for me, without seeing you, to describe what is exactly right for your figure. If you have a problem, by all means visit a good shop and consult the corsetiere there, for they have been trained to understand your problem. Try on several different styles. Sit down in the corsets to be sure they are comfortable in all positions. Boning must be the right length or it will cut into the ribs or into the groin. Before you decide to purchase, put on your dress again, and observe whether the corset does what you hoped it would do.

Uplift brassieres are sensible and helpful in maintaining the contour of the bust. But do not wear exaggerated models, they are vulgar. A good division at the center is also important. Understand about the difference in the "cups"; they come in varying sizes, and take a little tuck to perfect the fit when it is necessary.

The girl or woman who is flat-chested is making a tragic mistake when she does not wear small pads inside a brassiere to give her a rounded contour. These may be made by shirring inexpensive lace on tiny discs of net. It is truly amazing what this one little detail can do for the very thin person. But there are many types, and there are also brassieres manufactured so that the fullness is designed into the garment itself. I have transformed dreary, forlorn figures in a few minutes by insisting on this feature; I recall one instance where a whole new .personality was created: the girl just "bloomed" when we practiced the harmless deception.

If your figure is overweight, you must wear your girdle or corset all day and every day. Without it, your figure will spread as you grow older. Of course, your exercises will help to keep you firm! But you need the gentle, confining effect of a girdle, too. Fitted correctly, it should be a comfortable support.

Should you wear a pantie girdle, other panties are not necessary. But in winter, do not hesitate to wear "woolies" if you feel the cold, and especially if you are very thin. You will conserve much body heat and energy in this way.

Underwear should be of the best quality you can afford. I much prefer a few pieces, in good fabrics, than a large assortment in cheap, ''sleazy'' materials. The better quality garments will always fit much more satisfactorily too. The design is more carefully worked out, and in the end you will get better value for your money although the initial investment might be greater. Try to have at least three slips, brassieres, and panties, and alternate their use. Not only will they give longer wear, but you will have enough to allow for one in the laundry, one being worn, and one in reserve for an emergency!

A refined, meticulous woman is as particular about her underwear as she is about her outer clothes. The person who wears anything underneath so that she can have wider variety on the outside is often quite as unstable in her character. Watch for this, it is an interesting point in psychology. Tailored, simple styles are best for everyday wear, but have at least one special outfit for dress.

Your nightgowns and pajamas should also be as lovely as you can afford. Whether they are lacy or tailored, depends on your personality and preferences. The plain types of course will give better wear; and cottons can be sent out to the laundry if necessary.

Make yourself as pretty as possible when going to bed. If you think of "dressing for bed" instead of "undressing for bed," the final effect will be more satisfying.

The fact above holds true for lounging and work clothes also. They can be flattering and still serve their purpose. There is no excuse for going round in "any old thing" just because you are doing housework, or have come in from the office and removed your business clothes. If you can sew, you can make lovely, washable house dresses with an individual touch; but they cost very little even if you have to buy them.

A fresh, clean appearance at breakfast will send your husband off in a better mood for the day. If you prefer to prepare breakfast for the family and get them all off before attending to yourself, have a smart washable, cotton housecoat to wear over your pajamas or nightdress. Leather slippers to match in color are pretty and can do double duty with your flannel robe. But do not indulge in flimsy negligees and fancy mules, and then drag around the kitchen in them. They are completely out of place and belong only in your bedroom.

The business girl is wise to take off her street clothes when she comes home and hang them up after brushing them. Lounging pajamas, housecoats, cotton or rayon washable dresses are a restful change, and save your more expensive things. This is also true when you have been in town shopping. Although you may have to wear severely simple things for the office, you can indulge your love of gay colors or soft fabrics in your 11 athome" clothes. It is growing increasingly smart to entertain informally in hostess gowns or lounging pajamas. I have a friend who made the loveliest pair of slacks from an old velvet evening dress, and wore them with a white satin blouse, set off by ruffles at the neckline and cuffs. A bow in the hair, house sandals on your feet, and there you are, a "lady of leisure."

“The Dress Doctor” by Hollywood costume director Elizabeth Head, 1959:

P. 160: “Edith,” Danny [Kaye] says, “WHY do women wear girdles?”
The place falls apart. That’s Danny again. But when we get THAT matter settled, he is ready to discuss seriously ….

Pp. 202-03: STEP II: Prepare to go shopping. Each of us can do what Alma Hitchcock has done. Each can look better if--she'll take the time to analyze her figure, the trouble to choose the right clothes for that figure and have them properly fitted. Before you go shopping at all, get the right underpinnings. There are few perfect figures. The money you spend on corrective undergarments is the most important money you spend. You're interested in the masculine point of view? I wish you could be with me when a producer calls to say:

"Edith, the clothes are fine. Before we test them, will you please get that actress into a bra and girdle?"

Then I go to her and say: "Don't you think it would be better for the test if you wore a bra and girdle?"

"I never wear them!" she's likely to say. "They restrain my acting.”

If she's Anna Magnani or Shirley Booth playing a sloppy woman, then it doesn't matter. If she's trying for glamour, then, thanks, to the producer, she ends up correctly sheathed. By all means when you go out to shop for clothes, wear the right girdle, the right bra and the right shoes. Never shop simply became you have "nothing to do." Never buy anything as a whim.

P. 215: It isn't those who spend the most money who are the most smartly dressed. It's those who spend the most time and thought. If, when you go out, you know that your costume is smart and that you're neatly and securely put together, if you do not feel it necessary to hike your girdle, adjust your straps, pull your stocking seams straight; you have physical and mental poise. You can wear your clothes with grace and pride--with assurance.

P. 231: High school clothes are similar in fabric and line to college clothes, with these exceptions: No pants are worn on high school campuses; heels are worn only for formal and semiformal occasions, stockings are seldom worn, full skirts are more popular than sheaths for date wear, and sport clothes are worn more frequently at night.  

“How to Dress for Success,” Elizabeth Head & J. Hyams, late 60’s, pp. 168-73: 

Today's designers have created garments for every purpose from lifting the bustline to rounding the fanny and from flattening the tummy to smoothing the thighs. What you can't do about your figure through starvation and exercise can certainly be improved through wearing the right foundation garment. There is no longer any excuse for a woman to be flat-chested or flat-bottomed. Bras and pantie-girdles fill in where nature failed. The waistline bulge is a thing of the past, if you will merely take the time to find a garment that eliminates it, and to have it properly fitted.

The time to buy new bras and foundations is when you buy new clothes. As fashion changes take place, the foundation people are "with it," and the contours of their garments are revised to do the most for your figure under the new clothes. The "natural" look of recent vintage changed foundation garments from a rigid standard of control to a softly rounded line which looks better under shifts, knits, and easy-fit-garments. The younger, less aggressive bust-line of recent years has been achieved successfully with bras that can be characterized as "pointless." The pantie-girdle has come a long way from tile brief thing it was a few years ago--developing a long-line of smoothness for the thighs, and for wear with jump suits, going all tile way to the ankles.

The introduction lightweight stretch materials made it possible for any woman to be corseted (even the word seems obsolete) in complete comfort, while achieving the utmost in figure improvement.

The wildly popular pants craze which was started many years ago by Marlene Dietrich shows no signs of abating, but unless you look well in pants, or are willing to spend the time and money to equip yourself with a really efficient pantie-girdle, I say stick with skirts. And if you think your derriere looks all right without a girdle--in either pants or skirts--I suggest you get someone to take a moving picture of you from the back. Chances are you'll get the same reaction a cab driver did driving through Hollywood a few months ago. We were stopped for a traffic light when a plump ungirdled lady in a shift crossed the street. As he viewed her from the rear he shook his head and commented, "it looks like there's two guys fightin' in there.”

When it comes to bosoms, the perfect feminine figure is a rarity. Yet ready-made clothing is made for perfect figures. No consideration is given to the proven fact that many women’s bustlines are either too large or too small, too droopy, too flat and sometimes even lopsided. Knowing the score, top manufacturers of upper-story glamour have compensated for all these defects so that everyone can have a perfect bustline. And for those who want to have such a bustline twenty-four hours out of every day, there are bras to sleep in.

Slips are also part of your secret for dressing successfully. Just because you have a lot of perfectly good slips from two years ago in your bureau drawer doesn't mean you should wear them. No matter how much you hike them up or adjust the straps, they're still too long and as the day wears on you'll be walking around with two skirts showing. As far as shoulder straps are concerned, the sleeveless dress has made it a must that you sew little ribbon "anchors" in every dress so your slip straps never show. There's nothing in the world that makes a woman look sloppier faster than a dangling shoulder strap, unless it's dirty fingernails. Get to the basic problem before buying clothes--start from the skin out.

Different clothes call for different foundations. If you think the very same undergarments will suffice for all the items in your wardrobe you're mistaken. While a lightweight all-in-one may be just fine under a loose-fitting shift, it is not adequate beneath the dress that is sheath-like in its line, requiring more control through the hips. There are long-line bras to eliminate diaphragm bumps. There seamless girdles or tights to wear under knits and clingy clothes. You don't need all these in your wardrobe, but a successful outer wardrobe cannot be developed unless what goes underneath is considered. In many cases women leave clothes they never wear hanging in their closets just because they haven't got the right thing to wear under them. Every time they try those clothes on over that same old girdle they look the same—ungood. There's nothing wrong with the clothes themselves: there’s something wrong with the shape underneath.

No one knows better than a studio designer how important underthings are in changing a woman's appearance. Take Julie Andrews for example: one type figure for Mary Poppins, another for Torn Curtain (a modern figure), another for Hawaii and a completely different silhouette for Thoroughly Modern Millie.

The time to buy new undergarments is not every time you buy something new, but every time there is a major change in the fashion silhouette--from loosely fitted to form-fitting, from long waistlines to short (or vice versa), from overblouses to high-busted Empire or from slim skirts to full. Each major change calls for something different, whether it be a bra, a girdle or an all-in-one.

Aside from the importance of your underthings in shaping your outer silhouette, there is the psychological factor of feeling lovely from the skin out. No matter how rich and elegant the clothes a woman wears on the outside, if her underwear and foundation garments are tacky, ill-fitting and mismatched she cannot feel right in her clothes. A surface beauty who is a mess underneath it all may fool her public, but the knowledge that she’s wearing a blue bra, a white girdle and a faded pink petticoat pinned up at the hemline doesn't add to her assurance or self-esteem. A meticulous, fastidious movie star has put it, “My mother always insisted we dress for an accident. By this she meant we should never be ashamed to have the doctor, nurse or anyone else see what we were wearing underneath."

As far as love and marriage are concerned the continuance of a perfect romance has often been halted in its tracks I when a husband sees his bride in a lumpy old girdle and a sagging bra. By contrast, any woman can look fresh and attractive in a half-clothed state if her wardrobe of underclothing is as well coordinated, as well cared for and as well chosen as the costumes in her closet.

When you complete reading this chapter, I suggest you take a look at your undercover agents--the girdles, bras, slips and nightgowns in your bureau drawer. How many are out of' shape? How many have stringy, stretched-out garters? How many are faded, tacky and unfit to be seen? How many can be coordinated into compatible "sets" by color? If you wouldn't be caught dead in any of them, don't take the chance of wearing them while you're alive. They not only ruin the shape of your outer clothing, they're poisoning your own mind your about you. For a better-dressed, more confident you, start at the bottom (of that bureau drawer) and build a new and better foundation for fashion with the right intimate apparel.

Formula for Successful Dressing Underneath

1. Evaluate your present collection of girdles, bras, foundation garments for (a) condition, (b) efficiency.

2. Seek the advice of the experienced corsetière in your favorite store to find the right garment to improve your figure.

3. Buy underwear (slips, petticoats) that co-ordinate with your favorite foundations in color, trim and type.

4. Remember that last year's shape may be wrong for this year's silhouette.

5. If you wouldn't want anyone to see you in your undies--get new ones.  

“So You Want to be an Airline Stewardess” by Keith Saunders. 1967, 1973, p. 50:

[A stewardess] can quickly put on five or ten pounds. And it is next to impossible to conceal this extra avoirdupois from the searching eyes of her supervisor. Not only does an airline weigh each girl periodically, but the uniforms are generally well tailored and somewhat form-fitting, and bulges are easily spotted if they are not in the right place. So the airline hostess whose slim, trim figure you admire may be fighting the "battle of the bulge" just as you do.

In addition to watching what she eats, the hostess has to wear good foundation garments: some airlines suggest a fresh brassiere for each day of the week and four girdles--all perfectly fitted.

The hostess you see on your next flight may be slender and well formed, but the chances are that she, no less than her earthbound sisters, has to work hard at maintaining that appearance. In fact, it is safe to say that there is almost no profession, except modeling, in which the girls have to work as hard and as long to present that fashion-plate appearance every working day and hour.

All in all, the girl who graduates from the hostess/stewardess college, particularly that of a major airline, pays very little for a course in grooming and styling that would cost her a lot of money if purchased elsewhere. And she has learned things that can help make her an attractive woman for years to come.

Ironically, from the standpoint of the airline that pays for it, this superior grooming and styling is one of the factors that often cause hostesses' careers to end so soon at the altar.  

“Discover a Lovelier You,” Ann Craig London, 1972, pp. 123-24:

What about the woman under the dress? Next to her skin she's wearing something that is fully as important as her dress--lingerie. When you come right down to it, there's nothing like the secret knowledge that you're wearing pretty underwear to make you feel great. It may not be such a secret, either. Besides your husband, there's your doctor, and the other women in the communal dressing rooms of modern boutiques to see what you've got on underneath.

Take the plunge and buy yourself something downright luxurious. Also have at least one bra, slip, pair of pants, or girdle that isn't white. Try black, beige, or a splashy print to give your morale a boost.

While we're on the subject, take the time and spend the money to get properly fitting bras, girdles, and foundation garments. Don't be embarrassed to ask for the advice and assistance of a saleswoman in the lingerie department. She's seen hundreds of other women and knows more than you ever will about how to suit the garment to the figure.  

“I Haven’t a Thing to Wear,” by Judith Keith, 1968, pp. 50-51:  

“Time to Grow Up,” Candy Jones, 1962, p. 57:  

“Art in Clothing Selection,” by Harriet T. McJimsy 1963, p. 58:

Lines and fabrics to flatter your figure:

Because our ideal fashion figure is tall and slender, more women appear to be concerned with creating the illusion of height and/or slenderness than with adding weight. The problems of large hips or thighs out of proportion to bust or waist measurements are particularly common. Clothing is frequently chosen with the main object of concealing undesirable contours and creating or emphasizing those considered desirable. Attention is directed principally toward reducing waist and hip measurements and enlarging the bust through carefully selected under, as well as outer, garments.

Foundation garments may not only improve the proportions of the body but also give support where needed and improve the appearance of the outer clothing. Even if your figure is slim and beautifully proportioned, never wear a closely fitted dress or skirt without a foundation garment. Foundation garments of all types are available from the light-weight two-way stretch pantie girdle to a boned and paneled garment of heavy nonelastic fabric. Girdles cannot actually decrease width, but by controlling and redistributing the flesh they can give a smoother, firmer contour, free of unsightly bulges. Select your girdles and brassieres in relation to your particular figure requirements, preferably with the help of an experienced salesperson.  

“Elegance,” by G.A. Dariaux, 1970, pp. 149-50:

The number of articles of lingerie worn by a fashionable woman has considerably diminished since the beginning of the century. She started out equipped with a brassiere, a chemise, a corset, a pair of underpants and a slip, but today she has reached the point where she wears only a pantie-girdle and a bra; very often these two elements are combined in a single garment, and sometimes they are even reduced to a simple garter belt.

A woman's age and social position are not of the slightest influence in this particular field. In fact, it is often the most elegantly and extensively attired women who wear the least underclothes, for all of their dresses are lined with silk and many of their gowns have built-in bras. And yet there exist in every price range perfectly charming lingerie ensembles in bright or pastel colors and even in prints, which would make their undressed appearance much more attractive.

Women are making a mistake in neglecting this potential added attraction to their charms. Although I certainly do not advise going so far as to indulge in the seductive lingerie styles more suitable for striptease, it is still to a woman's advantage to give as much thought to undressing as she does to dressing. (I am reminded of a friend to whom I once confided how worried I was because my teen-age daughter was completely disinterested in pretty lingerie. Her reply was that I shouldn't really worry until the day she did start to take an interest in it!)

Marvelous progress has been made in foundation garments in recent years. No more tortuous whalebones, no more hot rubber materials hugging you affectionately around the waist. The new miracle fibers such as Lycra and nylon hold your curves with just as much devotion but without the same inconveniences.

American girdles are the best in the world, if only because of the three garters on each leg which prevent one's stockings from twisting. But too many of the American brassiere styles are overly aggressive, in my opinion. The most important inventions of the past few years are the long-legged panty-girdle, which is extremely practical, much more attractive than a separate garter belt and briefs, and much more decent too; and the low-cut strapless brassiere which is completely invisible underneath the most daring décolletage.

Even though a woman's lingerie may be reduced to two pieces, they should at least be matching. It is the height of negligence to wear a white brassiere with a black girdle, or the reverse. [That’s too stodgy—and it’s often more practical to wear such a combination, to match one’s clothes. This sort of fustiness makes me remember that this is the author who less than ten years earlier had utterly condemned pierced earrings as inelegant!] Bright-colored undergarments are charming, but of course they can only be worn under dresses which are opaque or dark. In the summer, it is preferable to stick to white. If you are extremely refined and moderately rich, your underclothes might match the color of your outer costume.

The shortage of domestic help has certainly been an important factor in the present simplification of feminine lingerie and in the vogue for materials which are easy to launder, quick to dry, and require no ironing. But, alas, what is very practical is not always very elegant.  

“Experiences with Clothing” (high school home-economics text), L. Belle Pollard, 1961, pp. 142-43:

The Effect of Proper Clothing

What you wear in a considerable degree determines how you feel and act. An inadequate girdle and bra encourage slumping and slovenly posture. From such physical attitudes it is only a step to slovenly manners and a disgruntled mood. A carelessly fastened dress, a ripped hem, a slip showing below the dress line suggest to others a careless, disorganized person. Worse yet, such disregard of personal daintiness discourages the girl herself and exerts an undesirable influence on her whole personality. Expensive clothing should not be confused with personal charm. An expensive dress in careless hands is just as likely to suffer a spot or a rip as an inexpensive dress. In fact the less expensive dress immaculately clean and neat in every detail makes a far more attractive appearance than a more costly one that is marred by even one small flaw. And the most expensive dress worn over a poorly fitted or improper foundation garment is a complete waste of money.

Foundation Garments

One of the first things a well-dressed girl learns is the value of proper foundation garments. They are so important that a wise girl chooses a really well-made and properly fitted girdle and bra in preference to a more expensive dress or coat. Any outer garment is dependent for its fit and general appearance upon the foundation garment with which it is worn. The right foundation garment helps to improve posture, strengthens the abdominal muscles, and builds poise and self-assurance.

Bras and girdles give support where it is most needed. The figure and posture of most girls and women can be improved by scientifically designed foundation garments. Bras and girdles should control and refine contours through gentle molding and firm, but not restrictive, support.

There are foundation garments designed for every type of figure. They range from garter belts and panty-girdles to conventional girdles. They should be chosen, according to body measurements, for fit and comfort. For the young girl they should be especially designed for the growing figure. The garments should be soft in texture, comfortable to wear, and should allow freedom of body action. Choose foundation garments according to your figure type, your personal preference, and the outer clothing to be worn with them. Trying on a foundation garment before you buy it is the only completely satisfactory way to select it. Walk around in the garment. Bend over and sit down. Do not purchase garments which constrict you uncomfortably or fail to add to the attractiveness of your figure. A girl who has invested in proper foundation garments knows she looks her best and is confident that she is making the most of her carefully chosen outer garments.  

Jan King, “Killer Bras: And Other Hazards of the 50’s,” 

Pp. 3-4: THE MERRY WIDOW. These were made from 50 gauge all-weather tarpaulin canvas and reinforced with genuine whalebones procured from Moby Dick, himself. The Merry Widow had the amazing capability of molding even the plumpest of teenage figures into a perfect hourglass silhouette under prom gowns.

However, they could not be worn for long periods of time before we gals suffered some pretty major side effects. Many girls sustained fractured ribs and became woozy from oxygen deprivation about an hour into their dates. In this hypoxic state, our moral resolve was severely compromised and we literally turned to "putty" in our dates' hands. And if those hands were dexterous enough to unfasten 76 sets of stainless steel bra hooks before you arrived home, he ended up with a lot more than putty in them. Let's just say we had a lot "riding" on that ride home.

The Merry Widow bra also had some unusual moves of its own on the dance floor. Utmost caution had to be taken during those tricky underarm spins, because the bra remained steadfastly cinched to the waist and acted as a launching pad, propelling your cleavage upward at full warp speed. This made it possible to knock yourself out in more ways than one doing the shag. Plus, these bras were so intractable, when you did the Cha-Cha, your bosoms would move from left to right, but the bra remained steadfast, pointing straight ahead at your partner. This made it tough for him to decide which set to follow and he often ended up across the room dancing by himself.

P. 11: THE GIRDLE: The 50's girdle was brought to you by the same people who manufactured steel belted radials in Akron, Ohio. Made from crude neoprene, these garments were built to withstand 15,000 pounds of female cellulite packed under perilous pressure. It was common in the fifties to hear about teenage girls who suffered a spontaneous "blow out" on the dance floor during those dangerous slow dancing dips.

Stretching from waist to mid-thigh, the girdles strained to reduce both of these anatomical areas into roughly the same circumference. Because they had metal garter clasps which dug into the flesh, most women were able to tell their age by counting the rings of broken veins indelibly etched around their thighs.

The good news for parents was that the girdle served another purpose--and that was birth control. There wasn't a teenage boy alive in the 50's who had either the strength or patience on a date to successfully peel one of those babies off his babe. And even if by some miracle he succeeded, the sight of the mushrooming cellulite released from the flab under pressure would've stopped even the horniest guy dead in his tracks.

Historical Point of Interest: One teenage guy who witnessed this ghastly sight in the front seat of his Dodge cleverly used this haunting memory to invent the first safety air bag installed in today's automobiles.

P. 12: Q. What was the only 100% effective birth control method in the fifties?
a. abstention
b. the Formica diaphragm
c. wearing a girdle to bed
d. not wearing a girdle to bed

A. both c and d were pretty unappetizing.

Pp. 17-18: GETTING STIFF: NO ALCOHOL REQUIRED

The Cardinal Rule of Prom Gowns was that they had to be worn with no less than six freshly starched crinolines underneath. In the starching process, the following steps were ALWAYS taken to insure the crinoline stood out at a 90 degree angle from your body:

1. They were soaked for a full week in a supersaturated solution of sugar and water.
2. Next they were dried over an opened umbrella for a week.
3. Finally, they were sprayed with enough starch to feed the country of Italy for a year.

The resulting product was about as flexible as Don King's hair. In fact, if you tried to sit down in the crinolines, the front of your gown usually flew up over your face. And naturally, there were those guys who were just so "polite" that they'd be getting a chair for you every two seconds--then running around the front to reap the benefits of the floor show.
……….
And do you remember how those starched crinolines shredded our good nylon stockings so it looked like we were wearing old woolen sweaters on our legs? But the absolute worst was the way the ten rows of stiff ruffled netting on the bodice chafed our underarms until they looked like we had a terminal case of razor burn.

P. 67: THE 50's BATHING SUIT: A REAL BONER

Remember the traditional one-piece bathing suit of the 50's? It had a little pleated skirt which reached mid-thigh and lots of draping to conceal the bustline. In fact, nowadays, this style could be worn to church. These suits were so modest, they covered more territory than the Yukon. In fact they hid women’s' saddlebags so well that cellulite went virtually undiscovered until the late 60's

They also had built-in shelf-style bras, molded with Formica contour pads strong enough to launch the Space Shuttle. Furthermore, all of the suits in those days had built-in rubber girdles. Even if you weighed only 75 pounds soaking wet, a girdle under a bathing suit was a must. Remember, muscle tone was not an important part of anybody's physique back then. So to give our bodies some kind of shape, the 50's bathing suits had about two dozen "bones" sewn into them--and if any of them broke, the suit would require a total body cast.

Pp. 84-85: BREAST CHECK: GETTING THE LEAD OUT

The first step is by far the toughest part--assessing what you've got. You're going to have to take a hard, cold look at your naked body in a full length mirror Keep in mind that this alone can be a terrifying experience. You're going to discover more lumps than you do in your mattress and count more rolls than you'd see in a deli.

Some of you may become particularly distressed to discover that the cute little puppy tattoo on your butt has grown to the size of a water buffalo. Or worse yet, the perky little rose on your left breast has grown a six-inch stem over the last few years.

Turning sideways to check out the state of our breasts can be a real bummer. They will probably look about as firm as last week's bratwurst and will have assumed the same shape, too. To be truthful, nowadays most of us are wearing a size 36 Long bra.

Marge Caskey, “The Merry Widow:  ah, sweet misery of life …,” West Seattle News Herald, July 8, 1981, p. B1:

It was one of those trans-generational remarks that just tumbles out and there you are, an only slightly redeemable relic in the eyes of your granddaughter.

“I wonder what this would have looked like with a Merry Widow,” I said jokingly as I helped my almost teenage granddaughter slip the flimsy blue chiffon junior bridesmaid dress over her head, past her training bra and down over her absolutely hipless young figure.

She raised a slightly penciled brow and stared at me in the bathroom mirror.  “WHAT,” she asked, “is a Merry Widow?”

She knows that her grandmother never washed clothes on a scrub board or listened to Caruso on a crystal set.  But I did exist before television and jet planes and that makes me irrevocably aged in her eyes.

I tried to explain.

“It was a bra contraption that was hooked together all the way to the belly button,” I said.  “It was so tight you could hardly breathe, with wired cups and vertical boning and a little flap in the front that pushed your stomach in.  Sometimes when you moved … it didn’t.”

She looked at me with amazement.  “How awful,” she said from the depths of her 12-year-old soul.  “How could you stand being so uncomfortable?  CRAZY!”

She had picked the right words.  Yes, it was uncomfortable, and yes, it was crazy.  That jolted me into thinking how much has changed in the past 25 years in the way we think about clothes.

Today it is popular to talk about dressing FOR something.  Women aiming for the corporate boardroom wear two-piece suits and bowed blouses because they are dressing for success.

Clergymen trying to keep a congregation together are supposed to stick to black suits with plain ties because they are dressing for authority.

Magazines and fashion designers show slithery satin blouses and tight sequined pants because it’s o.k. now to be dressing for sex.

We women of the tight-wired strapless bra generation dressed for character.  We put up with the inconvenience of restrictive clothing because this was the price one paid to be well-groomed and attractive, and there was no use whining about it.  If beauty came too easily, it wasn’t worth much.

Can you imagine trying to explain that to a 12-year-old girl?

The message always was, clothes were work.  I treasured a pair of white kid gloves I had, even though when I put them on my hands would sweat and I could hardly bend my fingers.  I always kept a hanky handy in case I had to pick something up.

We starched summer dresses until they stood like statues in the laundry room, then sprinkled them, rolled them into little balls, and stood for hours ironing them dry.  We wore them with petticoats that raised welts on our legs on a hot day.

The examples are endless.  We wore shoes with skinny heels that got caught in sidewalk grates, and girdles with little garters that dug into our thighs, and silk stockings with wiggly seams up the back that never stayed straight and were the despair of our lives.

Granddaughter kept repeating, “Why, why how COULD you?”

Doing these things gave us our fortitude.  They increased our stamina, they were lessons in happy agony.  I think I could have climbed Mount Rainier with the training my clothes gave me.

Fortunately, most of us learned that it was not just the spandex and cinch belts that kept us buttoned together.  It was the invisible lacings of what we thought about ourselves.  Then came liberation, when it was discovered that it was finally all right for clothes to be comfortable.

So I’m glad that my granddaughter was horrified with my talk about the Merry Widow, and thank goodness that nobody wears them anymore.  It’s a better world for women, now.  [Yes and no.]

There is one thing that bothers me, though.  It’s a tiny cloud on the fashion horizon that isn’t bothering my granddaughter.  She’s interested.

“All my girlfriends are getting those new pantyhose with the lines down the back.  Have you seen them, grandma?”

Egad!  Seamed stockings are coming back.  Must history repeat itself?

Ann Combs, “Girdle Grief,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nov. 6, 1977, p. C1:

It had to happen, didn’t it?  The nostalgia craze wasn’t content with “Happy Days,” old Mario Lanza records, and reruns of Jimmy Dean movies.  Now some idiot wants to bring back the Playtex rubber girdle.

It’s not the Playtex people.  They’re too busy crossing our hearts to lift and separate.  Besides, they realize they made a mistake.  Presumably they’re sorry, and they haven’t brought up the subject in years.

It’s B.P. of Battle Creek, Mich. who’s causing all the furor.  Recently she wrote a letter to Mary-Lou Luther, The Los Angeles Times and P-I Columnist, suggesting a consumer write-in campaign to convince the Playtex people to bring back rubber girdles.

I read her plea with the same horror I would a request to resurrect the zoot suit, because as far as I’m concerned the rubber girdle deserves its place on the endangered species list, and its extinction can’t come a moment too soon.

I know whereof I speak.  I used to wear one.  It was almost a part of our uniform when I was a boarder at Annie Wright in Tacoma.  Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if the faculty had had a hand in its invention, for in its iron grip young ladies remained young ladies.

The Playtex rubber girdle, for those who missed the experience and as a result still have normal circulation, was built on the order of a truncated wet suit with air holes.  There were no front and back panels to eradicate “tummy bulge” or spreading hips.  The entire girdle was on duty at all times, making the imprisoned flesh impervious to heat, cold, speeding bullets and casual lecherous advances.

It wasn’t a simple thing to put on or take off either.  Rubber doesn’t slide easily over warm skin.  Instead it bunches up, then snaps, leaving large welts that make you look as if you’ve been flogged.

Ideally, in putting it on, one’s body temperature should have hovered somewhere around 95 [?] degrees, but I never had time to soak in ice water before dressing for dinner.  I had to dash in from a game of field hockey, take a quick bath, and rush to get dressed before the study hall bell.  So I powdered myself and it.

In fact, I spent most of my teenage years in a cloud of Evening in Paris.  Then I grabbed the top of the girdle with both hands and sprang around the room in wild contortions till it inched into place.

There was only one way to take it off and that was to roll it as fast as possible like a jelly roll from the waist down.  Any delay and it gathered like a tourniquet around your hips, and you turned blue.  More than one of my friends had to be cut out of her girdle before she expired.

But all of this I would gladly have borne for the sake of beauty had it not been for one final drawback.  The rubber girdle tended to rupture. 

I discovered this at the Sophomore Cotillion.  In those days dances at a young ladies’ seminary were stuffy at best.  Attendance was mandatory.  Boys were imported by the bus load, and escorts were assigned.  Protocol rivaled that of the State Department, and though we were instructed to enjoy ourselves, hilarity was frowned upon.

On this particular occasion fate had smiled upon me.  My date was almost handsome—even taller than I.  I felt resplendent in my strapless blue tulle with its dyed-to-match shoes, and as the first strains of “Moonlight and Roses” filled the gymnasium, he held out his arm to lead me to the floor.

All of a sudden I felt my girdle explode like the Teton Dam collapsing.  There was a loud swoosh, and I lurched against him, clutching at his sleeve to keep from falling.  Then I looked at my feet.  There nestled around my ankles was my Playtex.  I could hear laughter bubbling up around me, and I felt my date inching away.  With all the dignity I could muster, I hobbled to the sidelines, then sprinted for the safety of my room.  I hid there for two days.

So B.P. of Battle Creek, organize a campaign if you must.  Write letters till your hands fall off, but don’t expect me to encourage you.  Next thing I know you’ll want to bring back a Merry Widow strapless foundation, and you should hear what happened to me in one of those.

Patricia O’Brien, “Repressed?  You Bet!  And Here’s Why…,” originally in the Chicago Sun-Times, reprinted in the San Jose Mercury, Nov. 28, 1975:

Many people think the women of the 1950s were terribly repressed because they had flowery ideas about love, little pre-marital sexual experience, and they married early.  They think this was strange, but it wasn’t strange at all, and I’ll tell you why.

Of course we were repressed, we women who grew up in the ‘50s.  And of course we didn’t have sex, and of course we married early.  All these things happened because of one very popular item of dress in the ‘50s that simply hasn’t been given its due as a shaper and molder of history.

It was the Playtex Living Girdle, and it certainly shaped and molded me.  And its companion in history was the Merry Widow.

We were repressed because we were half-asphyxiated.  Each day we stuffed reasonably normal-sized hips (maybe an inch or so of extra flesh) and reasonably unpudgy waists into a singular contraption known as the Pencil Skirt.

Visualize a pencil, and you’ve got the idea.  These skirts were made out of four narrow strips of material with a five-inch slit up the front, not to increase sex appeal but to increase one’s ability to walk.  We called them, quite rightly, “hobble skirts,” and no one laughed.  Or cried.

Given the restrictions of the Pencil, you can see it was necessary to pay a good deal of attention to one’s superstructure, as it were, before putting it on.  That meant wearing the Playtex Living Girdle, an ingenious device sold in a silver tube of cardboard in department stores everywhere, guaranteed to whittle, pare, hone, and squeeze unsightly fat.  The Living Girdle did not fool around.

I’m convinced Playtex sold mostly Extra-Smalls.  That’s the only size I ever bought, 38-inch hips or no, for the challenge was greater.

The first step was to turn the Living Girdle inside out and give it a good sprinkling of Johnson’s Baby Powder.  Johnson’s Baby Powder is nice stuff, and it smells delicious on babies.  It also smelled all right on the Living Girdle at first, but after wearing it all day, the aroma was distinctly of burning tires.  Then one had to roll the girdle up like a sausage because, remember, this was RUBBER and rubber can rip, which had disconcerting consequences, which I will tell you about later.

Anyhow, once the Living Girdle was properly rolled, you pulled it carefully over one foot (watching the toenails) and pulled hard in the opposite direction, for otherwise it had a tendency to snap tightly around one’s ankle.  Some people lost heart when they saw this phenomenon.  They did not want a well-girdled ankle.

The next job was to work it around one’s other foot, and then get it up around the knees, without poking one’s finger through a hole.  (All Living Girdles had carefully spaced-out holes in them, ostensibly so the body could still breathe.  That’s why they were called Living.  It was reassuring to first-time users.)

I forgot one important detail.  A pair of gloves.  Wearers of Living Girdles needed to carry a pair of gloves at all times, for no one has been known to get that girdle on or off without them.  It wasn’t just rings or hangnails.  A slight case of chapped hands could do it.

Once the girdle was worked up over the knees, the pressure was on.  Now it had to be carefully unfolded until it was just doubled, easing gently, up—over—Uh!  Success.

There was usually a short moment of giddiness, so it was wise to be standing next to a door or a wall.  I used to think it was simply euphoria (I had done it again!).  But keeping one’s head down and holding one’s breath for the usual ten minutes or so it took to get on the Living Girdle had its health problems.

Then it was time to put on the Merry Widow.

A Merry Widow was a cloth and rubber contraption that operated both as a brace and a bra.  The brace part extended from beneath the breasts down to the lower waist where it met your Living Girdle.

Its one drawback was an unfortunate tendency to snap up in front when one sat down.  This gave the illusion of pregnancy, which was terribly embarrassing, so it was important to keep an eye on that flap, and slap it down every time it flipped up.  That kept us reasonably occupied during long movies.  We didn’t think much about anything else.

Usually the Merry Widow and the Living Girdle ensured that we looked as beautiful as possible.  (We became experts in bladder control, so as not to lose too many hours getting trussed and untrussed each day.)

One memorable weekend I visited friends in another city, wearing my favorite Pencil Skirt.   They raved over what a slim beauty I had become.  Little did they know, I thought with satisfaction, that I owed it all to the Living Girdle and the Merry Widow.

On the third day, my Living Girdle burst, and out poured me.

Humiliating?  Oh, yes.  But the most terrible thing was the knowledge I could no longer rely on the Living Girdle to preserve me as a mass of tube-slender flesh.

All my care, all my coaxing of that slippery piece of rubber over my body had been changed perceptibly.  I abandoned Pencil Skirts, and started wearing the kind that required five yards of material gathered at the waist, pushed out to there with huge crinolines underneath.

All I wore under it for constraint was a waist cincher, which allowed a reasonable amount of air in my lungs.  I subsequently discovered there was more to do in movie theaters with boys than worry about the flap flapping.

In a sense, it was my emancipation from the 50s, or, more accurately, from total acceptance of the idea that beauty required a high tolerance of pain.  (It still amazes me that we waddled around, mono-buttocked and confined to two-inch steps, never seeing the connection with the Chinese custom of binding women’s feet at birth.)  [Actually age six years was usually the earliest.]

We were certainly interested in sex.  But our primary pursuit was ultimate control of our bodies, so we would be good-looking packages to be opened only after marriage—which should make it clear why we married early.

We married early, dear readers, so we could take off those damned Living Girdles and Merry Widows and breathe again.

No title--Author Unknown (from the Internet)   Getting Ready for the Reunion!

With the towel firmly wrapped around my glistening body, I pulled out the black lace, tummy-tucking, cellulite-pushing, ham hock-rounding girdle, and the matching “lifting those bosoms like they're filled with helium” bra. I greased my body with the scented body lotion and began the plunge. I pulled, stretched, tugged, hiked, folded, tucked, twisted, shimmied, hopped, pushed, wiggled, snapped, shook, caterpillar crawled, and kicked. Sweat poured off my forehead but I was done. And it didn't look bad. So I rested.

A well deserved rest, too. The girdle was on my body. Bounce a quarter off my behind? It was tighter than a trampoline. Can you say, “Rubber baby buggy bumper butt?” Okay, so I had to take baby steps, and walk sideways, and I couldn't move from my butt cheeks to my knees. But I was firm!

Oh no...I had to go to the bathroom. And there wasn't a snap crotch. From now on, undies gotta have a snap crotch. I was ready to rip it open and re-stitch the crotch with Velcro, but the pain factor from past experiments was still fresh in my mind.

I quickly sidestepped to the bathroom. An hour later, I had answered nature's call and repeated the struggle into the girdle.

I was ready for the bra. I remembered what the saleslady said to do. I could see her glossed lips mouthing, “Do not fasten the bra in the front, and twist it around. Put the bra on the way it should be worn --- straps over the shoulders. Then bend over and gently place both breasts inside the cups.” Easy, if you have four hands! But, with confidence, I put my arms into the holsters, bent over and pulled the bra down...but the boobs weren't cooperating. I'd no sooner tuck one in a cup and, while placing the other, the first would slip out. I needed a strategy.

I bounced up, and down a few times, tried to dribble them in with short bunny hops, but that didn't work. So, while bent over, I began rocking gently back and forth on my heel and toes and I set 'em to swinging. Finally, on the fourth swing, pause, and lift, I captured the gliding glands. Quickly fastening the back of the bra, I stood up for examination.

Back straight, slightly arched, I turned and faced the mirror, turning front, and then sideways. I smiled. Yes, Houston, we have lift up! My breasts were high, firm and there was cleavage! I was happy until I tried to look down. I had a chin rest. And I couldn't see my feet. I still had to put on my pantyhose, and shoes. Oh... why did I buy heels with buckles?

Then I had to pee again.

I put on my (purple) sweats, fixed myself a drink, ordered pizza, and skipped the reunion. 

Meet Girdle Girl   by  Claudia Connell    Sunday, 8th March 2009

As one of Femail's Two Fat Ladies, Claudia Connell has been keeping a hilarious dieting diary since she vowed to lose weight at the beginning of the year. But is there an instant way to get rid of the flab without dieting or going under the surgeon's knife? Claudia road-tested the latest figure-transforming underwear to find out. . .

So is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Girdle Girl to the rescue! Although I should point out that she won't be coming immediately to the rescue, as I don't exactly fly through the air at the speed of light. In fact, once I am in my full costume, I can't run, walk, dance, laugh or jump without difficulty. I can, however, move sideways like a crab if required. OK, so I make a pretty unimpressive superhero and I'm unlikely to be the star of my own summer blockbuster, but I do fight the sort of crime that affects most women at some stage: flab and cellulite.

Everyone who watched The Bionic Woman on TV in the Seventies will remember the opening line where the voiceover dramatically announced: 'We have the technology, we can rebuild her.'

As a child, I used to dream of having supersonic hearing and being able to run faster than a truck, just like the Bionic Woman. But now, aged 42, I'm not so fussed about being able to hear a conversation on the other side of the room or leaping over a giant building. But I do fantasise about a midriff area that doesn't look like a festoon blind, and the days when the tops of my arms didn't resemble a side of ham in a delicatessen's window.

For years, surgeons have been able to rebuild and reshape women's bodies with breast implants, liposuction and tummy tucks. In order to obtain the Jessica Rabbit-style figure that I crave, I would need only to alter my breasts, shoulders, stomach, waist, bottom, thighs, upper arms and back. But what's a girl to do when her budget doesn't quite stretch to such major and costly intervention? Is there a credit crunch alternative? Well, I am delighted to announce that there is, and that the answer lies within - within your underwear to be precise. It is now possible to alter the shape of your body and drop a dress size without the need for a scalpel and bank loan. Control knickers are, of course, nothing new. It would be a safe bet to assume that every actress at the Oscars was wearing a pair beneath her frock - but that wasn't what I was looking for. As a size 14-16, my days of just needing magic knickers are gone - an all-encompassing body suit would be more suitable to my needs. Luckily, a company called Lipo In A Box have invented the very thing.

It's the brainchild of an American southern belle called Connie Elder. I called Connie at her home in Nashville to discuss my figure faults. It wasn't a short conversation.She promised to send me a box full of remedies that would give me the body I crave. Connie was able to take care of most of my body. She recommended two different body suits - one knee length for daywear and a calf-length one for evening, a waist clincher that would magically make my spare tyre disappear, and a pair of briefs that would flatten my stomach and lift my buttocks.The final touches were some shoulder shapers and breast enhancement pads. But there was nothing on offer for the dreaded bingo wings. It's no good having a goddess-like hour-glass figure and then, after a romantic evening, waving goodbye to your matinee idol beau, and knocking him out with one blow from an unruly lump of swinging arm flab. But those Americans think of everything. Flabuless is a new product which you wear like a sausage skin over your bingo wings to create a slim and toned effect.

I was like a child at Christmas when my parcels arrived. I don't think I ever envisaged the day when I would be wildly excited by a box of grandma-sized knickers landing on my doorstep.

I stared at them with a mixture of fascination and terror. How many people can boast that their underwear comes with a 24-hour helpline? Suddenly the idea of surgery didn't seem so scary after all. Lipo In A Box products are based on the compression bandages used by the medical profession. It doesn't sound sexy, but if it does the job, who cares? I divided the items into two batches: one for day to be worn under dresses and suits, and one for evening to be worn under longer, clingier dresses. Anybody who has worn control underwear will know it is not ideal for a girl in a hurry. The first piece of my Girdle Girl outfit was a pair of cycling-style shorts. They trimmed half an inch off my thighs, half an inch off my hips and an inch off my waist and, most importantly, persuaded my backside to shift back to where it used to live.

But not content with a mere inch loss from my stomach area, I pulled an additional waist clincher over the top, which whittled me down by a further two inches. My Ultimo gel-filled bra - worn by Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich - gave me a va-va-voom cleavage, while the Flabuless sleeves made my bingo wings magically disappear. The final touch was a pair of clipon shoulder pads, as Mother Nature, in her wisdom, decide to curse me with the narrow, sloping shoulders of a 12-year-old, meaning that nothing with straps ever stays in place. After 15 minutes off huffing, swearing and sweating, the result had better be worth it. So, what to put on top? For my day outfit, I chose a grey Marks & Spencer suit with a pencil skirt and jacket. A pair of black high heels completed the outfit. Normally, I strain to fasten the button on both the skirt and the jacket. Would that all change with my superhero underwear? My pencil skirt slid effortlessly over my hips and the zip went up in one go, while the jacket fastened with room to spare. If the underwear had allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief, then I would have. Usually when I sit down, I do so without too much thought, but I had to lower myself inch by inch for fear that something would give way. I also had to make sure my skirt didn't rise to reveal my flesh-coloured underwear - which started at the knee.

Standing up also required the assistance of two people, as my arms were starting to go numb from the Flabuless sleeves. My daytime body got the thumbs up from most of my friends, but would I pass muster in my evening dress? It was time for Girdle Girl to gain some additional super powers: the body suit. With its in-built bra, this beauty was going to tone my body. I lost track of how long it took to shove my wobbly bits inside, but it was long enough to necessitate a tea break. Connie from Lipo In A Box had also sent me a pair of 'perkies' - lightweight jelly inserts to go inside the bra, which promise the effect of a boob job but without the surgery.I added my waist clincher over the body suit, shoe-horned my bingo wings back into the Flabuless contraption and clipped on the shoulder pads. Finally I added a pair of bottom-lifting briefs. The dress fitted like never before - my waist had never looked trimmer, my bottom was so uplifted you could rest your mug of tea on it, and I was mesmerised by my new perky bust.To go with my new movie-star figure came a new movie-star walk. Unfortunately, not Marilyn Monroe's wiggle, but Frankenstein's Monster's lurch - a result of not being able to bend my arms or legs. After half an hour of marvelling at myself, I realised I needed to spend a penny. Suddenly I understood the reason for the helpline. 'I'm dying for a pee and I'm wearing a body suit and buttock clenchers,' I wailed down the phone. 'Ok. Calm down, if you check the garments, you'll see that they all came with a special, hidden opening, so you don't have to remove them entirely,' said the nice lady. Phew.I was prepared to sacrifice walking and eating, but fighting the call of nature was going to be too much even for Girdle Girl.

Dropping two dress sizes, having a visible waist and not having to lie down to fasten my clothes was wonderful. But it is a look that should be kept for special occasions; I don't think my flesh could withstand the restriction and discomfort. It was time to put the control underwear away and go back to being plain old, wobbly-sized 14-16 Claudia Connell. But my superhero outfit is safely boxed under the bed, just waiting for the next emergency call. Watch out for Claudia's next Two Fat Ladies diary in Femail. For more information about the products she used, visit Flabuless and lipoinaboxm.

Bras: Bewildering and Bewitching

There's nothing more complicated than a bra snap when you're in a hurry.  Anon.

Roger has found a number of articles written by others on the subject of the brassiere. We have assembled these articles below.

Anon, “Bras: The hidden dangers,” about 2004

Anon, “Andy McNab to Design Lingerie,” in McPeteSez, 12/15/05:

Euan Ferguson, “Christmas spending: 'Fifty quid for a bra? Oh, go on then'” The Observer, Sunday December 15, 2002

Tony Chase, “Dolly’s Secrets Bared,” National Enquirer about 1990:

Jessica Maxwell, “The Black Bra Connection: Why is this sultry queen of intimate apparel de rigueur in the Northwest?”,

Washington magazine, Dec. 1989, pp. 33-35

Roger K, “Doubled-Letter Codes for Bras are Irrational”

Anon physicist, “Spurious Rounding,” in Funny Times, “News of the Weird” column, April 2003

Anon, “Bras: The hidden dangers,” from p. 11 of “The Little Red Book,” a booklet published by The Week magazine, about 2004:

Undressing a woman is risky business. Men have such a poor understanding of the mechanics of feminine undergarments that many risk injuring themselves while trying to remove a brassiere, says a new study. The British Journal of Plastic Surgery cites the case of a 27-year-old man who, at the culmination of a convivial and alcoholic evening with an attractive female companion," twisted his left middle finger in a bra strap. So severe was the injury that the man went to the emergency room, where it was discovered he had sustained a fractured finger and ligament damage. "This is the type of thing that is more commonly associated with sport, particularly rock climbing," plastic surgeon Andrew Fleming of London's St. George's Hospital reports. Surveys show that 40 percent of men in their 30s and 40s are equally uncoordinated when grappling with clasps and hooks, and risk similar injury. Researchers recommend that men take lingerie-removing lessons to prevent accidents.

News item, “Andy McNab to Design Lingerie,” reprinted in McPeteSez online lingerie newsletter, 12/15/05:

SAS hero Andy McNab revealed his latest undercover mission—designing lingerie. The Gulf War veteran and thriller writer is set to put the bra into Bravo Two Zero with his own "sporty and military" range for women aged 16 to 25. He hopes to launch the McNab brand at London Fashion Week next year.

And the 45-year-old feels he'll be a success because: "Heterosexual men know more about women's underwear than women do. He said: "We know what works and what doesn't, what buttons and catches are easy to undo and which ones aren't while women, frankly, don't have a clue." Most men have been thinking about little else except women's underwear since their teens—so they know their subject."

Euan Ferguson, “Christmas spending: 'Fifty quid for a bra? Oh, go on then'” (“Euan Ferguson joins the hordes of men in lingerie shops who no longer blush when they're going for a thong”); The Observer, Sunday December 15, 2002 (online at http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,860227,00.html)

Five short years ago, British men stumbled through ladies' lingerie departments, reaching out for the price tag on a bra with the furtiveness of a vicar grabbing a porn video. We made wild guesses at size, and struggled manfully not to look at the chest of the female assistant and blurt out a comparison, and generally made breasts of ourselves.

All has changed, forever. I have just left one Soho branch of Agent Provocateur, where they were so crowded at 6pm on a Friday that they were buzzing in customers four at a time, most of them men on their own. Savvy, unembarrassed at the racks of pink bras and sexy corsets before them, and well-versed in female dimensions. They'd come prepared with sizes, and knew all the stuff about the width of the back, and the cup, and the only statistic that surprised them was the price.

Tony Chase, Dolly Parton’s clothes designer, “Dolly’s Secrets Bared,” National Enquirer, about 1990:

Of course she is very conscious of her wonderful bust.  She lost a lot of weight some time back—and that included her bustline. None of her old bras fit her.  I said, ‘Let’s throw out the old bras and go for new ones.’  Dolly agreed, but she wouldn’t let me throw out the old bras. I was baffled, and I asked her why.  She laughed, ‘You’d better let me burn them.  Can you imagine what would happen if collectors got ahold of these monsters?’

Jessica Maxwell, “The Black Bra Connection:  Why is this sultry queen of intimate apparel de rigueur in the Northwest?”, Washington magazine, Dec. 1989, pp. 33-35

When a friend of mine was 8 years old, she got a part as one of the "no-neck little monsters" in a community production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The female lead had to do a whole scene wearing a black bra. "She let me sit in her dressing room with her before the show," my friend recalls, "and watch her put on her makeup. I thought her black bra was the most womanly thing I'd ever seen. I couldn't wait to have one of my own."

One night the star forgot to bring her black bra—all she had was the white one she was wearing. She panicked. "I can't do the scene in a white bra!" she screamed. "It has to be black!" Finally she sent a stagehand back to her apartment to get her black bra, saving the scene, the show, and probably her career.

She was right, the bra had to be black. White is utilitarian—your mother wore white. Pink is immature. Flesh has all the allure of a Band-Aid. Red has the fire, but not the mystery. Other colors might be arty but their message is unclear. A purple bra? A green one? Interesting, maybe. But black ... black is a complete sentence written with invisible ink in a secret language every American male past the age of 12 understands.

"Yeah, it has to be black."

"Black. Definitely black."

"Black, only black."

"Black bras? They're gonna let you write about black bras?"

"Before we were married, my husband told me he'd never seen a woman wearing garters. So one night I wore a merry widow under my jeans and sweatshirt. We went out to play pool, and while we were waiting for a table he put his hand on my thigh and felt the little bump of the garter. We were out of there in two seconds. When he saw that it was black, I thought I was going to have to give him tranquilizers. The effect was amazing."

The above are highlights of a quick survey on the Black Bra Effect—10 men and one woman (because she happened to call me in the middle of it). The findings were unanimous from both sides—black bras have this weird power, this irresistible force field. It's something men acknowledge without thinking about it, and they admit to it with complete candor. To them, the existence of the Black Bra Effect is not open for discussion. It is fact. More interestingly, there is no shame in it—none whatsoever. It is simply The Big Of Course.

I decided to call another friend—hearing about Black Bra Power from those who wield it has its insights.

"My husband bought me a black corset for a Valentine's Day present," one woman recounted. "But it didn't fit quite right, so I tried to return it. I found a great deep-purple one and took it up to make an even exchange, but the saleswoman remembered when my husband bought the black one. 'Oh, no, no, no, no,' she said. 'It must be black. He really wanted it to be black.' Then she had me try it on and showed me how they could tailor it to fit better, which she assured me was a much wiser solution."

The very fact that Northwest women own so much black lingerie was a revelation to me. When I was in college in Oregon in the '70s, none of us had the money to buy fancy underwear, and of course bras weren't in anyway. The subsequent years I spent working in California were years spent in pastels; you might own one black bra for a holiday dress

But in the Northwest these days, everyone wears so much black, an entire wardrobe of black bras is a necessity. Our obsession with black, in fact, deeply disturbs many visitors—especially if they're from a sun state. "Everyone's so depressed up here," one Miami woman proclaimed while visiting her Seattleite sister for the first time. “All you wear is black."

We are not, of course, depressed. It is merely our eclectic Italian/ Japanese palette, a sophisticated recognition of the world's two most profound design centers. The Milan suit, the Nippon kimono, both have long been black for the color's elegance, its understatement, its clarity of form, its subtle power. And besides, black looks right beneath our northern silver skies.

Consequently, a Northwest woman is unprepared if she doesn't possess a comfortable black bra for jeans, sweaters, a T-strap one for tank tops, a French-cup one for a bit of décolletage, a backless one for low-back dresses, a strapless something or other for strapless something or others, and it's always good to have a lacy regular black bra for one's better cold-weather clothes.

This is hardly depressing. As a woman, I find it great fun; if I were a man, I reckon I'd be in Hawg Heaven. The possibilities of surprise are endless, the variations ... oh my.

Still, none of this answers the question: Why do black bras have the effect on men they do? Why wouldn't the scene work without a black bra? And why on earth is the male response to black bras so incredibly universal?

We could explore the idea of contrast—black is dramatic against pale boreal skin. But if that were all there is to it, the Black Bra Effect would be rendered null and void against dark skin. And it isn't. One of my interviewees is married to a glorious black woman; another one's wife lives in a tanning booth--both men still firmly prefer black lingerie.

We might wax artistic and offer up the old black--all colors theory, that it possesses a unique full-spectrum power. Too heady, I say. As I explained, men do not think their way through the Black Bra Effect; black bras, in fact, turn men's brains to Grape Nuts.

We could chalk it up to social conditioning—to the mind warp of Playboy and Penthouse and the like, although the attraction was always in a model's lack of clothing.

And we could examine the dark potential of Forbidden Fruit, of the inherent badness of black, of the black bra as the answer to the black leather jacket—heaven forbid a woman should wear both! For this, of course, we have only the Victorians to thank—once they rendered carnal knowledge a sin, the black market for the Black Bra Effect took off like a French postcard in the Pony Express. There's truth in this, surely ... the French, after all, invented the brassiere. But why is black so bad? What is the source of that old black magic?

It must lie in the realm of the unconscious, and its roots must be deep. In fact, I strongly suspect we are dealing with nothing less than the fear, and the titillation, of the unknown—and of woman's association with it.

The true power of woman is her mystery. Like nature, she is cyclic, in sync with the moon—a phenomenon as elemental as the very ocean. The void she carries in her womb is the source of all human life. All males come from that, and on tome primal level they know it. When a man makes love with a woman, it is an act of blind faith—he knows not where he is going. He is going toward the void, the void is black.

Whether we understand it or not, black bras, then, just might be the most profound sexual signal a woman could give, a delicate, external promise of the dark joys of the abyss. And wouldn't it be wonderful if the essence of black bras weren't mindless, superficial lust? Wouldn't it be grand if the real Black Bra Effect were love, were the expression of a man's inexplicable longing to return to the body where he was born?

Roger K, “Doubled-Letter Codes for Bras are Irrational”:

Why do the letter-codes for bra sizes double up after D?  (I.e., DD, etc.)  In some cases manufacturers’ numbering systems compound the oddity by resuming single-lettering after DD or DDD, sometimes skipping E or F, and sometimes not.  It’s illogical, and it wasn’t done with other products. For instance, when the scale for shoe sizes was first established, it wasn’t realized that a few folks would like shoes narrower than size A; hence size AA had to be slipped in later.  The same thing happened with the size ranges of drill gauges and various other mechanical items.  On the other end of the scale, however, when it was necessary to add an unforeseen size or two on the upside, the hardware industry didn’t double up the letters, because there was a whole alphabet’s worth of headroom for them to use, stretching all the way out to Z. 

Hmmm. Maybe bra mfgrs. didn’t want to hint to their customers that they might eventually stretch all the way out to Z?!

Anon physicist, “Spurious Rounding” in Funny Times, “News of the Weird” column, April 2003:

Writing in The Journal of Clothing, Science and Technology, a Southampton University (England) physicist found that many women wear the wrong-size bra because retailers commit a math error known as ‘spurious rounding’ when converting bust and rib-cage size to bra size.

For Pan Am star Christina Ricci, wearing the airline's iconic '60s flight attendant uniforms not only make her look the part, but also feel the part. And it all begins with squeezing into the historically accurate underwear.

"We have these undergarments that we wear, a girdle [OBG style, as revealed in a couple of half-dressed scenes], and a longline bra," Ricci told reporters in September. "The girdle keeps you from being able to do anything boyish like run or jump or take any large flights of stairs. The longline is a bra attached [with girdle hooks] to a mini-corset [her interpretation of an OBG] so it basically makes you stand up really, really straight. ... You have to walk like a lady at all times, so immediately you're just put into this mindset of 'I'm a lady. I sit a certain way. I walk a certain way.'"

Costume designer Ane [sic] Crabtree:  [It's important] to build from the inside out for these actors because it's so psychological. They're very young kids. They were never around in the '60s. There is a different physicality from the '60s to now in how we hold ourselves. And the clothes just fit better [with these undergarments] believe it or not. It's not something that I would readily think of in 2011, but you know with this whole preponderance of Spanx, it makes things better.

The reason for the girdle was so that they didn't jiggle because it wasn't ladylike. The girdle just kept everything very, very close to the body and contained. And when you have a bullet bra on, which is a longline [in this instance], you didn't want to be poking through your bra if it was cold, if you know what I mean. So, those bras were thicker than what we have today. With those [longline] bullet bras, you have to stand straight or else you look silly and it ruins the line.

The uniform jacket and skirt couldn't be too tight because that would be considered inelegant. It couldn't pull in the bra area. Who would want that? And it couldn't be too tight in the derrière because if it's too tight over the girdle, it shows and you don't want that either. Also, you couldn't have flashy jewellery. You needed a really simple watch and small earrings. The shoes had to be clean and polished. Very military, right? Two- to three-inch heel, slender, not too pointed.

Hmmm: That looks like an awfully modern Rago girdle to me. If Miss Ricci thinks that girdle is confining, she should try a real 1960s girdle! - Ivy