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Spirella in Sweden
and
Denmark
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The Swedish Spirella factory opened on 17th November 1920 in
Malmö.
Swedish Spirella developed in the direction that suited the
Swedish female and diverged in style and materials from the English, American
and Canadian branches. Their high-waisted creations have a surprising elegance
that their sister companies lacked.
The Spirella marketing approach, however, was similar to that in Britain and
America with emblems (below - but minus the famous ivy leaf) to applaud
years of faithful service.
The company
lasted for nearly seven decades when, in 1988,
the
Spirella trademark, machines and patterns were purchased by
Berit Johansson, owner of
BiJas Produktion AB
of
Eskilstuna with a view to manufacture and sell orthopaedic
corsets and girdles. They still produce an orthopaedic corset called a
Spirella,
however, this is a historical reference and not a true descendant of the
Spirella corset. Berit still employs seven staff and produces over 10,000
garments per year. She is an expert corsetiere and seamstress who still has that
rare knowledge of how to fit customers personally.
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"Redan I förväg kan ni se vad Spirella förmår göra för er Already
in advance, you can see what Spirella will do for you." "Följ
ett gott råd Follow the good advice." "Är ni ung Are you young?" and, with a lot of circumstantial
marketing advice, "Do you want to stay that way?"
The advertisement in the middle comes from the Malmö
offices of Spirella in the late 1920's. Note the flapper style and the
lack of a proper brassiere since the latter garment was still in its infancy in
those days.
In contrast with
Spirella's usual moralistic undertones, this Art Deco advertisement shows the
model in a slouched posture and she even has a cigarette in her hand!!
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The importance of the fitting session was a hall-mark of Spirella as these
cartoons from the 1960's demonstrate.
Labels from a very rare measuring garment. At least the latter patented
device was the same as in England and America.
As far as I can tell, slanke means slender or slim and fyllige
litterally means rich but in this context, robust or stout!
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In the 1960's, high-waisted girdles were de rigeur with Stockholm's
smart set; a far cry from the liberal and liberated picture that is commonly
associated with the Swedes. In fact, the
Scandinavian countries produced some elegant yet extremely functional
foundations during this period. Even the 'finished product' (above, right)
looks like a lady from the English countryside rather than the liberated Swedes,
or was this a myth? Not judging from the advertisements below that, judging by
the chauvinistic overtones, date from the late 1950's to early 1960's.
All the adverts show either 205 or 206 girdles that also suggest a date at the
end of the 1960's when these styles were superceded. Some translation is need I
feel!
är Ni slut efter kl. 3 you are exhausted after
3 pm
Det kan bero på felaktig korsettering
this may be due to improper corsetting
Bra figur också - henne tar vi
good figure too - we're taking her!
(Wow; that is very 1950's - Ivy)
Spirella kan hjälpa Er Spirella can help you
Spirella står Ert
hjärta närmast your heart is closest to Spirella
ung till figuren - ung till åren young in
figure, young in years
Let us end this section with an amusing piece:-
“Bär Spirella hela dagen och tryck in den stora magen”, directly
translated it would be something like “Wear Spirella all day long and press in
your big belly”, but in Swedish it rhymes and in any other sense, it is probably
quite true! My husband came up with
"Wear
Spirella all the day
And watch
your stomach fade away!"
Spirella Garments:
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The Swedish factory made similar styles as Britain and
America but uniquely tailored for the Scandinavian woman and her
predilection for the high-waisted girdle.
The charming detail at the top of the front suspenders
is pure whimsy on the part of the designers, but it shows an attention
to detail often absent from the UK girdles. It is present on every
Swedish Spirella in our collection. (It was a feature on English
Spirellas that were presented to employees as wedding presents!) The girdle (above,
left) that looks like a British 234, is
a purely Swedish confection. It is a couple of inches longer than
its UK cousins, and is made from a very transparent nylon. The
cross-stitching down the front of the garment of course harks back
to the era of the front-laced corset. Despite the nylon and the whimsical touches, this
is a very serious garment!
The girdle on the right is a Swedish Spirella 205 made from the
same, very transparent, but exceptionally strong nylon material.
Note, once again the high waist, the lovely rose-bud detailing and
the chrome suspenders clips with the word 'Spirella' stamped
therein. Very serious but very elegant.
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Spirelettes were also on offer, and note, once again, the little rosebud
details at the top of the suspenders |
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Here are some
typical 'measuring garments' that would have been used by one of those 2,200
corsetieres. "Spirella Fylliga Typen" means 'full model' or in
the British Spirella jargon, simply large. Personally, I feel that "Fylliga Typen"
says so much more, but perhaps that is because I don't speak Swedish!
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Examples of Scandinavian Spirella corsetry
were rare before the advent of the internet,
however, we are lucky to have several corsets and girdles in our possession. This superb
garment (below) is constructed from a lovely
silk/satin that was
rarely available to the British and American markets. It is a Swedish
model 300, similar to the British and American 305.
The weight and feel of this corset are very similar to the
British versions. It is 19" long in the back and 15" in the
front. It was purchased from an antique shop in Stockholm in 2003.
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The corset dates from, I would guess around the 60's /
early 70's, however, the suspenders were cut off (those in the photograph
are period pieces superimposed) which makes dating rather difficult. The
corset was probably one of the last that Spirella in Sweden made. It has
been worn regularly as the horizontal creases testify. The owner was tall,
since the majority of the corset's length lies below the hips. We can
estimate that the woman would have been about 5' 9" tall with
32" waist and 42" hips; not unusual for a Scandinavian today,
however, this women would have cut quite a figure in her youth! The owner must have
cut off the suspenders (there were four originally) in favour of tights.
This is another help in dating the garment. The lacing is not original. I
suspect, that the owner was an elderly lady who had looked after the
corset for some time. Turning to tights, the suspenders were cut off, and
with advancing years, as her weight diminished, lacing became unnecessary.
The old frayed laces were replaced and then never used again. The corset
became a wrap-around hook-side garment that the lady probably did not
need, but was an essential part of her wardrobe.
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A very rare example of a Swedish Spirella back-laced 205
girdle worn by a model in 2011. The brassiere is a remarkable match but
is actually an English Spirella. The tea-rose (in Swedish - laxrosa,
meaning salmon pink) is a perfect match and the garment shows exactly what the
Swedish madam of the late 1950's wished to achieve, and that is a well-defined
waist. This English Rose epitomises the Swedish ideal! |
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Interestingly, as on the girdles above, the packaging is emblazoned 'Spirella'
but the word 'Spirelette' features as well. The suspenders on the corset date
the garment to the 1970's since they are quite modern by corsetry standards.
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We
received photographs of two beautiful Malmö
Spirella corsets from a collector in Sweden. The fabric is similar to that of the
corset above but the first corset, which is back-laced, has lacing below the busk at
the lower front. This was an extra that could be ordered to aid with what
Spirella (in England) quaintly referred to as "toileting". The gorgeous rosebud
detailing, that seems to be a hallmark of Swedish Spirella is present as on all
the other Swedish garments we have seen.
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This last corset should technically be called a 'laced girdle' since the elastic
sections run from top to bottom. The back-lacing would only be for periodic
adjustment. Note the high waist that apparently was de rigeur for the
Swedish lady of fashion. The instructions that came with this corset are
displayed on a separate page.
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Spirella in Malmö-made brassieres as well but they are far rarer to find
these days. Here are two examples of a standard Spirella style on the left
and a lovely 'cathedral' strapless brassiere on the right. The hallmark
Malmö rose is present of course.
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Spirella in the 21st Century
Amazingly, the name Spirella
appears to live on as a medical corset produced by the company
Bijas at Eskilstuna in
Sweden! Whether they are a remnant of the old firm or have
simply used an evocative name I do not know, their corsets remain true to the originals.
Interestingly, the model on the right sports a corset identical
to the example shown here. The packing has the old Spirella logo
and font, however, the label in the corset is a modern style.
Spirella has indeed made it into the 21st Century.
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A modern Swedish woman in a modern Swedish corset bearing a
modern Spirella logo. |
We have some excellent
examples from Spirella in Sweden and we were keen to find out if the factory and shop still
remained in Malmö. Obviously (and sadly) they would not be making and
selling corsets any more. My husband dived into the world wide web with a
will and, although failing to find the factory, did find the original facade
of the Spirella shop as the pictures reveal. There on the Gustav Adolfs Torg,
a street famous for its corsetry emporia (note
Fox korsetter) lies
the Spirella shop, the outlet for the factory. Ironically, the shop is now
the home of 'Les Trois Roses' a choclaterie. Sadly, just when your
Swedish woman could well do with a firmly constructed lower foundation, this
is no longer available to her. Click on the right-hand picture to see
the shop today.
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Demonstrably the same building
(above) in 2012 as the photograph from the Spirella magazine in 1957. |
Spirella in Denmark
