The Case of the Catholic Corset. On the right is a rather special German corset. It has double-lacing at the sides in the style of the Spirella 527. These were for post-pregnancy or post-operative wear to allow an abdomen robbed of it muscle tone to be returned to its original shape. This corset is actually blue, a fact that if the source of the garment was unknown, would locate its source as either France or Germany. The corset has been worn tight and often as the horizontal creases reveal. The elastic of the middle suspenders is worn indicating that the wearer needed stockings stronger than normal. This points to post-pregnancy. All the indications are that this was worn by a fashionable lady, probably after her last pregnancy at a more advanced age than normal. Worn in the 1960's, the lady would be in her early 40's, well-groomed, elegant and with four or more children. Most likely she would come from the south-eastern, predominantly Catholic area of Germany near the Rhine River.

The corsets are made of exquisite materials which would not have been the cheapest in the brochure. I suspect that the lady took pride in her appearance. She may well have been comfortably off; the repairs simply suggesting the older generation's natural tendency to mend, rather than replace. Certainly, corsets are like shoes, if you have a comfortable pair that you can wear all day, you will look after them. The removal of the exterior belt is interesting. The lady would have had excellent posture (there was little choice in such a garment), and I imagine this elderly lady, well-dressed and quite fussy about her appearance, would have been mortified if her corsets had announced their presence either aurally or visually. I suspect she removed the exterior strap since she would be concerned that it might show through her skirt. In such a strong corset, the strap is largely redundant. Perhaps the corsetiere added the strap as one of the 'optional extras' to increase her commission. The corsetiere, however, missed out on selling the third pair of suspenders, since the corset has but four, front and side-mounted. I suspect that in such a rigid corset, getting to back suspenders would be nigh on impossible.

We love these 'finds' where a lady's underpinnings are retrieved from an estate sale. So much can be deduced about the previous owner. These are Spirella's finest 305's. Three are made from satin orchid material, and one from a lighter mesh. Perhaps the lady lived in the north of the USA and visited Florida during the winter or perhaps her offspring in California. Had she lived permanently in a hot climate, then all the corsets would have been light-weight. The absence of rear suspenders denotes widow-hood (the beasts are difficult to do up when one is old.) The stretched suspenders on one of the corsets is testimony to the power of her stockings. The other suspenders have been replaced at various times as they have given up the ghost. The corsets date from the late 1960's to the early 1980's and were worn regularly and tightly. Her waist probably bulged a little above the top rim of the corsets as the horizontal creasing shows. They are a bit grubby and lacked regular washing but they have worn well and probably served their wearer well for the last decade of her life.

Ostensibly, a Spirella from the 1960's - 70's period, there's just a few things wrong with it. The material is fine. Spirella used the black pattern for many years before it dropped black altogether in the 1980's. The front-lacing an elastic inserts, again, fully original, classifying the corset as a 305. The four strap under-belt was a classic Spirella option. That the buckles operated an under-belt, rather than a lumbo-sacral over-belt distinguishes the Spirella from the Spencer of the same era.

The oddities are the pieces of white ribbon around the top, and the back-lacing. The ribbon is not Spirella and must have been added later. The back-lacing, that, in addition to the front-lacing, was quite a common request, looks odd. The spacing of the grommets is far too wide. Furthermore, Spirella almost always covered the back-lacing on the 325 (front- and back-aced models) with a fly. This lacing and the grommets has been added at some point in the corset's life.

The Case of The Heavy Woman's Corsets:

We came across these lovely black orchid (Spirella's satin) corsets. They had been well used, but well cared for. The wearer was lucky. A batch of these black Spirellas, made in the mid-1980's had defective material and could easily split! Spirella abandoned black as a colour in consequence. It is a fact, that as a corset-wearing women starts to gain weight, the support of the corset for the abdomen outweighs the desire to achieve a fashionable profile. Frankly, forcing the fatty tissue into the abdominal cavity already occupied by equally fatty organs is unpleasant at best, as potentially harmful at worst. The corset requirement tends to be for a shorter, broader garment since abdominal support, rather than compression, is desired.

Firstly, regard the collection of girdles on the right. They came from the estate of an elderly American lady. They are all conventional long-leg panty-girdles. Some are worn and some are new and most are still available in the shops today. They are quite unexceptional and probably resemble the underpinnings of another million elderly women in America with one exception -- and that is the girdle in the middle! It came from the same estate but is far older (look at the metal zip and the real satin panels). It stands alone as a beacon of quality in a sea of mediocrity. This is definitely not on sale today, so why is it there?  All the other girdles speak of a regular replacement of worn items by new ones. There are blacks for evening, whites for Church and beige for normal use. I suspect this old friend was a true favourite. Of a strength and quality unknown today, it became the girdle for 'best' use, albeit someway past its prime.

Women have little sentiment about their underwear (usually it's the opposite) but in this case, the girdle was simply too effective and well-made to discard.

The Girdles' Story #2  Again, another girdle that appear quite ordinary at first glance drew my attention. This girdle looks just like a million other up-market girdles of the 1960's. These are strong, heavy and extremely effective devices. In this case, however, the waist is a scant 23 inches (55 cm) and the hips only 30 (75 cm). There is precious little stretch in these old girdles (although I do know of a lady who forced a blatant 40" waist into a 34" girdle). Was it a young girl's girdle ? Probably not, although girls of 12 did wear girdles in the 1950's and 60's, however, they tended to be softer and shorter items (this girdle is very long) designed mainly to hold up the stockings and remind the poor creature of the devices to follow within a few years.

The Girdles' Story #3

Estate sales, thrift and charity shops do occasionally turn up interesting, sometimes even poignant, reminders of at item’s previous owner. Regard the two girdles that came from the back of the same drawer. The open-bottom girdle is immaculate, unused and still with tags attached, the panty-girdle well cared for but used, particularly the suspenders that appear to be slightly stretched. These foundations of an older woman can probably be dated to the late 1960’s. The conventional girdle was in decline and the lady, a wearer for decades, never used the last one she purchased. The panty-girdle took its place, the suspenders necessary to maintain the tension on her support stockings. Wearing the panty-girdle, she could wear slacks and disguise her hated stockings (and probably legs). Latterly, she wore support tights and the powerful panty-girdle was no longer needed and consigned with its cousin to the back of the drawer.

The Girdles' Story #4

This recently acquired girdle is a rare panty-girdle from that mainstay of Australian corsetry, Jenyns. As one would expect, it is incredibly well constructed with the elastic doubled in most areas. The girdle is 21" long and was designed for a 26" waist.

The hip control bands suggest that this was worn by an older woman, perhaps even a Jenyns corset wearer who felt the need for a more modern garment whilst retaining a firm degree of control. Certainly this is a powerful girdle. I can imagine a slim elderly, perhaps slightly classy lady around size 12 (UK) and quite tall. The girdle has been well used and the frequent use of the zip has torn the satin pull and metal end away. This was not a girdle for the faint-hearted yet feminine touches abound:- the little rose on the top right, the satin rear panel and the lacy leg ends.

We came across yet another excellent example of corsetry from an estate sale. Two corsets of amazing length considering the scant waist and hip measurements. There was a Spirella 325 at 22" long in the back and 19" in the front, and a Camp of similar dimension but slightly shorter in the skirt. The waist measured 26" and the hips 34" on both corsets. Back support corsets are often cut short in the front, but these were designed to put a figure on a tall, thin, elderly woman even at the expense of flexibility. The skirt of the Spirella (the longer of the two) comes well down to the thighs, and only a generous gusset of elastic permits perambulation. Indeed, a terrific strain must have been placed on the gussets every time she sat down. There would be no soft sofas for this woman!

The woman was a Spirella wearer and had been for many years. Most of the foundations are tea rose in colour with a few white bras. It may be that the white lowers simply disintegrated and were thrown away. Tea rose disguises the mild soiling that looks awful on a white garment. There are three corsets, very well worn. One suspects that this was a well-to-do woman who took her figure and foundations equally seriously. In later life, she moved towards the girdle, the best preserved of which is hardly worn. Either she passed away before wearing it, or, and many Spirella devotees did this, she purchased a garment to 'see her out' as Spirella went out of business in 1988. The general unkempt appearance of the garments suggests a  common malaise of the elderly and that is a desire to look good, but a reluctance to wash and dry these heavy garments. She probably passed away at the end of the 1980's, the estate clearance being delayed as her financial affairs took several years to sort out, her husband having passed away some time before.

The corset is long, at 19 inches with a waist measurement of 34 inches and hips of 38 inches. It is very heavily boned in the back with eight steels (and these are not the spiral variety). It is a classic Spirella 305 and the writing on the corset is barely faded. The suspenders are rather long and the suspender knobs have the little metal button. The corset is made from a pink brocade fabric.

From this evidence we can deduce that the owner of this lovely garment was a tall lady who, like many of her tall sisters, suffered from a bad back. The corset has hardly been worn as the clear M305 and lack of wear on the elastic demonstrate. The corset was probably purchased in the 1960's since such suspenders were not made after that, and certainly, the short stockings, as evidenced by the long suspenders, were barely available after that decade. The lady would not have been poor since there were far cheaper corsets available, but sadly, she appears to have passed away shortly after receiving the garment. She would have been quite elderly judging by the very scant hip-spring.

Spirella always put great store in owning three corsets:- one on the body, one in the drawer and one in the wash. This was designed to preserve the life of the corsets and, of course, to boost the corsetiere's commission! I know several ladies who, on discovering that Spirella was going out of business, and with no intention of abandoning a lifetime of corset wearing, bought enough corsets to 'see them out'! I suspect this was the case here, particularly since two are unused. Oddly enough, the suspender tags are missing on some of the corsets. Perhaps these were the older ones; they did tend to break with prolonged use and heavy duty surgical stockings. I suspect this lady had 'tired legs' (that 1960's euphemism for varicose veins) and in the late 1980's decided to furnished her wardrobe with a lifetime's supply of corsets. The steels were quite expensive and simply could be removed from their pockets for ease of laundering. There was no need to have them for each corset.

The fact that two of the corsets are unused tends to suggest that the lady passed away some time ago and her treasure trove of corsets has only recently been unearthed from an attic. The lady would not have been poor, in today's money, those corsets represent an investment of just under £1,000 ($1,600). She was probably in her 70's when she purchased them so she must have had a good pension but a poorly back and legs.

Oddly enough, the corsets appeared at a German auction. Was the lady German? Was she married to a German or are these corsets simply some German's collection that is being sold on. Who knows?!

However, there are some oddities. There are only two suspenders and they are not the button-centred style as one would expect in the 1950's and the laces have no means of adjustment other than from an extraordinary amount of spare lacing at the bottom of the corset.

This is the corset of an elegant lady whose beauty and figure have faded over the years. I can imagine a tall, very shapely woman of reasonable means who would have been born at the end of the 19th century. Corsets would have been a way of life to her and would certainly have enhanced her figure. In the 1950's, aged around 60, she would have purchased her last Spirella. With her husband deceased, finances were less secure and her last, expensive Spirella was going to have to 'see her out'.

Her tired legs required powerful support stockings and the suspenders, stretched beyond endurance, were regularly replaced with later styles. As her mobility decreased, she cut off the back and front suspenders relying on the side two to hold up her stockings. Losing weight, the corset fit without adjusting the laces. The replacement lacing was simply tied up shoe fashion (and certainly not Spirella style) and the spare lacing just hung below the front. Donning the corset each morning, she would simply do up the hooks and eyes, possibly still a bit of a struggle to contain her midriff, and close the zipper.

She would have worn the corset to the end and have been proud of her figure.

We found the original of this fascinating photograph somewhere on the world-wide web but I cannot remember where. It has a large copyright circle plastered across it and we will not attempt to remove watermarks on principle since we rely on them for some of our own pictures. What we have done is to cut out the copyright portion and insert a model. We hope this is OK for we simply want to analyse the detail of the picture.

On the face of it, we have a shapely, thin lady dressed as an office worker or secretary. She gazes into the window of a corset shop. In the background, the hustle and bustle of the high street goes on around her and, in particular, a stout woman crosses in the background. The scene is in Britain and the prices are pre-decimalisation (1971).

Surely the young woman should be striding proudly across the street, assured of her fine figure and the elderly lady should be gazing at the corsets on display. But this is the 1960's and we all wore girdles (or suspender belts) then, even thin women. We can construct a scenario. It is the end of the month and our secretary has just been paid. Sensibly, the girl has banked her hard earned money, but she is prudent and will only buy good quality clothes as and when she can afford them (there was no unlimited credit then). She has a good figure and she wants to maintain it, to which end she has had her eye on a new girdle for some time. Sadly, she has not yet saved sufficient money so she gazes wistfully at the object of her desire: perhaps next month? The stout matron can buy her corsets any time she likes since her husband has the wherewithal. One day, with classic clothes and good foundations, the young secretary hopes that she will attract her own Mr. Right.

The picture is a poignant reminder of a time long gone and I don't just mean the fashions. It was a pivotal time as our schools stopped teaching morality thereby creating a generation who knew no morals to pass onto the next generation. Today, if the young girl wants anything, there are any number of organisations who will lend her the money. Since the teaching of mathematics went out of the window with morality, she cannot understand what the repayment interest rates actually mean. She gets into debt, she meets Mr. Wrong who leaves her as a single mother and so we spiral downwards. Sorry to be so gloomy. There are beacons of family stability and care out there, but the minefields of life seem to be harder to negotiate these days.

Where did she get that figure?

So often at wedding, I have seen otherwise unremarkable women of my acquaintance with unusually firmed up torsos, ridiculously pointed shoes and unbelievably hoisted bosoms in a misguided attempt to 'look their best'. In the two pictures from a wedding, one sees the mother looking quite shapely attending to her daughter who is slim enough not to need any foundation garments. How has mother achieved that shape? As she turns around, her tight dress reveals the tell-tale outline of her long-line brassiere or possibly corselette. There used to be a knack of getting the rows of hooks-and-eyes to line up underneath the back zipper of the dress.

 In fact in the early 1960s when these pictures were taken, the daughter would probably be wearing a foundation garment whether she needed to or not.

This example is a classic '18-hour' girdle from the 1970s. Observe the detail. It is a very long-leg girdle and possesses all the classic features: the rubbery patterned elastic that always had a slightly blue hue, the silky material between the legs, the oddly contrasting nylon front panel with the chevrons (a throwback to the 'fingertip panels' of the genuine latex girdles and elastic cuff around the bottom of the legs. Amazingly, this girdle is a size 22 - 24 inches. This is a teenage girl's girdle, and like many teenagers, her waist was slim but her thighs were not and the long legs were designed to minimise this. Poor girl, it really is not an attractive garment and that is without the ever-present rubbery odour. Perhaps the mother felt that her daughter was safe in such a garment.

1960s British Woman

In contrast to the picture on the right, we have the quintessential 1960's woman (left). What a difference two decades makes. Taken at a wedding in 1963, the woman wears a shiny (rayon?) suit and one can bet that, bearing in mind the middle class, suburban wedding, that she wears a St. Michael girdle and probably a matching brassiere. Note the hat, matching gloves and handbag.

Not much detective work here

In 1982 when this photograph was taken (right), foundation garments, other than bras, had been consigned to the dustbin and so a generation lost the understanding of what these garments could do for a girl and naturally, the next generation had even less idea. These guests at a wedding are smartly dressed, but that flowery, polyestery, loose-hanging style screams 1980s and you can bet that disguised beneath their frocks is nothing more than bra, knickers and tights. Perhaps one or two might have purchased a St. Michael panty-girdle but that would only be for those used to wearing a girdle in the 1950s and 1960s. Smart, indeed; 1980s definitely but the fashion was for clothes to disguise the shape, not to emphasise it.

By way of illustration (below) one of our models has posed in an early 1960s St. Michael satin elastic girdle and a very 1980s St. Michael flowery panty-girdle; pretty, yes, but by no means as effective. The girdle can stand up by itself, the panty-girdle cannot.

The turning point, when the decline of the lower foundation garment set in, is illustrated by the two corselettes that belonged to the same lady (below). Both were purchased in the early 1970s. They are the same size, but one says farewell to the stockings era and the other greets the tights era. Foundation garments would never be the same again.

The Property of an Elderly Lady

I have seen corsets re-laced like this many times. An elderly lady has bought a corsets that were quite expensive for her limited pension. As she grew older, taking care of course of this valuable garment, she lost weight and the corsets that used to have at least an inch gap at the lacing, could be pulled in no further. Her corsets had become too big for her. The solution is to lace the holes together thereby reducing the size by about an inch.